Comedy Central Productions
James Fabiano, Jess Williams and BenderRoblox
Captures by
WyraachUr, V of Doom, BenderRoblox, wolfie14, superpooper180, Originalsboy11, Logoboy95, RedheadXilamGuy, ENunn, Broken Saw and External Galaxy
Editions by
mr3urious, WyraachUr, BenderRoblox, Jonathan Hendricks and DisneyInternationalFan
Video captures courtesy of
Broken Saw, Jordan Rios, ENunn, Originalsboy, Fenwick's Television Archive and Logicsmash
Background
In 1989, Warner Communications' HBO unit expanded into basic cable with "The Comedy Channel", the first cable channel devoted exclusively to comedy-based programming. Similarly, Viacom launched "Ha! TV Comedy Network" the next year.
After both channels took a hit, the two compromised and created "Comedy Partners" in 1991, merging both channels into "CTV: The Comedy Network", which was renamed shortly after to "Comedy Central" (in order to avoid confusion with Canada's CTV network).
In April 2003, AOL Time Warner sold their half of Comedy Partners for $1.23 billion, resulting in Viacom owning 100% of Comedy Central; the network was then made part of the MTV Networks (now Paramount Media Networks).
1st Logo (November 1, 1991-July 3, 1994)
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Visuals: The Comedy Central logo (a purple-blue globe showing the Americas, with tall buildings on the North American part and a black marquee reading "COMEDY-CENTRAL") is placed on a pile of rusty tires on a junkyard. The marquee spins around twice.
Technique: Computer animation.
Audio: Penn Jillette says "This has been a presentation from Comedy Central!"
Availability: Seen on several Comedy Central shows from this period.
- It's seen on the CC-era of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) starting in the latter half of season 3 ("Star Force: Fugitive Alien II" is the earliest known episode with it) to the first few episodes of season 6 on VHS tapes (the rest of the season uses the next logo).
- Most episodes of MST3K on PlutoTV and DVD releases have this and the HBO Downtown Productions logo removed; however, they can still be seen on the episodes "The Rebel Set" and "Beginning of the End" on PlutoTV.
2nd Logo (July 4, 1994-January 5, 1997)
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Visuals: Over a black background, the 1991 Comedy Central globe (now tilted to its side and having the text in white and in a different font) in blue-black is seen emitting a blue circle that stretches and moves around, with crude drawings of buildings (similar to the ones on the globe) moving around below and a giant moon on the left showing a reverse version of the globe spinning rapidly.
Variant: A copyright stamp will sometimes be added to the logo, usually seen below.
Technique: A mix of live-action and 2D animation, produced by PMcD Design.
Audio: Penn Jillette says "This has been a presentation from Comedy Central" over a group of men scatting and whistling the network's generic tune of the time, ending with a group of men shouting "Hey!"
Audio Trivia: The "Hey!" vocal is a common vocal sample used in many songs, mainly within the Reggaeton genre.
Availability: Seen on several Comedy Central shows from this period, including on early Craig Kilborn-era episodes of The Daily Show, seasons 1-2 and the first eight episodes of season 3 of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist on DVD and VHS, and the majority of seasons 6-7 of MST3K on VHS, but removed on DVD releases.
- This logo and the HBO Downtown Productions logo are retained on the MST3K episode "The Starfighters" on PlutoTV.
3rd Logo (January 5-November 30, 1997)
Visuals: It begins with a shot of a credit card being inserted into what is presumably an ATM. It then switches to a shot of an ATM screen, with text in green being displayed from top to bottom in a computer-type font. The text reads "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF:", followed by the Comedy Central logo in green, and "THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE" under the logo. The last line "blinks" a few times, becoming highlighted in green with the text in black.
Variants:
- An edit exists on the first three episodes of South Park where the "credit card" animation is kept in, but the ATM screen is cut as it abruptly switches to the next logo.
- Similar to the next logo, South Park episodes on their website have a copyright stamp added to the logo, along with the Comedy Central URL.
Technique: A mix of live-action and CGI.
Audio: The whirring of the credit card being precedes some beeping sounds.
Availability: Seen on several Comedy Central shows from this period.
