Columbia Pictures Television

Background
On May 6, 1974, Screen Gems was reincorporated as "Columbia Pictures Television". The name change was announced on May 1 and was suggested by David Gerber, who was president of Columbia's television division. In 1984, Coke demerged Columbia Pictures and Columbia Pictures Television. CPT was transferred to "CPT Holdings, Inc.". On January 30, 1984, CPT joined forces with Lexington Broadcast Services Company, Inc. (later known as "LBS Communications, Inc.") and created "Colex Enterprises". It was created to distribute series by Screen Gems and CPT from the 1950s to the '70s. In October, CPT created "The Television Program Source" with Alan Bennett and former King World president, Bob King. On November 24, 1986, CPT was merged with Embassy Communications by forming "Columbia/Embassy Television". This was also the birth of Coca-Cola Telecommunications, when CPT's distribution division merged with the Television Program Source. Coke also regrouped CPT, Embassy Communications, and Merv Griffin Enterprises into "Coca-Cola Television". On December 21, 1987, Coke's entertainment business was sold to Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. for $3.1 billion. Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. was renamed to "Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." (now "Sony Pictures Entertainment") and CCT was shut down ten days later and folded into the reorganized Columbia Pictures Television Distribution. In October 1991, CPT, TriStar Television, and MGE were reorganized into the "Sony Pictures Entertainment Television Group" (a.k.a. "Sony Television Entertainment"). On February 21, 1994, Columbia Pictures Television merged with TriStar Television by becoming "Columbia TriStar Television" and Columbia Pictures Television Distribution was renamed to "Columbia TriStar Television Distribution". On January 1, 2001, Columbia Pictures Television was folded into Columbia TriStar Television as a failed attempt to become a network television syndication division called Columbia TriStar Network Television (later replaced by Columbia TriStar Domestic Television), however, the CPT name was retained in the in-credits of The Young and the Restless until October 2002. Currently, the division is known as Sony Pictures Television. A separate entity of CPT continues to exist on paper as an intellectual property holder, and an in-name-only unit and division of SPT known as "CPT Holdings" (formed in 1983) to hold the copyright for the TV show The Young and the Restless including the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, as well as old incarnations from the company's television library such as What's Happening!!.

1st Logo (June 1974-July 30, 1977)
Nicknames: "CPT Pretzel", "The Torch"

Logo: Against a red background, the yellow letters "C-P-T" appear one by one as each of them zooms 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". Underneath that is the byline "A DIVISION OF COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC." all in a white bold Eurostile font.

Variant: A stretched 16:9 variant exists.

FX/SFX: Cel animation.

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 is played on an organ, likely intentional as the movie takes 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 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 ABC comedy series Good Heavens! and That's My Mama, and the 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 (as does Crackle's copy as well) and Banjo Hackett (while the DVD release of the latter has it plastered with a low pitched SPT logo).

Legacy: This logo's rough animation and design as well as its use of the "S from Hell" theme signified that this logo was only temporary until the "Sunburst" was introduced two years later.

2nd Logo (September 21, 1976-September 28, 1982, April 13, 1983)
Nicknames: "The Abstract Torch", "The Sunburst"

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 halfway with 13 symmetrical white light rays remaining. An orange-red semicircle, fades in from behind the rays and the words "Times New Roman" appear under it in an orange 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 television historian Jeb H. Perry, this logo was described as "a graphic representing the glow from The Lady's torch".

Variants:


 * A B&W version exists.
 * 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 series Filthy Rich, titled "Town and Garden", the animated sunburst appears chroma-keyed over the end-title scene. The show's closing theme plays over it.
 * 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.
 * A nearly still version of this logo was seen on the failed TV pilot Johnny Garage. The logo slides down from the Sonny Grosso/Larry Jacobson Productions logo. The words "In association with" are seen above the sunburst in red, with the CPT name below the sunburst, also in red. The words are all in a thicker Souvenir font than what's seen on the animated logo.

FX/SFX: Cel animation.

