Maryland Public Television

Background: Maryland Public Television is the statewide PBS affiliate for Maryland.

1st Logo (1969-1979)
Nickname: "The Heptagon"

Logo: On a black background, seven blue heptagons, appearing to be made by 7 long triangles with a hollow opening and more opaque areas formed by the intersecting triangles, zoom out one by one in-tune to the French horn, right as one begins to zoom towards the screen. As the final one stops in the center of the screen, the words: The Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting appear below. The heptagon then changes to red, then back to blue.

Variants: FX/SFX: The heptagons zooming out; the heptagon glowing various colors; very early Scanimate effects.
 * Early on, the logo would be in-credit.
 * On 1973 episodes of Wall $treet Week, the name is instead stacked up in yellow, surrounded by a white frame. Below the bottom left corner, the show's name and copyright date are seen.

Music/Sounds: A French horn that plays seven notes followed by an announcer's voice saying "Pre-recorded at the studios of the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting."

Music/Sounds Variants: Availability: Extremely rare. Available on MPT productions of the period, such as Hodgepodge Lodge and Wall $treet Week. Many of these programs are available online at the American Archive of Public Broadcasting website.
 * On Hodgepodge Lodge, a child announces the tag. The normal version is present on some of the earliest episodes.
 * On the 1972 documentary Artist of Savitria, the seven notes are played by a harp, followed by announcer (and MPT mainstay) Alec Webb saying, "A production of the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting."
 * On the very earliest episodes (November 1970-December 1971) of Wall $treet Week, the announcer says "Produced live in the studios of the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting" over the normal music. Only three episodes with this variant are known to exist; one is audio only.
 * On Wall $treet Week, starting in December 1971, it appears at the opening of the program. The notes are now played on a Moog synthesizer piano, and echo throughout while ascending. The announcer also now says "From the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting."

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (Early 1970’s-1986)
Logo: On a black, dark green, or lime green background, several lines appear one by one to form a abstract map of Maryland. It cuts out, then cuts back in to reveal some lines inside. The word "MARYLAND" appears by a flickering effect and start to fill in with tan, orange, and red respectively with the same effect. "MARYLAND" zooms out as the map morphs into the text "Impact", with it in the same colors of the map. Below, "State Department of Education" and "Division of Instructional Television" appear below stacked on each other, before appearing right under the logo.

Variant: A extremely rare version exists where the logo is in a pinkish tint and surrounded by a gray trail.

FX/SFX: The zooming in of the map, the map morphing.

Music/Sounds: A frenetic orchestral theme, sometimes with an announcer.

Availability: Very rare.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1976-1980)
Nickname: "Heptagon II"

Logo: On a black background, a light-flare trail of a heptagon much like before, only with a thicker line pattern that resembles origami, zooms and spins out to the center of the screen. When it stops, it comes into focus, and the text, arranged like this: maryland center for public broadcasting appears below via a flash. The heptagon starts out blue, but then it fades to red, and finally pink.

FX/SFX: The heptagon trail zooming out.

Music/Sounds: A 5-note Moog synth jingle with an ding for the text appearing and an announcer saying "From the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting.".

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on shows from this period, such as Wall $treet Week.

Editor's Note: The announcer's voice, darkness, and slightly creepy synth tune may catch you off-guard.

4th Logo (1979-1984)
Nickname: "Heptagon III"

Logo: On a black background, two red lines merge from the bottom and top of the screen in the center, which flips into a gold heptagon that spins around a few times, flashing many rainbow colors before stopping in the very middle, emitting trails of light from either side. Then the text from the previous logo appears below, in a much smaller flash. The background then turns blue afterwards.

FX/SFX: The converging lines, the spinning heptagon, the light trails, and the text appearing.

Music/Sounds: A jaunty jingle, featuring a piccolo and xylophone. The lower brass notes in the jingle are actually an extended version of the music from the third logo.

Availability: Seen on programs at the time, notably A.M. Weather and MotorWeek.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1980-1988)
Nicknames: "M TV", "The M in the TV Set"

Logo: On a black background, a glass model of a rectangle with a roundish "M" inside zooms outs from the right, flipping into place. The text "maryland itv" wipes in below.

Variants: FX/SFX: The logo zooming out and flipping.
 * On Consumer Connection, there is an in-credit version in which the logo in white fades in and "MARYLAND ITV" and a copyright date slide up from below.
 * A still version exists with a brighter color scheme and still pings.
 * A rare CGI variant exists. On a dark maroon background with a pattern of Maryland logos, the logo rises from the lower left corner of the screen while twirling around, and the "maryland itv" text drops from the top of the screen while revolving 180 degrees. As they settle into place at a slight upwards-facing angle, they shine slightly.

Music/Sounds: A mellow horn tune described as "elevator music".

