Lorimar Television

Background
Lorimar was formed initially as "Lorimar Productions" on February 1, 1969 by Merv Adelson, Irwin Molasky, and producer Lee Rich, who named the company after Adelson's ex-wife Lori, and San Diego, California's Palomar Airport. Their first production was the TV movie The Homecoming (now owned by CBS Television Studios), based on the book by Earl Hamner. Their first logo did not appear until 1971 when The Waltons premiered. On April 21, 1986, it merged with Telepictures Corporation and later became Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation (or just simply "Lorimar-Telepictures"). In 1987, the television production companies were later split back in two companies and Lorimar was reincorporated as Lorimar Television, but "Lorimar-Telepictures" remained as the name for their parent company. On January 12, 1989, Warner Communications (later "Time Warner", now "WarnerMedia") acquired Lorimar-Telepictures and both distribution arms were folded into Warner Bros. Television Distribution by forming "Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution" and continued producing the surviving TV shows. The Lorimar name continued until mid-1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Television. However, WBTV continued producing the remaining programs under its name.

1st Logo (October 31, 1971-May 10, 1978)
Nicknames: "LP", "A Lorimar Production"

Logo: On a blank red screen, we see the words "A LORIMAR PRODUCTION" wiped in a Goudy font. As this happens, a thick white line starts to draw out the letter "L", then turns and goes straight, before wrapping around and forming the letter "P", using the bottom of the "L" above to serve as the bottom of the "P". It then stops at the bottom of, and between the words "LORIMAR" and "PRODUCTION".

Trivia: The logo was created and designed by Sandy Dvore, who also created the 1982 United Artists "Turning UA" logo and the brush-stroke logo and drawings from the soap opera, The Young and the Restless.

Variants:


 * An in-credit notice/logo can be seen in some early productions from the company, such as in the TV movies Aesop's Fables and The Girls of Huntington House.
 * A dark variant exists possibly due to film deterioration, where the background is brown.

FX/SFX: The white line drawing itself to form "LP" and "A LORIMAR PRODUCTION" wiping in.

Music/Sounds: An electric piano-type scale is played as the "LP" is formed, going up this scale: Low C, A, E, F, A, Mid C, E, F, A, High C (hold and fade, leaving an echo). This tune was composed by Jack Elliot and Allyn Ferguson and was played on a Fender Rhodes electric piano. Sometimes, the last note fades-out early or there would be no music. A high tone variant exists as well. The in-credit variant has the closing theme of the movie. Music/Sounds Trivia: Recent American prints of The Ninth Configuration feature a higher-pitched variant of the jingle playing over a dedication screen (to writer/director William Peter Blatty's son, Peter Vincent Galahad Blatty). Lorimar held some foreign rights to the film, so it's possible that the audio was taken from a foreign master.

Availability: Rare.


 * It's still saved on most episodes of The Waltons on the DVD box sets (with the WBTD logo following it), however TNN (now The Paramount Network) airings in the late '90s plastered this logo with the 1994 WB Domestic Pay TV logo.
 * This also appears at the end of various TV movies from the era such as The Blue Knight, Bad Ronald, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, and Helter Skelter, which are retained on some of the recent DVD and Blu-ray releases (and omitting the Viacom "V of Doom" logo at the end on current releases, although the original Warner Archive DVD-R of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and a recent European TV broadcast of A Dream for Christmas feature the Viacom "Wigga Wigga" logo plastered over this logo, while a recent Decades broadcast of The Blue Knight had the Viacom "V of Steel" logo over this logo instead).
 * It's also seen on a few earlier episodes of Dallas in its original syndication run. However, most current syndicated episodes prior to 1986, and all episodes on the S1/S2 DVD set plaster/replace it with the WBTD logo, and the 1988 Worldvision Enterprises logo on a couple of S2 episodes (Worldvision distributed the show internationally until the 1990s, when the rights reverted back to Warner Bros.). On the PAL DVD release of Dallas, this is only retained in the first episode of the series.
 * This was also originally seen on the first two seasons of Eight is Enough, but this logo along with the next logo got plastered by the 1990 WBTD logo in syndication and most reruns.

Editor's Note: Generally speaking, this is noted for its unique design and jingle, but also for its unpolished animation with a noticeable error, as part of the "P" appears before it is animated!