Music/Sounds: The television theme is a variation of the theatrical logo's 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:
 * Sometimes, the theme 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".
 * 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.

Availability: Very rare; almost all of the shows that had this logo have been plastered with newer Columbia/Sony logos.
 * It appears with the show/movie's 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, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD release, the Sony Movie Channel broadcast and current prints 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 the theme has been restored on the 2014 Mill Creek Entertainment DVD re-release of the first and second seasons of T.J. Hooker, and without the Sony Pictures Television logo at all (the original Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2005 release had the logo replaced with the SPT logo). The logo appears silent at the end of the Barney Miller 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.
 * This appeared on The Making of The Deep when it was included on the Blu-ray release of The Deep.
 * It can be seen restored in high definition on Crackle's print of the 1978 TV movie More Than Friends.

Legacy: This logo is a favorite among logo enthusiasts for its nice visual effects and music. The regular variant is also considered to be the first ever logo to have been uploaded onto YouTube, uploaded sometime in 2006. However, the original video appears to have been deleted.

3rd Logo (September 24, 1982-June 18, 1993)
Nickname: "Coke Bottle Torch Lady"

Logo: We see the then-current Columbia Pictures logo, with the lady holding a light torch on top of a pedestal (Columbia, a representation of the USA), in her 1981-1993 incarnation against the backdrop of clouds. The words "Times New Roman" in Souvenir appear on either side of the torch lady, the word "Times New Roman" underneath in the same font, and underneath that, either the respective company byline or sometimes nothing at all. The woman's torch "shines" after the music ends, and the words also shine lightly.
 * From 1982-1989, a redrawn version of the 1982 theatrical logo was used as the basis, with the lady's robe being cream-colored.
 * From 1989-1992, the actual 1982 theatrical logo was used as the basis. If you look closely at the torch, you can see the sunburst slowly dimming out. The word "Television", which is still in the 1982 TV logo style, clashes with the theatrical company name's style.

