20th Television

Main Logo Variations

Credits

Descriptions by
Jess Williams, James Stanley Barr, Nicholas Aczel, Donny Pearson, bmasters9 and D.L. Chandell

Captures by
Eric S., V of Doom, CuriousGeorge60, Mr.Logo, Sagan Blob, Logophile and ClosingLogosHD

Editions by
V of Doom, Mr. Logo Lord, Shadeed A. Kelly, Logophile, CuriousGeorge60, bmasters9, BenIsRandom and DaBigLogoCollector

Video captures courtesy of
GrievousDude96, Donny Pearson, Disney Television Studios, Broken Saw, The AVTB Archives and ThePreviewsGuy DVDOpenings

Background

In 1989, as part of a corporate restructuring by Fox Inc., 20th Century Fox Television was renamed to 20th Television (spelled as "Twentieth Television" and also known as "Twentieth Television Corporation") to take on the production and distribution functions to separate the TV productions from the movie studio in order to increase the latter's output, which ran under Fox Television Stations. While under Fox Television Stations, 20th Television was overseen by Lachlan Murdoch, and later on, Fox Television Stations chairman and CEO Jack Abernathy and Fox News founder Roger Ailes.

On December 5, 1994, as part of a restructuring of Fox's television production companies, 20th Television was refocused on syndication and non-traditional programs, while the network television production unit was transferred back to 20th Century Fox and renamed to 20th Century Fox Television. On July 8, 2013, 20th Television began operating under the management of the network television division with Dana Walden and Gary Newman overseeing them. 20th Television also produced their own programs and distributed them across the United States.

Sometime in 2020, a year after The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the original 20th Television was absorbed into Disney Entertainment Distribution, and TCFTV was rebranded as 20th Television on August 10, 2020 as part of a corporate restructuring. On December 1, 2020, Disney announced that the Touchstone Television label was folded into 20th Television. Since September 26, 2021, the animated shows handled by 20th Television were transferred to 20th Television Animation.

1st Logo (July 1992-)

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  Original variant (bylineless)

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  Original B&W variant (bylineless)

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  Original variant (byline)

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  Original B&W variant (byline)

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  "Distributed by" variant

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  "Distributed by" variant (Sherman Oaks)

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  "In association with" variant

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  Topix commercial variant

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  Corporate version

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  Open matte corporate version

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  Extended version

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  Stretched variant

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  Cropped variant

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  Enhanced fullscreen variant (byline)

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  Enhanced fullscreen B&W variant (byline)

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  Enhanced stretched variant (byline)

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  Enhanced widescreen stretched variant (byline)

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  Enhanced squished variant (byline)

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  Enhanced variant (byline)

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  Enhanced scope variant (byline)

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  Enhanced variant (bylineless)

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  Enhanced altered colors version (bylineless)

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  Enhanced fullscreen variant (bylineless)

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  Enhanced squished variant (bylineless)

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  Enhanced scope variant (bylineless)

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  Enhanced corporate variant (bylineless)

Visuals: There is a close-up of the familiar Fox structure, but in CGI, and the structure now reads "20th TELEVISION". A steel line below and the area where "FOX" would usually be, is replaced with a large gold rectangle. The logo zooms out to the familiar Fox logo distance. The whole logo is set at daytime as opposed to the usual sunset background of the film logo.

Trivia:

• The original 1992 version of this logo was animated by Studio Productions (now known as "Flip Your Lid Animation") and Topix. It is unknown what studio did the 2008 version.
• It was used to represent 20th Century Fox Television from September 18, 1992-April 16, 1995, replacing the 1981-1993 "20th Television Fox" logo.
• Animation elements are shared between the 1992 version of this logo, the 1995 and 1998 TCFTV logos, the Foxstar Productions logo and the 1993 prototype of the theatrical logo.
• When the News Corp byline was added to this logo in 1994, the staircase was slightly modified, now featuring higher placed steps and a sharper edge. This change was most likely done to resemble its film counterpart more.

Byline: Starting on September 4, 1994 with The Simpsons episode "Bart of Darkness", the byline "A NEWS CORPORATION COMPANY" fades in below the logo. Most programs removed the byline after late August 2013.

