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History. Sony Pictures Television's history goes back to 1947, when Ralph Cohn, whose father Jack and uncle Harry co-founded Columbia Pictures, founded Pioneer Telefilms.
- List of Sony Pictures Television Programs
Title Years Network Notes Absentia: 2017–2020: AXN/Amazon...
- List of Sony Pictures Television Programs
Sony Pictures Entertainment was founded on December 21, 1987 as Columbia Pictures Entertainment when The Coca-Cola Company spun off Columbia Pictures, and merged it with Tri-Star Pictures.
- Screen Gems Productions (Screen Gems Film Productions/Screen Gems Television)
- Columbia Pictures Television
- TriStar Television
- Sony Pictures Television
- Sony Pictures Television Studios
- Copyright stamps
1st Logo (April 1951-1952, December 14, 1957-1974)
Logo: Superimposed over the screen, we see the following in-credit text: A SCREEN GEMS, INC. PRODUCTION Variants: •On Days of Our Lives, the text says "A CORDAY PRODUCTIONS, SCREEN GEMS PRESENTATION". •For shows co-produced by Hanna-Barbera, it says "A SCREEN GEMS FILM PRESENTATION, TELEVISION SUBSIDIARY COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION". •On Decision: The Conflicts of Harry S. Truman, under the Ben Gradus Productions text is the text "In association with SCREEN GEMS INC. and DAVID M. NOYES". •On the short-lived game show Line 'em Up, the first reel says "a SCREEN GEMS production". •On The Jetsons episode "The Coming of Astro", the letter "A" isn't shown next to the words "SCREEN GEMS" (This version can still be seen intact on The Jetsons episode on Boomerang and Amazon Video on Demand). FX/SFX: None or the cross-fading. Except on Days of Our Lives, where the text scrolls. Music/Sounds: The end-title theme from any show. On the game show Line 'em Up, a voice-over says "Line 'em Up is a Screen Gems production in association with CFTO TV enclosing". Availability: Uncommon. It's currently seen on the first two seasons of The Flintstones and some first season episodes of The Jetsons on Boomerang, MeTV, and DVD's of the shows. •It was also seen on Top Cat and early seasons of The Ford Theatre. •The 1964 in-credit variant can be seen in the documentary series Decision: The Conflicts of Harry S. Truman episode "Dialogue with the Future, Part I", currently on C-SPAN's YouTube channel.
2nd Logo (October 2, 1952-April 4, 1956)
Nickname: "The TV Tube" Logo: On the same light gray background seen on the last logo, we see a TV tube-like shape that's outlined in dark gray and filled in black. There are about eight stars shining inside (like stars in the sky) around the phrase "A SCREEN GEMS INC. Presentation" or "A SCREEN GEMS INC. Production". Variants: •There is one version where the stars shining are more animated and differently shaped, with no glow inside them. •From late 1954 to early 1956, the word "Film" is added inside the tube. FX/SFX: The little stars twinkling. Music/Sounds: The end title theme of any show. Availability: Ultra rare. •It originally appeared on The Ford Television Theatre, Captain Midnight, Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, among other shows. •Currently seen on the complete first & second season of Father Knows Best on DVD.