Bylines:
 * 1982-1989: "Times New Roman"
 * January 2, 1988-1992: "Times New Roman"
 * September 1991-1993: Bylineless. This was used during the early era of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Variants: There are several versions of this logo, namely in bylines, company name, and animation:
 * 1982-1989: Blue clouds/Gold company name, byline is the Coca-Cola one with "Coca-Cola" in its trademarked logo font. An early version has a tiny Coke byline. Another version has a medium-sized byline. This was first used on Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless in late 1982 or early 1983. Prior to this, neither show used a Columbia or Screen Gems logo, with the exception of in-credit text on Days of Our Lives (see Corday Productions). A 16mm B/W copy of this variant was seen on a syndicated print of The Three Stooges short "Boobs in Arms", plastering the Screen Gems logo.
 * 1982-1988: Lighter blue clouds/Gold company name. This version has no byline. Another version features darker clouds.
 * 1983: Alternate gold company name with a medium-sized Coke byline.
 * 1985: Alternate 1982 logo.
 * 1986: On the TV movie The Canterville Ghost, there is only a static image of the logo with the Coke byline.
 * 1986-1987: On the first season of The Real Ghostbusters when it aired on ABC, the first note of the CPT jingle would overlap with the final note of the show's ending theme. On the syndicated episodes, the ending theme would play in full, and the last few seconds of the CPT logo would be freeze-framed.
 * 1986-1988: Gold company name, smaller Coca-Cola byline with "Times New Roman" in its trademarked logo font.
 * 1986-1988: Gold company name, normal Coca-Cola byline, dark and muddy Torch Lady, little shining animation.
 * January 2, 1988-1989: Blue clouds/Gold company name, Columbia Pictures Entertainment byline. There was an early distribution logo used on Punky Brewster, which has this logo with "Distributed by" and the CPE byline in a plain looking font.
 * January 2, 1988-October 5, 1991: Purple clouds/Gold company name, Columbia Pictures Entertainment byline (alternate 1988 network logo).
 * January 9, 1988-1989?: Lighter blue clouds/Gold company name, Columbia Pictures Entertainment byline (alternate 1988 logo, based on the 1982 bylineless logo).
 * January 1989-1992: Blue/ivory company name as seen on the theatrical version, byline is changed to Columbia Pictures Entertainment (network version, 1989; syndication prints have "Times New Roman" on top). On some distribution variants, the sunburst fades in, rather than out. Although it stopped general use around September 1991, a few shows, such as the Married... with Children spin-off Vinnie & Bobby, used this until 1992.
 * On the TV movie Intrigue, the 1988 logo has a gray CPE byline.
 * 1989-1993: The text "Times New Roman" was added above the blue/ivory logo on reprints of Screen Gems shows. This followed the LBS Communications logo. From 1989-1991, the font was cheaply tacked in white with a black outline around it. This version looped part of the animation, causing the sunburst to fade out, then suddenly reappear. It would also fade in. On 1991-1993 episodes of Days of Our Lives, the logo used the IAW variant with the text in the Souvenir font.
 * October 1991-1992: Blue/gold and purple/gold company name; no byline. This was used during the early years of the company being owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
 * There is an early version of the CPE byline where it's in all caps reading "Times New Roman" It was used on the 1988 TV movie, Badlands 2005.
 * Open matte versions of the 1989 and 1991 logos exist, revealing more of the Torch Lady's pedestal. The 1989 version is seen on Dark Avenger (1990) and Hardball (the latter has the phrase "In Association With" appearing below it), while the 1991 version is seen on Christmas on Division Street. On the 1989 version, the text looks bronze rather than gold. Another version, seen on part one of Switched at Birth, Cast the First Stone, and a few episodes of the 1989 CBS drama series A Peaceable Kingdom have no black under the pedestal. The 1989 open-matte version was exclusive to TV movies and drama shows, barring soap operas.
 * September 1991-June 18, 1993: Blue/ivory company name, no byline (network version; syndication prints from 1991-1992 have "Times New Roman" on top).
 * There is also a B&W version of the logo on classic Columbia movies in B&W. It was also used to plaster Screen Gems logos on reprints of their shows.
 * There is a short version of the 1982 logo.
 * Another version of the 1991 logo exists where you can see a few extra steps in the pedestal, but is not a full open matte logo, like the Christmas on Division Street version. This is seen on Revolver.
 * A version of the 1982 logo has the logo shifted up, revealing the whole pedestal. This was spotted in the 1985 miniseries Robert Kennedy and His Times.
 * The 1992 TV documentary Titanic: Treasure of the Deep has the 1991 logo fading in.
 * A fade in variant of the 1989 logo was spotted on the 1989 TV pilot Shivers, which aired as part of the CBS Summer Playhouse.

FX/SFX: Likely Scanimate animation.

