Universal Television/Summary

Background[]

The origins of Universal Television go back to 1943, when MCA formed Revue Studios (first known as "Revue Productions, Inc.") as a TV arm. The partnership of NBC and Revue extends as far back as September 6, 1950, with the television broadcast of Armour Theatre, based on the radio show Stars Over Hollywood. The company was renamed "Revue Studios" after MCA purchased the Universal Studios lot in 1958. Then in 1962, following the acquisition of Decca Records, who owned Universal-International Pictures at the time, Revue was renamed to "Universal Television. Shortly afterwards, Uni TV co-produced many shows with Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited, such as Adam-12 and the 1967 revival of Dragnet. In 1988, Universal Television and MCA TV formed a sub-division known as MCA Television Entertainment (or "MTE"). In 1990, Uni TV began the Law & Order franchise. The same year, Universal was acquired by the electronics company Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (now "Panasonic Corporation"). In 1995, Universal was acquired by Joseph A. Seagram and Sons and later acquired the USA Networks. In 1996, MCA was reincorporated as "Universal Studios" and acquired Multimedia Entertainment from Gannett, Inc., and Universal Television's distribution arm, MCA TV, as well as its sub-division, MTE were renamed to Universal Television Enterprises and Universal Television Entertainment respectively. In 1997, Universal sold off its USA Networks and Universal Television to Barry Diller, who renamed it to Studios USA. In 1998, the breakup of United International Pictures' TV arm led to Universal reforming its own international television distributor, Universal Worldwide Television. It handled international distribution of Studios USA shows, while Studios USA handled domestic distribution of Universal's own library. In 1999, Seagram bought PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, which included PolyGram Television. The deal closed in 2000, and the name PolyGram was soon scrubbed and replaced with the Universal name. However, in 1999, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios used its debt to acquire most of the pre-1996 films (1,300 titles) by PolyGram from Seagram. In 2001, Vivendi Universal acquired Studios USA and made Diller as CEO of VU Entertainment fully reforming Universal Television. On May 12, 2004, General Electric (GE) acquired 80% of Universal Studios and merged the studio with NBC to form "NBC Universal, Inc." (now "NBCUniversal, LLC") and merged the two television companies to form "NBC Universal Television" (now "NBCUniversal Television"). However, the company decided to keep the NBC and Universal Television names in the end credits from any series by NBC or Universal. On September 12, 2011, the name "Universal Television" was reinstated, replacing the name "Universal Media Studios".

Revue Studios[]

1st Logo (August 11, 1951-1953)[]

Nicknames: "Rotating Camera", "Turning Camera", "Revue Camera", "Camera of Doom", "On 1950's television, Camera pictures you!"

Logo: On a curtain background, a TV camera is seen moving toward the viewer. It turns sideways, revealing the phrase "A REVUE PRODUCTION" (in a Futura font) inscribed onto the camera base. Then it later fades to the MCA TV "Film reel" logo.

FX/SFX: The live action rotation of the TV camera, the fade to the MCA TV logo.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic 1940s-esque horn fanfare.

Availability: Extremely rare, as the "Film reel" is long gone. This has appeared for a short time on some episodes of The Adventures of Kit Carson, among a few others.

Editor's Note: Not a particularly friendly-looking logo. The dramatic fanfare, combined with the (operator-less) camera moving and turning on its own has been known to scare several viewers.

2nd Logo (1953-1957)[]

Logo: Over a light shaded background, we see the phrase "Produced by REVUE In Hollywood". The word Revue is taller than the rest of the words, and appears in a very slim, 3-dimensional state. The angle is on the right, looking downward, with a bit of a shadow behind the letters. The remainder of the logo features the other words in a fancy cursive font.

Variants:

This logo is shared with the MCA TV "Film reel" logo on several TV shows.
On Tales of Wells Fargo, the logo is superimposed into the background and the word "REVUE" is in 2D.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the closing theme of the show.

Availability: Uncommon, though a variant of sorts can be found on first season episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Antenna TV and on DVD, as well as the pilot episode of Leave It to Beaver in reruns and on DVD, and The Adventures of Kit Carson on DVD.

Editor's Note: This is a much tamer logo compared to the previous one.

3rd Logo (1957-1958)[]

Logo: We have the Revue name but in Arial font. The name appears "Filmed at Revue in Hollywood" with "revue" in bold lettering and below it has the MCA Arrowhead which has "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above and "mca tv" inside it with "exclusive representatives" below:

filmed at
revue
in Hollywood

Variants:

"Exclusive Representatives" was later changed to "exclusive distributor" on the MCA-TV logo.
Sometimes the phrase "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" is seen above the arrowhead.
At other times, it would say "produced by revue in hollywood".

FX/SFX: Scrolling of the credits or superimposed.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.

Availability: Common.

It's seen on most of the first season and a few early episodes of the 2nd season of Leave It to Beaver in reruns and on DVD.
It also appeared on the first season of Wagon Train on Starz Encore Westerns, 1957-58 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Antenna TV, and Bachelor Father.