3rd Logo (August 27, 1955-June 24, 1960)
Nickname: "Torch Lady" Logo: Like the 1942 version of the 1936 Columbia Pictures logo, we see a lady (Columbia, a representation of the USA) holding a light torch on top a pedestal with a backdrop of clouds over her. The Torch Lady's head and upper body is between the words "SCREEN GEMS" with the letter "A" in Vivaldi font above it and "FILM PRESENTATION" or "FILM PRODUCTION" below it. The byline "TELEVISION SUBSIDIARY COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION" appears below that. Trivia: The Torch Lady, aka Columbia, is played by Pittsburgh native Jane Chester Bartholomew, who was discovered by Harry Cohn. (After she left acting in the '60s, Mrs. Bartholomew became a nursing inspector with the Chicago Board of Health. She passed away in 2012.) Variants: •There is a special variant for the 10th Anniversary of Screen Gems. The logo is the same, except for the text "10TH ANNIVERSARY FILM PROGRAM" (or "FILM PRESENTATION") seen below in place of the standard text. •Recently, an extremely rare colorized version of the logo was spotted. It is known to be seen on the Shirley Temple's Storybook episode "Mother Goose". FX/SFX: The lady's torch "shining". Music/Sounds/Voice-over: •A majestic horn fanfare at the begin/end of some syndicated programs, or the opening theme of the movie or short. There exists two known versions of this fanfare. •Usually, as a closing logo, you will hear the ending theme for whatever show or movie played over it sometimes with Harry Cohn announcing: "This has been a Screen Gems Film Production, from the Hollywood studios of Columbia Pictures". Music/Sounds Variant: When the movie 20 Million Miles to Earth premiered on television, Screen Gems plastered the Columbia Pictures logo, keeping the fanfare intact. vailability: Rare. •Currently seen on seasons 2-4 DVD releases of Father Knows Best, two episodes of Ranch Party on the Internet Archive, and a few season 1 & most season 2 episodes of Dennis the Menace on Hulu, strangely replacing the next logo on season 2 episodes. •Despite the logo blending in with the show itself, Columbia TriStar has deleted the logo on several occasions. This logo isn't seen on Antenna TV's reruns of Father Knows Best or Dennis the Menace as it has been deleted and replaced by the Colex and/or SPT logos. •It was also used on the original late '50s/early '60s 16mm prints of all 190 Stooges shorts that remained in circulation on TV stations until the late 1980s, including 200 non-Stooge Columbia two-reelers released to TV in 1959, many of which can be obtained by private collectors online, although the logo may vary in quality on most shorts. It can be found on a few Stooges shorts released on VHS by RCA/Columbia, including "A Bird in the Head" (closing variant only), "Three Smart Saps", and "I'm a Monkey's Uncle", which were last seen on TBS in the early '90s. Surprisingly, it can be found on a newly transferred 16mm print of "Disorder in the Court" on a Stooges DVD by TGG Direct, as this was a public domain short for many years with many VHS/DVD prints blacking out the opening logo due to copyright issues. •It's also very rarely seen on The Huckleberry Hound Show. •This logo also makes a surprise appearance at the close of the Naked City season 2 episode "The Day it Rained Mink" (which, as of this posting, can be seen on Tubi). The fourth SG logo was already in use by that time.
1st Logo (In-credit variants) (May 1974-February 11, 2001)
Logo: Just a simple in-credit from the following: •Days of Our Lives (May 1974-November 5, 1983): "A CORDAY PRODUCTIONS COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION PRESENTATION © (year), PRE-RECORDED". •The Young and the Restless (May 1974-February 11, 2001): "A COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION PRESENTATION in association with BELL-PHILLIP TELEVISION, INC. (later "BELL DRAMATIC SERIAL CO." in 1984) and CORDAY PRODUCTIONS, INC. Copyright © (year) by (name of CPT company) All Rights Reserved". •Dealer's Choice (June 1974-July 30, 1977) and The Diamond Head Game (September 27, 1975-June 11, 1988): "This has been a Columbia Pictures Television Presentation". The former show had it in the Cooper Black font (later used for one of the font style for Columbia) while the latter used Peignot. •The Fun Factory (January 10, 1976-July 25, 1981): This has the Fishman-Freer Productions in-credit logo with a copyright notice and below that is "in association with COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION". •The Upper Hand (September 8, 1990-December 4, 1993): "Produced in association with COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION". •Beakman's World (September 19, 1992-February 8, 1997): We have the Columbia Pictures print logo in white with the words "Columbia Pictures Television Distribution" in Souvenir font (later Bank Gothic Condensed Bold font as "COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" in 1993) under the Torch Lady. Underneath that is the phrase "In Association With", which was later changed into "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" in all-caps since 1993. September 19, 1992-May 22, 1993, episodes have the 1989-1993 print Torch Lady with the sunburst behind her, while episodes aired between September 18, 1993-February 8, 1997 have the current Torch Lady with a cloud background placed inside a box. •Miracle on Interstate 880 (September 10, 1988-February 11, 2001): "COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION". Variants: •On S1 of The Upper Hand, it scrolls in the credits. •On The Best of Beakman's World, the phrase, "In Association With" is in the similar font as the show's credits. FX/SFX: The scrolling or the fade in of the text. Music/Sounds: The show's closing theme. Availability: Extremely rare, but it's intact in some variants. •It appeared on Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, The Upper Hand (a British sitcom based on Who's the Boss?), and Beakman's World. •The Dealer's Choice (the first show, apparently, to ever include a reference to Columbia Pictures Television), The Diamond Head Game, and The Fun Factory variants are extinct. It will also no longer be seen on reruns on Y&R. •The Miracle on Interstate 880 variant is seen on said movie, which can be found on DVD, and can be also purchased on YouTube, iTunes, Amazon and Vudu. •This logo is retained on Me-TV airings of Beakman's World but is followed immediately by the SPT logo.