Music/Sounds:
 * 1982-1989: A shortened, slightly higher pitched version of the Sunburst music by Suzanne Ciani. The 1976 version was also used on this logo for a long version.
 * January 4, 1988-1993: A 6-note brass jingle mixed with twinkles composed by Tim Thompson that is played on a keyboard, which sounds like a triumphant superhero theme.
 * Sometimes, it has the closing theme of the show or TV movie playing over the logo, or none.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On the Married... with Children episode "A Man's Castle" as seen on The Most Outrageous Episodes: Volume 2 DVD, the 1993 music from the 5th logo is heard.
 * There was a warped version with Thompson's music seen on '80s prints of Screen Gems shows such as Occasional Wife. The theme is also in a higher pitch.
 * There was a slowed down version with Thompson's music on the 1988 and 1991 logos. The 1988 logo was seen on the second episode of The Real Ghostbusters, part of the Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters II DVD set, while the 1991 logo is seen on the 1991 The Young and the Restless Christmas episode. The 1988 theme sounds much slower.
 * On the season 4 DVD set of Punky Brewster, at the end of the episode, "The Nun's Story", the short Columbia TriStar Television Distribution theme is used on the 1982 CPT logo. It is silent on the Peacock print of said episode.
 * On a couple episodes of My Two Dads on the S1 DVD set, it had the first two notes of the 1988 fanfare gone. The music fades in at the third note. This may have appeared on the original NBC broadcasts.
 * On Switched at Birth and on several episodes of Designing Women, the 1988 theme reverbs for a long time after the logo fades out.
 * On the 1988 TV movie Intrigue, the 1988 CPT theme is in a lower pitch.
 * On the first three episodes of A Peaceable Kingdom, the logo fades out halfway before the theme finishes. On the first episode, the theme fades out on the 6th and final note, with the second episode having it fade out on the 4th note, though you can hear a little bit of the 5th note, and the third episode fades out on the 6th note, though you can still hear a little bit of it before it fades completely.
 * Some Screen Gems programs had the "S from Hell" logo sloppily plastered with this logo in the early/mid '80s, in a way that the first 2-3 notes of the SG jingle would be heard, then the Ciani music would be heard starting in mid-jingle. One example of this would appear on '80s reruns of The Farmer's Daughter. Allegedly, during this same period, the logo would plaster Screen Gems logos with the original music still intact, though no trace has been found since.
 * On a rerun of a Diff'rent Strokes episode on Antenna TV, the theme from the Embassy Communications logo can be heard, due to bad plastering.
 * French airings of T.J. Hooker on the French Belgium channel "La Une" have the widescreen 1982 logo with the 1993 CPT theme.
 * On a French print of a season 1 episode of Silver Spoons, the 1988 CPT logo theme can be faintly heard as the volume is strangely low.
 * On one print of The Real Ghostbusters, the SPT theme is heard over the logo, most likely due to a bad reverse plastering error.

