Touchstone Television

Logo descriptions by Matt Williams and Kris Starring

Logo captures by Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, Wisp2007, snelfu, V of Doom, and others

Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., LJVborgSuperSet, and V of Doom

Video captures courtesy of BlancheGoldenDream, JohnnyL80 and Brandondorf Raguz

Background
Touchstone Television was the television arm of Touchstone Pictures formed in 1985 under the Walt Disney Company to produce more adult-oriented shows and TV movies. In February 2007, Touchstone Television was renamed to "ABC Television Studio", which was renamed again to "ABC Studios" in May 2007; however from 2007-2009, Touchstone Television survived as an in-name-only unit of ABC Studios until the final season of Monk on USA.

1st Logo (March 21-April 25, 1985)
 Nicknames:  "Thunderball Shattering Light", "Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball"

 Logo:  Just a still shot of the 1984-1985 Touchstone Films logo, except "TELEVISION " replaces "FILMS ".

 FX/SFX:  None.

 Music/Sounds:  The ending theme of the show.

 Availability:  Extinct. Only seen on the short-lived ABC series Wildside.

 Scare Factor:  None.

2nd Logo (September 14, 1985-October 2004)
 Nicknames:  "The Snake", "Thunderball II", "Touchstone Thunderball II", "Thunderball Snake"

 Logo:  Same as the "Snake" movie logo, only the parts with the elongated circle are deleted. The text "TOUCHSTONE TELEVISION " is aside the blue circle, and the text has the lightning going through it. When it reaches the circle, the circle flashes and the lightning appears.

 Variants: 
 * September 14, 1985-July 12, 1987: "TOUCHSTONE FILMS "
 * September 16, 1987-May 7, 1988: "TOUCHSTONE PICTURES "
 * On some shows (especially on 90s rerun prints of Witt/Thomas shows), there would be a copyright stamp saying the year, and the text "Touchstone Films" (later "Touchstone Pictures and Television" or "Touchstone Television and Pictures"). The font for the copyright stamp may vary.
 * An enhanced version debuted in the late 1990s. This version had a much brighter flash and had a different font for "TELEVISION". This version is videotaped and was only seen on widescreen prints.
 * Like the movie logo, the positioning of the logo varies. For its first year it was in the center; for its second year beyond it was at the bottom of the screen.
 * There's a version of the videotaped variant where the flash is even bigger and is pointed to the right. This version debuted on Less Than Perfect.
 * On The Trouble with Normal, it had "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" fade in below the logo, which would then be followed by the Paramount Television logo.
 * A longer version of the 1988 logo exists, with the animation starting from right where the elongated circle brings forth the"TOUCHSTONE TELEVISION" text. This has so far only been spotted on the Boy Meets World episode, "Quiz Show".

 FX/SFX:  The flash, lightning, and somewhat simple cel animation.

 Music/Sounds: 
 * September 16, 1987-January 13, 1988: The last half of the Touchstone Pictures theme. Was only used on the short-lived series, The Oldest Rookie.
 * September 20, 1989-October 2004: A short descending piano with bells on the collision. This debuted on the short-lived show, The Nutt House.
 * A longer, extended version of the 1989 theme exists. It descends much longer and starts at a very high pitch (a la New Line Cinema)
 * In some cases, the ending theme would play over (like on the unaired live-action Clerks pilot from 1995) or none.

 Music/Sounds Variant:  Some international rerun prints of The Golden Girls would have the 1985 Buena Vista Television chimes theme playing over the logo.

 Availability:  Common. Can be seen on most non-family programs produced by the Walt Disney Company, specifically reruns of Home Improvement on TV Land and in local syndication, My Wife & Kids on Nick@Nite and ABC Family, Boy Meets World on ABC Family and Disney Channel, the first two seasons of Monk on MyNetworkTV and Cloo, The Golden Girls on Hallmark Channel, WEtv, and on DVD, and Empty Nest on Hallmark Channel. This logo has also sometimes been plastered with (or is followed by) the 1995 or 2005 Buena Vista Television logo; an example is The Golden Girls when it was being aired on Lifetime, which had the Buena Vista logo featuring the Touchstone copyright information. The same thing also happened with Nurses (when it was last reran on Lifetime in the late '90s). The version with the copyright info is retained on Home Improvement: The Complete First Season on DVD and appears on the aforementioned show on TV Land repeats. This was used on Jimmy Kimmel Live up to the October 2004 episodes. Also seen on Clerks: The Animated Series on DVD and The PJ's occasionally on TV One. Strangely on Australian airings of season 17 of The Amazing Race this logo was used (this is most likely due to the Seven Network's sloppy credit and logo practices). Was also seen on Blossom when last aired on Hub Network (before the rebrand to Discovery Family).

 Scare Factor:  Minimal, the different music makes it feel less ominous than the movie logo.

2nd Logo (October 2004-December 4, 2009)
 Nicknames:  "Flash", "Thunderball III", "CGI Golden-Light Thunderball", "Touchstone Thunderball III", "CGI Touchstone Thunderball"

 Logo:  Basically a sped-up version of the 2003 Touchstone Pictures logo. We see a light shining over a black screen. The light condenses and we see the gold stone from past Touchstone logos over a blue sphere. Later, the words: '''TOUCHSTONE  TELEVISION ''' zoom out underneath the sphere.

 FX/SFX:  Same as the theatrical logo, but sped up.

 Music/Sounds:  Usually none or the show's ending theme. Sometimes, the 1989 theme from the previous logo was used, as in the case of Less Than Perfect.

 Availability:  Common. Appeared on Touchstone Television's programs from 2004 to 2007, such as Less Than Perfect, which was found to have the old jingle. Seen on reruns of Grey's Anatomy on Lifetime, while other shows like 8 Simple Rules on ABC Family, My Wife & Kids on ABC Family and Nick @ Nite, Scrubs on WGN America, Lost, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Criminal Minds on A&E and Ion Television, among others continued to feature the ending theme. Only Monk continued using this one until its last episode.

 Scare Factor:  None.