2nd Logo (June 1974-July 30, 1977)
Nicknames: "CPT Pretzel", "CPT", "The Pretzel", "The Torch" Logo: Against a red background, the yellow letters "C-P-T" appear one by one as each initial appears on screen and zooming out at the same time. The "T" is in the middle of and on a higher plane than the "C" and "P", which slide upwards diagonally to merge with the "T" to form a stylized logo, which looks like a pretzel. On either side of the logo's stem are the words "COLUMBIA" and "PICTURES", and below that "TELEVISION". Under all that is the byline "A DIVISION OF COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC." all in white Eurostile bold font. Trivia: According to Jeb H. Perry, the author of Screen Gems - a history of Columbia Pictures Television from Cohn to Coke, 1948-1983, the CPT letters represent the Lady's Torch. "In 1974, Screen Gems became Columbia Pictures Television, replacing its stylized "S" logo with a graphic representing the glow of The Lady's torch." Variant: A stretched 16:9 variant was spotted on a Plus7 streaming print of Police Woman. FX/SFX: The letters appearing, and the letters "combining". Music/Sounds: A slightly sped-up version of the 1970-1974 Screen Gems music as the first three opening notes bring forth the three initials in the logo. The rest of the theme plays normally. The first three notes appear to be played faster than on the Screen Gems version. Music/Sounds Variants: •On the TV movie The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, the logo's theme was played on an organ, since the movie took place in the 1930s. •Sometimes, the closing theme of the show or TV movie would play over it. Availability: Rare. •It appears on the DVD of the 1976 TV movie The Story of David with the closing music playing over it. •The first version can be seen on every episode of Season 2 of Police Woman and Born Free on DVD, and was also spotted on an airing of Police Story on Black Starz! years ago. It also appeared on a recent 7mate airing of Police Woman in Australia as well as a Plus7 streaming print of the same episode. •The second version has only appeared on the TV movie The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and is preserved on the VHS release and the DVD from Sony Pictures Choice Collection, as well as the CTV.ca print. •It was also seen on the two short-lived ABC comedy series Good Heavens! and That's My Mama, and the short-lived ABC drama series The Feather and Father Gang. •This was also reported to have appeared at the end of late '80s to early '90s reruns of Hart to Hart (replacing the 1982 logo). •Its first appearance appears to have been on syndicated versions of 29 features from the Columbia Pictures library, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Professionals, Born Free, The Love Machine, and Easy Rider. •This is retained on Sony Movie Channel's airings of Cage Without a Key and Banjo Hackett (while the DVD release of the latter has it plastered with a low pitched SPT logo).