Variants:

• In the logo's early years (before the use of the byline), the zoom out appears slower and the opening shot is much closer to the structure and the searchlights are also brighter. This was used until 2003, despite its official usage being cut in 1994.
• A Topix commercial features a variant in which the animation on the rightmost searchlight is altered and a caption reads "Designed and Directed by Studio Productions". The logo also plays in reverse here.
• In 2008, a 16:9 recreation of the logo began usage, just like its network television counterpart. If one looks closely, parts of the "T" and "E" are perfectly straight. However, some Adult Swim and TBS airings of Family Guy S7-10 episodes use the 1992 logo with the byline and the 1995 fanfare.
• A slightly longer version of the 1994 logo, where the two searchlights to the right (behind the structure) touch each other and the front right searchlight leans toward the left, exists.
• Four variants of the 2008 logo exist:
  • A short version where the byline fades in during the zoom out and the first few notes of the jingle are heard.
  • A normal version and a slightly longer version (as described of the 1994 logo above).
  • A long version where the two searchlights to the right (behind the structure) touch each other, but the second searchlight goes much farther to the right, while the front right searchlight leans farther to the left.
  • A still of the 1994 20th Television and 1995 TCFTV logos (promotional) also show the searchlights in the same position as the long version of the 2008 logo.
• An opening variant of the 1994 logo exists. Here, the logo starts off much closer to the structure (like the original 1992 version), with the clouds moving in the background. After a second, the logo continues as normal, albeit staying on for a few seconds longer.
• On local reruns of South Park, 2000s TBS airings of Yes, Dear and the split-screen credits on Spike's airings of Cops, the logo appears as usual without animation.
• A B&W variant of this logo also exists, which appears on classic Fox shows and movies in the format.
• An in-credit variant which appears on Sherman Oaks shows the bylineless logo inside a box and animating with "DISTRIBUTED BY" appearing above. The closing theme of the show is heard.
• On the short-lived sitcom Dudley, the text "in association with" fades in and fades out below.
• A still version is seen on some syndicated reruns of South Park.
• On some shows in 2008, the 4:3 version of the 2008 20th Television logo is stretched to fill a 16:9 TV or preserved with sidebars.
• On season 3 of The Wendy Williams Show, the widescreen version was squashed or stretched to fill a 4:3 TV.
• On syndicated prints of Rising Sun (2011 print) and Speed (2012 print), the frame-rate/animation is fast-paced.
• Since late August 2013, the logo is bylineless once again. Strangely, the 2013-2014 season of Family Feud and all pre-2019 seasons of The Wendy Williams Show continued to use the byline.
• At the end of an X-Files ad on the 1995 Hong Kong Laserdiscs of the Star Wars Trilogy, the slightly longer 1994 20th Television logo (after the zoom out) fades in and out (no fanfare).
• Sometimes, the logo will play as usual but will end in a freeze frame. This appears on a few episodes of Forgive or Forget. An airing of Garfield's Fun Fest on Cartoon Network also once did the same thing (extended version only).
• A 4:3 variant of the 2013 logo exists, which appears at the end of most newer prints of 4:3 Fox-distributed shows, especially on Antenna TV.
• A letterbox (2.2:1 or 2.35:1) version of the 2008 logo appears at the end of some widescreen movies on TCM, including The Agony and the Ecstasy.
• A warp-speed version also exists.
• On some prints, such as Spike's print of The Transporter 2 and syndie prints of Tosh-O, the 2008 logo fades in as well as out.
• The 1994 logo is cropped to matted 1.78:1 in rare cases.
• On some prints of The Simpsons episodes between 1992 and 1994, the 1992 logo fades in near the end of the zoom out, and then fades out a few seconds later. It's similar in a way to the 1994/5 variant with the byline, barring the fade in at the start. Channel 4's print of the episode "Homer the Heretic" features this variation.
• On season 2 of Central Park, the logo is in a slightly different tint.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: Here are the main versions:

• 1992-2004?: The 1989 TCFTV logo theme, a shortened version of the 1979 20th Century Fox fanfare arrangement by Lionel Newman. Like the 1981 TCFTV logo, it has two versions, one with reverb and one without reverb.
• September 16, 1994-2008: A re-arranged and re-recorded variant of the 1989 TCFTV jingle by Bruce Broughton. This one is more reverberant than the original, but it's slightly different from the 1995 TCFTV theme, namely less [audible] drum beats. Although this theme and the theme below were first heard in 1994 on The X-Files, this wasn't officially heard on this logo until 1995.
• September 4, 1994-2008: A re-orchestrated version of the above theme, with more drum beats resembling the 1994 20th Century Fox fanfare. This would later be used for the 1995 TCFTV logo. Like the previous fanfare, it was not officially used on this logo until 1995. The previous theme is more common, although both themes were used interchangeably. This fanfare was first heard on the pilot episode of the short lived series Wild Oats.
• 1997-May 16, 2021: The 1997 TCFTV logo theme by David Newman.
• 2008-April 8, 2022: The 2005 TCFTV logo theme.
• 2008-: A short version of the 1997 20th Century Fox fanfare, at a faster tempo than the actual fanfare. It sounds like an extended version of the 1995 fanfare.
• 2008-: Shortened version of above. Sounds like a re-arranged version of the 1995 jingle, but not quite the 2005 TCFTV logo theme. Used in tandem with the above theme.
• September 2009-2020: There is a shortened version that plays the first few notes of the theme and the rest fades out. This version can be seen on syndicated prints.
• September 27, 2020-: The 2015 TCFTV logo theme. A warp-speed version of it also exists.
• December 21, 2020-October 25, 2021: The shortened 1997 TCFTV theme. Heard on American Dad! on TBS.

Audio Variants:

• In some cases, it uses the closing theme of the show or is silent, such as on Alien Nation: Body and Soul.
• A low tone version of the 1989 theme exists on reruns of Dynasty and on the 1994 logo on prints of M*A*S*H.
• A low tone version of the 1995 theme also exists. This is spotted on a later French print of the pilot episode of Manimal.
• On some co-produced shows and original airings, a generic network theme is used.
• A version exists on 2007-2008 episodes of Family Guy that is the present day jingle, but sounds like it is played on a xylophone.
• Syndie prints of Family Guy and Batman (1966) using the 1992 logo have a loud, pronounced version of the 1995 TCFTV jingle. When syndie/network prints of Cops and other shows use this jingle, it sounds normal.
• On older syndicated prints of Revolution Studios movies, the Bruce Broughton version of the TCFTV jingle sounds rather loud and is also slightly cut off at the beginning. One example is the syndicated print of 13 Going on 30 when it aired back in January 2010.
• Since sometime in 2012, on syndicated prints of Revolution Studios movies, the sound quality of the 2008 jingle (variants of the 1997 20th Century Fox jingle) -- whether short, normal, or long -- sounds a little less crisp. One example is the 2013 syndicated print of Perfect Stranger.
• On some Fox Television Studios shows like The Hughleys, this logo plasters said logo, but its jingle/sounds still remain intact.