4th Logo (1958-1963)[]

Nickname: "The Filmstrips"

Logo: Two lines of letters rotate in opposite directions of each other. The top line going left, the bottom line going right. To the tune of their 5-note fanfare, five letters stack horizontally together, unevenly, spelling the name "REVUE". Then the rest of the letters are moved away, bringing in a white-outline transparent shape of a rectangle (kind of similar to the Warner Bros. \\' logo). Then the inside turns into a dark gray color under the black and light gray blocks of letters. Then the phrase appears as being "filmed in hollywood at revue studios" with "MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR" under it. The MCA byline, which was actually underneath the logo, was usually accompanied by it's own union bug, which was a small globe with the words MCA over it. For those who are curious, here is the line-up of letters that were featured on this logo. The ones used for the logo appear in bold type. And they are...

Top Right
xazcnaqurpemscvxuozserncv

Left
azcvrzsnoxureaocvucxozrsx

This logo also appears in series credits. Sometimes, just the name appears just as it's predecessor logo has done before.

Trivia: The top of the row also spells "revue": xazcnaqurpemscvxuozserncv

Variants:

This logo appeared in quite a few lengths. There is a long version, that features the full-length version of the fanfare. Some shows, such as those produced in association with Kayro Productions, feature an abridged version of the logo that starts with the TV tube zooming out and a shortened fanfare. There are also several versions of this logo used for co-productions, such as for Kayro shows, JaMco Productions, Hubbell-Robinson Productions, Top Gun Productions, and Shamley Productions; those feature the company name alongside a smaller version of the Revue logo.
In 1962, a color version appeared. It featured the regular logo being placed a wallflower-type background with '60s star designs in orange, similar to the 1st logo of Universal Television. The filmstrips above were orange and the bottom were teal. Same animation still applied, but the television tube inside later turns ivory and the phrase saying: "filmed in hollywood by revue studios, MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR". This was also seen in black and white.
Another variation existed having the negatives blinking, which later fades to the co-producer's card. This version is bylineless.
Another variation existed having this logo on a light blue background, but the inside was red with a white outline and the negatives "r", "v", and "e" were black and "e" and "u" were in blue. Only animation was used was the TV tube finish zooming out and later fades to the 1964 Universal Television logo in color.
Early versions have a conjoined Revue/MCA logo, with the Revue logo on the left in a solid-lined TV tube border, and an MCA Arrowhead logo in a dotted-line TV tube connected to it on the right, Venn diagram-style.The usual Revue info is written on the left tube, and "mca tv exclusive distributor" is written on the right tube. The company name in which the show had been co-produced is written above, as usual.
One Kayro Productions variant had "Produced by Kayro productions" in a strange font (with "Kayro" in very large letters) and the TV tube containing the Revue logo with no additional text.
On season 2 of Leave It to Beaver among other series, "productions inc." is shown under the Revue logo, which was changed to "studios" in 1959.

FX/SFX: The building block-type animation.

Music/Sounds: A loud but majestic horn fanfare accompanied by a xylophone; this has appeared in quite a few lengths, corresponding with the logo. There were two jingles, a (rarely-heard) long version and a short version both arranged by Stanley Wilson and Juan Garcia Esquivel. The long version has the first note longer and 4 extra notes. The short version has the 1st note shorter and deleted the 4 extra notes.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Over the years, some shows have the regular jingle plastered with the 1964 Universal Television theme.
The 1962 logo featured a higher-pitched version of the theme.
There is a long version that doesn't feature the echo.
A high tone variant of the long version also exists.

Availability: Common.

It can be seen on Leave It to Beaver whenever ran, the first season of McHale's Navy and Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Antenna TV with the in-credit logos from 1958-60 and the animation from 1960-63.
The color version is rare and was last seen on the first season episodes of The Virginian on Starz Encore Westerns and Laramie and the other on the color episodes of McHale's Navy. More recently, the color version has been spotted on several color episodes of Laramie on Starz Encore Westerns, followed by the 1960-63 NBC Studios "Snake" logo.

Editor's Note: This is a neat-looking logo for the period.

Final Note: Kayro Productions and Revue Studios started a partnership by forming Kayro-Vue Productions in 1964.

Universal Television[]

1st Logo (1963-1964)[]

Nickname: "Blinking Negatives"

Logo: It looks just like the 1962 Revue "Blinking Negatives" logo, without the additional animation. The company name flickers 6 times, during the first 5 bars of the fanfare and makes a stop during the rest of the jingle. The phrase is "filmed at universal city, MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR" with a small MCA logo bug next to the distributor's byline (which was outside the logo as always). The color version has a wallflower-type background in red with white 60s-type star designs over it. The filmstrip blocks were red and blue, the background of the tubular border was light blue, and all the block colors revert to black and white over and over.

Variants:

The B&W variation of the logo was the same as the B&W version of the Revue logo, but the only block colors that flicker are the black and white Ones.
Some series such as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, the logo appears without the MCA byline, and then fades to the co-producer's card.
A B&W version of the color variant exists.

FX/SFX: The blinking blocks; extremely simple animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1960 Revue logo theme. A sped-up version of the short 1960 Revue jingle was heard when Hallmark Channel reran The Virginian due to time compressing.

Availability: Rare. The B&W version can be seen on season 2 of McHale's Navy, Suspense Theatre, and The Jack Benny Program, as well as season 7 of Wagon Train and season two of The Virginian.

Editor's Note: It is one of the few Universal logos to not feature a globe of any form. Because of its similarities to the final Revue logo and rather short lifespan, it was likely a placeholder before the familiar logo premiered the following year.