2nd Logo (September 6, 1978-May 22, 1986)
Nicknames: "The Yellow/Orange Line", "Script", "Neon Sign", "Creepy Line", "Line of Doom"

Logo: On a black background, an orange line begins to draw itself. Going down and turning it forms an "L", then makes a loop to form an "O", turns again and goes up, around and diagonally to form an "R" and then back up to form an "I". Another section starts, goes up, diagonally down, diagonally up, then down again to form an "M", then up and down again at angles to form an "A", then finally, up, around, and down diagonally to form a second "R". The resulting logo reads "LORIMAR", all in connected letters.

Trivia: The logo was created in 1977 by Paul Pascarella and made its debut in 1978.

Variants: The registered trademark "®" symbol on the lower-right hand corner of the letter "R" started appearing in 1983. This logo has two main distinctive colors: yellow and orange. Depending on the print quality, variants of the two colors exist including yellow-orange and maroon. A red-colored variant exists on theatrical movies, the 1980-81 Dallas blooper video, and the soap opera Loving Friends and Perfect Couples. Some programs show the text "DISTRIBUTED BY" above. This was mainly seen on TV prints of Allied Artists films, including Mitchell. The opening variant of the logo is still with "P R E S E N T S" appearing below it. This mainly appeared on TV movies and some shows. Another opening variant is still and has "LORIMAR" in its font and "Presents" (in a Helvetica font) in red. On the opening of the 1985 Christopher Columbus miniseries, the in-credit text reads "and LORIMAR" with "LORIMAR" in its font. The end of presentations would have "a presentation of" above the logo. Later episodes of the 1980s version of Dream House has this logo's animation superimposed over the credits. There exists a black & white version of the "a presentation of" version. In this one, the top text is a little thicker and it's silent. A zoomed-in widescreen variant exists on the Warner Archive instant streaming release of the 1982 TV movie One Shoe Makes It Murder and on an European TV broadcast of A Wedding on Walton's Mountain. In the 1983 TV movie Pajama Tops, the logo becomes a still image shortly after its animation finishes. After the music ends, it fades to black.

FX/SFX: The orange line drawing itself to form "LORIMAR".

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo or silence.

Music/Sounds Variants: On Knots Landing S2 episode "Hitchhike, Part 2", the logo theme is played on a synthesizer. On a Hallmark Channel Italy airing of Dallas season 2 episode "Black Market Baby", the Lorimar-Telepictures theme was heard over it due to a reverse plaster error. On the blooper video for the 1980-1981 season of Dallas, the music is replaced with multiple sci-fi style gunshot sound effects.

Availability: Uncommon, bordering on rare. It can be seen on The Waltons, Dallas, Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest episodes of the era, as well as various other shows, TV movies and miniseries that Lorimar produced during this time. The "PRESENTS" version has been long gone from television, however, but is still intact on the first season DVD set of Knots Landing and a couple of episodes on the DVD set of the first season of Falcon Crest. This can also be found on much later episodes of the 1980s version of Dream House as well, though that version of the show is now only intact from off-air recordings, as the master copies of all the episodes and production materials (which were not held by either Lorimar or WB) were destroyed in a flood in 2013. The B&W version of the "A presentation of Lorimar" logo is found on the 1989 VHS release of the original House on Haunted Hill, released by CBS/Fox Video (though the box has the Lorimar-Telepictures logo). On some pre-fall 1986 episodes of Falcon Crest, it's plastered over with the Lorimar-Telepictures logo. This logo was also originally seen at the end of S3-S5 episodes of Eight is Enough, but was plastered over by the 1990 WBTD logo on some reruns in syndication. This was originally seen on the pilot of Valerie and early episodes of Perfect Strangers, but the 1st and 2nd season box sets of the latter show replace it with the Lorimar-Telepictures logo. TNN (now The Paramount Network) airings of The Waltons in the late 1990s plaster this logo with the 1994 WB Domestic Pay TV logo. It also appeared on the 1983 unsold CBS TV pilot The Best of Times. It has been spotted at the end of the Karl-Lorimar, Lorimar Home Video, and Warner Home Video prints of Americathon with the music (it was omitted from the Warner Archive DVD release), as well as a select handful of Dallas episodes on DVD from season 3 and onward, Dallas: The Early Years on DVD from the Dallas Movie Collection (preceded by the Roundelay logo), and followed by the 1972 "Distributed by Warner Bros." logo on some episodes of Knots Landing on DVD. It was seen at the end of the unsold game show pilot Babble, when Game Show Network first aired the full pilot on October 5th, 2014 (without the credit crunching). The Warner Archive instant streaming retains this on the TV movies Desperate Lives and One Shoe Makes It Murder. The still, silent "Distributed By" variant can be seen on the end of MST3K's version of Mitchell, very briefly during the transition back to the host segment. This was originally seen on early episodes of Valerie and Perfect Strangers.

