Grundy Television

In memory of Reg Grundy (1923 - 2016)

''This article is about the original Australian production division of the Reg Grundy Organization. For the company's U.S. television division, see Reg Grundy Productions.''

Background
Grundy Television was formed in 1959 by Reg Grundy as "Grundy Organisation" (a.k.a. "Reg Grundy Organisation", later "Grundy Organization" in late 1979 spelling the name in the U.S. English dictionary). In 1983, he formed the U.S. television production division "Reg Grundy Productions, Inc." and established more companies in other countries. The Grundy companies were sold in 1995 to Pearson, plc. In 2000, Pearson Television was sold to CLT-UFA and merged to become the RTL Group and renamed Pearson Television to FremantleMedia. In 2006, Grundy Television merged with fellow FremantleMedia-owned Australian TV production company Crackerjack Productions to form "FremantleMedia Australia". Until 2013, the name Grundy still existed in Germany as "Grundy Light Entertainment" and in Italy as "Grundy Productions Italy".

1st Logo (1960-1980)
Nickname: "RG"

Logo: We see the following words on the screen:

RG REG GRUNDY production

superimposed over a show’s closing scene after the credits. A stylized, cursive “RG” insignia (the initials of the company’s founder Reg Grundy) sits on the top (or top left) of the text, which is in a sans-serif font.

Variants:
 * Around 1977, the logo's wording was changed to:

RG GRUNDY ORGANISATION production

But a minor modification from about late 1979, the logo is slightly smaller and the spelling of “ORGANISATION” is modified with a "Z" in place of the "S", giving it an American spelling.


 * Opening: A rare opening variant was used in 1977 at the beginning of Glenview High. The opening logo reads:

RG GRUNDY ORGANIZATION presents

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The end of the show's theme. On their game shows, the announcer would say "This has been a Reg Grundy/Grundy Organisation production produced by [TV Channel]. (announcer's name) speaking".

Availability: Seen after the credits of Grundy shows of the era, such as The Young Doctors, Blankety Blanks (the Australian version of Match Game), and on earlier episodes of Prisoner.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1980-1990)
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Nicknames: "The Icosahedron", "The (Rolling) Icosahedron"

Logo: An animated wireframe icosahedron (a geometric figure consisting of 20 triangular faces in a hexagonal shape with lines criss-crossing its width and height) rolls towards the viewer from the screen’s center, growing bigger as this occurs. As it finally settles in place, the words “GRUNDY” in the center of the icosahedron and “TELEVISION” below the icosahedron simultaneously unfold onto the screen while the word “PRODUCTION” (in a different, thinner font) rises from the bottom of the screen.

Variants:
 * Early-Mid 1980: The text “Grundy Organization” (spanning the screen’s width) overlaps a static, 2D icosahedron. The text is solid except for the letters “R” and “G” (representing the initials of Reg Grundy) in the icosahedron’s centre. The word “production” sits on either the bottom right of “organization” or below the logo itself. This is the last logo to use initials of any kind.
 * 1980-1983: Same static icosahedron as before, only “Grundy Organization Production” is rearranged below.
 * 1983: The icosahedron is redesigned for a more “3D” look. The word “Grundy” lies right in the middle of the icosahedron, and the words “Television” (in the same font as “Grundy”) and “Production” (in a thin, sans serif font) are below (On game shows produced by Grundy, a copyright statement appeared under the wording [i.e. © {YEAR} GRUNDY ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD]).
 * Circa 1981, Grundy decided to animate the icosahedron (as described above) using stop-frame animation (using a caption machine in this case). It debuted on the soap opera Sons & Daughters and eventually spread to other shows produced by Grundy. In the late ‘80s, it was redone in CGI for a smoother appearance (see details on 3rd logo, examples can also be seen above).

FX/SFX:
 * 1980-1983: None.
 * 1983-1990: The icosahedron spinning towards the viewer. The entire animated sequence is superimposed over the ending scene of the show's intro, making this a unique logo. The version used in the closing credits continued to be still. (Expect on early episodes of Sons & Daughters where the icosahedron was also animated in the credits.)
 * Match Mates Variant: On Match Mates (an Australian children's version of Concentration which aired from 1981 to 1982), the logo slid from the bottom of the screen and stopped at the centre, at the same speed as the closing credits. This is the only known occasion where the associated network's credit (the Nine Network) appeared before the Grundy logo.
 * Play Your Cards Right Variant: On Play Your Cards Right (an Australian version of Card Sharks which aired in 1984), the entire static logo (including the "diamond", company name and copyright statement) flipped out from the centre of the screen (in a similar fashion to the "Play Your Cards Right" logo flipping at the start of the end credits).

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show. See above for game show mentions.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On the first episode of Neighbours, it's a soft synth theme. This may have also been used on other shows from the era too.
 * A variation of the gameshow announcement variation exists on a 1981 Nine Network Christmas tape during the Family Feud segment were the announcement is changed to "Family Feud is a Grundy Organization steal, recorded for the national Nine Network. I have nothing to do with this program, Philip Brady speaking."

Availability: Still seen on old episodes of Neighbours, Prisoner, The Young Doctors, and Sons & Daughters, whenever they are rerun sometime in either Australia or the UK, Can be seen on DVDs of early episodes of Neighbours, and Sons & Daughters, with the latter being reran on the Seven Network in the early hours of the morning, as well as the original series of It's A Knockout on the Ten Australia website.