- The Rhino VHS and DVD releases of early South Park episodes retain this logo (it is removed on the season 1 DVD set) along with seasons 3-4 of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.
- It also appeared on later Craig Kilborn-era episodes of The Daily Show.
- The credit card animation was retained on some early episodes of Win Ben Stein's Money when it was aired on GSN.
4th Logo (August 13, 1997-December 1, 1999)
Visuals: On a background with wavy blue and grey lines, a slightly revamped version of the Comedy Central logo in blue and yellow appears at the bottom of the screen, at first being distorted, but quickly sharpening up. The transmitter on the top of the logo "activates" and then many yellow rings with the words "this has been a presentation of" inside begin to emerge from the transmitter. A white copyright stamp is shown below, along with the "comedycentral.com" URL.
Trivia: Comedy Central's logo was slightly redesigned during this period by the design firm Attik, gaining a smoother look; most notably, the small hyphen from the "COMEDY CENTRAL" marquee was removed and the buildings are now clearly on the United States, with South America placed further down on the globe.
Variant: Sometimes, the logo has no copyright stamp; only the URL in black. South Park episodes that did not have it later had it added below on the southparkstudios.com versions.
Technique: Computer animation. This was done by H-Gun Studios in Chicago, Illinois.
Audio: An "interference" sound followed by loud synth "bong" sounds as the "rings" come out from the transmitter, or the closing theme of the show.
Audio Variant: A variant with different synth "bong" sounds was seen on the South Park episode "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut".
Availability: Seen on several Comedy Central shows from this period.
- It first appeared on the first three episodes of South Park as part of the variant for the previous logo (see above).
- The South Park first season DVD removes this logo on all but "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut", while the second season DVD features this logo intact.
- It also appeared on Craig Kilborn/early Jon Stewart-era episodes of The Daily Show.
- Preserved on DVDs and VHS tapes of season 5 and the first six episodes of season 6 of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, earlier episodes of Bob and Margret, and Comedy Central Presents episodes from the era, although the first episode is plastered by the 6th logo.
5th Logo (January 1, 1999-February 13, 2002)
Visuals: On a background with what looks like bubbles floating around, the Comedy Central logo, now in black-and-white, zooms in from the center of the screen and glows. The text "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF..." is above it, and the copyright stamp for the show (usually "© [YEAR] Comedy Partners, Inc. All Rights Reserved") is below. This logo has seven different color palettes:
- Silver background with red and silver bubbles
- Blue background with dark blue bubbles
- Green background with green and dark green bubbles
- Red background with dark red bubbles
- Gold background with gold bubbles
- Purple background with purple bubbles
- Blue background with purple bubbles
Variants:
- On South Park episodes on Comedy Central with compressed credits, the "zooming-in" portion of the logo is removed.
- In later years, the URL "www.comedycentral.com" was seen at the bottom.
- On the second season of Bob and Margaret, the URL is blurred.
- A copyright stamp was added on the South Park episodes shown at "southparkstudios.com".
- A variant on Upright Citizens Brigade exists where the logo quickly switches between the blue/dark blue, silver/red, and green/dark green palettes.
Technique: Computer animation.
Audio: A low whooshing sound as the logo zooms in, accompanied by a brief breakbeat tune (used on Comedy Central's bumpers at the time) or the closing theme of the show.
Audio Variants:
- On Strangers with Candy, a techno theme is heard (also used on Comedy Central's bumpers at the time) with something that sounds like a car's tires screeching.
- On Comedy Central Presents, the last part of the RickMill Productions logo's theme plays over the logo.
- On Don't Forget Your Toothbrush, Win Ben Stein's Money, and South Park, it's the sound of muffled slushing and bubbling.
Availability: Seen on several Comedy Central shows from this period.
- First seen on season 2 episodes of Comedy Central Presents and last seen on the Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist episode "Lerapy".
- The blue variant was seen on South Park episodes from this era up to "Probably", but given constant plastering from the next logo, it can now only be seen on "Prehistoric Ice Man" on the second season DVD (the first South Park episode to use it, the rest of the episodes on the DVD end with the previous logo).
- Nearly all of the colors can be found on DVDs of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist episodes from the era.