2nd Logo (February 1964-April 1969)[]

Nicknames: "Zooming Globe I", "MCA Globe", "Zooming MCA Globe"

Logo: Like its then-current movie logo, the rotating globe zooms in, along with the two Van Allen radiation belts. The text:

FILMED AT THE STUDIOS OF

UNIVERSAL

CITY

MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR

is superimposed simultaneously. The text, in the same font as the then-current movie logo (minus the texture), will usually appear in the normal near-yellow font with a shadow effect, but a bronze/brown or white color appears sometimes. The MCA union bug appears with the byline.

Trivia: The logo was designed and animated by Universal Title, who also designed and animated all of the logos by Universal until 1990 and handled all title and optical effects for all films and Universal Television series.

Variants:

The logo would either appear in color or B&W.
On some shows, the MCA byline is not present below the Universal City name. This happens on most co-productions. This is seen on The Munsters from the Kayro-Vue logo. On the short-lived series Pistols 'n' Petticoats, this was seen before the Kayro-UTV in-credit. On The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, this logo is always seen before the Shamley Productions logo.
Some shows (mainly those produced by Mark VII, like Dragnet) would have a shot over the globe saying "In Association With (UNIVERSAL TELEVISION)" centered in the same font (and sometimes color) used in the closing credits. This text would then fade out, the globe would zoom and appear as usual. This text may or may not be written in all-caps. The Font Varies.
On 1967 episodes of Dragnet, the "Universal Television" text was not shown.
Some shows would feature this logo after a Revue logo (as seen on McHale's Navy) or a Kayro-Vue logo (as seen on The Munsters). The theme would start on the previous logo and finish on the Universal logo.
There is a variant that says "A UNIVERSAL PRODUCTION" or "A UNIVERSAL PRESENTATION", in the same style (but not in the same font) as the then-current movie logo. This was usually only seen on made-for-TV movies and was seen from 1966-1969.

FX/SFX: The zooming in of the globe with the text fading in.

Music/Sounds: Same as above. There are several orchestrations of this theme below for the later years.

Music/Sounds Variants:

1964-1965: Same as above during the Revue years.
1965-1967: A re-arranged version of the two previous jingles done by Jack Marshall.
September 17, 1966-1968: A very shortened version of the theme. Played on some made-for-TV movies through the 1967-68 season, including the first Columbo movie Prescription: Murder.
September 14, 1967-1969: A re-arranged shortened version and another long version by Marshall. Long version lasted until 1969.
1968-1969. Another re-arranged very shortened versions under Marshall's era. There is a warped version of this theme that was heard on The Virginian due to time compressing when it was aired on Hallmark Channel years ago.
The opening variant uses the opening theme of the TV movie or it's silent.
On the Munsters episodes "Rock-a-Bye Munster," "Knock Wood, Here Comes Charlie," "The Midnight Ride of Herman Munster," and "Dance with Me, Herman," the theme is out of sync.

Availability: Pretty common. Compared to other major Hollywood television studios, Universal has had a good track record with preserving its older logos.

It can be seen on reruns of seasons 2-4 of McHale's Navy, It Takes a Thief, Adam-12, Dragnet, seasons 1 and 2A of Ironside, and season 3 and beyond of The Virginian.
It also exists on the DVD releases of McHale's Navy, preceding the 11th Universal logo.

Editor's Note: A classic combination of using the globe with the Revue/Universal themes.

3rd Logo (January 1969-1973)[]

Nicknames: "Zooming Globe II", "MCA Globe II", "Zooming MCA Globe II"

Logo: Same as above, but the phrase now appears as:

FILMED IN UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF. AT

UNIVERSAL

STUDIOS

MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR

The entire text is in a different font (which that time is Eurostile Bold, the same font also used in the opening credits of Ironside), compared to the previous logo, which Universal's name was all yellow from that point on. The MCA union bug appears with the byline.

Variants:

Just like the last logo, co-productions like those by Mark VII Limited would have the phrase "IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNIVERSAL TELEVISION" in a yellow Compacta BT font.
There is also an opening variant that says "A UNIVERSAL STUDIOS PRODUCTION" or for TV movies (especially pilots of TV series) "A UNIVERSAL STUDIOS PRESENTATION", in the same style (but not in the same font) as the then-current movie logo. This was seen only on made-for-TV movies from 1969-1973, such as the pilot movie of Marcus Welby, M.D., entitled "A Matter of Humanities". This is saved on the 2010 DVD release of Welby's first season.

FX/SFX: Same as the last logo.

Music/Sounds:

Jack Marshall's infamous 1967 long version theme (IAW-Universal Television starting in January 1969).
Marshall's 1968 standard theme (starting in January 1969).
Pete Rugolo's re-arranged themes (standard and long versions starting in September 1969).
Television movies would have either the opening theme or none.

Availability: Pretty common. Should be saved on any Universal show of the era such as It Takes a Thief, S2 of Adam-12, and the final season of Dragnet '67 as well as seasons 2B-4 of Ironside among others on Antenna TV, Me-TV and COZI TV as well as the 1st season of Marcus Welby, M.D as seen on COZI TV (as of January 2015) and the DVD release.

