BET Original Productions

Background
BET (also known as Black Entertainment Television) is an American cable television network owned by the BET Networks unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network launched as a USA Network timeshare on January 25, 1980, and as a full-time channel on July 1, 1983.

1st Logo (2001-2005)


Logo: On a black background, we see the following text:

Times New Roman Impact Times New Roman

Most of the text is in the Times New Roman font, except for the "BET" in the copyright stamp, which is shown as the BET logo of the time.

FX/SFX: None, unless you want to count the fading in and out.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Rare. Seen on the 7th Annual BET Walk of Fame.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (2005-2007)
Logo: Just the 2005-2010 BET logo on a black background.

Variants:
 * A copyright stamp may appear below the logo on some shows.
 * On season 1 of American Gangster and Ultimate Hustler, the logo is in a white rectangle.
 * Also on season 1 of American Gangster, the logo is stretched.

FX/SFX: None.

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

Availability: Rare. Seen on BET shows from 2005 to 2007.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (2007-2010)
Nickname: "The Audio Waveform"

Logo: An audio waveform is seen zooming out. After a few seconds, it morphs into the BET logo, which flickers for a while. A copyright stamp fades in below.

Trivia: BET was initially referred to as Black Entertainment Television. This name is still used as the legal name of BET Networks, BET's parent company.

Variants:
 * From 2007 to 2009, the logo was stretched for 16:9 programming.
 * Starting in 2009, the audio waveform is slightly enhanced and the copyright stamp is smaller. On 16:9 programming, the logo is not stretched.
 * On the 2010 Black Panther animated series, the animation is sped up.
 * On season 6 episode 9 of College Hill, the logo is squished.

FX/SFX: The audio waveform morphing into the BET logo.

Music/Sounds: A hip-hop beat accompanied by static and whoosh sounds.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On season 5 episode 11 of College Hill, the logo is silent.
 * The 2010 Black Panther series has the closing theme playing over.

Availability: Seen on BET shows from 2007 to 2010.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (2010-2016)
Nickname: "BET Explosion"

Logo: On a blue, green, or purple gradient background, we see a flash of light. The flash dies down to reveal the BET logo from before, but the star is filled in. Copyright info is seen below as the logo slowly zooms in.

Trivia: This is part of BET's 2010 rebrand for the network's 30th anniversary, created by INTERspectacular.

Variants:
 * A long version exists. It starts with the star in the middle of the screen. The star then "explodes" into 3D iterations of the star and the BET logo. After a few seconds, the "explosion" is reversed (the 3D objects zoom back into the star in the BET logo), seguing into the rest of the animation. This can be seen here.
 * For original BET productions, the background is green. "ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS" (set in the custom font called "Phat A*s") is seen below, with the copyright stamp below it. This was seen on shows like Being Terry Kennedy.
 * For other productions that air on BET, the background is purple. "PRODUCTIONS" is seen below, with the copyright stamp below it. This was seen on My Black is Beautiful and INTERspectacular's reel for BET's 2010 rebrand.
 * Starting in 2011 for the green "Original Productions" and purple "Productions" variants, "THIS HAS BEEN A" was added above the BET logo, and the word "PRODUCTIONS" was changed to "PRODUCTION".
 * Season 4 of The Game has the 2011 Original Production variant on a blue background. The copyright stamp is not seen in this variant.
 * The flash was enhanced in 2012.
 * On The Book of Negroes, the 2005 BET logo (with an outline of the star) is used, with "NETWORKS" underneath, on a blue background.

FX/SFX: The flash of light and the zooming in of the logo.

Music/Sounds: A loud static whoosh sound, followed by a boom and a ding.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The long version starts with a quieter static whoosh, followed by a bass drop sound and a 5-note guitar theme with synths on the first 2 notes and the 4th note, a cymbal roll on the last 2 notes, and a ding on the last note, and then the loud static whoosh is heard.
 * Starting in 2011, 4 piano notes are heard after the whoosh.
 * A version of the 2011 sound variant exists where only 1 piano note is heard after the whoosh.
 * On some shows, the closing theme may play over.

Availability: Seen on BET shows from 2010 to 2016.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (2016-)
Nickname: "Colorful Lines"

Logo: On a black background, we see several white, blue and pink lines appearing and splitting to reveal the BET logo on a dark gray gradient background. The copyright stamp is seen below.

Variants:
 * Like the previous logo, for original BET productions, "THIS HAS BEEN A" and "ORIGINAL PRODUCTION" are seen above and below the logo, with the copyright stamp below the latter.
 * Also like the last logo, for other productions that air on BET, "THIS HAS BEEN A" and "PRODUCTION" are seen above and below the logo, with the copyright stamp below the latter.
 * A different font for the text is used starting in 2019.
 * Also starting in 2019, for shows produced in association with BET, a variant exists that has "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above the logo, and a larger copyright stamp underneath the logo.
 * On season 9 of Sunday Best, the gradient effect on the background is absent.

FX/SFX: The lines revealing the BET logo.

Music/Sounds: A bass drop sound, followed by a whoosh.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The theme from the previous logo is heard on some shows.
 * Starting in 2021, 3 hip-hop record scratching sounds are heard, followed by a 4-note trumpet fanfare, which echoes at the end. The bass drop and whoosh can still be heard.
 * On season 2 of First Wives Club, only the 4-note fanfare is heard with the bass drop and whoosh. Also, it is high-pitched.
 * On some shows, the logo is silent or the closing theme plays over.

Availability: Current. Seen on BET shows from 2016 to present.

Editor's Note: This logo is still being used on a few of BET's shows, even though BET debuted a new logo (the one below this one) 4 months earlier on June 27, 2021.

6th Logo (October 5, 2021-)
Nickname: "Black Canvas"

Logo: On a light red background, we see the BET logo (with the letters in a different font) in a black rectangle. The "BE" letters move up and to the right, while the "T" and the star move down and to the left, forming a square version of BET's current logo with the "BE" at the top and the "T" and the star at the bottom. The logo then zooms in, changing the background to black and causing the letters to separate and zoom into corners. Then, the letters join together and turn black in a light red square. The logo then zooms out, revealing the copyright stamp.

Variants:
 * On the 2021 BET Hip-Hop Awards, the logo is brighter in contrast.
 * Another variant debuted on the BET UK digital series Dating Black. In this variant, we see tiles of flashing BET letters and the star, before zooming into the letters, segueing into the rest of the animation, which now takes place on a white background, with the copyright stamp in black.
 * Another variant debuted after the 2022 NAACP Image Awards. In this version, we see a large black rectangle on a light red background with two stars above and below the rectangle. Inside the rectangle are small BET letters and a star. The surrounding stars move into the rectangle as it zooms out and the BET letters and star zoom in. Then, the "BE" letters move up and to the right, and the "T" and star move down and to the left as the shape changes to a square. The finished product then flashes white, then back to black, then to red on a black background. The ViacomCBS byline appears below the logo.

FX/SFX: The BET letters and star moving and zooming. Done by Sibling Rivalry.

Music/Sounds: A short hip-hop beat with repeating vocals saying "Hey!". Sometimes, the closing theme plays over or none.

Availability: Brand new. First seen at the end of the 2021 BET Hip-Hop Awards, and is expected to be seen on future shows that air on BET that are not produced by BET Studios.

Editor's Note: This is part of BET's network rebrand that started on June 27, 2021 with the 2021 BET Awards. This didn't start being used as a production logo until 4 months later.