Embassy Communications

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

Credits
Descriptions by
James Fabiano, Sean Beard, Jess Williams, Matthew Anscher and Mark Edward Heuek

Captures by
Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, megamanj2004, snelfu, TheEriccorpinc and SloshedMail

Editions by
Shadeed A. Kelly and V of Doom

Video captures courtesy of
phasicblu, JohnnyL80 and SloshedMail

Background

Embassy Television was formed in January 1982, reincorporating the former T.A.T. Communications Company (formed in 1974) founded by Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio after they acquired Avco Embassy Pictures and merged it with T.A.T. by becoming "Embassy Communications, Inc." Embassy also introduced Embassy Telecommunications (reincorporating the distribution division of T.A.T. Communications Co. and also folding the former PITS Films) as the television distribution arm.

In 1985, Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy Communications, Inc. (which included Tandem Productions and Embassy Television) to the Coca-Cola Company (former parent of Columbia Pictures Industries). After Diff'rent Strokes was cancelled in 1986, Coca-Cola merged Embassy Television, Embassy Telecommunications, and Tandem Productions into the holding company and Embassy Communications became a full-service television studio, which later merged with Columbia Pictures Television on November 24, 1986 and became "Columbia/Embassy Television"; however, Tandem remained as an in-name-only division of Embassy Communications.

On December 21, 1987, Coke spun-off its entertainment business and sold it to Tri-Star Pictures. Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. was renamed to "Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." and merging the Columbia and Tri-Star Pictures theatrical banners. By January 2, 1988, the Embassy Communications logo was phased out and was replaced by the Columbia Pictures Television logo, but the series by Embassy Communications retained the copyright for its series until March 19, 1988 (the last production to use an Embassy copyright was the final season Facts of Life episode "Big Apple Blues" while others began using the ELP copyright by February 1988), when Embassy Communications was renamed as "ELP Communications", but was under the production banner of Columbia Pictures Television from 1988-1994, and Columbia TriStar Television from 1994-1997 (both studios however, still produced their series individually). ELP Communications is a joint venture between LEP Holdings and PEP Communications that was formed on December 21, 1987. In 1998, after Beakman's World was cancelled, Sony Pictures Entertainment retired Embassy Television. However, Embassy currently remains as an in-name-only unit of Sony Pictures Television.

1st Logo (September 25, 1982-1983)

Visuals: A bold "E" in Futura Medium Bold BT extended to feature a star cut-out can be seen in white, with the stacked text "EMBASSY TELEVISION" next to it in the same font and color. These words are positioned to the right of the "E" logo, and "AN" and "PRODUCTION" are featured above and below the logo, except for the remaining early 1982 episodes of Silver Spoons, which doesn't feature "AN" and "PRODUCTION".

Trivia:

  • The in-credit text co-existed with the in-credit logo, the same day Silver Spoons debut along with the premiere of season 4 of The Facts of Life.
  • This logo was designed by Chermayeff & Geismar Associates of New York.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: It's on the end credits of almost all 1982 episodes of The Facts of Life, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, and Silver Spoons. Square Pegs used this until 1983.

  • As an in-credit logo, it is usually left alone. However, TV One prints of The Jeffersons omit the logo, cutting straight to the SPT logo after the Embassy copyright notice, but it's retained on most early season 9 episodes that had this on FOX Retro in Italy (translated as "I Jefferson").
  • The all-text version can be seen on the pilot episodes of Square Pegs and Silver Spoons.
  • The in-credit text was used again in 1985 on two of the 227 episodes "Pity the Poor Working Girl" and "Football Widow", before the 1984 Embassy Television logo appears.
  • The in-credit logo was first used on The Facts of Life Goes to Paris.