Availability: Uncommon. Most of these logos have been plastered by the Columbia TriStar and/or Sony Pictures Television logos (likely due to the Coca-Cola byline used for much of the logo's run), but it just might pop up on some older prints of shows.
 * It was previously found on some episodes of Designing Women on TV Guide Network (now Pop).
 * It was also spotted when Chiller aired reruns of the series Werewolf. Comedy Central's print of the movie Hairspray (1988) used the 7th variation listed in the opening (w/the '88-'93 jingle).
 * Local reruns would have the 1988 Distribution logo on several Good Times episodes, which would also appear on S1 on DVD and on Antenna TV, followed by the SPT logo. This can also be seen at the beginning of Village of the Giants (an Embassy Pictures release) when it was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 as Mike, Crow, and Tom Servo were entering the theater.
 * The 1982 logo can be seen on DVD in many places: the 1982 mini-series The Blue and the Gray, the 1985 version of Alice in Wonderland, several S2 episodes of Fantasy Island on DVD released from Shout! Factory, with music on most episodes on the season 4 DVD release of Punky Brewster from Shout! Factory and on Peacock, and without music (also plastering the Paramount logo) on a 1994 VHS of Road to Bali from Video Treasures. A 16mm B/W copy of this logo was seen on some syndicated prints of The Three Stooges short "Boobs in Arms", replacing the Screen Gems logo.
 * The B&W variant of the 1982 logo can be seen on some episodes of The Donna Reed Show on Me-TV, and some movies on Antenna TV including Last Train from Bombay; the B&W variant of the 1988 logo can be seen at the end of all episodes on the Bewitched VHS release titled "Love That Witch". The B&W 1982 Coca-Cola byline variant can also be seen on select reruns - mostly from season 2 - of Naked City on both Tubi and (as of this posting) Retro TV's daytime schedule. This variant usually plasters the original Screen Gems torch lady logo during the announcement by Harry Cohn; as a result, the Columbia Pictures Television logo fades out sooner and the remaining theme music is heard for about 5 seconds after fading out.
 * The 1988, 1989, and 1991 logos can be found on both volumes of the Married... with Children: The Most Outrageous Episodes DVD.
 * The 1989 logo can be seen on the 1991 VHS release of All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special, Switched at Birth, Cast the First Stone and Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story (which plasters the Embassy logo).
 * The 1988 and 1989 logos can also be seen on plenty of S1 and S2 My Two Dads episodes on the Shout! Factory DVD release under Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's license.
 * The 1988 logo was seen on a majority of 1980 episodes of Barney Miller when it last aired on WGN America (now NewsNation) and mostly on local syndication, including a vast number of the then-remastered Three Stooges shorts on local stations.
 * The 1988 logo was also seen on the VHS releases of Weekend War and Intrigue.
 * The 1988 logo makes a surprise appearance at the start of a Columbia TriStar Home Video release of The Karate Kid Part II.
 * The 1982 CPT logo can be found on some S1 episodes of Designing Women on DVD.
 * The 1988, 1989, and 1991 CPT logos can be seen on plenty of episodes from seasons 1-6 DVD releases (and Tubi prints) of Designing Women.
 * The 1991 blue/ivory open matte logo was spotted on Christmas on Division Street, which can be found on the UK VHS release from Odyssey Video, and is also retained on Crackle's print.
 * A bylineless 1982 version was recently spotted on an episode of T.J. Hooker that aired on Australian digital Channel 7mate and was also seen on the now defunct Cloo, Universal HD, and the French Belgium channel "La Une" (in a widescreen variant and oddly with the 1993 CPT theme on the latter channel). It was also added to all second season episodes of that show on the 2014 Mill Creek Entertainment DVD reissue of the first and second seasons (the Sony Pictures Television logo replaced the logo on the 2005 DVD release), and is also on all 22 episodes on the season 4 (1982-83) release of Hart to Hart from Shout! Factory.
 * This logo was also seen on a few episodes of some existing syndicated prints of season 1 episodes of That's My Mama!, plastering the original "Pretzel" logo.
 * The Revolver variant can be found on the VHS release of said title and appears on the Sony Movie Channel's airing of said movie. It may also appear on the Sony Pictures Choice Collection DVD-R as well.
 * The bylineless gold version is retained at the start of The Producers on This TV (but not on Get TV), and TCM airings of the films The Oscar and Tyrant of Lydia Against the Son of Hercules. Also spotted on a Movies! airing of Hercules and the Princess of Troy, a 1993 Family Channel (now Freeform) airing of the original 1982 Annie, as well as old cable prints of Winter Kills, Stripes and Maximum Overdrive (including a TNT broadcast), replacing the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) logo.
 * The 1988 CPTD logo was seen on one episode of The Burns & Allen Show, as well as the Diff'rent Strokes episode "The Moonlighter" both on Antenna TV.
 * The 1991 logo is retained on the VHS release of Titanic: Treasure of the Deep. The "Distributed by" variant can be found on the Dutch Arrow Film VHS release of Dark Avenger. However, the Amazon Prime print of the latter movie has the Sony Pictures Television International logo instead.
 * This logo, with the CPE byline, can be seen on the first season and the first few episodes of the second season of Parker Lewis Can't Lose on FamilyNet and Crackle, while later second season episodes and early third season episodes use the bylineless version. Later third season episodes use the next logo.
 * The bylineless, open-matte version of the 1982 logo is seen on several T.J. Hooker episodes on Crackle.
 * It was also seen at the end of a December 2000 Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) broadcast of The Hidden.
 * The 1991 logo is retained on the Sony Movie Channel broadcast and the Sony Pictures Choice Collection DVD-R release of The Whereabouts of Jenny. However a True Movies 1 airing in the United Kingdom used the Sony Pictures Television International logo instead.
 * Oddly enough, the 1982 bylineless version plasters the original 1991 logo (while retaining the ending theme) on Sony Movie Channel broadcasts and the CTV.ca print of I Still Dream of Jeannie.
 * The bylineless 1991 logo made a surprise appearance at the beginning of a 5Spike (now Paramount Network) airing of The Bounty Killer. It also made a surprise appearance at the end of the Amazon Prime print of Silent Cries, after the 2nd TriStar Television logo.
 * It recently made a appearance on Decades airings of some Riptide episodes, which they recently aired as part of their weekend binge.
 * The 1989 and 1991 variants were spotted on many later-season episodes of Who's the Boss? on GAC Family, followed by the SPT logo.

