Big Ticket Television

Logo descriptions by boomersmamaw, Mr.Logo, and Shadeed A. Kelly

Logo captures by Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., and EnormousRat

Editions by V of Doom and Shadeed A. Kelly

Video captures courtesy of Eric S, and youngleader610 (Mr.Logo)

Background: Big Ticket Television (also known as "Big Ticket Entertainment" and "Big Ticket Pictures, Inc.") was created by the Spelling Entertainment Group in 1994 as a low-budget unit that produces half-hour sitcoms and reality shows. They produced Moesha and its spin-off The Parkers for UPN (now The CW) as well as the daily syndicated court shows Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown and later on in 2014 Hot Bench. When Viacom acquired Spelling in 1999, Big Ticket Television became a label of the Paramount Television Group, and with it, a new on-screen logo was introduced. Today, it is an in-name-only unit of CBS Corporation's CBS Television Studios, even though they still produce Judge Judy and Hot Bench. Big Ticket also produced Swift Justice with Jackie Glass for syndication.

Background Trivia: The "Big Ticket" name was inspired on the Blockbuster corporate logo, which at the time was owned by Viacom and the owner of the Spelling Entertainment Group.

1st Logo (September 16, 1995-October 18, 1999)


Nicknames: "Smiley TV", "Atom TV", "Now THIS Is Feel-Good TV!"

Logo: Against a gray background, we see a TV tube zooming-out with a flying object which appears to be a white rectangle, flying around the TV tube, then we see the company name:

BIG TICKET

TELEVISION

in Futura Condensed Extra Bold font coming out of the bottom of the TV tube, but "TELEVISION" is multicolored and the flying object becomes a happy smile then the Spelling Entertainment byline appears below.

Trivia: The logo was created by Rod Dyer Design.

Variants:


 * In 1998, the registered trademark symbol "®" appears on the bottom-right side of the company name.
 * There is a more common "short" version, where the logo seems to be slightly sped-up.

FX/SFX: The objects flying.

Music/Sounds: A hip-hop like tune with a "Mmmm!"-like sound when the smile appears and the sound of "Yeah!" at the end. On season 3 of Judge Judy, and season 1 of Judge Joe Brown, it's the end theme of the show.

Music/Sounds Variant: A long version exists.

Availability: Uncommon.


 * This appears on the first 7 episodes of The Parkers, seasons 1-4 of Moesha, and pre-1999 episodes of Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown.
 * The long version was seen on Night Stand with Dick Dietrick which is hardly reran and 1996-1998 episodes of Judge Judy.
 * All five had this followed by the Worldvision logo, which is plastered by the 1995 or 2003 Paramount Domestic TV or CBS Television Distribution logos in reruns.

Editor's Note: This logo is a reference to the then-ownership of Spelling Entertainment by Blockbuster Entertainment. The logo depicts a TV tube like object, though, which makes it misleading. It is however a fun logo.

2nd Logo
(August 23, 1999- )



Nicknames: "Smiley TV II", "More Feel-Good TV"

Logo: Against a white background, we see the green words "BIG TICKET" in Bank Gothic MD BT font flying across from left to the center. We also see the word "TELEVISION" with a registered trademark symbol next to it in purple and in the same font underneath with the same TV tube screen from the last logo fading in above. We later see the happy smile being drawn on the tube and below the word "TELEVISION", the byline "A PARAMOUNT/VIACOM COMPANY" appears in the same animation used on the Spelling Television logo in the Viacom "Wigga-Wigga" font in a green code-out box. For a second, the logo tilts then goes back to is original position.

Variants:


 * On shows like Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Swift Justice with Jackie Glass, and Hot Bench, the logo doesn't tilt.
 * On the first episode of Wolf Lake, the logo is on a black background.
 * Some 2009-10 episodes of Judge Joe Brown feature a copyright notice under the logo.
 * This logo became bylineless in Fall 2006 under the ownership of CBS Corporation.
 * In late 2011, the logo was slightly enhanced to feature a slight purple-white gradient, and the words are flying more smoothly than the standard version. Also, the font for the Big Ticket text is different.

FX/SFX: The letters flying in, and the happy smile drawing.

Music/Sounds:


 * Same as the previous logo.
 * On Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Swift Justice with Jackie Glass, Hot Bench, and Gary and Mike, the end-title theme plays over this logo.
 * On Wolf Lake and Hack, it's silent. CBS airings use a generic theme.

Availability: Common.


 * This is seen on seasons 5-6 episodes of Moesha,The Parkers starting with the episode "Quarantine", and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
 * The current version is seen on Judge Judy and on Bounce TV's airings of Judge Joe Brown, as well as Swift Justice with Jackie Glass (a.k.a. Swift Justice season 2) in syndication, and currently on Hot Bench in syndication.

Editor's Note: It's more simplistic and not as impactful than the previous logo, but it does the job well enough.