• On airings of the M*A*S*H S1 episodes "Love Story" on Hallmark Channel and "Cowboy" on DVD, on Centric's airing of In Living Color S2 episode "Anton at the Recruiter", the 1995 Fox Video VHS release of The Making of Star Wars, a later print of The Paper Chase S1 episode "The Man Who Would Be King", and a CBS Drama (UK) airing of a season 7 episode of Dynasty ("The Affair"), the 1965 TCFTV theme is heard, due to sloppy plastering.
  • A variant with the 1965 TCFTV theme in low tone also exists. This is spotted on a later French print of the second episode of Manimal.
• On Me-TV's print of the Batman S2 episode "That Darn Catwoman", the 1961 TCFTV theme is heard.
• On 2008-2010 episodes of Family Feud and local syndicated reruns of Futurama, the 1995 and 2008 themes are edited a bit, with the second half only.
• On syndicated prints of shows like King of the Hill and Cops, the original 20th Television or TCFTV jingles from 1995 and 1997 may be heard during the 2008 or 2013 logos. In exceptional cases, a soundbite of the show is used.
• The syndie print of the How I Met Your Mother episode "w/Bro Code 107" shows the short version of the '08 logo but the normal-length fanfare plays during the other half of the Bays-Thomas logo. The fanfare also has a [subtle] choir too. Some episodes have the 2009 version of the 2008 fanfare, an abridged 2005 fanfare, which consists of the first few notes and the last note, or the short 1997 fanfare over the short version of the 2008 logo.
• On FXX airings of The Simpsons episode "Days of Future Future", the logo is silent. The Gracie Films logo has the 20th TV logo's music playing over said logo, while the Spanish cast has the Gracie Films theme playing over it. This was likely caused by an editing goof.
• On airings of the Family Guy episode "He's Bla-ack!" on Adult Swim, the 2013 20th Television logo is used, yet the 1995 fanfare is heard. Usually, the 2013 TCFTV logo is used on newer episodes and other airings of said episode, with the correct fanfare.
• On the syndie print of the Family Guy episode "Chris Cross", a portion of the 2008 20th Television fanfare used on the 2007 TCFTV logo can be heard when cutting to black before the SAP cast.
• On Channel 4 broadcasts of a small number of episodes of The Simpsons (noticeable on the episode "Last Exit to Springfield"), the audio for the 1992 fanfare fades out very quickly as the last note plays.
• On some episodes of Family Guy, AMC's airings of both Omen IV: The Awakening and Mr. Popper's Penguins, and CourtTV Mystery's airings of Sleeping With the Enemy, the 1995 theme is heard on the 2013 logo.
• On an April 1, 2017 airing of the Family Guy episode "Road to the Multiverse" on Adult Swim, the 1997 TCFTV jingle is surprisingly glitchy, possibly as an April Fools' joke. This also happens to other AS shows on this broadcast day (e.g. Seinfeld stings, laugh track, robotic voices, pitch shifted voices, etc.).
• On the Simpsons episode "The Man from G.R.A.M.P.A.", the theme has a weird echo effect, which has the mix of the full and shorter versions.
• A print of M*A*S*H has the 1994 version of this logo with the 2008 music, probably due to a sloppy reverse plaster error.
• Freeform's print of Rio 2 has the ending theme of the movie playing over the logo (possibly due to time compression). Other airings have the fanfare, as described above.