Legacy: This was the first logo to replace the Embassy logo starting in 1988 on shows from Embassy. Many shows stopped using this logo in 1992, although The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives continued to use the blue/ivory logo until 1993. This was also used for the first season of The Larry Sanders Show, which premiered in August 1992.

4th Logo (August 15, 1992-May 19, 2001)
Nickname: "Majestic Torch Lady"

Logo: We see a still picture of a brand new Columbia Torch Lady (painted by Michael J. Deas, and modeled by Louisiana homemaker, Jenny Joseph; some think it looks like actress Annette Benning) holding a light torch on top of a new pedestal against a cloud background with a blue sky around it. The word "COLUMBIA" appears in giant chiseled silver letters behind her at the very top, similar to the classic Columbia Pictures logo from 1936-1976. Underneath the lady are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION", or until 1996, "COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" (in the Bank Gothic Condensed Bold font) and underneath that is the byline "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company".

Trivia: The painting was originally made in 1991 by Michael J. Deas and made its debut in 1992.

Variants:
 * There is a black & white variation that was used to plaster Screen Gems logos on their shows.
 * On the TV pilot movie of Dark Skies known as "The Awakening", the name and the byline fade out at the same time as the logo.
 * An open-matte version can be seen on the Parker Lewis Can't Lose season 3 episodes, "Beauty and the Kube" and "Hungry Heart".
 * On Beakman's World, a CGI toy rocket flies around the Torch Lady.
 * A rare 1.37:1 "academy" version exists.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Here are the main versions:
 * 1992-December 31, 1993: The 1988 music from the 4th logo. Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless were the two series that used this starting in mid-Spring 1993 and used it until New Year's Eve 1993.
 * September 1993-2001: A 6-note majestic tune is heard, full of brass instruments; composed by Dave Grusin.
 * 1994-2001: A re-composed 1993 theme that's slightly re-arranged.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * There is a silent version of the logo.
 * Sometimes, the ending theme of the show plays over it.
 * NBC and CBS airings would have their generic themes playing over it, starting in 1994.
 * On The Greatest '70s Cop Shows DVD, the short Columbia TriStar Television Distribution theme was heard on the pilot of Police Woman (this can also be heard on Gidget Grows Up), and the long Columbia TriStar Television Distribution theme was heard on the pilot of Starsky & Hutch. This was likely due to being a rushed job, resulting in terrible plastering. The short CTTD theme is also heard on The Jeff Foxworthy Show on TBS, The Dana Carvey Show episode "The Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show" on DVD, and episode 5 of season 1 of The New Gidget on CTV Throwback (plastering the 1982 variant of the 4th logo).
 * On early to mid '90s reruns of the short-lived series Ivanhoe, the second half of the theme is used.
 * On syndicated reruns of the Early Edition episode "Red Fellas", the 1993 TriStar Television logo music is heard due to sloppy reverse plastering.
 * The CPTD version of the logo sometimes used a warped version of the 1993 theme. This was a little strange to hear it be used with the CPT version of the logo on older prints of selected episodes of Charlie's Angels, possibly due to plastering over the older logos.
 * On the short-lived series Dark Skies starting on episode 2, older prints of some episodes of Charlie's Angels, and the 1996 TV movie Sudden Terror: The Hijacking of Bus #17, the Columbia TriStar Television theme is used.
 * On the Charlie's Angels episode "Night of the Strangler" on the season 1 DVD release, the final note of the 1993 CPT theme has a reverb effect to it.
 * On a DVD print of The Real Ghostbusters episode "Captain Steel Saves the Day", the Coca-Cola Telecommunications theme is heard due to bad plastering.
 * On early season 1 episodes of Beakman's World, the 1988 theme is somewhat distorted by the toy rocket's noises. Later season 1 episodes only have the rocket noises playing without the theme. Starting with the second season, the 1993 theme would be heard over the logo.
 * On a French television broadcast of the 1993 TV movie Baby Brokers, the 2003 Sony Pictures Television International theme is heard. This is probably due to the fact that the network used an HD print with the audio of an older printing featuring the SPTI logo. This also happens on an episode of The Real Ghostbusters included on a Greek three-episode VHS compilation released by Prooptiki and Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
 * On some Spring 2020 reruns of The Young and the Restless episodes on CBS, the 1976 theme can be heard due to bad plastering again.
 * Like the previous logo, on one print of The Real Ghostbusters, the SPT theme is heard, again, due to a reverse plastering error.
 * On a 2006 Channel 5 UK airing of the 1976 TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, the first 3 notes of the 1976 theme from the 2nd and 3rd logos in PAL pitched tone playing faintly in the background before the correct 1993 theme in NTSC pitched tone appears, due to plastering over the older logo.

