Turner Program Services

Background
Turner Program Services was established in 1982 as the syndication arm of Turner Broadcasting System. It was best known for Captain Planet and some of its game shows, as well as distributing The Wonder Years, Hanna-Barbera's programming when Turner purchased the animation studio in 1991, and all material by Turner Entertainment Co. Upon Time Warner's purchase of the Turner properties on October 10, 1996, the unit was dismantled and some of the assets were folded into Telepictures Distribution, which eventually folded into Warner Bros. Television Distribution in 2003.

1st Logo (1983-1992)
Nicknames: "TPS", "Rainbow-Fill", "Rainbow TPS"

Logo: On a black background, two rainbow-colored trails of the letters "TPS" come in from the left and right of the screen and move towards each other. When they join, a blue burst of light shines, revealing a rainbow-colored "TPS" when it dies down. Below that, the words "Turner Program Services" in yellow flash in one by one.

Variants:
 * The opening variant is the same, except the word "presents" flashes in below and a spark appears on "Program" when it flashes. Sometimes, this would be superimposed over the start of the program (and/or is cut down to where the name appears).
 * Another closing variant has the text "Distributed by TURNER PROGRAM SERVICES, INC.".
 * On occasion, the logo is still. A copyright date may also be present below the logo.
 * One version has the opening variant, however there is a freeze frame before "presents" appears. This also used the long version of the music.
 * A short version exists that starts with "TPS" already formed and the blue burst of light shining.

FX/SFX: Merging colors, the burst of light, and appearing logo. Typical Scanimate effects.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy, synthesized tune with "shining" sound effects and 3 notes that go "down-up-down" at the end in sync with the words appearing. On some programs, the closing theme of the show would play over it or it would just be silent.

Music/Sounds Variant: A variation exists which has the standard music, with a "fourth note" added. This is seen on the syndicated version of the colorized print of Gunga Din and is also used on the opening variant.

Availability: Rare.
 * This appeared on all three seasons of Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
 * The long version can be found on Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans.
 * The still version appeared on season 2 of Starcade in syndication, and can be seen on some of the episodes on the Starcade.tv website starting with #109. It was also seen on the short-lived 1989 Merrill Heatter game show The Last Word (with copyright date).
 * The short silent variant was spotted in the short-lived series The Beach Boys: Endless Summer.
 * The superimposed variant and the "Distributed by" end variant were sighted on the TPS/Cinar dub of Ultra Seven when it last aired on TNT in the mid '90s.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1992-1994)


Nickname: "Silver Letters"

Logo: On a shaded gray background, the word "Garamond" (in silver) swings downward into place. The words "Garamond" and two lines above and below them fade in, forming the logo like this:

Garamond Garamond

The logo shines when it's formed.

Variant: The short version has the logo fully formed, shining. It's slowed down on some episodes of The Wonder Years.

FX/SFX: The swinging "TURNER", the shining logo, and "PROGRAM SERVICES" fading in.

Music/Sounds: A three-note mellow orchestra tune ending with a "ping" sound. This is an excerpt of a track entitled "Straight from the Heart", composed by Al Capps for production music company Killer Tracks. May also have the end theme playing over it.

Music/Sounds Variant: There is a variant that has the music slowed down, making the logo last a bit longer.

Availability: Uncommon.
 * It was seen on syndicated prints of The Wonder Years (late 1990s Nick @ Nite airings plastered this logo with the 1994 Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Pay TV logo) and Boomerang repeats of season 3 of The Adventures of Captain Planet, three episodes of SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, and 2 Stupid Dogs.
 * Local re-runs of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons in the early '90s, such as reruns of The Jetsons and Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines, had this logo as well.
 * The version with the slowed-down music was seen on some episodes of The Wonder Years, as well as early '90s syndication prints of The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1994-1996)
Nickname: "Globe Logo & Turning Letters"

Logo: On a white background, we see a black "Turner" logo (as seen in the globe logo). Underneath, a gold line is drawn in and afterwards, the words "PROGRAM SERVICES" (also in black) quickly unfold below it letter by letter.

Variant: A variant was shown on a gray gradient BG and had "PROGRAM SERVICES" in white and the Turner logo fading in first, with the Turner logo's text shimmering afterward.

FX/SFX: The line and the words appearing.

Music/Sounds: An uninspired synth tune, beginning with a pound, then 11 notes and another pound on the 11th note with a drum hit. The end theme may also play over it.

Music/Sounds Variant: There is a much longer version where the logo's theme is preceded by a whoosh (which sounds similar to the Windows NT startup sound), and ending with three drumbeats and shimmering noises at the end.

Availability: Uncommon.
 * Last seen on 1995 TBS airings of Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, and seen the last two seasons of The New Adventures of Captain Planet and the final two episodes of SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron.
 * The gray variant can be found on TV broadcasts of Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights.

Editor's Note: None.