3rd Logo (2nd official logo) (September 21, 1976-September 28, 1982)
Nicknames: "The Abstract Torch", "The Sunburst", "The Starburst" Logo: We see a bright torch light appear against a black screen and as it shrinks, it changes into a more "abstract" torch light. The light rays recede from the bottom to about half way with 13 symmetrical white light rays remaining. An orange half circle, or a semicircle, fades in from behind the rays and the words "Columbia Pictures Television" appear under it in a gold Souvenir font. The entire logo then slowly backs away as it fades out. Trivia: •This logo is actually the second half of the 1976 Columbia Pictures movie logo and, aside from a different color designation for the abstract torch, the footage also seems to be played faster than its theatrical counterpart. •Depending on the quality of the film print or telecine, the logo would appear slightly red. It should be noted that despite this, orange was the designated color for Columbia's television unit during this era. •According to the book Screen Gems: A History of Columbia Pictures Television from Cohn to Coke, 1948-1983, by TV historian Jeb H. Perry, this logo was described as "a graphic representing the glow from The Lady's torch", which is, indeed, what this logo was meant to represent. Mr. Perry, however, made a mistake in this book, in that he said that this logo started in 1974 with the change to Columbia Pictures Television from Screen Gems. The real first logo of CPT was the "Pretzel", as described above. Variants: •On occasion, the glow around the sunburst varied in brightness or was not visible at all. This was generally the case during the 1980s on network TV. •On the second episode of the short-lived series Filthy Rich, titled "Town and Garden", the sunburst appears in-credit as animating on the end-title scene. The CPT logo here, however, does not have its own jingle playing; rather, the Filthy Rich closing theme plays over it. •A B&W version exists. •An ultra dark version exists, where the text and semicircle are invisible and only the torch light remains barely visible. This can be seen on the Police Woman episode "The Human Rights of Tiki Kim." A similar variant, with a brownish-colored sunburst, is rumored to have appeared on an episode of Fantasy Island. FX/SFX: The light rays shrinking and turning into the abstract torch. Music/Sounds: The television theme is a variation of the theatrical inspirational music. Was also written by Suzanne Ciani. Some people find it appropriate for the company that would be owned by Coca-Cola, as the effects in the song resemble the sound of pouring and fizzing soda. Music/Sounds Variants: •Some syndicated broadcasts of this logo have a shorter version of the music, only playing the second half. This was due in part because of the splice edit method that was commonplace on early film prints of their shows. •Sometimes, the music was played at a lower pitch. •In rare cases, it used the closing theme of the show or TV movie. •A silent version appears at the end of the final episode of Barney Miller, "Landmark, Part 3". Availability: Very rare. •It appears with closing music playing over it on the VHS tape of the 1981 miniseries Family Reunion with Bette Davis, the 1982 TV movie Ivanhoe on DVD, the Vidmark VHS, SPHE DVD release, the Sony Movie Channel broadcast and Netflix's print of the 1982 Tom Selleck TV movie The Shadow Riders (its last known new appearance), and two post-1980 Barney Miller episodes: "Homicide, Part I" and "Contempt, Part I" on local syndication. It appeared with music at the end of the 1977 TV movie A Killing Affair, but it has not been seen since Encore last aired it in 2006. Also seen on an international airing of Fantasy Island, followed by the Sony Pictures Television International logo. •The logo with music has been restored on all season 1 episodes of T.J. Hooker on the 2014 Mill Creek Entertainment re-release of the first and second seasons of that show on DVD and without the SPT logo at all (the original Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2005 release had the logo replaced with the SPT logo). The logo appears in silence at the end of Barney Miller's series finale "Landmark, Part 3" on the 2011 Shout! Factory complete DVD series set. This logo can be seen on the Father Knows Best reunion special Home for Christmas, last seen on GetTV and Sony Movie Channel. It also appears on Seasons 3 and 4 of Police Woman. Also spotted on a Sony Movie Channel airing of Last of the Good Guys. •On Blu-ray, this appeared on The Making of The Deep, seen on the Blu-ray release of The Deep.