Editor's Note: It's noted for unnerving some viewers for the black background and jingle, but at the same time, it's still a favorite among logo fans for its good 2D animation, as well as impeccable timing with the music.

3rd Logo (March 9, 1988)
Logo: On a white background, two logos fade in. The top being the one for Green/Epstein Productions (a giant green stylized "GE" with the company name Green Epstein Productions/Lorimar Television underneath the "E") and the bottom being the print logo for Lorimar Television (which is based off the next logo used below with "A LORIMAR TELEPICTURES COMPANY" byline below). In between the two logos are the words "in association with".

FX/SFX: The logos and IAW text fading in.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme to the program.

Availability: Possibly extinct. It's only seen on the original CBS airing of TV movie Shattered Innocence. It is not retained on the Warner Home Video Archive Collection MOD DVD of the aforementioned title, as it's replaced by the 1992 "Distributed By Warner Bros. Pictures" logo with the Time Warner Entertainment byline. It's also not retained on the Lifetime/LMN airings, in which it's replaced by the silent 2001 Warner Bros. Television logo.

Editor's Note: A very unique appearance of the print logo, and something of a predecessor of the Marble logo.

4th Logo (October 3, 1988-September 1993)
Nicknames: "Marble Background", "CGI Lorimar", "White Marble", "Marble", "Lorimarble"

Logo: On a white marble background, wave ripples zoom out from the center. This causes "LORIMAR" (in black, and in a revised version of the design from the last logo, such as the "A" having a standard line going through it and the "O" no longer being connected to the rest of the text) to be written out, not unlike the last logo. At about the same time the "A" in "LORIMAR" is finished, a shadowed red bar with "T E L E V I S I O N" in white, etched in, rotates in below "LORIMAR", which then shines once it's in place. From 1991-1993, the Time Warner byline, in the same font as used in the Warner Bros. logo, appears below the red bar.

Trivia: The logo was first created in 1987. The design was used for Lorimar-Telepictures' other divisions, but the red bar would have read either "MOTION PICTURES" (or "FILM ENTERTAINMENT"), "HOME VIDEO", "SYNDICATION", "INTERNATIONAL", or "RECORDS" depending on the unit; they were never seen onscreen with the possible exception of trailers.

Bylines: 1991-August 8, 1992: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY" September 1, 1992-July 15, 1993: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"

Variants:
 * As with the 2nd logo, this comes with or without a registered trademark symbol "®" on the lower-right hand corner of the letter "R".
 * A warp-speed variant also exists.
 * There is also a rare filmed variant of this logo used mainly on TV movies.
 * On a few episodes of 3rd Degree!, the logo is shortened with the words "LORIMAR" already in place and the "TELEVISION" bar rotating into place before the 1984 WBTV logo appears.
 * On the TV movie O Pioneers!, after the Craig Anderson Productions logo, the "in association with" text from the previous logo is seen at the beginning of the animation of the logo. In this case the logo is filmed with slow-paced animation, not videotaped with fast-paced animation.
 * On the TV movie There Was a Little Boy, "LORIMAR" is written at a much faster speed than usual and the logo cuts to black before the red bar shines.

FX/SFX: The wave ripples, the black line drawing itself to form "LORIMAR", and the red bar rotating and shining.

Music/Sounds: A futuristic whoosh, leading into a relaxing 6-note synth-horn theme. The music was composed by X-Files composer Mark Snow.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:
 * On the Full House S2 episodes "Tanner vs. Gibbler" and "Working Mothers", the music was slightly recomposed with better enhancement.
 * Some 1988-1991 episodes of The Hogan Family will exclude the fourth and fifth notes in the logo theme.
 * October 28, 1988, 1990, 1991, September 22, 1992-May 18, 1993: There is also a warp-speed variant, which was heard on a few occasions like the Full House S2 episode "It's Not My Job" and some S1 episodes of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.
 * One season 3 episode of Perfect Strangers has the Lorimar-Telepictures jingle play over it, likely due to a plaster error.
 * On some shows such as Love Connection, Fun House, College Mad House, and the short-lived 3rd Degree!, as well as early season 1 episodes of Time Trax, the closing theme plays over this logo.
 * On the Full House S2 episode "Cutting It Close", the logo is silent.
 * College Mad House has the theme and the announcer Beau Weaver spoke, "College Mad House is a Stone Television production, in association with Lorimar Television, and is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution!".
 * 3rd Degree! has the theme and the announcer (usually Bob Hilton, sometimes Don Morrow and on rare occasions Michael Hanks) spoke, "3rd Degree! is a Kline and Friends Production, in association with Burt & Bert Productions and Lorimar Television! Distributed by (omitting "and is") Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution!" [here they used the standard 1984 WBTV logo, instead of the 1984 WBTD logo, commonly used on syndicated shows distributed by Warner Bros. Television of the time].
 * Sometimes, Full House had Dave Coulier announce over the closing theme and the Lorimar Television jingle which would play over the WBTV logo.
 * On the TV movie There Was a Little Boy, the whoosh from the logo theme was cut off.
 * On some recent PAL releases of the original It mini-series, the jingle from the 1994 WBTV logo plays over the logo, presumably due to a reverse plastering error.