Availability:

• This was plastered onto most shows that Fox distributes, even classic shows they own, with the exception of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (the 1960s TCFTV logo is integrated into the closing credits with the closing theme).
• It even shows up on DVD releases of Fox shows.
• The opening variant has so far only been spotted on a Polish airing of An Unmarried Woman.
• On the Christmas with the Simpsons DVD, it plasters over the 3rd 20th Century Fox Television logo on the Christmas special.
• Most episodes of The Simpsons on DVD up until towards the end of season 6 have this logo (though a few episodes on the season 1 and 3 DVD sets use the original 1989-1993 TCFTV logo instead), although it does make an appearance at the end of the season 9 episode "The Principal and the Pauper".
• Strangely, it appears after the TCFTV logo on many episodes of Family Guy and Futurama on Adult Swim and TBS, the former on Freeform as well.
• The enhanced version is just as common, and appeared until 2019 on Family Feud, Divorce Court, and The Wendy Williams Show, among other current series, before the former two shows were transferred to CBS Television Distribution, as well as King of the Hill reruns on Adult Swim & syndication, reruns of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? on GSN, and Netflix viewings, and also appears on the StarVista/Time Life DVD releases of The Wonder Years (plastering the 1988 New World Television logo).
  • One early sighting of the enhanced variant was Cartoon Network's airing of Garfield Gets Real.
• The 1992 version of this logo plasters the original 1981 TCFTV logo on Shout! Factory's season 1 (1986-87) DVD release of L.A. Law; it also plasters 17 of 20 episodes on the season 2 (1987-88) release (three of them have the original 1981 TCFTV logo intact).
• Strangely, this also plasters the original 20th Century Fox logo on the trailer of Project X (the 1987 film starring Matthew Broderick) on recent home releases of the film.
• The enhanced logo, with the News Corporation byline appears on various episodes from season 1 and 2 of the 2014 Shout! Factory complete series release of The Bob Newhart Show.
  • This also plastered the 2007 TCFTV logo on Family Guy episode "Lois Comes Out of Her Shell" on Adult Swim.
  • The earliest sighting of the extended bylineless logo was on the syndie print of Family Guy's season 11 finale.
• The bylineless logo plasters the one with the byline that used to appear on syndie prints of Family Guy seasons 10 and 11 episodes.
• The 1995 variant also makes a surprise appearance at the end of the VHS release of Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask and some seasons 1 and 4 episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on international airings.
• Oddly, many Hill Street Blues reruns on Heroes & Icons use prints where this is seen at the end alone, plastering the MTM Enterprises logo. As such, it cuts in abruptly and interrupts the end theme.
• The 1995 version appeared on the short-lived 2007 game show Temptation: The New Sale of the Century when aired on MyNetworkTV.
• On current prints (digital, TV, etc...) of Home Alone 4, the 2008 version plasters the Fox Television Studios logo.
• Since 20th Century Fox Television was dissolved into this company on August 10, 2020, the bylineless logo first appeared on the new seasons of the Animation Domination shows that year on Fox, the ones being The Simpsons (using the 2008 jingle), Bob's Burgers (using the 2005 TCFTV jingle), Family Guy (using the 1997 TCFTV jingle), the second and final season of Bless the Harts, season 2 of Duncanville and the debut season of The Great North (all using the 2015 TCFTV jingle). Despite this, this logo now appears on new episodes of returning shows (as well as the upcoming shows) from the former 20th Century Fox Television from 2020 onwards.
• This also appears on its new and future shows produced from this company such as the 2021 reboot of The Wonder Years, Single Drunk Female and Dopesick.
• It also appears on new seasons of shows that were originally produced by Fox 21 Television Studios from 2021 onwards which are American Crime Story, Feud, Genius, The Chi, Pose, Mayans M.C., The Hot Zone and Ratched.
• This also appears on the last two seasons of Wu-Tang: An American Saga.
• As of September 26, 2021, this logo no longer appears on new seasons of animated shows in favor of the 20th Television Animation logo. The final animated production to use this logo was on the Central Park Season 2 episode "The Lyin' in Winter", originally aired on April 8, 2022.
• Strangely, this logo does not appear on on Hoops, Filthy Rich and NeXt, due to all three of them being made before 20th Century Fox Television rebranded to 20th Television in 2020.
• Whenever Blue Sky Studios' movies and The Book of Life are broadcast, this logo appears at the very end, right after the SAP cast credits.

Legacy: This logo is notable for being a CGI re-imagining of the classic Fox logo, which predated the actual CGI logo by two years. However, until its rename from 20th Century Fox Television in 2020, this logo's omnipresence, as well as its tendency to plaster logos on older prints, has left some with not-so-positive thoughts about the logo.

2nd Logo (2013-2019)

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  2013 version

Visuals: On a medium blue background with searchlights, the 20th Television print logo is drawn as the text "Welcome to Twentieth Television" slides below. The print logo then gains a white color.

Technique: Flash animation.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on the old 20th Television website around 2013 until the Disney acquisition in 2019. Fortunately, it is now archived, and can be seen on the Wayback Machine.

3rd Logo (2014)

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  Part 1

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  Part 2

Visuals: A redone version of the 1992 logo (with the text on the structure now in a font resembling Myriad) that's animated like the 20th Century Fox theatrical logo, with the sky background in the style of the 1994 movie logo, albeit darker.

• Opening: The beginning of the logo which then, after the first searchlight swoops across the screen, cuts to a few seconds ahead in the animation with the Los Angeles/Hollywood skyline visible in the distance. It also ends at this point.
• Closing: The final seconds of the logo sequence.

Technique: CGI by Stun Creative.

Audio: The opening has the intro theme of the promo. The closing uses the 1997 20th Century Fox Television fanfare.

Availability: Only used on a 2014 sales promo for Family Guy, which can be seen here.

Copyright Stamp

Here is some information about the copyright stamp on 20th Television series (starting in 2020):

• 2020-present: © [YEAR] 20th Television

◄ 20th Century Fox Television (1994-2020) Touchstone Television 20th Century Fox Television Distribution

20th Television