Editor's Note: It's a fondly recalled logo and familiar to a generation of Australian TV fans who grew up with Neighbours, Prisoner, Sale of the Century, and countless others.

3rd Logo (1988-1997)
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Nicknames: "The Icosahedron II", "3D Rotating Icosahedron", "Crystal Icosahedron", "CGI Rotating Icosahedron", "Silver Icosahedron", "Icosahedron of Steel"

Logo: On a nighttime background with stars, we have a crystal icosahedron outlined in gold zooming out slowly to make its way to the center as it rotates. We later see a gold comet flying from left to right in the middle of the icosahedron to reveal the name "Times New Roman", fading and zooming in the middle of the icosahedron as it continues to rotate and later turns silver, leaving the gold outline in place. As the comet passes by, we see yet another comet going to the opposite direction on the bottom of the icosahedron revealing the word "Times New Roman" as it fades in while the 2nd comet passes by from the opposite. We later see the word "Times New Roman" fading in below.

Variants:
 * Some series won't have the full animation. Just the second half of the animation.
 * This logo appeared as an in-credit on the opening credits of Neighbours from 1988 to early 1992, although a still version of the "Rolling Icosahedron" was still used in the closing credits.
 * A variation exists on the soap opera Richmond Hill were the full version of the logo is animated into the opening titles. The show's title zooms in from a sign seen in the intro while the background turns into a cartoon-like background. As it zooms in, the background fades to the actual one used by this logo, the show's title also changes to white. The show's title then transitions to start of the logo's animation (where the icosahedron zooms out) via a wipe effect starting from the center of the screen all the way to the top and bottom of the screen.
 * This logo also appeared as an in-credit on some Australian game shows (including Perfect Match and Wheel of Fortune (not the American series by Merv Griffin)).
 * On game shows like Sale of the Century, the logo zooms away to the top, leaving room for the copyright, then fading into the logo of the channel it aired on (e.g. the Nine Network for the show mentioned).
 * Another variant had just "Television" under it.
 * In mid-1996, the byline "A Pearson Television Company" was placed under "Television Production". Later on, "Television Production" was removed.
 * On shows in New Zealand, especially on TVNZ's channels, the logo zooms out in a box, against either a gray or blue background, with the TVNZ logo underneath it. This can at least be found on the country's versions of Sale of the Century and Wheel of Fortune.

FX/SFX: The icosahedron zooming-out, the comets flying, the stars sparkling, and the icosahedron rotating.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A majestic synth note being held out, or the end title theme from any show. However, the game shows do use a slight remix of the music from the show's theme, and the announcer signing-off (example from Sale of the Century: "This is a Grundy Television Production for Nine Network Australia. Peter Smith speaking").

Availability: Seen on reruns of Neighbours, among other shows. Some series are succeeded by the Pearson Television International logo.

Editor's Note: A neat CGI successor to the previous logo.

4th Logo (1997-2006)
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Nicknames: "Gold G", "Grundy CGI", "Big Grundy G", "Global G", "Global Grundy", "The Grundy Eclipse/Gclipse", "The G-Slicer", "The Comet Slicer"

Logo: On a black background, a large, elliptical gold ring with a bronze aura forms in the center of the screen while a white dot that reveals itself to be a comet flies clockwise from the back and circumnavigates it as if circling a globe. As this happens, the top right portion of the ring disappears and a gold trail is formed below, making up a stylized “G” shape. As the aura fades out, a curved boomerang-style trail is cut through the left side. A small point of light shines briefly on the top right end of the “G” upon completion. Throughout this formation, the word “Copperplate Gothic” (in Copperplate Gothic font in white) fades-in below, with the respective company byline a split second later.

Bylines:
 * 1997-2001: "A Pearson Television Company"
 * 2001-2006: "A FREMANTLEMEDIA COMPANY"

Variants:
 * In 1999, while the logo animated, the logo shifted down some to reveal "40 YEARS" above the logo with an arc.
 * There was also a still shot of the logo.
 * An abridged variant of the logo is known to exist.
 * At the end of Bruce's Price is Right, another still variant was used with the Grundy logo at the top and the Yorkshire Television logo below with "YORKSHIRE TELEVISION CO-PRODUCTION" below. Speaking of Bruce Forsyth and Reg Grundy, another variant exists, but with the LWT logo below, and that can be found on reruns of the 1990s version of (Bruce Forsyth's) Play Your Cards Right (Card Sharks).
 * On some BBC airings of Neighbours, the BBC logo would be shown below along with the URL "www.bbc.co.uk/neighbours".
 * On shows in Germany, such as later episodes of Ruck Zuck (Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak) and Familien Duell (Family Feud), "LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT" would be under "GRUNDY".

FX/SFX: All CGI.

Music/Sounds: Usually, the end theme of the show. In the case of most game shows, there were three variations:
 * The show's ending music was used when the logo was first shown on television.
 * From early 1998, a majestic synth fanfare played during the logo's animation.
 * In 1999, the music was changed to droning synth wind music, followed by a high-pitched stinger.

Availability: Seen on 1997-2006 episodes of Neighbours and all other Grundy shows during this logo's lifespan. The version with the music appeared on most game shows including Sale of the Century, Temptation and the 2002 revival of Perfect Match, among others. Abridged variant was used during the first season of finnish soap opera Salatut Elämät.

Editor's Note: None.