TriStar Television/Summary

Logo descriptions by Nicholas Aczel and Michael Bode
Logo captures by Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, and V of Doom
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly and V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of Eric S., Michael Bass, and mcydodge919

Background[]

Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. launched its own television arm as "Tri-Star Television" in March 1986 after the formation of "TeleVentures" with Stephen J. Cannell Productions and Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions suggested by Stephen J. Cannell. The first official series was Downtown. After HBO (its last partner) dropped out of the venture the same year, Coke owned 100% of Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. Tri-Star Television was folded into the newly-formed Columbia Pictures Television on January 4, 1988 along with Columbia/Embassy Television after Coke sold its entertainment business to Tri-Star and renamed the company as "Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." on December 21, 1987. Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. was later spun-off as a reorganized company in 1988. On October 7, 1991 under Sony Pictures Entertainment, TriStar Television was relaunched by dropping the hyphen (-) after acquiring several television shows from New World Entertainment. On February 21, 1994, TriStar Television merged with CPT and became "Columbia TriStar Television". Both studios still produced its series independently, but in 1999 TriStar Television was folded into CTT (now "Sony Pictures Television") before Mad About You and The Nanny ended, but kept its name until 2000 on Early Edition. However, Malcolm & Eddie used the CTT credit. In May 28, 2015, it was relaunched once again as a boutique production label for Sony Pictures Television. The first new series under this label was Amazon's Good Girls Revolt.

1st Logo
(September 27, 1986-March 1988?)[]

Nicknames: "The Pegasus", "Jumping Pegasus", "Pegasus Over Pyramid", "Pegasus Over Triangle, "Majestic Pegasus", "The Tri-Star Pegasus"

Logo: A violet triangle that contains the background sky of the Tri-Star Pictures logo intro, with a golden border and the text:

TRI

STAR

stacked on each other, zooms-out and plasters itself on a black background, above which the Pegasus is seen posed as in the movie logo. The text "TELEVISION" appears below. Months later, the word "TELEVISION" is already chyroned in underneath the logo.

FX/SFX: The triangle zooming-out, the "TELEVISION" text appearing.

Music/Sounds: An edited version of the last notes of the 1984 TriStar Pictures theme composed by Dave Grusin that's listed below:

1986: The last 8 notes of the 1984 TriStar Pictures theme that's slightly edited.
1987-1988: Another edited version only using the last 7 notes of the theme.

Availability: Extremely rare.

It appeared on Downtown, Take Five, Nothing in Common, My Two Dads, and Werewolf.
Werewolf reruns last aired on Chiller deleted this logo and was replaced by the 2005 Sony Pictures Television logo.
However, this is seen on three episodes on S1 of My Two Dads from Shout! Factory under license by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and on Antenna TV.
This also appeared on Danger Down Under, a made-for-TV movie.
On a couple of episodes of Werewolf, this had the actual 1984 Tri-Star Pictures logo in place of the TV version. Chiller reruns kept this.

Editor's Note: It's the end bit of the movie logo of the time period but slightly modified. While adequate, it's nowhere near as polished.

2nd Logo (November 9, 1991-March 2, 1993)[]

Nicknames: "Dark Marble", "Sparkling Pegasus", "CGI Marble", "The TriStar Pegasus II", "Pegasus Over Pyramid II", "The Silver Pegasus"

Logo: On a dark gray or dark blue marbled background, the studio name in the same Didot font used on the CBS logo and on the '80s TriStar logo, only in CGI and a light silver color zooms out from the bottom to the center of the screen saying:

TRI

STAR

TELEVISION

By having the word "TELEVISION" in a light silver cote-out rectangular box. Then the "Pegasus Over Pyramid" logo is formed out of light streaks next to "TRI".

Trivia: This logo is based on the 1991-1993 theatrical logo of TriStar Pictures as seen on trailers, TV spots, and the end of films.

Variants:

On Forever Knight, the phrase "produced in association with" in white is seen above the logo on a dark blue background.
The Fifth Corner has the logo fading out rather than cutting to black as normal.

FX/SFX: The text zooming-out from the bottom and the streaking of the Pegasus.

Music/Sounds: The end-title theme from any show, TV movie, or none.

Music/Sounds Variants:

The unsold pilot The Boys of Twilight had the last 7 notes of the 1984 movie logo theme.
On Get A Life, the sound clips from the end of the episodes are heard.

Availability: Extremely rare.

Appeared on the 2nd season of Get a Life starting with episode 2, Charlie Hoover, The Fifth Corner, early S1 episodes of Forever Knight, and the 1992 NBC mini-series Trial: The Price Of Passion.
It also appeared on the TV movies Rapture, Stormy Weathers, Split Images, and Silent Cries. Amazon Prime's prints of the latter three titles, which were provided by Samuel Goldwyn Films under license from Sony, retain this at the end, as did a mid-2000s Encore Mystery airing of Split Images.
Can be seen on Rhino Home Video's VHS and DVD releases of Get a Life season 2 episodes.
The theme version appeared on the unsold pilot The Boys of Twilight and two episodes of The Fifth Corner.