- It also appeared on early Jon Stewart-era episodes of The Daily Show and Comedy Central Presents episodes from the era.
- The blue version can also be seen on the DVD of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, at the end of Comedy Central's Canned Ham: The Dr. Evil Story (a fake documentary tying in with the film).
6th Logo (November 1, 2000-May 28, 2004)
Visuals: Over a shaded orange background, the logo starts with lots of yellow circles zooming in towards the camera. Each circle has a different close-up of the 2000 Comedy Central logo (much like the original, but looking more abstract, with different buildings and a different font) and the text "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF" scrolling to the right. The circles move away, revealing the end product: the updated Comedy Central logo in the center with "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF" above in black, and "comedycentral.com" below in white, and circles moving behind the logo.
Trivia: This logo was designed by Imaginary Forces, who gave the original design a major overhaul to freshen the network's brand image: the continents were simplified to a speech bubble-like shape, the buildings were "melted" into the globe, and the marquee was removed in favor of the enlarged text in a different font. Most notably, the transmitter was removed from the middle building, which was said to "communicate the 1950s broadcast era" by network management.
Variants:
- On later seasons of South Park, this logo starts with the finished product on numerous episodes, bypassing the circles. A copyright stamp for Comedy Partners is included. A few episodes keep the animation as usual, but still have the copyright notice plastered over all the animation. This variant also appeared on Comedy Central Presents.
- Versions where the background is blue or green instead of orange exist.
- Current reruns of South Park keep this logo intact; however, it's part of the split screen credits. Therefore, the logo is sometimes extended to fit with the length of the commercial (in case it is too long). This is done by having the logo play as normal with the last bit of the circle animation going on a continuous loop when the finished product appears.
- On later standard-definition prints of the South Park episode "Weight Gain 4000", the logo plays in a much slower pace while the extended audio variant plays, most likely to match the original logo's length on that episode, which lasts 12 seconds long.
Technique: A mix of 2D and CGI.
Audio: A funky bass/guitar-led sounder, not unlike the ones heard on Comedy Central's commercial tags at the time. A different section is heard depending on the variant.
Audio Variant: Sometimes, if the logo is plastering older Comedy Central logos, the original logo's audio will still be heard.
Availability: Seen on several Comedy Central shows from this period.
- The audio variant can be heard on later prints of the un-aired South Park pilot, as well as the remastered prints of early seasons of said show.
- The blue background variant appears on the TV movie Windy City Heat, and on Gerhard Reinke's Wanderlust.
- The green variant appeared on Beat the Geeks, Comedy Central Presents, and Let's Bowl!.
Note: From 2004 onwards, most Comedy Central originals stopped using a logo altogether in favor of in-credit text reading "This has been a presentation of Comedy Central" and a copyright stamp.
7th Logo (May 29, 2004-September 11, 2005)
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Visuals: Over a yellow-orange gradient background, the logo starts with several graffiti designs in different styles moving and a grunge-like Comedy Central logo, then it zooms in to the logo in the centre with "this has been a presentation of" above, and "comedycentral.com" below.
Technique: Graffiti-style computer animation by INTERspectacular.
Audio: A funky hip-hop tune.
Availability: Seen on the pilot of Crank Yankers coming from the 2004 DVD release.
8th Logo (May 29, 2004-March 1, 2005)
Visuals: On a red background is a close-up of the Comedy Central logo, which zooms out as the camera cuts to the text "THIS HAS BEEN" and "A PRESENTATION OF" (in a conensed filled font) sliding next to what looks like melting graffiti. "THIS HAS BEEN" flickers, and the screen then cuts to another close-up of the Comedy Central logo as the text slides in at an angle, and the white parts of the logo briefly flash to black. The text flickers again and the logo appears in white once again. Everything flickers, as the logo changes its position and flickers between black and white. This all continues until it cuts to black.
Variants:
- There is a version that has the word "PRESENTATION" misspelled as "PRESENTATON".
- A green variant also exists with the same misspelling error.
Technique: Computer animation. Like the previous logo, the logo is designed by INTERspectacular.
Audio: Same as the previous logo. Sometimes, a different, more slap bass/drum-heavy theme is used.