1986–1993 3rd Logo (September 19, 1992-September 25, 2015)
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 painted by artist Alan Reingold. Variants: •On the 1992 TV movie A Child Lost Forever, the 1995 TV movie Annie: A Royal Adventure, and the short-lived 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 Jeopardy! episode aired on December 23, 1993, the logo was seen on a "Video clue" question (not a "Video Daily Double"). The logo appears to be close-up, there is no text below the Pegasus and the "TRISTAR" text is not there. •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. •On original NBC airings of Mad About You, a different version of this logo was used within the split-screen credits: The TriStar logo is in the middle on a blue background with "TRISTAR TELEVISION" and the byline below in Bank Gothic font. FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: Depending on the logo years: •September 19, 1992-May 8, 1993, July 29, 1994-May 20, 1995: The last 7 notes of the 1984 movie logo theme. 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. •August 28, 1993-May 22, 1999: A 5-note majestic orchestral fanfare with bells composed by Jay Asher. •September 3, 1994-November 28, 1997: A 6-note majestic theme. •September 27, 1996-September 25, 2015: 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: •There is a high tone variant of the last 7 notes of the theatrical theme on Mad About You S1 episode "Neighbors From Hell". •On Mad About You season 2 episode "Natural History", the 1993 theme echos at the end. •On a Mad About You Christmas episode the music plays over it. •On the short-lived 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 short-lived sitcom A League of their Own (based on the 1992 Columbia Pictures movie), the 1992 theme is low-pitched. •On 7 Network (Australia) airings of the 1995 TV movie Abandoned and Deceived, the short CTTD 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 its sister logo of 1993's CPT, 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 Sony Pictures Television logo. •However, this logo is currently 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, and appears on all but five episodes (those having the CTTD logo) of The Edge on DVD. •It also appeared on episode 8 of The Jeff Foxworthy Show instead of the CPT logo on TBS (probably due to the editing mistake or maybe a plaster), and it's also retained on Crackle's print as well. •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 print of the 1997 TV movie, Home Invasion. •On Blu-ray, this can be seen on the Australian release of To Sir, With Love II, 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 as well. •Outside of the U.S. may have this logo in several countries, but others will have the SPT logo.
1st Logo (September 7, 2002-)
Nicknames: "The Shining Bars", "The Bars of Boredom", "The Bars of Annoyance", "The SPE Parallelogram", "SPE Bars", "The Flash" Logo: Against a lined background, the words "SONY PICTURES TELEVISION" (all in the Sony typeface and stacked word-by-word with "SONY" being largest) emerge and zoom away downwards from the screen. The three words aren't directly stacked at first, but as the animation progresses, they slide into place. A horizontal line is drawn between the "PICTURES" and "TELEVISION". While this happens, a flash of light appears on the left side of the screen, and the lines in the background themselves back away as well, eventually moving back to the upper part of the screen and into a diagonal pattern to form the logo. The flash dissipates and we see an oblong orange-white glare surrounding the logo and words, which shrinks into the bars to give it a shine. The finished logo appears against a shaded navy blue background. The logo is a striped parallelogram. Trivia: •This logo first appeared as a print logo in Fall 1991 on broadcasting ads in magazines such as Variety, around the time when SPE was founded. •This logo was animated by "Rick Scott" at Tigar Hare Studios, also known for their work on the 2011 Technicolor logo. Variants: •A rare filmed variant of the logo exists. •There is a longer version of this logo featuring an extreme close-up of the "stacked" names at the beginning of the animation. It starts off with a bright white light and later reveals the names as the light dies down. While the logo finishes, it shows a longer shot of the logo. •There is an even shorter version of this logo that starts from where the 3rd-to-last note of the theme plays. This version began appearing in July 2003. •In 2004, the phrase "DISTRIBUTED BY" appeared above the logo, it was still until it faded in above the logo on the 2006 version of Chain Reaction and season 4 of The Newlywed Game both on GSN, but the font is in Times New Roman on those said game shows. Early shorts on Crackle's C-Spot has the phrase above the name rather than the logo. For the rest, the phrase was placed on a black screen, which later fades to the SPT logo. •In 2005, an updated widescreen version was introduced. It consists of just a solid blue lighting effect in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, where