Availability: Seen on many shows of this period, like W$W, MotorWeek, Consumer Connection, and Hodgepodge Lodge.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1984-1987)
Logo: On a teal background with the MPT logo of the time printed diagonally while slightly rotating throughout, we see the new (at the time) MPT logo, with "MPT" in a futuristic font (called "Stop"), and colored teal, over the text "Maryland Public Television" in white. They both zoom in slowly, and when they stop, the MPT logo shines.

Variant: A local version has the logo zoom out via a white chyron trail towards the top of the screen. As it fully appears, the text below it fades in and the background stops.

FX/SFX: The zooming of the logo and the shine.

Music/Sounds: A horn fanfare, or a generic chime fanfare, ending in a flourish.

Availability: Rare, but extinct on TV. This was the most short-lived of MPT logos, so it's kind of a hard find. It can be seen on The Secret City, MotorWeek, Wall $treet Week, and A.M. Weather.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (1986-1994?)
Nicknames: "MPT in Space", "My Public TV", "Gold MPT", "The Wand", "Spark Stick"

Logo: The letters "MPT", in the same font as the previous logo but colored gold, zoom out and flip around on a purple/black space BG with stars brightly shining. It settles in front of a medium navy blue globe with several light streaks shooting across it at an angle. Then, "Maryland Public Television" (also in gold) is wiped in by a pink-colored laser beam.

Variants: FX/SFX: Top-notch CGI for 1986, especially for a public broadcasting network!
 * A long variant, which was used for local promos, showed the channel numbers and areas in which MPT served zooming across a close-up of the globe before the camera zoomed out and the usual logo animation continued as usual, with "Capture the World", in gold script, appearing above. An announcer (Alec Webb) says, "This is Maryland Public Television, serving Maryland, Washington D.C., and Northern Virginia. TV worth watching.". This was shown locally.
 * For the 20th anniversary, the above variant would have instead "20th Anniversary" at the top instead.
 * During the early '90s, the announcer says "This is member-supported MPT. My public television.", and "Times New Roman" would appear above the textless MPT logo, flashing "M", "P", then "TV". This was only shown locally.
 * There is another variant in which "Maryland Public Television" is shown above and "Production" is shown below.
 * There is another local variant used late in the logo's life in which some lines streak across the bottom of the screen and the station listings flip up on the lines after the network name fades in above. An announcer says "This is member-supported Maryland Public TV, serving Maryland, Washington D.C., and northern Virginia."
 * A rare version exists where the globe is instead larger, but mostly obscured by the bottom edge of the screen. "Maryland Public Television" then fades to "Production". This also had "Times New Roman" rarely.

Music/Sounds: A 4-note synth-piano fanfare, ending with a timpani hit. The "long" version used a series of synth whooshes ending with three synth chimes and a weird synth flourish. The 4th variant uses a much more mellow synth theme that still contains the "MPT chimes". Sometimes, as a program outro tag, the closing theme would play over.

Availability: Pretty much extinct. Seen on episodes of Wall $treet Week, MotorWeek, AM Weather, and Julia Child: Cooking with Master Chefs from the era. Also, was spotted on After the Warming, which can be viewed on American Archive of Public Broadcasting. It still appears on current prints of the latter if your station is broadcasting them.

Editor's Note: None.

8th Logo (1992-1999)
Nicknames: "The Globe", "Tons of Images"

Logo: We see a spinning globe against a globe against a sea at sunset between a flag of Maryland and the U.S., among other images. The globe brings forth a silver version of the MPT logo, coming from the right, while at the same time, bringing forth "Maryland Public Television" in the same font as the 1984 logo, but in all-caps. When they settle in place, the globe zooms away. "P R O D U C T I O N" fades in below. Often times, a closed caption (CC) bug appears in the lower left corner.

Variants: FX/SFX: The globe forming & bringing forth the logo, and the background images.
 * Sometimes, the logo will be still.
 * There is an extended version only used locally. Against the same BG, we see a square with a pattern of the Earth on it, which morphs into a globe, playing the animation from the regular variant. This time, "Putting Maryland First" in Brush Script MT slides in from the top right in gold script, and a list of the stations it serves flashes in below. The MPT logo shines a bit.
 * Another local version has an announcer saying "This is member-supported MPT.". At the end, "Fulfilling the Promise" in Vivaldi Script flashes in above in yellow script, and at the same time, the station list flashes in below. The MPT logo shines a bit.
 * Sometimes, this logo will appear superimposed.
 * A rare in-credit version, paired alongside the BBC and Maya Vision logos, exists.

Music/Sounds: A three-note synth-chime fanfare, which was also used by RTL in Germany. The local version used an extended version of the music with an announcer saying "This is Maryland Public Television, member-supported TV serving Maryland, Washington D.C., and northern Virginia.". However, it tends to have the closing theme of a show over it (as spotted on Kratt's Creatures, Zoboomafoo, and Wimzie's House, just to name a few).

Availability: Uncommon. It might be seen if your local PBS station runs older tapes. It still appears on current prints of In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs and Baking with Julia.