4th Logo (September 1970-April 1971)[]

Nicknames: "Zooming Globe III", "MCA Globe III", "Zooming MCA Globe III"

Logo: Same as above and the phrase once again reads:

FILMED IN UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF. AT

UNIVERSAL

STUDIOS

MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR

Trivia: This logo variation was initially made for on-location series and TV movies such as McCloud.

Variants: This one features two other variations:

Later variants rephrase it as "FROM UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS".
Same as above on shows co-produced by Mark VII Limited, the "IAW" version is seen.

All featuring the MCA globe bug along the company byline.

FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Most variants of the IAW logo had a slightly rearranged variant of the last theme.
Later on, it was a re-arranged and shortened jingle with ten notes by Pete Rugolo.

Availability: Saved on any Universal series during this era, such as Marcus Welby, M.D., Adam-12, Columbo, and Night Gallery as well as the final seasons of The Virginian and It Takes a Thief, and the 1st season of Alias Smith and Jones.

5th Logo (September 1971-December 8, 1973)[]

Nicknames: "Universal Globe", "MCA Globe IV", "Still Zooming Globe"

Logo: This time, the globe is just a still picture. The shortened text fades in, in the same yellow bold font from the logo above:

FROM UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA

UNIVERSAL

STUDIOS

MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR

Variants: This one has several other variations:

"IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNIVERSAL STUDIOS"
"AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS"
January 31, 1973?: The text "UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF." was added below the "UNIVERSAL STUDIOS" text.
Both "AND" and "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" Variants Of The 1973 Variant Exist
On Emergency +4, there is an in-credit that reads:

MARK VII LIMITED

And

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF.

MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR

...all sporting the MCA union bug alongside the said company byline. Was only referred to as "IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR" during the 1971-72 season (the logo's first).

FX/SFX: Just the text fading in.

Music/Sounds: Three re-arranged jingles done by Quincy Jones, which varied over the years.

Music/Sounds Variants: There are three main versions of the theme:

1971-1972: The first theme was composed on strings that doesn't lean on the Wilson/Esquivel, Marshall, or Rugolo versions.
1972-1973: The second theme is a bit slower from Marshall and Rugolo's versions, and is composed on horns.
September 26, 1973: Another slow theme using horns.
Other series would have different variations.

Availability: Uncommon. It has appeared on Adam-12 starting with season four, and season one of Kojak and Columbo. This also plastered the 3rd logo on a 1968 episode of Ironside on a Me-TV rerun as well.

Editor's Note: It's disappointing that the globe was downgraded to a still image.

6th Logo (October 7, 1973-May 29, 1975)[]

Nicknames: "Universal Globe II", "MCA Globe V", "Still Zooming Globe II"

Logo: Same backdrop as above, but the phrase was shortened again to...

FROM

UNIVERSAL

AN MCA COMPANY

or

FROM

UNIVERSAL

AN MCA COMPANY

This time, "UNIVERSAL" is in the same font as used in that era's movie logo and also appears textured (in fact, this looks like a still of the 1963-1990 movie logo, with MCA information added in afterwards). The MCA byline is also the same, although the position is a bit shifted to the right due to the MCA union bug's appearance with the byline, and the byline may be shifted closer up in some appearances. The MCA globe bug is bigger than the recent and is seen to the left of its respective byline. The top text line sometimes reads "AND" or "IN ASSOCIATION WITH".

FX/SFX: Only the text above and the byline below fading in. The "UNIVERSAL" name was only still. Although on one late Season 5 episode of Marcus Welby, M.D., the entire logo fades out as opposed to cutting out.

Music/Sounds:

1973-1974: Same as the 6th logo from September 1973.
1974-1975: Two more re-arranged jingles done by Quincy Jones. These arrangements vary upon years.
1974: A rearranged theme almost the same as the 1973 version.
Other series like Switch! and Ironside among others would have different sounding variations.
The Pay Television variant was silent or used an announcer until the early/mid-80s, when it started sometimes using Miklos Rozsa's re-recording of the 1936 Universal Pictures theme (originally recorded for Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid).
Later prints of the season one Rockford Files two-parter "The Case is Closed" use the 1977 logo's music.
On some films such as Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, it's silent

Availability: Uncommon.

Can be seen on UFO. It was also seen on Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Marcus Welby, M.D.
It's currently seen on late season 1 and season 2 of Kojak on Me-TV and Chicago's local MeToo channel, late season 6 and the final season of Adam-12 on Antenna TV, Me-TV (last seen on January 2015) and now COZI TV, late season 3 to season 4 of Columbo, and season 1 of The Rockford Files on Me-TV, as well as the 1st season of Baretta on DVD.
The Pay Television variant is extinct, so don't expect this logo to appear anywhere.
This is also currently seen on season 4 episodes of Emergency! on Me-TV (though newer print reruns of season 3 inexplicably seemed to use the 6th logo) as well seasons 7B-8 of Ironside and the 1st 2 seasons of The Six Million Dollar Man seen on COZI TV (as of January 2015) and later on Esquire.

