LBS Communications/Summary

Logo descriptions by Jason Jones, Jeffrey Gray, James Fabiano, Juniorfan88, and Logoboy95

Logo captures by Juniorfan88, Shadeed A. Kelly, wisp2007, Logoboy95, V of Doom, Pygmalion X, and others

Editions by Juniorfan88, Shadeed A. Kelly, and Brendan Richards

Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80 and Eric S.

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, March 7, 1986)

Nickname: "The Pan-Out"

Logo: On a black background, a white beam of light with several twinkles on it "scans" across the screen, leaving a large royal blue fused "LBS," consisting of an "L" and an "S" nearly fused together and a "B" in the gap between them, in its trail, in the center of the screen, then the Blue LBS logo slides back a little. After the LBS text slides, a small white flash appears, and leaving behind the words "LEXINGTON BROADCAST SERVICES COMPANY" in white.

Variants:

• In 1983, the text was superimposed in the Helvetica white font with "INC." at the end, also blacking out the original text.
• Later that year, the flash was completely altered.
• There is also a still variant of this logo with the texts "AN" above and "COMMUNICATIONS PRESENTATION" below the logo respectively.
• A filmed version of this logo exists.

FX/SFX: The beam of light, and the flash revealing the company name. Scanimate effects.

Music/Sounds: An uplifting synth tune accompanied by a rising series of beeps, and a synthesized "zap" (which sounds oddly like a person sneezing) accompanying the flash. All three elements of the soundtrack sound like they were made on a Moog synthesizer.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On early episodes of Inspector Gadget and the still version, the logo is silent.
• On The Glen Campbell Music Show, the end theme plays over the logo.

Availability: All versions are now very rare. However, it can be found 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 a Cookie Jar Entertainment logo). It also appeared when This TV aired certain episodes of the aforementioned series. The variation with "INC." is quite rare, but was seen on some early episodes of Tales from the Darkside on Chiller. The still variant can be seen at the end of Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation. Can also be seen on GetTV airings of The Glen Campbell Music Show. Also appeared on '80s syndication prints of many shows from the CPT catalog.

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)

Videotaped version

Filmed version

Nickname: "The Unfolding Letters"

Logo: On a shaded violet gradient background, a Dodger blue curved "LBS" (exactly like the "LBS" in the 1st logo, but in a medium shade of light blue) zooms out while "unfolding." It stops in the center of the screen. "LBS COMMUNICATIONS INC." wipes in under the logo as the LBS logo "shines".

Variants:

• There are also two main sets of this version; a filmed version and a videotaped version.
• There is a more recent variant seen on What's Happening Now!! in which the words "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" fade in at the bottom. This is then followed by the Columbia Pictures Television (or nowadays, Sony Pictures Television) logo.
• There is a superimposed version seen on a PSA for Kideo TV where 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: The Scanimated "LBS" unfolding, the company name "shining" in.

Music/Sounds: A pretty dramatic 9-note synthesizer score ending in 2 drumbeats.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On the DVD print of the season 1 What's Happening Now!! episode “Mr. First Nighter”, the Suzanne Ciani theme from the 1982 CPT logo is used.
• On the superimposed Kideo TV variant, an announcer, continuing from the DiC logo (the first half of the logo combo), says "...and is produced in association with LBS Communications, Inc.!".

Availability: Uncommon. This logo is the easiest to find from the company. The videotaped version still survived on Tales from the Darkside, but only when aired on Chiller, as Syfy airings and DVD prints respectively plaster it with the Lorimar-Telepictures and CBS Television Distribution logos. It also remains intact on DVD releases of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin and the first season of What's Happening Now!!. It was also seen on season 2 of Inspector Gadget and most seasons of Heathcliff and the Cadillac Cats (DVD releases of both preserve the logo). It's seen at the end WOR-TV airing Night of the Living Dead, after Hal-Roach Studios logo. The filmed version appeared on Rainbow Brite, which is hardly ever aired these days, along with other DiC shows from this era.

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: The panning-out and sliding-in of the logo and background. Nice CGI, if a bit simplistic (even for the late '80s), but if you look closely at the balls, you can see the flat faces that they're composed of. Whether this was to cut rendering time or simply an aesthetic chosen is unknown.

Music/Sounds:

• 1987-89: An ascending/descending jingle with twittering sounds as the meteors streak through, followed by a whoosh and a tense remix of the '84 LBS theme. A short version starts just as the meteors streak.
• 1989-91: A rather eerie descending synth jingle with a deep wind sound, then a dark 2-note synth jingle. A longer version exists.
• 1990: A quiet synth piano sounder. There is also a low toned version.

Music/Sound Variant: Sometimes, the ending theme is heard.

Availability:

• 1987-89: Very rare. The distribution version appears occasionally on Father Knows Best on Antenna TV. It was spotted on a repeat of Hazel on TV Land years ago and the very last season of Inspector Gadget. It was also intact on the final season of Tales from the Darkside (that would feature the 2nd Tribune logo), but as with the previous logo, it's plastered on Syfy showings. This can also be found on Inspector Gadget tapes released by Maier Group. Also seen on some episodes through the finale of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin on DVD.
• 1989-91: Rare, but you can still find this one on What's Happening Now!! and occasionally on Father Knows Best and The Monkees on Antenna TV.
• 1990: Extinct. It was seen on a few syndie episodes in tandem with the 1989 logo on Family Feud.
• In-credit and Still variant: This is also extinct. It was only seen on the final season of 21 Jump Street in syndication, but current prints remove this and the other, so don't expect them to appear on any sort of modern release whatsoever.

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

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

Logo: It starts out with a yellow/white oval coming out first. Then, the LBS logo in red goes down from the top of the screen, and afterward, it displays a purple banner which reads "15th ANNIVERSARY" in gold. After the logo is completed, the entire logo shines near the dates.

Variant: A shorter version exists.

FX/SFX: The oval coming out, the red LBS coming down, the banner appearing, and the logo shining.

Music/Sounds: A mellow synthesizer score with a "ching" sound to indicate the sheen.

Music/Sounds Variant: Shorter versions have a three note tune.

Availability: Ultra rare, maybe extinct. Appeared on season two of Baywatch as well as on the 1991-92 syndicated season of Family Feud. Currently, the logo never appears anywhere, being plastered with the FremantleMedia logo, although the 2021 Visual Entertainment Inc. release of Baywatch might retain it on season two.