Procter & Gamble Productions

Background
Procter & Gamble, a consumer products company, entered TV production in 1951 when the soap opera Search for Tomorrow premiered on NBC. As Procter & Gamble is known for their cleaning products, this is where the term "soap opera" came from.

1st Logo (September 3, 1951-1966?)
Logo: During the closing credits of Search for Tomorrow, we see a text in a white font on a black background that reads:

Search for Tomorrow

is a

Procter & Gamble

Presentation

Variant: On The Brighter Day, the in-credit notice used is like the one used on Search for Tomorrow, except it is superimposed, none of the font is italicized, and "The Brighter Day" is in place of "Search for Tomorrow."

FX/SFX: The Search for Tomorrow variant fades in with a wipe effect. The variant used on The Brighter Day is just superimposed.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of whatever TV show the logo came on.

Availability: Extinct. It was on at least two Procter & Gamble soaps during the 1950s and 1960s: The Brighter Day and Search for Tomorrow. Check old kinescopes and maybe the trading circuit.

Editor's Note: It's just in-credit text. Nothing much here.

2nd Logo (1966?-1972?)
Logo: Superimposed in the closing credits of The Guiding Light, we see this text:

THE

GUIDING

LIGHT

Presented By

PROCTER & GAMBLE

FX/SFX: Fades in like the rest of the credits.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of The Guiding Light.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was seen on late 1960s episodes of The Guiding Light. Check kinescopes and the trading circuit.

Editor's Note: Once again, it's just simple in-credit text.

3rd Logo (1972?-May 30, 1980)
Logo: Same as the previous two logos, consisting of the words:

A PRESENTATION OF PROCTER & GAMBLE PRODUCTIONS

in Lydian font.

Variants:
 * On Another World, the notice was centered inside a wreath of interlocking circles (in the same motif as the open to the show in that period).
 * Later variants on at least three PGP shows (As the World Turns, Guiding Light, and The Edge of Night) had the text scrolling up with the rest of the credits and used the same font as the credits.

FX/SFX: None for the non-scrolling variations of the logo.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of whatever TV show the logo came on.

Availability: Was on soap operas such as As the World Turns, Another World, and Guiding Light from at least the early 1970s to 1980. This logo's lifespan coincides squarely with the gradual rise of home video recording, so you might be able to find this on a precious few off-air recordings.

Editor's Note: After this logo was last used on Friday, May 30, 1980, the P&G soaps began using copyright stamps (either on the show's title card or scrolling in the credits) on Monday, June 2, 1980, to acknowledge that P&G produced their shows, and had no in-credit text other than that until the 5th logo was introduced in early 1986. However, P&G's soaps continued to use copyright stamps along with logos from PGP (1986 and 2007) and later TeleNext Media for the remainder of their runs.

4th Logo (Early 1986-August 3, 2007)
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Nicknames: "PGP Neon Letter/Sign", "PGP", "Flashing PGP", "Blue PGP", "PGP Cheesy Flash"

Logo: Against a black background, a group of rays, in varying shades of blue, rise up from bottom of the screen. The rays form a monolith with a bright, shiny back face, which pans backward (and slightly downward), rotates to face forward, then stops. As it rotates towards the screen, the rays are outlined to make "PGP" in a lined font, which pull into the back of the monolith. The letters shine in a "flash" (similar to the 1978 WGBH logo) and solidify in their color. After that, the words "PROCTER & GAMBLE PRODUCTIONS, INC." (in white Avant Garde font) appear below the "PGP", and are bordered top and bottom by two blue lines (same color as the PGP) which form left to right and right to left, respectively. This is PGP's first of two proper logos since PGP had no logo per sé until this one debuted.

Date Trivia: This logo made its first end credit appearances on the following Procter & Gamble shows on the following dates in 1986:
 * Another World: late January or early February (on or before February 14)
 * Search for Tomorrow: March or April
 * As the World Turns: April 21
 * Guiding Light: October 13

Variants:
 * There are 2 short versions: one that has the "PGP" drawing then flashing, or one that just has the logo cut to the flash. Both play the same ending.
 * Some versions exist with "in association with" below. This was seen on the 1991 TV movie A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story.
 * On at least one December 1986 episode of Search for Tomorrow, the logo simply fades in without the flash effects.
 * On Christmas on Division Street, this logo is still.
 * On A Message from Holly, the logo is still, and is more grey-ish then blue.

FX/SFX: The blue rays and "blooming of light" effect. According to a comment on this upload, the logo was shot on 35 mm film using a 16-axis automated camera stand, programmed using BASIC commands.

Music/Sounds: A light, jaunty synth tune consisting of 2 descending bars of 6 notes, then a last bar of 8 notes, then a 4 note sounder as the last bass chord fades away (i.e. just after the rays in the PGP pull back). However, on September 20, 1999, CBS replaced the electronic music with generic network promo music. Sometimes, especially on Guiding Light episodes until 2002, CBS showed the PGP logo twice: with the normal music first, and then with the generic music the second time.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The most common version just shows the flash and everything after, with the 4-note sounder as the music, which has a note sequence of A-F#-D-G.
 * On one CTV airing of Another World, the music gets cut off halfway on the last note.
 * Some variants of the logo end with the end credits music.

Availability: Found on episodes of Procter & Gamble soaps from early 1986 to August 3, 2007 like As the World Turns, Guiding Light, Another World, and Search for Tomorrow. This was also seen on other programs co-produced by P&G, such as made-for-TV movies. The long version is an uncommon find, and was mostly used on the soaps' long credit rolls every Friday.

Editor's Note: While this logo isn't the most impressive logo ever today, it is a prime example of a high-quality 1980s professional logo and is a favorite of many soap opera fans.

5th Logo (August 6, 2007-June 30, 2008, April 16, 2010, January 5, 2011-2013)
Nicknames: "PGP Globe", "PGP Ball", "The Spinning Ball", "Ball of Boredom", "Ball of Annoyance"

Logo: On a white background, a large, blue globe-like ball zooms onto the screen, diving into the bottom right, leaving a blue trail as it does so. The ball, now smaller, comes in from the right side of the screen to form the letters "PGP" (the "PG" is connected) and this text below it, both of which appear to its right:

PROCTER&GAMBLE PRODUCTIONS, INC.

The colors are blue and aquamarine.

Variant: At the end of the 2011 People's Choice Awards, only the second half of the logo (with the ball forming the text to its right) is shown.

FX/SFX: The spinning ball, and the blue trail.

Music/Sounds: A light orchestral horn tune with a rising synth sounder, but rarely used because of CBS' tendency to play generic network music over the logo. The version with the logo theme appeared on episodes of As the World Turns and Guiding Light on CBS.com.

Availability: Uncommon. It was used from August 6, 2007 until June 30, 2008 on the soaps As the World Turns and Guiding Light. The logo surprisingly appeared in April 2010 on the NBC TV movie Secrets of the Mountain, two years after ATWT and GL discontinued the logo (PGP continues to produce TV movies to this day), and was also spotted on the 2011 People's Choice Awards.

Editor's Note: Much blander and corporate than the previous logo. It may annoy people who liked the previous logo, although it tends to be far less hated than the final Program Exchange logo.

Final Note: A spin-off company of Procter & Gamble Productions known as "TeleNext Media" was created in 2008 to produce the final episodes of ATWT and GL (GL ended in September 2009, while ATWT followed in September 2010). In 2013, the company was renamed "Procter & Gamble Entertainment".