LBS Communications/Summary

Background: 1976 was the year that Henry Siegel created Lexington Broadcast Services (commonly known by its initials, "LBS"). In the 1980s, “Company” was added to its name. In 1984, Siegel reincorporated the company to "LBS Communications, Inc.". LBS also joined forces with Columbia Pictures Television and created "Colex Enterprises", a company distributing series produced by Screen Gems and CPT, which would last until January 1988. Over the years, the company would produce/distribute miscellaneous television shows such as Inspector Gadget and Heathcliff (DiC), What's Happening!! and What's Happening Now!! (CPT), Baywatch, Family Feud (Mark Goodson), and World of Wrestling. LBS was also an ad-sales barter until they formed "TV Horizons". LBS Communications started losing money in the late 1980s and eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 1991. This left LBS to sell around 80 to 85% of the assets to All American Television in March 1992. Despite all the adversity, LBS would still live on in the 1990s as an in-name-only unit of All American Television, and was sold to Pearson, plc. in 1997 and was later renamed to Pearson Television in 1998; the production company would close in 2001. Today, most of the LBS library, with some exceptions, is owned by FremantleMedia.

1st Logo (September 1976-1984)[]

Nickname: "The Pan-Out"

Logo: On a black background, a group of four small lights flashing multiple colors scan across the screen, leaving a large fused blue "LBS" (consisting of an "L" and "S" nearly fused together and a "B" in the gap between them). The LBS logo slides back into the background and, after the LBS text slides into place, a small white flash appears, leaving behind the text "LEXINGTON BROADCAST SERVICES COMPANY" in a white Futura font.

Variants:

A filmed version also exists.
On Not for Women Only, an in-credit LBS logo is seen with the text "Distributed by LEXINGTON BROADCAST SERVICES" above it.
In 1983, the text was altered to have a different font (Helvetica) and ", INC." was included at the end of the name. The ending animation is also altered to have a softer, computer-generated flash.
A still variant of this logo exists, with the blue text "AN" above and "COMMUNICATIONS PRESENTATION" below the logo, respectively.
On most episodes of The Glen Campbell Music Show, the animated logo is superimposed over the credits.
On early 1990s Family Channel airings of Inspector Gadget, the logo is slightly sped up.

FX/SFX: Backlit cel animation, with chyroned text for the 1983 variant.

Music/Sounds: An uplifting Moog synthesizer theme (a synth bass note followed by a six-note woodwind tune). This is accompanied by a rising series of beeps, and a synthesized "zap" accompanying the flash.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On early episodes of Inspector Gadget, none.
On The Glen Campbell Music Show and Joel Grey: Live in L.A., the end theme plays over the logo.
On a Serbian-dubbed print of Inspector Gadget, this logo has the music from the 1996 Saban "Twirly-Doo" logo due to a reverse plastering error.

Availability: Seen on shows by the company from the time-period until 1984.

This logo first appeared on LBS' first nationally syndicated program Hot Fudge.
It is also intact on the Inspector Gadget: The Original Series DVD set and on the Inspector Gadget: Go, Go Gadget Collection DVD (with the exception of the "Launch Time" episode, which replaces all logos at the end with the 2004 Cookie Jar logo).
- It was also seen when This TV aired certain episodes of the aforementioned series.
The variation with "INC." can be seen on some early episodes of Tales from the Darkside last seen on Syfy and the now-defunct Chiller.
- Some airings of the show on Syfy, however, have the 2nd 1986 Lorimar-Telepictures logo, while DVD releases (as well as Comet in the USA, and Horror Channel airings in the UK) use the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo instead.
This logo is also still intact on the 2015 Strawberry Shortcake - Double Feature: The Wonderful World of Strawberry Shortcake/Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City DVD released by CBS Home Entertainment.
The still variant can be seen at the end of Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation.
This logo can also be seen on GetTV airings of The Glen Campbell Music Show.
It was also seen on 1980s syndication prints of shows from the CPT catalog, including those originally distributed by TAT Communications Company, plastering its elusive "Rising Star" logo.
It was also seen at the end of a 1985 airing of Rainbow Brite on affiliate WNEW (now FOX 5), following the audio-less variant of the videotaped version of the DIC "Vortex" logo.

Editor’s Note: The music and animation seem fairly primitive nowadays, but for the time this wasn't a bad logo.

2nd Logo (June 27, 1984-March 26, 1988)[]

Nickname: "The Unfolding Letters"

Logo: On a shaded violet gradient background with a floor, the "LBS" from the previous logo (now in a medium shade of light blue) zooms out while "unfolding" and stops in the center of the screen. "LBS COMMUNICATIONS INC." wipes in under the logo, in an ITC Avant Garde font, as the LBS logo "shines" with a stripe of white inside. The shadow of the LBS logo can be seen below on the floor.