7th Logo (September 4, 1975-October 18, 1991)[]

Nicknames: "Universal Globe III", "Globe from/of Hell/Doom", "Evil Globe", "MCA Globe VI", "Still Zooming Globe III"

Logo: Same as the 7th logo, but with a few differences from the previous logo:

The font color seems to be mainly white, ivory, yellow, or pink (though this may be due to film deterioration), while still a bit planetary.
The "UNIVERSAL" font is different from the movie version, and is much skinnier and stretched out.
The MCA globe bug common with previous logos is no longer included with the logo (as it was moved to the copyright notice on the ending credits).
On the "AN MCA COMPANY" byline, "MCA" seems to be taller the rest of the other letters.

The top text line had the same "FROM," "AND," and "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" lines centered in from previous logos.

Variants:

There is also an opening variant where the globe is animated like in the movie logo, but before the globe finishes zooming, the word, "UNIVERSAL" fades in over the globe. A second later, the byline, "AN MCA COMPANY" appears under "UNIVERSAL". That has appeared at the beginning of few TV movies from that time such as the 1979 TV movie, The Seekers.
On the 1991 TV movie Keeping Secrets, the logo fades out instead of cutting out.
On The A-Team, it used the "FROM" top line and added the word "AND" (which later turned green starting in the 1984-85 season) below the MCA byline. This was done to present the Stephen J. Cannell logo that followed it. However, the first few episodes used "IN ASSOCIATION WITH".
On the soap opera All My Secrets, the Universal Television logo used the "FROM" top line and added the word "AND" (which later turned green starting in the 1984-85 season) below the MCA byline. This was done to present the Columbia Pictures Television logo in different versions that followed it.
In a memorable instance, the series finale of Magnum P.I. presents the logo on a TV set that the titular character is watching. Right before it ends, Magnum (Tom Selleck) gets up to switch the TV off. He then grabs a remote, faces the viewer, and says "Good night" before aiming and pressing its power button, cutting the screen to black.

FX/SFX: Just the entire text fading in. Except on Still the Beaver, the entire logo just fades in as it's just a still image.

Music/Sounds: A new 5-note fanfare that retains the first four elements of the classic Revue theme, but does not feature the 9-note trademark fanfare used since the Revue days. There are many versions of this jingle, with the orchestration changing with each rendition. From 1975-1982, it was more of an orchestral arrangement; from 1982-1991, the jingles have an electronic "warbling" under the main jingle. All were arranged by Robert Prince.

Music/Sounds Variants:

1975-1976: The first season theme uses a timpani-roll mixed under the theme. Sometimes there's also a variant where the drumroll finishes abruptly. A slower variant exists.
1976-1978, 1981: Another version of the theme, but using a bass drum roll on the final note.
1977-1980, January 4-July 24, 1984: Third version to use a horn on the first notes with orchestration on the final note. The short-lived Domestic Life used this in 1984.
1980-November 24, 1981: A much slower version that has an elevator-like sound on the first note (possibly produced by a vibraphone). Much dramatic on the final note. This also introduces the first low tone version. The first episode of Simon & Simon used this variant.
1981-September 22, 1982, October 6, 1985, 1987-1990: Another slower version. Starting on season 2 of Charles in Charge in 1987, it used an abridged version 1981 theme.
April 1981: On parts 2-4 of the 4-part miniseries Masada, it uses one final Universal variant based on the end-title theme. Composed and conducted by Mort Stevens.
September 26, 1982-August 24, 1989: Another version by using a ascending/descending electronic tune played on a keyboard (almost sounds like a flute) of some sort mixed under the theme. Another low version is also included. This also introduces an abridged version of the low tone on the Charles in Charge episode "Another Saturday Night". The low toned variant was used sometimes on Magnum P.I. in 1988 and Simon & Simon until March 22, 1989, and was used on The Equalizer for that show's entire run.
1984-1989: On the series Still the Beaver, a quicker version of the theme was used, composed on what sounds like an organ.
October 24, 1986-October 18, 1991: Final versions of the theme, which have a different electronic sound. This also includes abridged versions and introducing warp versions. Miami Vice first used this in late 1986. Other shows did not start using this theme until late 1987. The logo was used for the final time on October 18, 1991 on an episode of the super short-lived Princesses, "My Prince Will Gum."
In exceptional cases, mainly on TV movies, it used only the closing theme of the show. This also happened on a rerun of the season 7 Marcus Welby, M.D. episode "The Covenant."
On the DVD print of the Murder, She Wrote TV movie South by Southwest, it uses the 1991 logo music from the 10th logo. It's probably because of an editing mistake.
On the opening variant, it's silent.

Availability: Common.

It's currently seen on The A-Team and Miami Vice on Centric, season 1-early season 8 of Murder, She Wrote on TV Land, season 5-early season 10 of Columbo, seasons 2-6 of The Rockford Files, and seasons 3-5 of Kojak on Me-TV, the first three seasons of Coach after Bungalow 78 on ReelzChannel, as well as Hulu, NBCUniversal's half-owned online service.
It's also seen on DVD releases such as Charles in Charge, The A-Team, Miami Vice (on U.K Universal and Mill Creek prints), Knight Rider, seasons 3-5 of Kojak, and the first three seasons of Coach, among others.
It is also seen on the 7th and final season of Marcus Welby, M.D. on COZI TV.
Local reruns and Netflix prints of the first season of Law and Order plaster this with the NBCUniversal Television Distribution logo (except on Netflix's print of the episode "Out of the Half-Light", where the logo is retained), and more recent prints of the entire run of Baa Baa Black Sheep/Black Sheep Squadron plaster this with the 1998 Universal Worldwide Television logo.
One of its last appearances was on the Murder, She Wrote S8 episode "Thicker Than Water".

