In memory of Norman Lear (1922-2023)
Background[]
T.A.T. Communications Company (also spelled simply as "TAT") was formed in 1974 by Norman Lear and comedian Jerry Perenchio, a year before Bud Yorkin ended his partnership with Lear, which produced The Jeffersons and One Day at a Time among others. In 1976, T.A.T. formed its own distribution division. On January 6, 1982, T.A.T. Communications Company was reincorporated as "Embassy Communications, Inc." and renamed the T.A.T. production division as "Embassy Television" (now ELP Communications) with the acquisition of Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation by Lear and Perenchio, while the distribution division of this company was renamed "Embassy Telecommunications". T.A.T. stood for a Yiddish phrase pronounced "Tuchus Affen Tisch", which meant roughly "Enough talk- put your [butt] on the table". T.A.T. Communications Company is now known as ELP Communications and serves as an in-name only unit of Sony Pictures Television.
(1979?-1982?)[]
Logo: The logo starts with an orange background, which is not long after revealed to be a star zooming away from the screen, revealing a black background featuring the text "TAT" in lined letters, "DISTRIBUTED BY", and "COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY", both in a white Futura font, above and below the logo respectively. The star, while its edges increasingly feather out, zooms out between the upper right and left of the "T" and "A" and remains there for the rest of the logo's duration. After resting in its intended place, the star marginally grows briefly before reverting to its preceding size.
FX/SFX: Analog switcher effects, likely done on a Grass Valley 300 switcher.
Music/Sounds: A 12-note synth theme composed by associate producer John Maxwell Anderson.
Music/Sounds Variant: One airing of The Jeffersons has the jingle slightly low-pitched, as heard here.
Availability: Long extinct, and notoriously difficult to find.
- It was only seen on original daytime CBS reruns of One Day at a Time and The Jeffersons and CBS Late Movie airings of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, as well as original NBC reruns of The Facts of Life. It has been said that it appeared on a few broadcasts of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman on TV Land in 2002 during the Norman Lear Marathon and in 1994 on reruns of The Jeffersons on WGN-TV.
- VHS releases of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman were rumored to have it, but it has been confirmed it's not on them.
- A partial clip of the logo before it was cut out by a CBS ID was finally spotted on the October 21, 1980 rerun of a 1975 episode of One Day at a Time.
- A very faint segment of the tune before it was cut out by the Columbia TriStar Television Distribution logo had also been spotted on another episode of One Day at a Time that originally aired on December 9, 1979.
- This logo was quickly replaced in syndication with the Embassy Telecommunications logo once it was introduced.
- The full logo was finally rediscovered on December 28, 2024 on a 1980 rerun of a 1975 episode of The Jeffersons.
Editor's Note: This is perhaps the rarest logo on this wiki. As a result of its rarity, it is one of the most popular/infamous logos in the community, spawning a widespread amount of parodies, remakes, and fake "findings" prior to its full discovery on December 28, 2024. This logo has also been nicknamed "The Cheesy Star" before and after its finding, due to the animation and the synthesized jingle.