Variants:

There are also two main variants of this logo; a filmed version and a videotaped version.
On What's Happening Now!!, the words "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" fade in at the bottom.
- On current prints, this is then followed by the 2002 SPT logo.
A superimposed version also exists on a PSA for Kideo TV. Here, the "LBS COMMUNICATIONS, INC." text is in a different font and is blue, with "KIDEO-TV IS A TRADEMARK OF LBS COMMUNICATIONS INC." below the logo.

FX/SFX: Computer animation and chyroned text.

Music/Sounds: A nine-note tune composed by Andrew Holtzman. The tune starts with a brass note held throughout along with a hi-hat, then a Stratocaster guitar plays the next four notes, and then a piano plays the last four notes. It ends in two drumbeats.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On a current print of the What's Happening Now!! episode "Mr. First Nighter," it uses the 1982 CPT music.
On the superimposed Kideo TV variant, John Harlan, continuing from the DiC logo (the first half of the logo combo), says "...and is produced in association with LBS Communications, Inc.".

Availability: Seen on shows by the company from the time-period until 1988.

The videotaped version survived on Tales from the Darkside on the now defunct Chiller and Syfy, although some episodes plastered it with the 2nd 1986 Lorimar-Telepictures logo.
The videotaped version, along with the videotaped variant of the DIC Entertainment "Vortex" logo is also preserved on the 1991 UK VHS of Heathcliff & Cats and Company: Xmas Memories from Tempo Video.
The videotaped version is also intact at the end of the 1986 Video Collection UK VHS of GoBots, following the 1983 variant of the 1979 Hanna-Barbera logo.
The 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo plastered this logo on Tales from the Darkside DVDs, Comet airings, and Horror Channel airings in the UK, but it's still intact on DVDs of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin and What's Happening Now!!, as well as uploads on both the official The Jim Henson Company YouTube channel and Amazon Prime Video of the former.
- It is unknown if the ThrillerVideo/IVE VHS releases of TFTD retain this logo, or the previous logo.
It was also seen on season two of Inspector Gadget and was on most of the seasons of Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, respectively (DVDs of both also preserve the logo).
Nickelodeon's late 1980s-late 1990s airings of these series may also contain this logo as well.
The filmed version was seen on Pole Position and Rainbow Brite, respectively, both of which rarely rerun on TV in most regions anymore, among some other DiC shows from the era (though if they are rerun in the future, this logo might be intact).
The filmed version is also intact on certain episodes of M.A.S.K. on Shout! Factory TV.
What's Happening Now!! reruns on TVOne also retain this logo as of 2022.

3rd Logo (April 12, 1987-April 27, 1991)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Space and Dots", "Comets and Dots", "Slide-In"

Logo: A group of round balls pan to the left of the screen. The "LBS" logo slides in from the right of the screen, during which 2 groups of 5 conical lights (possibly representing meteors) streak through. The logo makes a stop at the front of the screen, and "LBS COMMUNICATIONS, INC." fades in below.

Variants:

On LBS-distributed programs, "Distributed by" would fade in above the company name.
The 1987 variant exists in filmed and videotaped versions.
The "LBS" logo can appear either blue, dark blue, or purple.
As a distributor, it would sometimes have the copyright stamp.
A still in-credit variant with magenta lettering with the text "In association with" in white was seen on the final season of 21 Jump Street. Later episodes of that season had a still image with a smaller LBS logo in magenta and the company name in a big bold white font on a gradient violet background. Very similar to the 1984-87 2nd logo.
On the 1988 documentary Mysteries of the Pyramids, the text below the logo changes to "PRESENTS", and then the animation is played in reverse. This was accompanied by an eerie sounder.
On the 1990 TV special A Tribute to John Lennon, the logo fades in halfway, and no text appears below the LBS logo at all; the camera then zooms into the lower hole in the "B" to reveal a starfield and the word "PRESENTS" in a chromed font over it.
On the 1989 TV special Exploring Psychic Powers ... Live, a similar version to the Mysteries of the Pyramids variant is played, except "PRESENTS" is placed in the middle.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds:

1987-1989: An ascending/descending jingle with twittering sounds as the meteors streak through, followed by a whoosh and a tense remix of the 1984 LBS theme. This was done on a Roland D-50 via the PN-D50 expansion pack using the patches "Glockenspiel" and "Stereo Polysynth" and on a Yamaha DX7 using the patch "Brass 1". A short version exists, starting just as the meteors streak.
1989-1991: A descending synth jingle with a deep wind sound, then a two-note synthesized chorus. The second half of the 1989 theme is also used on the end of Exploring Psychic Powers... Live.
- The distribution variant has a longer version of the 1989 theme, with the last note of the first jingle and the first note of the second one being held on longer.