Editor's Note: There are some bits that made it notorious among some viewers with the more dramatic logo themes and the less friendly-looking typeface on the logo contributing to it.

8th Logo (1987-19??)[]

Nicknames: "MCA Globe VII", "Almost Still Zooming Globe"

Logo: Just the end of the 1973 Universal Pictures logo used in place of the TV logo.

FX/SFX: The rotating globe.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extinct. Was seen on the 1980s syndicated series The Woody Woodpecker Show, which was co-produced and distributed by The Program Exchange.

Editor's Note: It's the 1973 movie logo on television. Not much to say.

9th Logo (September 1991-July 12, 1997; 1998; 2000)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Globe", "MCA Globe VIII", "CGI MCA Globe", "90s Globe", "90s MCA Globe", "CGI 90s MCA Globe"

Logo: It's nearly the same as its 1991 motion picture counterpart, but with a few differences:

The animation seems to be a tad cheaper than the movie logo. Whereas that logo featured shiny gold lettering for "UNIVERSAL" in Copperplate Gothic Bold font, a detailed globe model (which were both models filmed with motion control), and an impressive-looking starfield, the TV version features a gradient "texture" on "UNIVERSAL", and a slightly less detailed globe (which are both in CGI), and starfield. Also, there is no flash at the beginning as well and the MCA byline is white.
"TELEVISION" appears in white, and spaced out to fit the width of "UNIVERSAL".
Like previous logos, "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" usually appears in white centered above all other text.

Trivia: This logo is based on the print movie artwork logo designed by Glen Wexler.

Variants:

This logo existed in two versions: a filmed version, and a videotaped version. The filmed version was more prominent at first, as most of Universal's shows were still shot primarily on film, but changed to the videotaped version as time progressed. The filmed version isn't as crisp as the taped version and features that unfortunate effect known as "Film-O-Vision" and the MCA byline is shifted up a little.
On some shows, one of the two alternate variations of the company's phrase fades in above the Universal name, followed by the MCA byline.
Since then, during the 1996-1997 season, the logo became bylineless, in observance to the studio's acquisition by Seagram and Sons and MCA, Inc. was reincorporated into Universal Studios during that time. Also, the "®" symbol has shifted up on the top right end of "UNIVERSAL". The 1994 MCA TV logo was replaced with the 1990-1997 Universal Pictures logo, which was also bylineless.
On some shows such as Sliders, American Gothic (1995), and M.A.N.T.I.S. (excluding the pilot episode), there was a still version of the logo, but "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" has been replaced by a small black rectangular box with "DISTRIBUTED THROUGH" in it at the top of the globe. Plus, the starfield background is stretched more vertically.
This logo was shown on the left alongside with the 1992 Warner Bros. Television logo on the right as seen on Family Dog.
On the Rockford Files TV movie Friends and Foul Play, the logo is slowed down, but the music still plays normally.
For shows by Action Pack, this logo has "PRESENTS" replacing "TELEVISION". Plus, it fades in after the logo forms instead of sliding in with "UNIVERSAL".
Sometimes, the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" isn't displayed above the logo.
On some French-dubbed shows such as New York Undercover, "EN ASSOCIATION AVEC" appears on a blue bar.
Open matte and widescreen versions of the logo exists.
- The widescreen version of the original 1991 and bylineless 1997 variants can be seen on at least 3 episodes of Columbo on Blu-ray (although Nicktoons UK airings retains the original 4:3 ratio).
- The widescreen version of the 1994 stretched starfield variant is very rare and was spotted on an overseas airing of a 1994 Law & Order episode.

FX/SFX: The CGI of the rotating globe and the name.

Music/Sounds: A majestic 7-note French horn fanfare with strings and ascending synth chimes, based on Universal's "75th Anniversary" version of its 1990 jingle. A low tone was also included starting in 1991 on the Quantum Leap season 4 episode "Justice". All composed by James Horner.

Music/Sounds Variants:

In other cases, the ending theme of the show is used.
On the first four season 2 episodes of Law & Order, it uses the late 1986 logo theme from the previous logo.
On the un-aired TV pilot of Darkman: The Series, it's mostly silent.
On The Hub (now Discovery Family) airings of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, the first couple seconds of the opening theme from Action Pack is heard on the "PRESENTS" variant of the logo.

Availability: Fairly common.

With most Universal logos, they are usually retained on any repeat broadcasts. Currently seen on seasons 2-7 of Law & Order on TNT, seasons 8-12 of Murder, She Wrote on TV Land beginning with the episode "Lines of Excellence", seasons 4-9 of Coach on ReelzChannel, and New York Undercover on Centric, among others.
It was used in tandem with the 8th logo until a month later after it debuted.
Recent local reruns of a few season 3 episodes of Law & Order have this logo plastered with the 2011 NBCUniversal Television Distribution logo.
The "PRESENTS" variant of the logo is intact on early seasons of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys when reran.
The "Distributed Through" variant can be found at the end of Doctor Who: The Movie, following the early 90's BBC Worldwide logo.
The logo makes a strange appearance on Murder She Wrote: A Story to Die For, which aired in 2000. This was likely done to match the special episode with the rest of the series.

