WNET IDs

(September 16, 1962-October 1, 1970)
Nicknames: "Owl of Athena", "WNDT Owl"

Logo: On a static black background, we see the words "CHANNEL 13" and "WNDT" on the left, and an abstract owl on the right, separated by a large slash. Below the owl are the words "NEWARK, N.J.".

Variant: A white background version exists. Here, the owl is larger and placed to the left of the slash, while the right has a large "13" and "WNDT" is located below it.

Trivia: The owl is currently used as the favicon for WNET's station (not corporate) website.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Unknown. The variant uses the closing theme of the show.

Availability: Extinct. Only used as a local ID.

Legacy: The abstract owl's design looks a tad creepy.

WNET/Thirteen
1st Logo

(1975-February 1984)

TBA

2nd Logo

(February 1984-1988)

Logo: On a green background the text is Only the Best Thirteen WNET NEWARK, N.J. below

FX/SFX: None

Music/Sounds: Just the announcer.

Availability: Extinct.

Legacy: None.

3rd Logo

(1988-July 21, 1995)

TBA

Turn That Camera Off (September 6, 1988-1995)


Nickname: "Keeping What Matters In Sight" "Abstract Thirteen"

Logo: On a greenish-gray background, we see the words "ThiRtEEn WNET NEWARK, NJ" in white on a transparent rectangle protruding from the right. The "ThiRtEEn" is made up of some abstract, combined letter forms upper and lower-case all in its corporate font and the other text is simply in Optima. Later, the bottom text fades to "Keeping what matters in sight" in a compressed white font aligned to the left. Several rectangles appear in the background.

FX/SFX: The text fading.

Music/Sounds: A relaxing 12-note piano tune with a few string and flute riffs thrown in.

Availability: Extinct. It was used only as a local ID.

Courtesy (1993-October 23, 1999)
Nickname: "Abstract Thirteen II"

Logo: On a blue background reminiscent of TV static, we see the "ThiRtEEn" from the 8th logo, the "wnet" from the 9th logo, and a bullet wipe-in.

Variant: There is a version on a solid black background.

FX/SFX: The wipe-in effect. The black background variant is still.

Music/Sounds: An announcer says "Local broadcast of the news hour is made possible courtesy of Thirteen WNET." The variant uses the audio of the clip that plays before this logo.

Availability: Extinct. Was only used as a local ID.

Sugar Rush (July 21, 1995-October 1, 1999)
Nickname: "Abstract Thirteen III"

Logo: Tinted with the color scheme from the Public TV For East Tennessee ident, we see various CGI/live-action-related clips (such as a train moving towards us, the window sill from the 8th PBS logo, a compass, a giant white/sea green "N" swinging in front of a running leopard, etc.) as the "ThiRtEEn" from the 8th and 10th logos zooms in very slowly towards us. As all this happens, a violet banner with "WNET NEWARK NJ" (which later changes to "NEW YORK NY") briefly appears below at the lower-right.

Variants: There were at least a couple of variants which use the aforementioned clips:
 * Arts and Entertainment: Known to use the short version.
 * Explore: Known to use the short version.
 * Depth, Dialogue, Discussion: Known to use the short version.
 * History: Known to use both the long and short versions.

FX/SFX: TBA.

Music/Sounds: A pretty new-age tune with a piano, flutes and violins. For the variants, same as the 1995 PBS bumper variants; the short versions have different voiceovers.
 * Explore: "The world is waiting; explore it with Thirteen."
 * Depth, Dialogue, Discussion: "Thirteen, when you want the whole story." or "Thirteen, making sense of it all."
 * History: "Thirteen, where history comes to life."

Availability: Extinct. Was only used as a station ID.

Incidents (October 1999-2006)
TBA

Thanks To Our Members (October 1999-May 2009)
ID: On a pattern background, we see a globe-like spinning background, which zooms out to reveal a different background and the transparent 1999 Thirteen logos scroll to the center and the globe becomes a red dot on the “I.” and flashes. Then, we run through New York City.

FX/SFX: Cool effects.

Music/Sounds: A portion of the WNET “Berserk Button” theme. A man says, “Thanks to our members and the following for their support of 13’s programming today.”

Availability: Possibly extinct!

Night Time Bubbles (October 1999-2004)
ID: It’s almost night in NY and boats and bubbles are floating about. The 1999 Thirteen logo appears “WNET NEWARK NJ” underneath it. Then, it’s replaced by the text, “WNET NEW YORK.” The URL, www.thirteen.org is seen.