Editor's Note: An improvement over the previous logo with nice animation on the text and Pegasus.

3rd Logo (September 19, 1992-June 23, 1999)[]

Nicknames: "The TriStar Pegasus III", "Ultra Majestic Pegasus"

Logo: We see the white, winged Pegasus with its wings spread out, posed on the dreamy, sun-lit, cloud-filled sky (which is a similar background from the Columbia Pictures logo, but the middle part is a bit shorter) as in the 1993 movie logo. "TRISTAR" appears on the top of the screen in giant bold, white chiseled text like the "COLUMBIA" text from the 1992 CPT logo and on the bottom of the screen in smaller text (all in the same Bank Gothic MD BT font as the 1992 CPT logo), "TRISTAR TELEVISION" with the byline "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" below it.

Trivia: This logo was designed by artist Alan Reingold.

Variants:

On the 1992 TV movie A Child Lost Forever, the 1995 TV movie Annie: A Royal Adventure, and the series Hudson Street, the logo appears enhanced.
Sometimes, on some shows and TV movies like the 1995 TV movie Sahara, the logo fades out like the 1992 CPT logo.
On a French print of the miniseries Dead By Sunset, the logo is superimposed but most of it is invisible due to a poor chroma-key effect.
A rare variant was spotted on the 1994 prototype reel of NBC's split-screen credits (known as "NBC 2000"); during the Mad About You demo[1], a different version of this logo was used within the credits: The TriStar logo is in the middle on a blue background with "TRISTAR TELEVISION" and the byline below in a wider Bank Gothic font.
A textless version, alongside the Merv Griffin Enterprises and Columbia Pictures Television logos, was shown as a Video Daily Double clue in the December 22, 1993 episode of Jeopardy: "This is the Merv Griffin logo, this is the Columbia logo, & the following is this company's". Dave Dixon wagered $700 of his $1,300 and gave the correct response, "What is TriStar?", brining his score to $2,000 and taking the lead. Dixon was eventually beaten by fellow contestant Jean Grewe, who became a three-day champion with $29,901 on hand.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Depending on the logo years:

1992-1993, 1994-1995: The last 7 notes of the 1984 movie logo theme, with part of the first note cut off. Used again for first 3 season 2 episodes on Mad About You. From 1994-1995, this was used on the Michael Moore TV series TV Nation aired on NBC and Fox.
1993-1999: A 5-note majestic orchestral fanfare with bells composed by Jay Asher.
1994-1997: A 6-note majestic theme.
1996-1999: A short version of this has 4 notes based on the 1994 logo theme and is sped up and revamped.
In other cases, it used the closing theme of the show, original NBC and CBS airings would use generic music starting in 1994.
There is a silent version of the logo as well.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On the first episode of Mad About You on the series' DVD release by Mill Creek Entertainment, while the regular English audio track has the 1992 theme, the commentary audio track has the 2002 Sony Pictures Television logo's music instead. This could be due to the commentary being sourced from another print that does have the SPT logo plaster the TriStar one.
There is a high tone variant of the last 7 notes of the theatrical theme on the Mad About You S1 episode "Neighbors From Hell".
On the Mad About You season 2 episode "Natural History", the 1993 theme has a reverb at the end.
On the Mad About You season 2 episode "It's a Wrap", as Paul Buchman tries to explain end logos being "distracting" to Lou over the phone during the episode's end credits, he quickly compromises using them by describing the logos of In Front Productions ("Then you have the sound of the racetrack..."), Nuance Productions ("...the thing with the hand..."), and this one ("...and then the stupid horse with the wings. That'll work.") to Lou. In a rather sad case of plastering, current prints of the episode completely mute out Paul's TriStar line ("...and then the stupid horse with the wings.") as the SPT logo appears instead. Fortunately, the original logo with the full line is still preserved on the Columbia-Tristar DVD release of the complete second season.
On a Mad About You Christmas episode, the music plays over it.
On the series TriBeCa, it's the last 5 notes of the 1984 theatrical theme.
At least one episode of the Designing Women spin-off Women of the House has the logo starting off silently, then playing the last three notes of the 1993 theme.
On one episode of the sitcom A League of their Own, the 1992 theme is low-pitched.
On current prints of the 1995 TV movie Abandoned and Deceived, the short 1995 Columbia TriStar Television Distribution theme is heard.

Availability: Uncommon. Thanks to Sony's habit of plastering over former logos with their more recent ones, this logo isn't quite as easy to find as the CPT logo at the time, but it's still not too hard to find on certain sources.