Editor's Note: None.

9th Logo (1999-2004)
Nickname: "Another Cursive M"

Logo: A cursive gold "M" is seen turning into place on the left against a black background, with the flag of Maryland and a model globe spinning. Once it's in place, those images fade out as "A Production of Maryland Public Television" fades in below, along with a black map of Maryland with gold outlines. The "M" shines.

Variants: FX/SFX: The turning M and other images, and the M shining.
 * The background may be of a spinning blue wireframe globe located in the bottom right corner instead.
 * Sometimes, on Zoboomafoo, this logo can be seen as a static image.

Music/Sounds: A three-note piano theme, or the end theme of the show.

Availability: Uncommon. Can be found on Zoboomafoo, Wall $treet Week, and MotorWeek.

Editor's Note: None.

10th Logo (1999-2002)
Nickname: "Cursive M"

Logo: We see shots of several images relating to Maryland, ending with a Maryland state flag waving. Throughout the logo, you can see a shadow of the cursive "M" from the previous logo. Then, it fades to a black background, where we see the cursive "M", in gold, dropping down from the upper-left portion of the screen as a spark flickers below. Once it's in place, "Maryland Public Television" fades in below, and two flares, colored pink and gold, slide in and spin around the logo. As a local station ID, station information fades in below.

Variant: There is a shorter variant of this logo. It also has "A Production of" below the "M" and "Maryland Public Television"

FX/SFX: The "M" flying into place.

Music/Sounds: Usually has the closing theme playing over, but on Bloomberg Morning News, it has a synth-guitar tune. For local use, the latter is coupled with announcer saying "This is member-supported MPT, serving Maryland, northern Virginia, and Washington D.C.".

Availability: Only used locally, and can be found as an alternate for the previous logo. BMN and Wimzie's House both had this logo.

Editor's Note: None.

11th Logo (2004-2008)
Logo: On the same background as the 2002 CPB logo, albeit with a red tint, we see a bright ball of light in the center. Many light lines reveal "mpt". Beside it is the PBS logo. As it finishes, the logo flashes bright light streaks as well as an outline of itself. While it happens, you can see a snippet of the 2002 PBS logo. Behind it is a transparent spotlight. Later, the logo just get revealed without a flash, and the tint has also changed to red-blue.

Variants: FX/SFX: The lights. The spreading effects and fading for the "Made by mpt" variants.
 * In 2004, an earlier variant has the same animation as before and all, but the same "M" from the previous logo replaces "mpt". When the light flashes, it reveals "Maryland Public Television" below.
 * For the beginning of some shows, either the show's title/logo or the MPT logo fades in, followed by "Made by mpt", already spread out, joining into the center. It then fades out and "Members of mpt" fades in and spreads out. It also fades out and "Thank you" fades in. It exists in two colors: red-blue and green (for Outdoors Maryland).

Music/Sounds: A short arrangement of the 2002 PBS music.

Availability: Seen on programming of the era.

Editor's Note: None.

12th Logo (2008-2022)
Nicknames: "PBS Coin", "Glass P-Head", "The Revival of TV Worth Watching"

Logo: On a blue/black gradient background, a blue transparent Circle PBS P-Head logo spins around and the MPT logo unscrambles itself and "Maryland Public Television" fades in below. On the background, we see "maryland public television" in blue and "tv worth watching" in white (albeit the latter is in front of the PBS).

Variants: FX/SFX: The text and the circle, which is all CGI.
 * On some programs, the show's title may appear before the P-Head Circle appears and "maryland public television" is absent and instead "made by" appears aside the MPT logo either on a red or blue background. "made by" fades out and "members of" slides in from behind "mpt". After that, the whole thing fades out and "thank you" fades in and glows.
 * A standalone version of the previously mentioned variant exists which is sometimes shortened.
 * Occasionally, the background is replaced with a different, wavy background and the text "national productions" appears below. Sometimes the text "Maryland Public Television" is shown below "national productions", italicized, either black or white. A shorter version also exists.
 * On Chesapeake Collectibles, the background is orange.
 * Sometimes, the text "maryland public television" is missing, and the logo is brighter.
 * Occasionally, "National Presentation" appears between the MPT logo and "maryland public television".
 * An HD version has "HD" slide from the right.

Music/Sounds: Usually a synth chime/French horn fanfare. For the textless variants, a piano tune. On the "made by" variants, the latter is extended with drums with a female or male announcer saying "This program (or the show's name) is made by MPT to serve all of our diverse communities, and is made possible by the generous support of our members. Thank you." The announcement may be cut only showing the first half.

Music/Sounds Variant: A Spanish dub of the "made by MPT" audio variant exists, oddly with the English text in the logo.

Availability: Current. Seen on Primal Grill, State Circle, and Your Money and Business, among others. Don't expect to see this on MotorWeek, however.

Editor's Note: None.