FX/SFX: The live-action and special effects.

Music/Sounds: We hear some nice music.

Availability: Extinct. It was used as a station ID.

This is a relaxing ID with the bubbles and floating boats, which can remind others of listening to jazz on a boardwalk.

Technical Difficulties (October 1999-2004)
ID: The 1999 Thirteen logo appears “WNET NEW YORK.” The URL, www.thirteen.org is seen. The background is an overhead view of New York tinted light blue, pink, and purple.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: TBA.

Availability: Extinct. It only appears when the station is having technical difficulties.

Clips of Artists (October 1999-2004)
ID: On a purple background, we see the Thirteen logo superimposed over cutout drawings of kids’ stuff. The drawings are clips shaped like kids’ drawings. The clips show artists doing various things. The text, “WNET NEWARK NJ” becomes “WNET NEW YORK.” The text soon disappears.

FX/SFX: The shapes moving around.

Music/Sounds: We hear an awesome version of the “Berserk Button” song. A man tells you what this is.

Availability: Extinct. Used as a local station ID in mornings.

Juggler (2003-2006)
ID: On a lavender-brown gradient background, we see an artist juggling red balls at various camera angles, and underneath the 1999 Thirteen logo The “I” in “Thirteen” doesn’t have a dot, so they toss a red ball on the “I,” dotting it. The “WNET NEWARK NJ” text changes to “WNET NEW YORK.” They juggle the rest of the balls. A URL appears below. Variants: FX/SFX: Live-action. This was directed by Bobby Chang.
 * Male: Travis T. Flory is wearing a red shirt and juggling 4 balls, and ends up with 3, and then a cane pulls him away.
 * Female: Sofie Zamchick wearing a magenta shirt juggling 3 balls and ends up with 2. A bird flies around her, making her disappear.
 * Before 2004, The juggler accidentally stumbles, dropping the balls, and making a face.

Music/Sounds: Availability: Extinct. Used as an ID for WNET-DT2.
 * Male Variant: A silly tune with kazoos and a “boing!” sound when the ball dots the “I.”
 * Female Variant: Sounds of drums and clicking, along with a cymbal sound.

Legacy: This is a comedic ID.

Car Scribbles (2003-2006)
ID: On a brightly-colored background, we see a checkerboarded ground with the 1999 Thirteen logo zooming toward us. A crudely-drawn scribble car drives out of the “I,” causing it to flip vertically and the dot to jump. Other car scribbles drive about, and the text, “WNET NEWARK NJ” is seen below. A car drives through the logo, changing the text to “WNET NEW YORK.” A car drives right onto and through the “I,” causing the same thing to happen. After a few seconds, the text disappears.

FX/SFX: The cars driving across the screen.

Music/Sounds: Some silly artist music that sounds heavily influenced by "Maggi Mjói" from Áfram Latibær with some car zooming sounds.

Availability: Same as the previous ID.

Legacy: This is a silly and clean ID, and the music can remind viewers of “Slider” from Mario Kart 64, Jives Junkfood, music from 9 Story-produced Squeak, and Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Artist Pinball (2003-2006)
ID: In a blue pinball machine, we see a red pinball being launched behind a hanging arrow sign that reads, “ZOOM Into Action” with the 1999 ZOOM logo on it. The ball scrolls through a bunch of silver pipes rapidly and eventually reaches flat bumpers with Matt, Inez, and Jackie from Cyberchase, hitting them all, sinking them. It rolls through more pipes with the Grim Reaper along with Hacker, Buzz, and Delete. Digit is also shown while the ball hits a bunch of bumpers. It even shows Buzz as a girl-for some unknown reason. Then, it reaches the 1999 Thirteen logo. It dots the “I” and the logo lights up. The text “WNET NEWARK NJ” appears underneath it. The text turns into the more familiar “WNET NEW YORK” and Buzz glares somewhere, making a displeased facce.

FX/SFX: Rapid CGI animation. This was created by Bobby Chang.

Trivia: Len Carlson voices Buzz. When he died, a new Artist logo would be made to respect his death.

Music/Sounds: We hear some cool pixelated sounds with dings and loud electro-music. Then, we hear a deep humming sound under a different 15-note synth jingle with a random rolling and crashing sound for the text station change.

Availability: Same as before. The Alternate Variant was only shown in 2004.

