Dick Clark Productions/Summary

Background: Dick Clark Productions is an entertainment production company established in 1957 by entertainer Dick Clark, producing television shows, television specials, and television movies. In 2007, it was sold to Daniel Snyder, owner of American football team Washington Redskins and former chairman of amusement park Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, for $175 million. Around September 2016, the Dalian Wanda Group, a Chinese family-owned conglomerate (which owns a controlling interest in AMC Theatres and fully owns Legendary Entertainment), was in talks of acquiring the company for $1 billion. The transaction was confirmed on November 4th. However the Wanda Group called off the deal in March 2017.

1st Logo (1964-1977)

Nicknames: "dc", "A Dick Clark TV Production"

Logo: This logo features a line drawing downward. Then a circle is placed along the line, forming the letter "d". Then, a "c" is drawn inside the "d" counter-clockwise. The words:

a dick clark TV PRODUCTION

appear vertically along the "D".

Variants:
 * From 1964-1969, this logo was only a still superimposed image, scrolling along with the production credits.
 * Sometimes, the text would simply read "A DICK CLARK PRODUCTION".

FX/SFX: The drawing of the "D" and "C".

Cheesy Factor: Animation was very primitive.

Music/Sounds: The outro of any program produced by the company, like American Bandstand, for instance.

Availability: Extinct. It appeared on American Bandstand and Happening.

Scare Factor: Low.

2nd Logo (1977-1980)

Nicknames: "dc II", "dc Snake", "dc ∞", "dc '77"

Logo: Over a black background, we see the forming of a line in the center. At the same time a strange shape forms on top of the line, almost forming the infinity symbol. The image appears to be a lowercase Avant Garde font "D" and "C" joined together,.

Variant: On the Media Home Entertainment edition of Man in the Santa Claus Suit, the words "dick clark cinema productions, inc." appeared when the logo was forming.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The forming of the "dc" logo, whose animation is similar to the NBC Snake logo. The logo design, however, is pretty... interesting.

Music/Sounds: Had a short keyboard tune or the closing theme of the show/movie.

Availability: Rare. Appeared on the TV movies Elvis and Birth of The Beatles, as well as American Bandstand.

Scare Factor: Minimal.

3rd Logo (1980-1983)

Nicknames: "dc III", "Golden dc Bar", "Spinning Bar", "80s dc"

Logo: Starts with a golden bar zooming in, and starting to spin clockwise. The bar forms a circular image which splits in two and turns into an "o" and "c". All three images stick together to form the "dc" logo. The text "A Dick Clark Production" appears below.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The spinning of the gold bar.

Music/Sounds: A descending xylophone scale.

Availability: Extremely rare. It appeared on American Bandstand. This was also spotted in the 1982 ABC Saturday Morning Pac Preview Party special.

Scare Factor: Minimal.

4th Logo (1983-1989)

Nicknames: "dc IV", "Golden dc Bar II", "80s dc II"

Logo: We see an outlined bar rising from the center of the screen. A circle emerges to the left to form the "D" and revolves around to the right to form a "C", forming the "dc" logo. It then shines to gold. As this happens, "dick clark productions" or "a dick clark motion picture." appears below.

FX/SFX: The logo forming and the shining gold letters. Pretty neat animation.

Music/Sounds: Some strange mystical synthesizer music that ends with what sounds like a low bass sound. Sometimes, the end theme plays over the logo.

Music/Sounds Variant: One version uses the theme from the Dick Clark Video logo.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was seen on TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, American Bandstand, and Puttin' on the Hits to start with.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The jingle isn't so friendly, combined with the dark logo.

5th Logo (1989- )

Nicknames: "90s dc", "dc V", "Golden dc Bar III", "CGI (Golden) dc", 3D dc"

Logo: On a black background, a yellow line shoots up the screen, curving around an object that is revealed to be the "dc" logo. A purple light appears in the background, as the camera rotates around so the "dc" is seen from the right. A light forms "dick clark productions", and the "dc" logo later shines.

Variants:
 * A shorter version can be seen only with the light forming the company's text.
 * In July of 2000, the company's website "www.dickclark.com" appeared on some network shows.
 * In 2007, the logo was graphically enhanced to feature a background with various red and blue lights, a brighter "dc", and a brighter company name. This is normally seen with the short version, but a long version of it exists on Dick Clark Interviews.

FX/SFX: The streak of light, the "dc" shine. All in all, the FX used in the logo have held up very well over the years, as the logo was nice looking for its time.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Dick Clark Video "Golden dc" logo, complete with whooshes and lasers.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The shorter version uses the "crescending" synthesizer note (see the Dick Clark Video logo).
 * On The Challengers, Don Morrow says "In association with Dick Clark Productions" over the logo.
 * On the short-lived FOX game show The Chamber, a generic rock tune plays.

Availability: Common. Can be found on various TV specials, including New Years Rockin' Eve, The American Music Awards, and Bloopers. Also appears on The Weird Al Show and 19 Entertainment's So You Think You Can Dance.

Scare Factor: Low.