Availability: This logo was limited to DVD releases of Comedy Central shows at the time. Notable releases with this logo include seasons 4-6 of South Park, season 1 of Drawn Together, as well as season 2 of Reno 911!.
9th Logo (March 2, 2005-December 31, 2010)
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Visuals: Same as the "Green" ID of the time, but with the text "PRODUCTIONS" in a grungy filled font below the logo. A copyright stamp appears below in white.
Technique: Same as the "Green" ID. Like the ID, this logo was designed by INTERspectacular.
Audio: Same as the "Green" ID.
Availability: It used to be seen on syndicated reruns of South Park, among other Comedy Central shows such as The Sarah Silverman Program, but it has been deleted on most syndication prints now. Last seen in the US when Comedy Central would air syndicated South Park episodes during the daytime during the mid-2010s.
10th Logo (March 2, 2005-December 31, 2010)
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Visuals: On a blue sky background, a large scribble that takes up most of the screen quickly transforms into a grungy looking black and white version of the 2000 Comedy Central logo, similar to that of the previous logo. On top of the logo is a crude drawing of a white bird. Throughout the logo's screen time, there's multiple shots of the logo "flickering" and the scribble appearing around the logo while the bird "looks" around. The word "PRODUCTIONS" in the same font as before appears below the logo and "flickers" itself in various sizes, while a copyright notice with the year is right next to it in the same font.
Technique: Computer animation designed by INTERspecaular.
Audio: A quirky/funky synth bass-led drum-heavy hip hop sounder.
Availability: Currently only known for being used mostly for some syndicated season 7 prints of South Park episodes when aired on WGN and Comedy Central in the late 2000s into the mid-2010s.
11th Logo (December 9, 2010-April 14, 2015)
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Visuals: On a robin's egg blue background, the camera zooms into the upper right corner of the new Comedy Central logo, which features a black letter "C" inside a bigger reverse black "C", revealing the text "COMEDY CENTRAL" in a white angular font, with the new logo in the upper right corner of the text. The logo zooms into the new logo, revealing the "COMEDY CENTRAL" text, but with the word "CENTRAL" mirrored. The new Comedy Central logo squeezes into the middle of the text.
Trivia: Comedy Central introduced the new logo (designed by The Lab) on December 9, 2010 and debuted it on January 1, 2011.
Variant: At the end of some shows, the logo is shortened to just the Comedy Central logo appearing on a black background. The upside-down "CENTRAL" word appears as well.
Technique: 2D computer animation by The Lab.
Audio: A sound cue from the network's ident package at the time, or the closing theme of the show.
Audio Variant: At the end of the 2011 Comedy Central rebrand montage, an instrumental excerpt of "Wham Bam" by Clooney is heard. The song is part of the Extreme Music library and has been featured in many promos for other Paramount-owned networks (like Nickelodeon and VH1).
Availability: Seen on the 2011 Comedy Central rebrand montage, and at the start/end of some shows from the time period, such as Brickleberry.
12th Logo (October 1, 2012-December 31, 2019)
Visuals: On a dark grey background, the two "C"s from the last two logos briefly wipe in while flickering. Then, the words "COMEDY" and "CENTRAL" (with "CENTRAL" upside-down) appear on the left and right side respectively. The final result has a robin's egg blue colour similar to the background of the previous logo. A copyright stamp appears below.
Technique: 2D computer animation also designed by The Lab.
Audio: Three electronic xylophone notes, followed by two high synth notes. A noise sounding like a TV tuner interference can also be heard in the background.
Availability: Appears on international (including Latin American) prints of Comedy Central programs.
13th Logo (May 4, 2020-November 29, 2021)
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Visuals: There is the text "COMEDY CENTRAL PRODUCTIONS" with the words stacked on top of each other in white. The network's "C" logo occupies the space next to the former two words.
Variant: This logo often shares the screen with other logos.
Technique: A still, digital graphic.
Audio: The closing theme of the show.
Availability: Only seen on the new series of Reno 911!, as all other shows from Comedy Central began using the MTV Entertainment Studios logo instead. Also seen on Player vs. Player with Trevor Noah.
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