the reflection of the Bars would usually be. Sometimes this version was squashed to fit a 4:3 TV, and has been featured on several movies, first-run production, and classic series on television and DVD. •There is also a black & white variant for classic shows by Screen Gems. •In 2008, there is a black screen that reads "DISTRIBUTED BY" before the SPT logo. This only appears on web shows on websites like Crackle, MySpace, YouTube, and Hulu, among others such as C-Spot or Penn Says. •Another variant has "DISTRIBUTED BY" in a small font above the SPT name rather than above the SPT logo. This appeared on early shows on Crackle. •On pre-2011 episodes of Watch What Happens: Live, the logo is a still shot on a gray-like background. •In 2010 on The Three Stooges short "The Sitter Downers", the 2005 logo is in black & white. •Starting on the 4th season of The Newlywed Game, the text reads as "DISTRIBUTED THROUGH" above the logo. •Sometimes, the logo can appear a little up-close. •There is also a version with extra brightness on both 2002 and 2005 versions in color. •On Robot Chicken since season 6, Houdini and Doyle and the TV movie Grave Halloween (alebit with a fade-in/fade-out), there is a still version of the logo. On the 2021 Lifetime TV movie The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother's Hunt for Justice, a still shot of the Sony Corporation logo is seen first, then cuts to this. •A superimposed in-credit variant exists. This can be found on international shows like Niñas Mal. •Starting with the second season of Masters of Sex and newer episodes of Wheel of Fortune, The Dr. Oz Show, and Jeopardy!, the Sony Corporation logo is seen first. Then, the light flashes to reveal the short SPT logo. Some shows, such as The Young and the Restless, syndicated reruns of Seinfeld, and shows co-produced by SPT subsidiary Embassy Row still do not use this variant. •On a PAL release of The Real Ghostbusters, the long version is used but the normal music is heard. •On an April 16, 2017 HBO Signature Caribbean airing of Pixels, the logo was silent, but the music played 5-6 seconds after the logo cut to black. •A scoped version exists. This can be similar to 21:9, or letterboxed 4:3 being stretched in widescreen 16:9. •On #FreeRayShawn, the logo is still and shares screen with the Fuqua Films logo. FX/SFX: The words flying down, the bars zooming back and tilting, a white flash and a glare shrinking into the bars. Music/Sounds: A majestic 5-note orchestral theme composed by David Kurtz, which sounds vaguely similar to the Habanera section of Bizet's opera Carmen. Music/Sounds Variants: •The long version has a descending piano tune before the main fanfare (which is a bit re-orchestrated), and the last note is held much longer. •Another music variation has only the last three notes of the theme re-arranged. This version began in July 2003. •In later years, the music has become a bit more orchestrated. •In 2005, there is another short version with the last half of the animation of the standard animation of the logo. Used on the ultra short-lived series Sit Down, Shut Up and several final season episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures. •Sometimes, when used along a co-production or co-distributor ID, the first few notes of the music for this logo will play over the last few seconds of said ID before going into this visual logo. This has happened on such syndicated shows as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, back when King World Productions (now "CBS Television Distribution") was still in operation. But now until October 2007, the CTD music plays on the CTD logo, and the SPT theme plays on the SPT logo. •Sometimes, the logo used the Columbia TriStar Television theme until 2014. The theme can still be heard on some syndicated airings of Good Times via TV One. •Two more versions exist by having a high and low tone starting in 2003. •Another version exists having a bell-type twinkle mixed into the standard theme. •A very high tone version of the music was used on some S4 episodes of Married... With Children on its DVD release. It could sometimes be used on certain TV airings of theatrical films, possibly due to the NTSC versions being in high tone. •On some shows like The King of Queens (2004-2007 episodes) and other shows, the end theme plays over this logo. •Middle season local reruns of Good Times and Sanford and Son would have the first four notes of the standard theme playing first, followed by the finishing of the final notes from the SPT long version theme. •Up until 2012, the Sony Pictures Television International sounder was sometimes used, particularly on the Mill Creek DVD release of the Nickelodeon original movie The Last Day of Summer (the original DVD release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment doesn't have it), DVD releases of shows like Married... With Children, on Antenna TV's print of the Sanford and Son episode "Sanford and Gong", and on DVDs of The Berenstain Bears (1985) that SPHE released. •There is also a silent version (sometimes on movie networks like Starz and Encore). •Another