Legacy: While cool, some kids may have been scared by the loud sounds, fast animation, unnatural music, and Buzz’s face (which makes him look like he saw his friend with someone who isn’t him).

Addictive IDs (2004-May 11, 2008)
IDs: Chroma-keyed over New York City or in Newark, NJ, we see various novel authors, illustrators and artists doing a certain activity: After a few seconds, a red dot appears as the entire Thirteen logo (at the lower-left (11) or lower-right (9) corner of the screen) pulses in along with the text “WNET NEWARK NJ.” “NEWARK NJ” soon changes to “NEW YORK” animated like a slot machine.
 * Tango 1: Jeff Kinney and Joy Berry doing the tango and getting into a kissing position.
 * Tango 2: Jeff Kinney and Joy Berry doing the tango again, but spinning to a different position.
 * Martial Arts: A martial artist with make (presumably Shigeru Moyamoto) up performing with a stick.
 * Acapella Women: A trio of women (Helen Baylor, Wanda Sykes, Karen Gould) singing the "Artist" theme.
 * Wheelie Poppers: Nathan Mazur on a bicycle popping wheelie.
 * Woman and Dog: Near a house, we see a person in silver clothes picking up a chihuahua (with what appears to be a red cup on its head) from a fire hydrant on a sidewalk. We zoom out from it to reveal that the person is, Carol Burnett. She smiles at us.
 * Ms. Hannigan's Slave: Near a fountain, we see Carol Burnett with glasses relaxing on a chair. A black man gives her a drink.
 * Artistic Flames: Jeff Kinney blowing out flames on a stick and giving us a cool stare.
 * Harp: An unknown girl (presumably Elaina Keyes or Sophie Zamchick) playing the Artist theme on a harp on a bridge.
 * DJ: A bald DJ remixing the theme (and the background, which seems to be a 2-D image).
 * We Wash: A girl in heavy costuming spinning ribbons around before stopping.
 * Don't Drop: The costumed girl from before spinning ribbons around vertically.
 * Breakdancing: Michael Franti breakdancing.
 * Viva La Thirteen: Lachele Carl performing a sexual dance.
 * Lasso: A cowboy (Angelo Sotira) twirling a lasso.
 * Tapdancing: Alicia Beth Moore tapdancing.
 * Acapella Men: A quintet of men (Andrew S. Gould, Bill Cosby, Ice Cube, Michael Franti and Ludacris) singing the theme.
 * Do Not Get Caught: An Asian girl in a different costuming walking on her tiptoes and shooting her arms at us.
 * Chinese Marriage Dance: In a big, grassy field with trees and New York City in the BG, we see an artist that looks like a king. He runs toward another artist that has a weird mask on that looks like some sort of animal face. When the 2 artists meet each other, they get surprised and jump backwards. Artist 2 puts her arm (and her other arm is still up) over Artist 1, who ducks. Artist 1 then goes back to normal, looking at us with his mouth open wide. The artists start dancing off screen.
 * Super Thirteendo: Ini Kamoze dancing.

Variant: Starting in 2006, the Thirteen logo is bigger, doesn't ripple and the slot machine animation is no longer used, as the text beneath it is omitted.

FX/SFX: Live-action with chroma-key. 13 different backgrounds were used.

Music/Sounds: Music/Sounds Variant: Starting in 2006, either a male (Gary Shapiro) or female (Sandra Sheppard herself) announcer will say that you’re watching member supported Thirteen.
 * Tango 1: An orchestral, tango rendition of the WNET 2004 theme. Arranged by Charles Strouse.
 * Tango 2: Similar to before, but slightly re-orchestrated. Arranged by Charles Strouse.
 * Martial Arts: A heavily-Asianized version of the theme, arranged by Brendan Cooney.
 * Acapella Women: Just the women singing the theme, along with the lady of the right adding a little alternative.
 * Wheelie Poppers: A hip-hop remix of the theme. Arranged by Michael Kohler.
 * Woman And Dog: A synthesized version of the WNET “Artist” theme with the dog barking in sync of the Thirteen logo appearing. Arranged by b. Mossman.
 * Ms. Hannigan's Slave: Same as before, but without the bark.
 * Artistic Flames: We hear snippets of the 2004 WNET “Artist” theme and the sound of fire, possibly synced with the artist's movements. Then, we hear the last part of the Saddle Club theme.
 * Harp: A harp rendition of the theme, with an appregio improvised by the girl herself.
 * DJ: An orchestral version of the theme, mashed up with "F*** tha Police" by N.W.A.
 * We Wash: A very oriental version of the theme, arranged by Brendan Cooney in the key of G.
 * Don't Drop: An alternate take of the theme from before, performed in the key of E.
 * Breakdancing: An electronic/dance cover of the theme, arranged by David Morales.
 * Viva La Thirteen: A Latin salsa cover of the theme, arranged by Roley Pescato.
 * Lasso: A country rendition of the theme, arranged by Brendan Cooney.
 * Tapdancing: A low jazz version of the theme, arranged by Danny Elfman.
 * Acapella Men: Just the men singing and snapping.
 * Do Not Get Caught: An oriental cover of the theme, arranged by Brendan Cooney.
 * Chinese Marriage Dance: A gong sound effect, followed by an Asian-esque version of the WNET “Artist” theme, composed by Brendan Cooney.
 * Super Thirteendo: An upbeat Super Mario World-remix of the "Artist" theme (with what sounds similar to the Nickelodeon theme by Joe Raposo), arranged by Parry Gripp.