2nd Logo (November 13, 1982-December 26, 1987)


Visuals: Same as the 1982 Embassy Pictures logo, but with a few differences: the logo is sped up and the bottom text appears underneath the logo rather than fading in. The bottom text is one of the following depending on the series type:

  • "EMBASSYTELEVISION" in a straight line. (network shows, 1982-September 23, 1986)
  • "EMBASSY TELECOMMUNICATIONS" stacked and aligned to the left. (syndicated programs, 1983-December 25, 1985)
  • "EMBASSY PAY TELEVISION" stacked and aligned to the left. (subscription programs, 1984-December 26, 1987, this variant has "EMBASSY" in the Arial font and "PAY TELEVISION" in the Optima font.)
  • "EMBASSY TELECOMMUNICATIONS" stacked and aligned to the middle. (syndication, December 28, 1985-September 23, 1986)
  • "EMBASSY COMMUNICATIONS" stacked and aligned to the middle. (network and syndication, September 27, 1986-December 26, 1987)

Byline: Starting in 1986, a byline reading "A unit of The Coca-Cola Company" is displayed under the logo, with "The Coca-Cola Company" in the corporate font. Starting in 1987, "A unit of" is now non-italicized and in all capitals.

Transition Variants: Depending on the show or TV special/movie, the logo may be inserted in various ways. Instead of a straight fade/cut to the logo, the first part of the logo animation is superimposed over the final shot of the credits before the background fades to blue. There may be other effects applied to it.

  • On 1982-1985 season episodes of The Jeffersons, the end credits fade to a shot of skyscrapers. Over this image, the "E" star logo appears (and the music starts), rolling in over this background. The background soon fades to blue, and "EMBASSY TELEVISION" appears like normal over this image. This version was in pretty good circulation, as out of 6 late season episodes aired on Nick @ Nite, 4 of them have this logo.
    • On the The Jeffersons episode titled "A New Girl in Town", the Embassy logo appears in blue when animating at first. The skyscraper background from the end-title credits later changes to the blue background and the Embassy logo later turns white.
  • The shows 227 and Women in Prison also feature their end credits with the Embassy Television and Embassy Communications logos.
    • Each episode of 227 has different images with the Embassy Television and Embassy Communications logos.
  • On the 1984 TV special Greater Tuna, the full logo animation is superimposed into the background, and after it's done forming, the background fades to blue. Also, the logo, name, and registered trademark symbol have shadows.

Other Variants:

  • Starting on September 15, 1984, there is a registered trademark symbol that appears next to the name. (Embassy was registered on June 26, 1984.) This would last until September 27, 1986.
  • On The Jeffersons season 10 episodes "Mission Incredible: Part 1", "I Do, I Don't", and "And the Winner is", there is a straight cut to the logo without the skyscraper background in the way while the logo is animating.
  • On the 1987 TV movie Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story, the "☆E" appears darker grey on a dark teal background with the text "Embassy Communications" and the byline "A unit of The Coca-Cola Company" in shadow mode in white.
  • The TV movies Firefighter and A Place to Call Home have the logo lettering in shadow mode.
  • A filmed variant of the logo exists.

Technique: Motion-controlled animation, done by R/Greenberg Associates.

Audio: A high-pitched, six-note synthesizer tune with the last note held out, followed by a chord while the 6th note is held with an additional four notes sped-up a little under the held sixth note and a fifth note rolling noticeably with a final pound at the end. This was composed by Ray Colcord.

Audio Variants:

  • From 1983-1988, the first note was cut off. This was sometimes used on S1 of 227 and Who's the Boss?, S5 of The Facts of Life, the final season of Diff'rent Strokes, E/R, One Day at a Time, and was also used for Embassy Pay Television.
  • There is a low toned variant that was only used for the 1987 version in syndication.
  • On the original E/R episode "Enter Romance," the first few notes are missing from the logo.
  • On the 1983 TV movie Grace Kelly, none.
  • On The Jeffersons season 9 episode "Mr. Wonderful", the end-title theme plays over the logo.
  • On The Jeffersons episode "Hail to the Chief", the Embassy Television theme's timing is off while the logo animates.
  • On The Facts of Life episode "Bus Stop", the 1988 Columbia Pictures Television theme plays over the logo. This was a result of a double plaster.