Availability: Uncommon.
 * The warp speed version was last seen on S1 of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper on the former Nick Mom block on Nick Jr.
 * The standard version can be seen on reruns of Full House (second and third seasons only) last aired on Hallmark Channel and currently seen on DVD releases. It can also be seen on reruns of The Hogan Family on Antenna TV, the 7th season (1989-90) season of Love Connection on GSN (whenever they decide to re-air it), Step by Step when last seen on Hub Network, Dallas and Knots Landing last aired on the now-defunct SOAPnet, and the final two seasons of Falcon Crest, among others. The Season 12, 13, and 14 DVD releases of Dallas also has this logo on almost every episode, bar a few.
 * The last series that had this logo was Time Trax, which premiered on January 20, 1993 and ended on December 3, 1994.
 * The filmed variant of this logo was seen on old prints of TV movies from the era, such as It, The Owl, and O Pioneers! It’s also intact on a couple of Season 14 episodes of Dallas on DVD.
 * After that, Lorimar was put to an end in late September 1993 and folded into Warner Bros. Television. Also appeared on S4-S6 episodes of Perfect Strangers, S4-S6 of The Hogan Family and on the final pre-FOX era episodes of Fun House and spin-off College Mad House.
 * The Lorimar Television logo with the "A TIME WARNER COMPANY" byline plastered the Lorimar "Script" logo seen on S1 episodes of The Hogan Family (when it was originally titled Valerie at that time) and the Lorimar-Telepictures logo on S2-S3 of The Hogan Family (when it was originally titled Valerie and Valerie's Family from fall 1986-88) on syndicated reruns and on certain other reruns, namely ABC Family reruns.
 * This has also popped up on some international reruns of the 3rd and 4th season of ALF as well as on the short-lived 1989-90 game show 3rd Degree! with Bert Convy and on I'll Fly Away.

Editor's Note: All in all, another respected logo from Lorimar with some slick CGI and calming music.

5th Logo (In-credit) (September 22, 1989-August 6, 1993)
Nickname: "Still Script"

Logo: We go back to the yellow-orange "LORIMAR" logo for this, but with the word "T E L E V I S I O N" below and no animation whatsoever (here the "LORIMAR" logo has the 1978 design, but with the "A" having the line through it like in the 1988 design). This is seen on screen in the credits. From 1991-1993, the Time Warner byline is seen below.

Bylines: 1991-May 12, 1992: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY" September 18, 1992-August 6, 1993: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"

Variants: The logo would appear in either yellow, yellow-orange, gold, or light blue. The logo would appear centered in the screen or shifted down.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: Most of the times it is the closing theme of the show, but on some instances like the fourth season of Full House on DVD, it is the previous logos music. On syndication prints, an announcer says: "(Show title) is a (show creator...usually Miller-Boyett Production) in association with Lorimar Television, (on the WBTD logo) and is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution".

Availability: Common. It first appeared on Family Matters in 1989, then appeared on seasons 4-6 of Full House, Going Places, Getting By, the very short-lived series Scorch, later season 6 and beyond episodes of Perfect Strangers, and lastly appeared on the first 2 seasons of Step by Step. It can be seen on reruns of Family Matters on BET, along with seasons 4 and 5 of Full House last aired on Hallmark Channel, Step by Step on Hub Network (now Discovery Family). On a few episodes from season 4 of the Full House DVD box set, you can hear the music from the 1988 Lorimar Television logo after the theme song finishes; it may have been an audio goof. The final 2 seasons of the original broadcasts and some reruns of Perfect Strangers from 1991-93 also had this in-credit notice with their respective bylines of the time on their closing credits during that period as well.

Editor's Note: None.