It originally appeared on The Edge, Mad About You, season 1 and early season 2 episodes of Early Edition, Malcolm & Eddie, TriBeCa, The Nanny, Hudson Street, Ned and Stacey, and the remaining seasons of Forever Knight, among other shows and TV movies, but recent broadcasts of most series plaster this logo over with the 2002 Sony Pictures Television logo.
However, this logo is seen on Annie: A Royal Adventure on most current prints (VHS, DVD, TV broadcasts, digital prints), the first two seasons of Mad About You on DVD, a surprise appearance on the pilot episode of My Two Dads (plastering the 1986 logo) seen on the DVD release of the first season from Shout! Factory, the first season of Malcolm & Eddie on DVD also from Shout! Factory with seasons 1-3 on Fuse retaining the logo, the first three seasons of Early Edition last aired on FamilyNet and Syfy, the VHS release of the 1994 TV movie Next Door (the Amazon Prime print has it cut alongside the Showtime Networks credit notice that followed), the first season of Mr. Show on DVD, all but five episodes (those having the CTTD logo) of The Edge on DVD, and most episodes of The Nanny on Max (some episodes from seasons 1 and 2 use SPTI).
It also appeared on episode 8 of The Jeff Foxworthy Show on TBS, and it was also retained on Crackle's print as well. It was also seen on original broadcasts of the show, but current prints may have it plastered with the CPT logo.
It also appeared on From the Files of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury of One, and is retained on Sony Movie Channel's broadcast and digital prints.
This is retained on Sony Movie Channel airings and the Crackle/Amazon Prime prints of the 1997 TV movie, Home Invasion.
On Blu-ray, this can be seen on the 2018 Australian release of To Sir, With Love II from Via Vision Entertainment; in which it's also intact on the US Sony Pictures Choice Collection DVD-R release and iTunes/Amazon/Google Play/Vudu digital prints. However, the Sony PAL DVD and a True Movies UK broadcast has it plastered by the 2003 Sony Pictures Television International logo.
The Sony Pictures Choice Collection DVD-Rs of Dead By Sunset and Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story (alongside digital prints of the latter) retains this as well. It may also be preserved on the Sony DVD-R of The Disappearance of Vonnie (this is however plastered by the 2002 Sony Pictures Television logo on Amazon Prime's print from Samuel Goldwyn Films under license from Sony Pictures Entertainment), as well as three episodes of A League of Their Own as included as a bonus feature with the film's 2020 4K Ultra HD release as part of Columbia Classics Collection Vol. 1.
International airings of TriStar series/TV movies may maintain this logo, but others will have the SPT (or SPTI) logo.
The silent version appeared on the world premiere of Gettysburg.

Editor's Note: Like CPT's logo at the time, it's a still shot of an elegant painting with some glorious fanfares. Likewise with Columbia, this logo appeared about a year before movies began using their own version of this then-new Pegasus in 1993.

4th logo (November 5, 2015-)[]

Nicknames: "Ultra Majestic Pegasus II", "The TriStar Pegasus IV", "CGI Pegasus", "Christian Pegasus", "Welcome Back, TriStar Television!"

Logo: It starts with the Sony Pictures Entertainment logo, just like Sony Pictures Television. It very quickly irises into the end of the current TriStar logo with the horse just beginning to spread his wings. "TELEVISION" then fades in underneath in the same font as the TriStar logo and spaced out. The byline "A SONY COMPANY" fades in a moment later, in block caps and in a different font than in the regular logo. All of the text appears to be made of solid gold.

Variant: Starting in 2023, the logo is still with "TELEVISION" in a different font and the Sony byline now used from the film logo. It also transitions from the 2021 Sony logo.

FX/SFX: The iris transition from the Sony logo, the horse rearing up, and the text fading in.

Music/Sounds: The 1993 logo theme.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the 2023 version, it's just the Sony ding.

Availability: Common.

It's seen on the shows Good Girls Revolt, Shut Eye, and The Last Tycoon all on Amazon Prime Video.
It was also seen on the Showtime series On Becoming a God in Central Florida and the AMC series Lucky Hank.
It also appears on The Afterparty starting with the second season (the first uses the Sony Pictures Television Studios logo instead).

Editor's Note: This features a neat transition and some magnificent animation from the current movie logo. This is infinitely better than the SPT logo.

Copyright Stamps[]

Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the TriStar Television series and TV movies:

TriStar Television/Summary

Contents

Background[]

1st Logo
(September 27, 1986-March 1988?)[]

2nd Logo (November 9, 1991-March 2, 1993)[]

3rd Logo (September 19, 1992-June 23, 1999)[]

4th logo (November 5, 2015-)[]

Copyright Stamps[]

Fan Feed

TriStar Television/Summary

Background[]

1st Logo(September 27, 1986-March 1988?)[]

2nd Logo (November 9, 1991-March 2, 1993)[]

3rd Logo (September 19, 1992-June 23, 1999)[]

4th logo (November 5, 2015-)[]

Copyright Stamps[]

Fan Feed

1st Logo
(September 27, 1986-March 1988?)[]