Other variants include:

1988 (Mysteries of the Pyramids): An eerie sounder.
1988 (Bonanza: The Next Generation): The closing theme.
1989 (Start of Exploring Psychic Powers... Live): A choir vocalizing.
1989 (Hunt for Stolen War Treasures): A drum pounding through-out (the start of the opening theme), with an announcer saying "The following is an LBS presentation."
1990 (Airings of a few syndie episodes of Family Feud): A quiet synth sounder. A low-pitched version, with the pitch at half a semitone lower, also exists.
1990 (A Tribute to John Lennon): A drumroll is heard first, followed by a nine-note synth-brass fanfare. This was likely done on a Roland synthesizer.

On MeTV Toons airings of Season 1 Episode 1 of Police Academy, the 1987 audio is used instead of the 1989 audio. On a June 26, 2024 airing of Season 1 Episode 2 of Police Academy on MeTV Toons, the 1987 version of the logo plays silently; other reruns of said episode have the 1989 audio.

Availability:

1987-1989: The distribution version is seen occasionally on Father Knows Best on Antenna TV and FETV.
- It was also spotted on a repeat of Hazel on TV Land years ago and the last season of Inspector Gadget. Nickelodeon's airings of the latter in the 1990s also may have kept it as well.
- The 1987 version of this logo can also be found on the first two episodes of Police Academy on MeTV Toons (although the rest of the episodes have the 1989 version instead), following the 1984 WBTV logo.
- It was also intact on the final season of Tales from the Darkside (that would feature the 2nd Tribune Entertainment logo) last seen on Syfy, but some episodes plaster it with the 2nd 1986 Lorimar-Telepictures logo instead.
- The 1987 version of this logo is also preserved on Inspector Gadget VHS releases released by Maier Group.
- It is also preserved on some episodes through the finale of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin on DVD.
- It was also seen on Thunderbirds, A Team Portrait.
- It is also preserved on the 1988 U.S. VHS release of Mysteries of the Pyramids with Omar Shariff, albeit with the ending theme playing over it.
1989-1991: This version is seen on some shows currently like What's Happening Now!! on TVOne and occasionally on Father Knows Best and The Monkees on Antenna TV and (for the former) FETV.
- The 1989 version of this logo was also seen on CBN's reruns of The Young Rebels and Nostalgia Television's reruns of The Interns, as well as Eisched.
- It was also seen at the end of a December 1992 airing of It Nearly Wasn't Christmas on affiliate WGBS.
- It was also seen on early-90s syndie prints of The New Adventures of He-Man following the Jetlag Productions logo (however, current prints thereof plaster the latter with the 1999 Entertainment Rights logo instead).
- This may also be seen on syndicated movies that LBS had rights to such as the Image Organization-owned Backstab, Martial Law and Crime Lords, among possible others.
- This version can also be found on MeTV Toons airings of Police Academy starting with Season 1 Episode 3.
In-credit and Still variant: It was only seen on the final season of 21 Jump Street in syndication, but current prints remove this and the other.
- International prints, however, may keep this, as did a French TV airing in the mid-1990s.

4th Logo (September 23, 1991-May 18, 1992)[]

Nicknames: "15th Year Anniversary Logo", "The LBS Egg Logo", "Happy Birthday LBS!"

Logo: On a black background, a yellow/white oval comes from the middle of the screen and swoops forwards. Then, the LBS logo in red comes down from the top of the screen, followed by a purple banner flying up as the gold text "15TH ANNIVERSARY" wipes in over it. After the logo is completed, the entire logo shines as "1976-1991" (also in gold) appears along the bottom edge of the oval.

Short Variant: The logo starts at the banner flying up.

FX/SFX: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A mellow synthesizer score. Starting in late 1991, a five-note synthesized somber tune ending in synth guitar chords is used (a short version of the latter also exists). Both versions have a "ping" sound (different in each other) to indicate the shine.

Music/Sounds Variant: On a Universal Channel Poland airing of at least one episode of the second season of Baywatch, silence.

Availability: Ultra rare, maybe extinct. This logo was seen on the original U.S. airings of season 2 of Baywatch, as well as on the 1991-1992 syndicated season of Family Feud.

This logo is also retained on the Goodtimes Home Video VHS release of The Elvis Files.
This logo is currently plastered by the 2001 and 2018 FremantleMedia/Fremantle logos on season 2 Baywatch episodes on DVD and HD remasters. However, the U.S. VHS release of the said show from Avid Home Entertainment also retains this.
It was also last seen on second season episodes of Baywatch on Universal Channel Poland as well (albeit cropped to 16:9).