Availability: Common, as it has managed to pop up on several current prints of Sony series and movies even with the Sony Pictures Television logo plastering over logos.
 * Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless did not begin using this logo until 1993.
 * On local stations, it's been spotted on a majority of Good Times reruns.
 * The CPTD logo can also be found on some movies on TCM, the season 5 Good Times episode "The Evans Get Involved: Part I" on TV One, the end of the original version of The Producers on This TV, at the beginning of Nevada Smith and An Eye for an Eye (1981) on getTV, and the season 2 Silver Spoons episode "Mr. President" on Antenna TV.
 * The B&W version appeared on '90s prints of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched; it was also spotted at the beginning of the 1965 film Darling on TCM and some episodes of Dennis the Menace on Hulu (plastering the 1955 and 1960 Screen Gems logos). It can also be seen at the close of select episodes of Naked City on Tubi and Retro TV (see above), and at the end of the final season episodes of Route 66, following the Screen Gems "dancing sticks" logo, on Retro TV's daytime schedule (again, as of this posting). It was also spotted on older reruns of the short-lived Ivanhoe on Arte.
 * This logo can be seen on S1 DVD releases of All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Charlie's Angels, and Sanford and Son.
 * This logo is also seen on DVD volume releases of The Real Ghostbusters, released by Sony in 2005. It is also seen on volume 1 of Married... with Children: The Most Outrageous Episodes and The Greatest '70s Cop Shows on DVD.
 * The version with the 1988 music can be seen on the VHS release of Married... with Children: It's a Bundyful Life, The Best of Beakman's World (the variant with the rocket) on VHS and DVD, at the start of a 1993 Columbia House VHS tape of Bewitched called "Love That Witch", and on most episodes of the final season of Designing Women on DVD (a handful of episodes have the 1993 version and the series finale "Gone with a Whim" has the SPT logo).
 * It also appeared at the end of The Partridge Family: C'mon Get Happy! on VHS; it's also likely preserved on other VHS tapes in the Screen Gems TV series. Weirdly on some episodes of Bewitched, this logo is seen between with the 1965 Screen Gems logo and the Sony Pictures Television logo.
 * It's also seen at the end of The Graduate on Antenna TV and This TV. The CPT logo is present on several season 5 episodes of Barney Miller on the Shout! Factory DVD set, following the Four D Productions logo.
 * The logo was also spotted on an airing of Just You and Me, Kid on Antenna TV, plastering the first few seconds of the 1976 Columbia film logo.
 * It was also spotted on some episodes of The Jeff Foxworthy Show on TBS, surprisingly not falling victim to TBS's style of split-screen credits. It's also intact on the 2015 Complete Series DVD release from Mill Creek Entertainment and on most episodes on Crackle.
 * This was also seen at the beginning of a recent airing of The Natural on Antenna TV and This TV.
 * A small handful of episodes of The Jeffersons have this logo on the 2014 Mill Creek Entertainment release of season 2, with both 1988 and 1993 music.
 * It also appeared at the beginning of an airing of Moscow on the Hudson on This TV. It can also be seen on Crackle prints of episodes of The Steve Harvey Show, The Critic, and season 3 of The Real Ghostbusters.
 * It is also seen on reruns of Walker: Texas Ranger on ONE in Australia with the closing theme playing over it. It's also retained on its DVD releases of seasons 1-3 (including the 1995 VHS release from Warner Home Video) but later seasons plaster this logo in favor of the CBS Paramount Network Television "Wallpaper" logo on season 4 and the CBS Television Distribution logo on seasons 5-7.
 * It was seen on Spring 2020 Flashback Friday reruns of The Young and the Restless on CBS, with the 1976, 1988 and 1993 music.
 * This was also seen at the start of TCM's print of the Rankin/Bass Productions film The Daydreamer (possibly due to being sourced from an earlier television print, as Sony holds the TV rights via Embassy Pictures).
 * Also spotted on a 2000 syndicated print of the TV movie Rapture, where it appeared before the Columbia TriStar Television Distribution logo (and with both logos replacing the TriStar Television logo that was originally used on this film).
 * This plasters the TriStar Television logo on Amazon Prime's print of Fugitive Nights: Danger in the Desert.
 * The CPTD logo can be currently seen on reruns of the original Fantasy Island on getTV.

