PITS Films

Background
PITS Films was a television distribution arm of Tandem Productions launched in 1978 to distribute most of the material by Tandem such as Sanford and Son, Maude, and Good Times, all of which were produced by Norman Lear, with the former by Bud Yorkin. On January 6, 1982, it was reincorporated as "Embassy Telecommunications" with the acquisition of Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation by Lear and Jerry Perenchio both by folding the distribution division of T.A.T. Communications Co. PITS was an acronym, which stood for "Pie In The Sky".

(1979-1982)
Nicknames: "PITS Stars", "Cheesy Stars"

Logo: Against a blue background reads the text "DISTRIBUTED BY PITS FILMS" with the word "PITS" in 3-D lettering. In the three spaces of the letters, some white stars, one by one, that seem to be growing, and then settle in their spaces. As it fades out, it reads:

DISTRIBUTED BY

P☆I☆T☆S

FILMS

FX/SFX: The stars "growing". All Scanimate effects.

Music/Sounds: A weird synth tune that ascends and descends repeatedly, ending in a strange fanfare (Consorting of two double-synth notes) composed by John Maxwell Anderson.

Availability: Extinct. This was seen on original syndicated reruns of Maude, Sanford and Son and Good Times, but due to plastering with newer logos, it's gone for good outside of tape trading. It made a surprise appearance on a late-1990s TBS rerun of the season six Good Times episode "J.J. the Teacher," and only because Columbia-Tristar forgot to remove it.

Editor's Note: The entire logo is done with cheap chyron, and the stars look terrible.