variation would have the 1993 CPT theme. This happened on several reruns of Just Shoot Me! on TV Land. R2 DVDs of T.J. Hooker and the 2nd season of Party of Five also have this variation if you select the French audio track. •A variant exists that has the 1993 CPT theme overlapping the SPT theme. This was spotted on an Antenna TV airing of the Good Times S4 episode "Michael's Great Romance". •A few episodes of The Jeffersons from the 1980-1981 season last aired on TV One have the SPT and the short CTTD themes playing at the same time. •On The Three Stooges short "Cash and Carry", there is a 2005 low tone version. •On Antenna TV's print of the All in the Family episode "The Jeffersons Move Up," the short Columbia TriStar Television theme is heard. •One S1 episode of That's My Mama! on DVD ("Clifton's Con") has the 1982 CPT music over this logo. •On the CTHE DVD print of the S3 Married... with Children episode "The Gypsy Cried", it has the first note of the 1988 CPT theme before going into the SPTI theme. •On several international prints of May-June 2013 episodes of Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless, the 1994 TriStar Television theme is heard. •On the Mill Creek S4 DVD of Married... with Children, the episode "Hot Off the Grill" has the 1988 CPT theme playing over this logo. •One 4:3 airing of the TV movie Breakaway has the Columbia TriStar Domestic Television music play over the logo. •On the Me-TV print of The Facts of Life S5 episode "Brave New World Part 2", a sloppy plaster job results in the theme playing before the logo itself appears. •On the NTSC DVD print of the mini-series Comanche Moon, the second CBS Paramount Television logo's music plays (and vice-versa), due to an editing error. •On current prints of the 1931 film Arizona, the movie's score finishes over the logo after the end title fades out, as the music originally ended over a black screen. •One S2 episode of The Guardian on Russian airings has the CBS Television Distribution theme played on the logo. Availability: Ultra common. In fact, it might be the most common logo in history. •Seen on new series and a staggeringly tremendous amount of new prints of classic shows, off-net syndication series, TV movies and theatrical films on television. It's quite infamous and annoying for removing and replacing old logos on many pre-2002 Sony TV programs and movies. The only four pre-2002 shows that do not have this logo are Walker, Texas Ranger on USA Network and the defunct Cloo, All in the Family on GetTV and Sony Crackle, the original One Day at a Time on Antenna TV and The Jeffersons on Me-TV. However, this may or may not appear at the end of of movies, notably the recent ones. •It appears on shows produced by Adelaide Productions, Sony's television animation studio, as they do not have their own logo. •The long version is not as common as the standard version, but it was seen on every episode of Jeopardy! from 2002-2007, The Nate Berkus Show, the DVD release of All in the Family: The Complete 3rd Season, and the DVD release and Crackle prints of Odyssey 5 (except for "Astronaut Dreams", which uses the normal version instead), but it may appear on some classic and off-network shows. It also appears at the end of every episode of The Three Stooges DVD Collection volume sets, beginning in the second volume, and can also be found on many other TV on DVD releases from 2002-04 (from 2005 onward it went to the standard version). •The low tone theme is uncommon and was last seen on early episodes of Stuart Little: The Animated Series on HBO Family and the 1976 TV movie Banjo Hackett on DVD, while the high tone (both 2002 and 2005 versions) appears on The Boondocks on Adult Swim and Netflix, many Three Stooges shorts on IFC, among other shows and certain films on television. •The scoped version can be seen on CBS airings of S.W.A.T. and some theatrical films on TV. •As for the short version, it's fairly common and it appeared on The Shield on local syndication and Spike (now Paramount Network), the ultra short-lived series Sit Down, Shut Up on FOX, and reruns of Joan of Arcadia and Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital. •The version with the SPTI theme was spotted on the 1971 film The Anderson Tapes on TCM. •It can also be seen on Sony Movie Channel in widescreen. •For series outside the US, it's seen on the series incarnation of the 2007 movie Niñas Mal (translated as Bad Girls) on MTV Latin America and nuvoTV, and Bienvenida Realidad (translated as Welcome Reality). •This was oddly seen at the end of an episode of The Jeffersons on Antenna TV before the show's credits, with the CTT logo after the credits. •This also appears at the end of a Roku Channel print (and Sony Movie Channel and ThisTV airings) of Lake Placid. •As of 2020, this is used in tandem with the third logo, as it still appears on Dr. Oz, The Young and the Restless, and The $100,000 Pyramid, and also on international prints of Sony films and shows they didn't produce. •It was spotted at the end of a HBO Asia airing of Darrow & Darrow: In the Key of Murder with the ending theme playing over it.