Availability: Extinct. Tacked at the end of several WNET-licensed shows, and used as a station ID in 2006.

Editor’s Note: Very memorable IDs.

High Definition (2006-2008)
TBA

Scenic Views (May 2009-2011)
ID: At night, we see various New York City places. The “I” animation from the WNET.ORG THIRTEEN logo is seen while zooming out with “THiRTEEN” in red (or other colors) and the text “WNET ORG” in white. The text “WNET/WNET-DT NEWARK NJ” appears below, and after a few seconds is replaced by “WNET/WNET-DT NEW YORK.” Sometimes “WNET.ORG” doesn’t appear at all.

Variant: A half-length variant exists.

FX/SFX: Live-action.

Music/Sounds: An extended version of the WNET “Painter” Theme, composed by Niccolo Athens. The theme plays 2 octaves higher, then 2 octaves lower, and then at its normal pitch. There are two sets:


 * Version 1: A version starts off with percussions, has lots of bass notes and ends with a single note.
 * Version 2: Same as before, but there are hardly any bass notes and the song ends with a 6-note piano tune.
 * Version 3: A much shorter version that ends on a simple C note after the “Painter” theme plays.

Availability: Possibly extinct.

Marching Robots (May 2009-2019)
ID: On a gold background, see some toy robots marching one-by-one in a line. Some of them wave at us after looking at us. The “I” animation from the WNET.ORG THIRTEEN logo is seen while zooming out with “THiRTEEN” in red and the text “WNET ORG” in white. The text “WNET/WNET-DT NEWARK NJ” appears above the robots, and after a few seconds is replaced by “WNET/WNET-DT NEW YORK.”

Variants:


 * Starting in 2012, only “THIRTEEN” appears after a flash. The “I” animation is no longer used, and the text, “WNET NEWARK” appears under it, becomes “WNET NEW YORK,” and disappears.
 * An HD variant uses the 1999 Thirteen logo with the red dot and a white square with the text “HD” in it. The Newark-New York animation appears under the text, “WNET/WNET-DT,” which is underneath the logo.

FX/SFX: CGI animation done by Bobby Chang.

Music/Sounds: A special Delfino xylophone tune.

Availability: Possibly extinct.

Crustless Bread (2011-2014)
ID: We see a painter holding a poster. He holds it up close to us so we can see it and it shows the left side view of another painter over a BG. Footage can be seen in his/her head. The Thirteen logo in all caps is seen at the bottom left in gray. The text, “THIRTEEN.ORG” is seen below. The text, “WNET NEWARK,” which soon changes to “WNET NEW YORK” is seen to the right. A comet flies towards the person’s nose and an explosion is seen.


 * Arts: Jamie Foxx holds up a poster board with a painter in it.
 * History: A painter holds up a poster board with Lou Gossett Jr.
 * News: A painter with sunglasses holds up a poster board with Cody Cameron.
 * Nature: A man holds up a poster board with a young artist. She starts smiling and laughing, before turning her head toward us.

Trivia: One variant has an artist superimposed over the BG for the 2009 WNET.ORG THIRTEEN logo.

FX/SFX: Live action and chroma-key.

Music/Sounds: Various genres of music.

Availability: Extinct. Used as a local station ID.

Legacy: Depends on the variant.

Illusion! (2014-2016)
TBA

Where’s 13? (2016- )
TBA