Legacy: This appeared almost a year before movies began using this new Torch Lady in 1993.

Copyright Stamps
Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the CPT series and TV movies:


 * 1974-1984: Copyright © (year) by Columbia Pictures Television, A division of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
 * 1982-1986: Copyright © (year) by Rastar Television, Inc. (Used throughout the entire run of Ripley's Believe it or Not!)
 * 1984-1993: Copyright © (year) by Columbia Pictures Television, A division of CPT Holdings, Inc.
 * 1986-1987: Copyright © (year) Columbia Pictures Television (Used on the first two seasons of The Real Ghostbusters)
 * 1987-1988: COPYRIGHT © (year) BY TRI-STAR TELEVISION, A DIVISION OF TRI-STAR PICTURES, INC. (Used on 1988 aired episodes of My Two Dads, Buck James, and Werewolf, during S1)
 * 1987-1988: COPYRIGHT© (year) EMBASSY COMMUNICATIONS (Used on 1988 aired episodes of produced series by Embassy Communications)
 * 1988-1997: COPYRIGHT © (year) ELP COMMUNICATIONS (Used for Embassy's productions when it was renamed ELP Communications and went under CPT)
 * 1988-2001: Copyright © (year) CPT Holdings, Inc. (used on The Young and the Restless)
 * 1988-1998, 1999-2001: Copyright © (year) Columbia Pictures Television, Inc.
 * 1988: Copyright © (year) Weekend Adventure Company (Used on the TV movie Weekend War)
 * 1991-1992: Copyright © (numeric year Roman numeric year) The Weinberger Company (Used on Baby Talk)
 * 1991: Copyright © (numeric year Roman numeric year) ACT III TELEVISION VENTURE (Used on All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special and the short-lived CBS sitcom Sunday Dinner)
 * 1991: Copyright © (year) by HIGHER GROUND PRODUCTIONS (CANADA), INC. (Used on the TV movie Christmas on Division Street)
 * 1992-1993: COPYRIGHT © (numeric year Roman numeric year) ELP COMMUNICATIONS (Used on the 1st season of Beakman's World)
 * 1993: Copyright © (year) CPT/ABCP VENTURES (Used on Moon Over Miami)
 * 1998-1999: Copyright © (year) Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Company Medien KG

Final Note
Columbia TriStar Television took over for then-current shows formerly ending with this logo by 2001, though the copyright holder at the end of each show would credit "Columbia Pictures Television, Inc." or "CPT Holdings, Inc." until 2002, shortly after the debut of the Sony Pictures Television logo. However, "CPT Holdings, Inc." is still being used today as the copyright holder of The Young and the Restless and old incarnations from their television library such as What's Happening!!, the Sony-owned Pyramid incarnations, and others. It would also be used on foreign shows by Sony Pictures Television International from 2002-2010.