Act III Productions
Shadeed A. Kelly and Logophile
Captures by
V of Doom and Logophile
Editions by
Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, and V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of
Eric S., Matthew Mayfield, and Broken Saw
Background
Act III Communications is Norman Lear's current company formed on October 21, 1985, following Lear and Jerry Perenchio's sale of Embassy Communications, Inc. (Tandem, Embassy Television, etc.) to Coca-Cola. Operations began on January 1, 1986. His first film under the Act III name was Stand By Me which was released by Columbia Pictures. Act III was also the name of a broadcaster Norman Lear was involved in, which owned several Fox and independent stations during the early 1990s (most of its stations are now owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group). On February 2, 1989, Act III Communications formed a joint-venture with Columbia Pictures Television called "Act III Television" (later "Act III Productions") to produce television and not managing. This was marked as Norman Lear's return to television after exiting television production in 1978 to focus on feature films and in 1984 from executive producing the sitcom, a.k.a. Pablo. In 2006, Act III purchased 50% of Village Roadshow Pictures and merged his music industry Concord Music Group. Act III did not have a logo until 1991.
1st Logo (February 16, 1991)
Visuals: We see "ACT III" in white with a shadow effect with "III" in Roman numerals. There is a white line that's stretched out underneath the name with the word "TELEVISION" below, also in white.
Technique: None.
Audio: The end of the show's theme.
Availability: Seen at the end credits of All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special. Can be found on the videocassette release of said title.
2nd Logo (June 22-July 7, 1991)
Visuals: Same as the last logo, but it's placed on a blue background.
Technique: None.
Audio: The end-title theme.
Availability: Was last seen on the series, Sunday Dinner.
3rd Logo (March 7, 1992-May 9, 1994)
Visuals: On a dark gray background, we see the ACT III logo fading in in chrome lettering with "ACT III" in a Roman font and the word "TELEVISION" in a stretched font. There are three black lines from the bottom of the Roman numeral "III" in between the words "ACT" and "TELEVISION".
Technique: Fading effects.
Audio: The end-title theme from any show.
Availability: It was seen on the series, The Powers That Be and 704 Hauser; it's intact on the the latter's pilot, however, which can be found on the All in the Family complete series DVD boxset by Shout! Factory and The Best of Norman Lear.
4th Logo (October 25, 1997-February 21, 1998)
Visuals: On a nighttime sky background we see the ACT III logo (as seen in the 1st and 2nd logos) in blue, and underneath the logo is the Enchanté George logo.
Technique: None.
Audio: The end-title theme.
Availability: It was only seen on Channel Umptee-3 on The WB's Saturday morning programming block, Kids' WB.
5th Logo (September 30, 2016-)
Visuals: On a white background, pieces of the Roman numeral "III" from the 1st, 2nd, and 4th logos rise up from the white field with a shadow effect as we pan above the logo. "ACT" then rises up letter-by-letter as the view focuses onto the logo. "PRODUCTIONS" pops up below the logo and the logo becomes 2D as the logo becomes blue.
Variant: A still version exists.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: The end-title theme.
Availability: The animated version is seen on the miniseries, America Divided, while the still version is seen on the 2017 revival of One Day at a Time and Live in Front of a Studio Audience on ABC.
