Time-Life Video

Background
Time-Life Video was formed initially as a music and video direct-marketing division of Time Inc. In 2003, AOL Time Warner (now WarnerMedia and later Warner Bros. Discovery) sold Time-Life to Direct Holdings Americas, Inc. Later in 2013, Reader's Digest Association sold Time-Life to Mosaic Media Investment Partners., a catalog and online retailer.

1st Logo (1978-1980)


Logo: On a blue background, we see a red box surrounded by a black square outline, resembling a television. Inside the TV, we see a long "T" connected to a long "L", which is connected to a long "V", next to it, the words "Great Programs" appears next to the TV with a trademark sign next to it. Under that are the words "TIME-LIFE VIDEO" in a faded font. A white haze surrounds the logo.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. It only appeared on the Great Programs series of beta tapes (which were the first pre-recorded tapes ever). One of the tapes released in this series was an early issue of Ten Who Dared.

Legacy: Along with the Magnetic Video Corporation logo, this could be the oldest home video logo in existence.

2nd Logo (1978-1980)
Logo: On a red background, the official Time logo in a white rectangle scrolls up and settles in place as the Life logo scrolls in a red rectangle. It rests in the middle as the rectangle expands to the other side of the white rectangle. The word "VIDEO" appears in sync with the music and the logo then flashes between the logo and the text in the same font as "VIDEO". It ends up on the text and then the text zooms and fades out as the first letter of each word zoom in to form the symbol in the 1st logo, taking up the whole screen.

Variant: A short version also exists where it starts when the white rectangle is just finished scrolling upwards. The quality of the logo also is lower, with duller colors and visible boxes around the text.

Technique: Cel animation.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized flute tune that is in sync with the animations with a flourish at the end. It sounds like the NBC Peacock theme from 1962-1975.

Availability: Extremely rare. This was used in tandem with the first logo on VHS. It appeared on early VHS releases of NOVA.

3rd Logo (1980-1986)
Logo: Same as the Time-Life Television logo of the time, but it reads "TIME LIFE VIDEO" instead.

Variant: There is also a filmed version.

Technique: Same as the Time-Life Television logo of the time.

Music/Sounds: Same as the Time-Life Television logo. Sometimes an announcer will say, "The material of this videocassette is protected by copyright. It is for private use only, and any other use including copying, reproducing, or performance in public, in whole or in part, is prohibited by law."

Music/Sounds Variant: A silent version exists.

Availability: Extremely rare.
 * It appears on some NOVA tapes. It also appears on the original release of The Kinks: One for the Road. The filmed version appears on the NOVA episode "The Miracle of Life", which is available for viewing on the Internet Archive.
 * It makes a surprise appearance at the end of the 1985 Vestron release of The Private Eyes.
 * Also appears on Ambrose Video DVD releases of The Long Search.

4th Logo (1986-1992, 1996)


Logo: On a black background, we see the current Time Life logo which almost takes up the screen with the words "VIDEO" under it, slightly smaller than the logo.

Trivia: This logo was based off the Time-Life Books logo used from 1961 to this current day.

Variant: There's a version that has a fully black background and is 2x smaller.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Seen on releases from the period. The variant is seen on Animal Bloopers with Jack Hanna.

5th Logo (1992-2000)


Logo: On a blue background with a white haze on the bottom, we see the well-known Time Life logo. Next to it, we see some black and white zig-zag patterns with an outline of a TV. under that is the words "VIDEO" in a bold font lengthened to match with the width of the logo.

Variants:
 * An extended version exists.
 * A zoomed-in version exists.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Time-Life releases from the period like The Big Comfy Couch tapes. This logo also appears on video releases of season 1 episodes of Barney & Friends although a few were released independently. Also appeared on some Best of Saturday Night Live videos 1992/93 they co-distributed with Starmaker Entertainment.

6th Logo (Early-Mid 1990's)


Logo: On a black-dark blue gradient background, we see the current Time-Life Video logo in a white square.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Australian Time-Life Video releases.

7th Logo (2000- )


Logo: We see many pictures scrolling up and down. Then, the pictures clear away to a square, and "TIME LIFE", with "TIME" in the Time Magazine logo font and "LIFE" in the Life Magazine logo font, scroll to us. Then the pictures in the rectangle turn red to make its presence for the Life magazine corporate logo. The word "VIDEO" appears under the Life corporate logo in a "laser" effect. At this time, a lens flare appears on the top left of "LIFE".

Variants:


 * A widescreen variant exists.
 * On some tapes, a videotaped version of the logo exists.

Technique: The pictures.

Music/Sounds: A tribal tune and a swoosh sound when "VIDEO" appears.

Availability: Seen on some releases since 2000. Other DVD releases however may use the next logo below.

8th Logo (2007- )


Logo: On a black background, we see the Time and Life logos (with "LIFE" in its usual red rectangular shape) flying and scrolling towards the view in different directions with red lights beaming through each other. They meet in the center as we pan out a tad bit. Then, a red lens flare brings fourth a platinum-colored border around the Time Life logo. A disclaimer then appears below.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A catchy synth tune ending with a brief synth-choir.

Availability: Can be found on DVDs of This Is Tom Jones and Blu-Rays of Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.