2nd Logo (October 11, 2019)
Nicknames: "SPE Bars II", "The Bars of Boredom II", "The SPE Parallelogram II", "The Flash II" Logo: On a blue gradient background, a purple flash appears onscreen, covering it. When the flash dies down, the print version of the Sony Pictures Television logo appears. The logo zooms back for a few seconds before stopping completely. FX/SFX: The flash and the SPT logo zooming back. Music/Sounds: None. Availability: This made its debut on El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, but it's unknown if this logo will replace the 1st logo on new SPT series and newer episodes of existing SPT shows in the near future. It's likely this is simply a custom logo produced for the film. Editor's Note: Even though the logo can be seen as bland, it's a breath of fresh air from the previous logo.
(January 7, 2020-)
Nicknames: "The Flash III", "The Flashing Text" Logo: On a black background, we see the Sony logo. It fades out, and the text: SONY PICTURES TELEVISION STUDIOS appears flashing in the same vein as the 2014 Sony logo at the end of TV commercials. Opening Variants: •August 28, 2020: The logo is zooming in, and even the text says "A SONY PICTURES TELEVISION STUDIOS PRODUCTION" (in the font called Clarendon from the Sony logo) while it flashes. The Sony logo does not appear in the beginning. •January 1, 2021-present: The logo is updated which is similar to the regular logo, but without the flash.
Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the SPT series and TV movies: Note: During the formation of CTT on February 21, 1994, all series were merged under the CTT banner. However, both CPT and TriStar studios still used their respective copyright stamps on their series from 1996-1999:
•1952-1969: Copyright © [year in roman numerals] Screen Gems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
•1969-1974: Copyright © [year in roman numerals] Screen Gems, A Division of Columbia Pictures Industries, inc. All Rights Reserved.
•1994-1998, 1999-: Copyright © [YEAR] Jeopardy Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Used on Jeopardy!)
•1994-1998, 1999-: Copyright © [YEAR] Califon Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Used on Wheel of Fortune)
•1996-1998, 1999-2009: Copyright © [YEAR] Adelaide Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Used on animated shows)
Defunct television channels: United States: 3net 9 | UK and Ireland: TruTV 10 | Western Europe: AXN (Italy) | AXN Sci Fi (Italy) | Pop (Italy) | Cine Sony (Italy) | Sony Entertainment Television (Portugal | Spain) | Central and Eastern Europe: AXN Crime | Sony Channel (Baltics 12 | Turkey) | Sony Turbo 10 | Sony Çocuk | Sony Mutfak | Sony Max (Turkey) | Southeast Asia: Sony Channel | Sony ...
Sep 29, 2024 · On September 16, 2002, Japanese giant Sony Corporation decided to retire the Columbia TriStar name and logo from its television division, rebranding it as Sony Pictures Television in order to capitalize the strength of the Sony brand.
On September 16, 2002, Japanese giant Sony Corporation decided to retire the Columbia TriStar name and logo from its television division, rebranding it into Sony Pictures Television. For the first time since 1974, the Torch Lady, Pegasus or anything resembling Columbia's or TriStar's symbols are...
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2002–2009. File:Sony Pictures Television International.svg. Sony Pictures Television International Print 1.svg. Print logo. Sony Pictures Television International Print 2.svg. Inverted print logo.
