Lorimar Home Video

 Background : Before Lorimar purchased video distributor "Karl Home Video" in 1984 and relaunched the company as "Karl-Lorimar Home Video" (later known as "Lorimar Home Video"), the company's previous features were issued first by USA Home Video, CBS Video (through MGM/CBS) and later CBS/Fox, who retained the home video rights to the pre-1984 library until Lorimar-Telepictures was acquired by Warner Bros. in 1989. Karl Home Video itself was launched in 1980 by Stuart Karl (1953-1991) under the name Karl Video Corporation, before the "Corporation" was dropped in 1983, and in 1984 it became Karl Home Video. Karl later resigned from the company due to disputes between him and his superiors, and the Karl name was ultimately dropped. Karl didn't have an animated logo until 1983.

1st Logo
(1983-1985)

 Nickname : "Big K"

 Logo : We see parts of the bottom of a giant "K" slide up from the bottom of the screen, with the whole top half flipping up afterward. After, the "K" glows orange and gains a much thicker outline.

 Variant : After Lorimar's acquisition of Karl, the "K" zooms out after glows it orange, and the words "KARL-LORIMAR" (in the Lorimar font) and "H O M E   V I D E O" in a rounded font slide in. The color is also lighter.

 FX/SFX : The K being formed.

 Music/Sounds :
 * 1983-1984?: An upbeat disco fanfare.
 * 1984?-1985: None.

 Availability : Extremely rare. Found on VHS releases of Money Hunt and Americathon as well as the first releases in the Jane Fonda's Workout series, among others. Earlier releases, like the 1981 VHS of The Marilyn Monroe Story and the 1982 VHS of Jane Fonda Workout, never used a logo. Later prints of tapes from this era replace this logo with subsequent Lorimar logos.

2nd Logo
(1985-1986)

View here

 Nickname : "Multi-Colored Bar"

 Logo : At the bottom of a black background, we see a print version of the Karl-Lorimar Home Video logo as seen on the next logo, except it was in 2D and in more solid colors. There's a "TM" symbol next to the "KARL-LORIMAR" text, plus "KARL-LORIMAR" is in white.

FX/SFX : None.

 Music/Sounds : None.

 Availability : Seen on Karl Lorimar tapes of the period, like some early Kideo Video releases (which included the original pressings of the first two volumes of M.A.S.K., which is itself retained on the 1986 Video Collection UK releases, as it was sourced from an earlier master), and a reprint of Jane Fonda's Workout. Later prints of tapes with this logo replace it with the following logo. Releases with this logo come in the same packaging as the previous logo, except the "K" box is replaced by the logo itself.

 Editor's Note : It appears to be wasted and a placeholder before the next logo came out.

3rd logo
(1986-1989, Early 1990's)

 Nickname : "Multi-Colored Bar II"

 Logo : Basically an animated version of the previous logo. A multi-colored line of /// with the words " " sweeps onto the screen. It straightens out, and sets itself down at the bottom of the screen. Then a whole mess of gray dust collects and converges above the bar, forming the "KARL-LORIMAR" text. Then to give it a shiny look, little stars sparkle at the letter's edges in time with the "ding ding ding" fadeout of the music.

 Variants :
 * Early 1986 releases, like Letters to Brezhnev, Consumer Reports: Cars, and the Kideo Video releases, has the brighter color scheme.
 * From 1987-89, the text above the bar just reads "LORIMAR", and is larger to fit the width of the bar. It does not have a 3D look and has a ™ on it.

 FX/SFX : CGI.

 Music/Sounds : A synth sweep brings in the bar, and as the dust forms the logo, a 5 note synth melody (similar to the "V of Doom" music) plays. The music closes with a "ding ding ding..." fade out.

 Music/Sounds Variant : A silent version is used on the earliest releases with this logo, as well as some Kideo Video releases.

 Availability : Rare. Can be seen on videos such as several Jane Fonda Workout tapes, Clifford's Sing Along Adventure, Manhunter, Maximum Overdrive, Housekeeper, Scream for Help, Max Headroom: The Original Story, American Anthem, Return of the Living Dead Part II, Russkies, Trick or Treat, End of the Line, Nowhere to Hide, Big Shots, In the Mood, Made in Heaven, The Chipmunk Adventure, King Kong Lives, Crimes of the Heart, Prettykill, Nobody's Fool, Action Jackson, My Beautiful Laundrette, Warren Miller's Guide to Skiing, and Insignificance, among others. It has also been seen on a early 1990's Warner Home Video VHS reissue of Americathon instead of the 1985 Warner Home Video logo. The Lorimar Home Video variant also plasters the Karl-Lorimar logo on a 1988 reprint of The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (which still uses the 1985 box), preceded by the period WHV logo.

 Editor's Note : None.