Editor's Note: It's a decent CGI version of the then-current movie logo.

10th Logo (July 14, 1997-July 2004)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Globe II", "CGI Glittering Planet TV", "2000s Globe"

Logo: A near-still shot of the 1997 Universal Pictures logo used in motion pictures (with the globe still rotating and the glow shining). It looks nearly the same, and you can still see a glow from behind it. Text will appear below the logo, as listed below:

1997-1998: "UNIVERSAL TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT" (formerly MTE)
1997-1998: "IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNIVERSAL TELEVISION" (seen on co-produced programs from that era)
1997-1998: "UNIVERSAL TELEVISION ENTERPRISES, INC. EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR" (formerly MCA TV)
1998-2000: "UNIVERSAL WORLDWIDE TELEVISION"
1997-2000: Like the movie logo, a small copyright appears at the bottom-right. That variant was used for the first three text variants until 1998 while it was still used for the fourth text variant until 2000.
2000-2004: "www.universalstudios.com" (seen on such series like: Sitting Ducks, Xena: Warrior Princess, and the first two seasons of Monk, as well as the Fractured Fairy Tales short "The Phox, the Box, and the Lox" and Boo!). The byline would be updated in 2002.
2002-2004: "(in association with) UNIVERSAL NETWORK TELEVISION, www.universalstudios.com"
2002-2004: "(in association with) UNIVERSAL DOMESTIC TELEVISION, www.universalstudios.com"
2002-2004: "UNIVERSAL TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION, www.universalstudios.com"

Variants:

Sometimes, the logo doesn't feature the URL underneath the globe. Plus, the logo fades in and out.
On some TV movies from 1997-1998 such as The Rockford Files: Murder and Misdemeanors, there is a filmed version of the Universal Television version. Plus, the name is already there and is a bit bigger.
On season 4 of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess, the word "PRESENTS" in spaced-out letters, fades in under the "UNIVERSAL" text. The copyright is intact.
Sometimes for Universal Television Enterprises and Universal Worldwide Television and mostly for Universal Television Entertainment, there is a longer version of the logo, starting out with the "UNIVERSAL" name making its way to the front of the globe, and the name appears below the logo after it before the logo finally zooms back to its position before the copyright appears. This is basically the last half of the 1997 Universal Pictures logo.
On some episodes of the first two seasons of Monk, the tail end of the movie logo, which features the globe zooming back, is shown.
On the 2002-2004 variants, the text's shadow is not there. This is used in the Network, Domestic, Distributive and Worldwide variants. The byline in these variants is also updated.
For a very short time in late 2001 and early 2002, Universal's TV and movie departments were celebrating the 20th Anniversary of E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, with a special logo featuring E.T. and Elliot flying across the globe. The TV version's logo is similar to the normal version, except that E.T. and Elliot are flying behind the bold "UNIVERSAL" text, and the words "E.T. 20TH ANNIVERSARY" with "E.T." in it's own movie logo font, are featured under the globe. It is usually following the notice "Distributed by Universal Worldwide Television". But some variants use the Worldwide variant with the URL instead.
There is also a B&W variant for classic Revue/MCA/Universal shows in B&W.
On early S4 episodes of The Steve Harvey Show and Just Shoot Me!, the logo (minus the text and the URL) is seen on the right with the 1995 Brillstein-Grey Entertainment logo on the left inside a white outline box against a gray stone spotlight background.
On later episodes of The Steve Harvey Show and Just Shoot Me! since season 4, the logo (minus the text and the URL) is seen on the bottom along with the Brad Grey Television logo above.

FX/SFX: The "fire" behind the globe, the globe rotating, and the name fading in until 2000.

Music/Sounds: A short version of the movie counterpart's theme. On some shows, it's silent. Variations of the theme applies. All composed by Jerry Goldsmith. This fanfare was also used on the Universal Web Links screen seen on Universal DVDs from 1999, such as The 'Burbs, Pillow Talk, and How to Make an American Quilt.

Music/Sounds Variants:

1997-2000: A longer version of the theme used for Universal Television Entertainment and the longer version of Universal Television Enterprises and Universal Worldwide Television. It was used for the first two until 1998 while it was used for the latter until 2000.
1997-April 23, 1999: An odd short version (with one note clipped) was used on Roar and Sliders.
1997-2004: A short version of the movie's counterpart. Standard version.
2002-2004: Another odd short version with four notes.
2003-2004: Final short version using the first three notes playing fast and the last note of the theme.
In an extremely rare case, the ending theme of the show/movie plays over it or none.
On season 4 of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess, the first couple seconds of the opening theme from Action Pack is heard on the "PRESENTS" variant of the logo.
A later print of one 1996 episode of New York Undercover has the 1991 Universal Television logo theme playing on the Universal Domestic Television logo.
One variant has the short 2003 theme low-toned, other than the final note.

Availability: Common.