Availability:

  • It first appeared on season 1, episode 8 of Silver Spoons.
  • It's seen on S1 eps. of 227 on DVD, Encore Black, and Sony Crackle.
  • It has been preserved on season 8 (1985-86) episodes of Diff'rent Strokes on Encore Black (the Embassy logo was only used in the final season). It's also on the complete first season DVD releases of Who's the Boss?, as well as most 7flix airings of said show in Australia and Silver Spoons.
  • It's retained on S9-11 episodes of The Jeffersons on Me-TV but doesn't appear on TV One's prints, with the exception of the season 11 episode "Last Dance".
    • However, it appears on all episodes from seasons 9-11 on FOX Retro in Italy (translated as "I Jefferson").
  • It's also retained on three 1984 episodes of The Facts of Life seen on Logo titled "Love At First Byte", "Talk, Talk, Talk", and "Bus Stop". The logo is seen on generic credits on the network.
    • However, all episodes from seasons 5-7 have the Embassy Television logo retained when released by Shout! Factory and aired on Me-TV.
  • It's also retained on the first two seasons of Who's the Boss? on Sony Crackle and the second season of the same show on Amazon Prime.
  • It also appeared on the 1984-85 short-lived sitcom E/R (not to be confused with the 1994-2009 drama ER), the TV special Greater Tuna, as well as Double Trouble and It's Your Move when Lifetime and USA last reran those shows respectively in the '90s.
  • The Embassy Telecommunications variant has been seen on a 1984 episode of Diff'rent Strokes on BET (it may appear on Antenna TV or Encore Black) and at the start of the CBS Saturday Night Movie edited version of Blade Runner. It appeared on a Decades airing of the Square Pegs episode "Child's Christmas in Weemawee: Part 1".
  • The Embassy Pay Television variant has been replaced by later distributor logos from Embassy Communications to Sony Pictures Television over the years. It’s currently seen on tape recordings.
  • The 1986 Embassy Communications version is seen on the TV movie Firefighter, retained on season 8 of The Facts of Life last aired on Me-TV and the Shout! Factory DVD release, all season 2 episodes of 227, and all season 3 episodes of Who's the Boss? both on Amazon.
  • The grey "☆E" dark variant can be seen on Guilty of Innocence: The Lennell Geter Story, in which the Sony Pictures Choice Collection DVD-R as well as recent broadcasts of Sony Movie Channel retains it.
  • The 1987 Embassy Communications version was originally seen on season 1 and early season 2 episodes of Married... With Children (the last being "You Better Watch Out"), the sitcom The Charmings, 1987 episodes of Who's the Boss?, 227, The Facts of Life, and the sitcom Women in Prison before January 2, 1988. This was also used to plaster older Embassy Television logos as sighted in a rerun of a season 1 episode of Double Trouble and some season 5 episodes of Silver Spoons. But most reruns and the DVDs of Married... With Children have it plastered over with the SPT logo. However, it is retained on The Facts of Life S9 episode "Adventures in Baileysitting" and the first episode of The Jeffersons on TV One called "A Friend in Need". It was retained on a few S8 episodes of One Day at a Time on Antenna TV reruns, but are obscured due to split-screen credit crunching.

Legacy: Its special variations (such as those from The Jeffersons) have been praised by those who see it as unique.

Copyright Stamps

Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the Embassy series and TV movies:

  • 1982-1986: Copyright © (year) Embassy Television. All Rights Reserved.
  • 1985-1986: Copyright © (year) Tandem Productions. All Rights Reserved. (Only used on the final season of Diff'rent Strokes)
  • 1986-1987: Copyright © (year) Embassy Communications. All Rights Reserved.
◄ T.A.T. Communications Company
Avco Embassy Television
Embassy Communications
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