American International Television

Credits

Descriptions by
Sean Beard and Eric S.

Captures by
Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom and Bob Fish

Editions by
Bob Fish, V of Doom, SeanElGatoTV2k8, Shadeed A. Kelly and kidinbed

Video captures courtesy of
Eric S., Peakpasha and SeanElGatoTelevision

Background

American International Pictures created its own television division as "American International Television" (also known as "American International Productions Television" or "AIP-TV") in 1964 to distribute all AIP film releases and produce various television shows. In 1979, AIP was acquired by Filmways, Inc. and American International Television was folded into Filmways Television in 1980. The AIP library, with some exceptions, is today owned by MGM Holdings Inc.

1st Logo (1964-1966)

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Visuals: Same as the 3rd American International Pictures logo, but with the word "TELEVISION" below instead, and a simplified background.

Variant: The first two seasons of the cartoon series The Adventures of Sinbad Jr use the in-credit text "An American International Television Release".

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: The theme from the fourth American International Pictures logo. On some shows/TV movies that have the logo superimposed over the opening/ending shots, the logo would have the opening/ending theme of the program or have the AIP theme tacked on.

Availability:

• This was on early syndicated rerun prints of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (before Ozzie Nelson took over distribution in the late 1960s).
• It can still be found on old prints of Hercules and The Captive Women, as well as the Mexican Samson (El Santo) films dubbed into English by K. Gordon Murray.

2nd Logo (1966-December 31, 1968)

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Visuals: On a evening sky background, an image of the AIP logo, now tinted gold, appears inside of a teal circle outline at the top of the screen. Below are the words "American International Television" in a fancy serif font.

Variants:

• An black-and-white variant exists with a gray gradient background.
• Some TV shows use an in-credit variant that says "An AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION Production".

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio:

• 1966-1967: The theme from the fourth American International Pictures logo.
• 1967-1968: A loud, battling horn, flute and drum/timpani fanfare.
• In other cases, the opening/closing theme is used or is silent.

Availability:

• It appeared on some syndicated programs including early AIP films. Also, Samuel Z. Arkoff retained ownership of the earliest AIP films and licensed them to Teleworld for distribution, so this no longer appears.
• The 1967 fanfare variant is still retained on the Orion VHS release of the English dub of The X From Outer Space.
• It's currently seen on Prince Planet on MGM's online platform "MGM Digital Media".
• It also appeared The Eye Creatures and Zontar, the Thing from Venus.

3rd Logo (January 1, 1969-1973)

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Visuals: Same as the 6th American International Pictures logo, but now with "American International Television Presents" below.

Variants:

• From 1972-1973, a comma and the word "Inc." were added next to the company's name.
• A short version exists.
• Sometimes, "Presents" isn't there.
• An in-credit version exists.

Technique: Camera controlled and cel animation.

Audio: The 1967 fanfare from the second logo, the opening theme of the show, or movie.

Availability:

• This appeared on the original U.S. syndication prints of The Avengers, on the U.S. print opening of Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot right after the 1984 Orion Pictures logo (both intact on Comet airings), and TV prints of AIP-produced and dubbed films.
• The in-credit logo was retained on Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot on MGM Digital Media's YouTube account.
• The Avengers was then distributed by Weintraub Entertainment Group in 1990 and is now currently owned by Canal+, so outside of tapes (of certain episodes of that series from early 1990s A&E reruns) this is long gone.
• The Orion (or MGM) logo may precede the AIP logo on feature films.
• The short version is retained on public domain prints of The Magic Serpent.
• The Nightmare Theatre print of Warning from Space retains this.

4th Logo (1973-1974)

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Visuals: Same as the ninth American International Pictures logo, but the words "American International Television Inc. presents" fade in below.

Variant: There is a black-and-white version of this logo for movies from the 1950s and early 1960s.

Technique: Fading effects and a still graphic.

Audio: None, or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: This appeared on a fair amount of American International films and TV series, most notably on the AIP dub of Assignment Terror.

5th Logo (1974-1980)

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Visuals:

• Opening: On a blue background, 4 white angular letters spelling "AiTV" pop onto the screen one by one; all of them are closely knitted to each other. Then, the text "AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION, INC. presents" pops in two by two near the "AiTV", except for "presents" which appears all at once. All of the text appears in sync with the music. The "AiTV" then slowly becomes red.
• Closing: A still shot of the completed logo, now with a yellow background, a brown logo and lettering, and this time reading "Distributed by AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION, INC.". Sometimes, the logo would be superimposed.

Variants:

• An early variant exists where the logo, now in peach, appears first on a black background, followed by "AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION" appearing to the right. The logo is also smaller.
• Sometimes, the opening logo will end by having the logo fade out, leaving the blue background before that fades out.

Technique: Analog computer animation. A still graphic for the closing variant.

Audio: An ascending horn and string fanfare (actually stock music, composed by William Loose); rather sedate compared with its predecessor. The closing variant is silent, with the theme playing out over it on some shows.

Availability:

• This appeared on U.S. prints of Lorne Greene's New Wilderness, Star Maidens, Twiggy's Jukebox, and TV syndication prints of AIP films.
• Lorne Greene's New Wilderness remained available to TV stations from Orion Television until the mid-1980s with the AiTV logo still present.
• As AITV produced shows haven't been rerun in years, this latter logo is gone.