Can still be found on most, if not all Universal-produced shows of this time such as the Law & Order franchise, Sitting Ducks, Maisy, the earliest episodes of House, M.D., and the final two seasons of Sliders when reran.
The Universal Television Entertainment logo, so far, has appeared on the 1997 miniseries House of Frankenstein.
The longer version of the Universal Television Enterprises logo has appeared on some later episodes of Jerry Springer and Sally Jesse Raphael during the 1997-98 season and the standard version is retained on season 4 on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys when reran and on DVD, season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess on DVD, and Team Knight Rider.
The long version of Universal Worldwide Television was seen on reruns of In Search of... from the late Nineties.
The Brillstein-Grey/Universal (Brad Grey Television/Universal) combo variant is seen on The Steve Harvey Show reruns on Centric and Just Shoot Me reruns on local syndication.
The Universal Domestic Television logo is retained on post-1996 episodes of New York Undercover on Centric.
The Television Distribution logo can be seen at the end of Leave It to Beaver reruns on Me-TV.
On some repeats of The Steve Harvey Show and Just Shoot Me!, the 2004 NBC Universal logo plasters this one.
The URL version surprisingly appears at the end of Conquering Space: The Moon and Beyond, a documentary which can be found on the 2005 DVD of Apollo 13.

Editor's Note: It's just the end bit of the then-current movie logo, which is still fine with good relaxing music and CGI.

11th Logo (September 14-October 2011)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Globe III", "Sunburst Globe", "2010s Globe"

Logo: We zoom out from a Western Hemisphere view of a detailed globe with some clouds. As we pan out, a sunburst appears and shines in the northeastern arc of the globe. A bluish/purple starfield with a few nebular clouds appear in the background. The white text "UNIVERSALTELEVISION" without a space between and with an abstract arc above is vertically wiped in front of the Earth globe with a translucent line once we are at a comfortable distance. Strangely, the Earth globe is rotating backwards rather than forwards like it is supposed to.

FX/SFX: The zoom out of the globe, the name wiping in.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Rare. It debuted (as a placeholder) on the 2011 fall season premieres of Parenthood, Community, and The Office, among others before the split-screen credits on network TV. This logo also appears on original prints of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Last Call with Carson Daly. Like the returning series mentioned above, it was also seen on new shows such as Whitney, Up All Night, and Prime Suspect, among others, all on NBC before the split-screen credits. On-demand prints of 2011 fall season episodes (i.e. Hulu, NBC.com) of these shows retained the Universal Media Studios logo.

Editor's Note: An excellent effort to bring the classic Universal Television name back, except one problem: the globe is spinning to the left instead of to the right. Strange, isn't it? But it was a placeholder as it was replaced a month later.

12th Logo (October 13, 2011-)[]

Nicknames: "CGI Globe IV", "Sunburst Globe II", "2010s Globe II"

Note: This is the enhanced, standard version of the previous logo, complete with a corporate byline.

Logo: Against the bluish starfield background that's almost similar to the one from the previous logo with some nebular clouds, we see the much more detailed Earth globe zooming from the front right to the center which is now rotating forwards this time like the other Universal logos. As the globe reaches to the center, the sunburst appears flashing on the top-right part of the globe. As this happens, the text "UNIVERSALTELEVISION", in the same font as before with the abstract arc above it, appears rotating in from the left and making a stop in front of the globe as the sunburst dims down a bit and a couple light rays are seen behind the globe and some of the nebular clouds are seen moving in front of the logo. The byline "A Division of NBCUniversal" appears under the logo.

Trivia: This logo was created and animated by Imaginary Forces. The logo has some elements from the 1991 Universal Television logo.

Variants:

There is one version of the logo where the "UNIVERSALTELEVISION" text, along with the abstract arc above, appears wiping in vertically like the previous logo instead of rotating in as the globe goes into the center. Plus, a couple of light rays are gone.
In 2013, the logo was enhanced, with darker tones and a dimmer sun. This version is bylineless, presumably to reflect the new 100% Comcast ownership. This variant is only seen on the Imaginary Forces website.
On season 3 of Master of None and full-screen prints of shows, the logo is in 4:3.
On Saturday Morning All Star Hits!, the logo is in 4:3 and videotaped like the show itself.
On 5 More Sleeps 'til Christmas and later season 2 episodes of Master of None, the logo is in scope and bylineless. This variant was used for an extremely short period of time.

FX/SFX: The globe zooming out, the sunburst flashing, the words rotating or wiping in. This logo is an improvement over the previous one.

Music/Sounds: A three-note orchestrated theme, consisting on the first two notes of the three-note NBC chimes jingle and a final note that sounds similar to that of the 1997 Universal Pictures fanfare, composed by the late, great Jerry Goldsmith. This jingle sounds quite similar to the NBCUniversal Television logo music.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On three S3 episodes of Community, the Universal Media Studios logo music is heard.
There is also a long version of the logo theme.
A warp-speed version of the music exists, with a cymbal crash on the last note.

Availability: Current.

It debuted on the October 13, 2011 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and was briefly used in tandem with the previous logo.
It is currently seen on new episodes of shows such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and the Chicago franchise (encompassing Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, and the short-lived Chicago Justice), as well as both seasons of Smash and later episodes of Parenthood, The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Community, among other NBC shows.
Also seen on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project and the final season of House, all on Fox.
On cable television, it appeared on Adult Swim's The Jack & Triumph Show.

Editor's Note: Another brilliant television logo from Universal, improving over the previous one. Strangely, it doesn't match the current Universal Pictures logo.

Copyright Stamps[]

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