Logo descriptions by Matt A., James Fabiano, and Adam P.
Logo captures by Bob Fish, Mr. Logo Lord, V of Doom, megamanj2004, and others
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly and V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of Phasicblu, DrClaw77, and JohnnyL80
Background: Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation (or simply "Lorimar-Telepictures") was formed on April 21, 1986 by the merger of Lorimar Productions and Telepictures Corporation, after it was announced on October 7, 1985 by Lorimar chairman Merv Adelson. In 1988, Lorimar-Telepictures' TV production and distribution units were rebranded "Lorimar Television" and "Lorimar Distribution", though the latter business had no onscreen logo. On January 12, 1989, L-T was bought by Warner Communications (now "Time Warner") and was folded into Warner Bros. Television Distribution and became "Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution".
1st Logo (March-September 8, 1986)[]
Nicknames: "Linewriter/Flying Parallelograms", "The Lorimar/Telepictures Combo", "Linecoaster", "Loripictures"
Logo: A combination of the Lorimar "Red/Orange Line of Doom" from the Lorimar Motion Pictures logo with the 1983 version of the Telepictures "Flying Parallelograms" logo (which is shifted down on the screen and played slower).
Variant: There exists a superimposed variant.
FX/SFX: The formation of the names.
Music/Sounds: Bernard Hoffer's theme from the 1985 Telepictures "Rollercoaster" logo. Sometimes preceded by the last note of the Lorimar "Line of Doom" logo.
Availability: This is a placeholder logo, so it's a pretty rare find. Was seen on early syndication airings of The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime, as well as early-mid 1986 episodes of Dallas and Knots Landing, all of which have fallen to plastering to later L-T and WB logos. However, it can be seen on the SilverHawks pilot episode "The Origin Story" as well as early S1 episodes of ThunderCats, all of which retain the logo on DVD and when they reair on TV.
2nd Logo (September 1986-Spring 1989)[]
Nicknames: "L-T", "Fireworks", "Crashing Comets"
Logo: Two comet-like streaks with a blueish glow swerve toward each other. As the lines get closer, the ends of each start to gain a red glow. When the lines connect, a red firework-type effect flashes/explodes in the background, and the Lorimar-Telepictures logo zooms-up rapidly in the center. This logo has both company names in their usual fonts, in white, with a hyphen between them. When the logo has finished zooming out, the red "fireworks" fade into a black background, which yet again, starts to fade to blue. Sparkles appear, making parts of the logo shine.
Variants:
- Appears in-credit on some episodes of The People's Court and Love Connection.
- In 1987, the background would remain black after the logo zooms in. An exception is on the first-season Full House episode "The Big Three-O", which uses the blue starry background variant.
- Some episodes of The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime have the background fading to red.
- Sometimes the trademark symbol "TM" would appear small, a bit bigger, or would feature none at all on the 1987 version.
- Appears as a short version minus the twinkles or the 2nd half of the logo theme (such as on later S1 and S2 episodes of ThunderCats).
- A warp-speed version also exists.
- On the Full House episode "The Return of Grandma", "In Association With" (in the font used for the closing credits) appears at the start of the logo, and cuts out right before the lines connect.
- There exists a "matted" 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio on current high-definition prints of Jack the Ripper.
FX/SFX: The fireworks, the "L-T" logo popping out. The animation was produced by Calico.
Music/Sounds: A four-note royal-sounding synth horn fanfare combined with a tympani drum, with the last note being held. Three short chimes are played along the sparkles appearing. The fanfare was arranged and composed by Score Productions. This logo was also played with the then-current Rankin-Bass logo at that time for animated shows.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- Very rarely, the original 1971 Lorimar music was played with this logo. This was spotted on a rerun of a first-season episode of Perfect Strangers.
- On original NBC broadcasts and as well as some reruns (namely on TV Land's 2005 50 hour marathon of Warner Bros. Television shows (for their 50th anniversary)) of the 2nd and 3rd seasons of The Hogan Family (when it was originally titled Valerie and Valerie's Family respectively from 1986-1988), an odd-sounding high-tone variation of the theme was used. In other cases (namely the 2006 ABC Family run), it's usually plastered over with the 1992 version of the Lorimar Television logo with the end-title theme playing.
- Over the end-title theme from any show or the respective logo theme, a voiceover would sometimes run.
- On some series, the theme cuts out before the twinkle sound.
- Some series would have the last half of the logo theme.
- On the S1 Full House episode "The Big Three-O," the logo starts like it normally would, but once the blue starry background comes up, the music fades out as it normally would on the short version, and the logo is silent for the rest of the duration, but then the first note of the 2003 Warner Bros. Television logo theme plays right before cutting there. This can be found on the DVD version, but not on syndicated reruns.
- On a few episodes of It's a Living, the last few seconds of the end title theme would play over this logo before the final few seconds of the L-T jingle played.
Availability: Uncommon. Seen on shows from the period, such as the 1980s Alvin and the Chipmunks starting with the fourth season, Dallas, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, the late 1980s version of Gumby titled Gumby Adventures, Superior Court, The People's Court, Love Connection, the first season of Full House, as well as Perfect Strangers and the first season of Fun House. Some episodes of Mama's Family also had this logo, but currently plasters it with ether the Telepictures Distribution and/or Warner Bros Television Distribution (with the music intact surprisingly). Later S1 ThunderCats episodes would also have this logo, as well as the short-lived game shows Perfect Match, and The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime. It was also seen on Freddy's Nightmares, but some current airings plaster this with the Warner Bros. Television logo, however it is still available on VHS releases and some series episodes whenever it's reran. This logo currently appears on two episodes of Tales from the Darkside on SyFy, before it was plastered by the LBS Communications and Tribune logos. On DVD, it appears on the first season of Full House and the first two volumes of ThunderCats. This has also appeared on some international reruns of the 1st 2 seasons of ALF as well, along with ALF: The Animated Series. This was also seen on the short-lived Max Headroom, but when it last aired on the defunct TechTV, some episodes retained this logo while most other episodes had this logo plastered with the 2001 WBTD logo, although the Shout! Factory DVD release has it intact on most of the episodes (with the WBTV logo following). This is also seen at the end of most episodes of Gumby Adventures on the 2001 Rhino Home Video DVD sets. Strangely, this logo was seen after the Filmways and MGM logos on the Mister Ed episode "Love Thy New Neighbor" on ThisTV. It was also seen on the 1987 Family Home Entertainment VHS release of Gumby's Supporting Cast, along with a 2004 Telemundo broadcast of Return of the Living Dead Part II. Also appears at the end of the original VHS release of The Boy Who Could Fly, and recent international reruns of Heathcliff and the Cadillac Cats (but on the latter, it's only at the beginning of the show.) Also was seen on the fourth and fifth seasons of It's a Living as well, following the Witt/Thomas Productions logo.