Grundy Television

Credits

Descriptions by
Andrew Batstone, Shadeed A. Kelly, and D.L. Chandell

Captures by
Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, TrickyMario7654, Greg Palmer, V of Doom, megamanj2004, bmasters9, RSX-798 and Gilblitz112

Editions by
Shadeed A. Kelly, RSX-798, TrickyMario7654, Bob Fish, V of Doom, Brendan Richards, Michael Kenchington and CrazySpruiker2001

Video captures courtesy of
TrickyMario7654, Logo Archive, and FinnTapes

This article is about the original Australian production division of the Reg Grundy Organization. For the company's U.S. television division, see Reg Grundy Productions.

Background

Grundy Television was formed in 1959 by Reg Grundy as "Grundy Organisation" (a.k.a. "Reg Grundy Organisation", later "Grundy Organization" in late 1979 spelling the name in the U.S. English dictionary). In 1983, he formed the U.S. television production division "Reg Grundy Productions, Inc." and established more companies in other countries. The Grundy companies were sold in 1995 to a British-based company Pearson, plc. In July 2000, Pearson Television was sold to Luxembourg-based compny CLT-UFA and merged to become the RTL Group and renamed Pearson Television to FremantleMedia in 2001. In 2006, Grundy Television merged with fellow FremantleMedia-owned Australian TV production company Crackerjack Productions to form "FremantleMedia Australia". Until 2013, the name Grundy still existed in Germany as "Grundy Light Entertainment" and in Italy as "Grundy Productions Italy".

1st Logo (1960-1980)

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Visuals: There is this text on-screen:

RG
REG GRUNDY
production

superimposed over a show’s closing scene after the credits. A stylized, cursive “RG” insignia (the initials of Reg Grundy,the company’s founder) sits on the top (or top left) of the text, which is in a sans-serif font.

Variants:

• Around 1977, the logo's wording was changed to:

RG
GRUNDY
ORGANISATION
production

But a minor modification from about late 1979, the logo is slightly smaller and the spelling of “ORGANISATION” is modified with a "Z" in place of the "S":

RG
GRUNDY
ORGANIZATION
production

giving it an American spelling.

• Opening: A rare opening variant exists, which was used in 1977 at the beginning of Glenview High. The opening logo reads:

RG
GRUNDY
ORGANIZATION
presents

Technique: A still superimposed graphic.

Audio: The end of the show's theme.

Audio Variant: On their game shows, the announcer would say "This has been a Reg Grundy/Grundy Organization production produced by [TV Channel]. (announcer's name) speaking".

Availability: Seen after the credits of Grundy shows of the era, such as The Young Doctors, Blankety Blanks (the Australian version of Match Game), and on earlier episodes of Prisoner.

2nd Logo (1980-1990)

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Visuals: While the logo was basically the same, it had different interpretations over the years.

• Early-Mid 1980: The text “GRUNDY ORGANIZATION” (spanning the screen’s width) overlaps a static, 2D icosahedron. The text is solid except for the letters “R” and “G” (representing the initials of Reg Grundy) in the center of the icosahedron. The word “production” sits on either the bottom right of “organization” or below the logo itself. This is the last logo to use initials of any kind.
• 1980-1983: The same still icosahedron as before, only “Grundy Organization Production” is rearranged below.
• 1983-1990: The icosahedron is redesigned for a more “3D” look. The word “Grundy” lies right in the middle of the icosahedron, and the words “Television” (in the same font as “Grundy”) and “Production” (in a thin, sans serif font) are below (On game shows produced by Grundy, a copyright statement appeared under the wording [i.e. © {YEAR} GRUNDY ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD]).
• 1981-1990 (Animated): An animated wireframe icosahedron (a geometric figure consisting of 20 triangular faces in a hexagonal shape with lines criss-crossing its width and height) rolls towards the viewer from the center of the screen, growing bigger as this occurs. As it finally settles in place, the words “GRUNDY” in the center of the icosahedron and “TELEVISION” below the icosahedron simultaneously unfold onto the screen while the word “PRODUCTION” (in a different, thinner font) rises from the bottom of the screen. Grundy animated it using stop-frame animation (using a caption machine in this case). It debuted on the soap opera Sons & Daughters and eventually spread to other shows produced by Grundy.

Variants:

• On game shows produced by Grundy, a copyright statement appeared under the wording [i.e. © {YEAR} GRUNDY ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD].
• The original version of the animated logo has the icosahedron centred, while "GRUNDY ORGANIZATION" is seen zooming out from the bottom of the screen.
• Depending on the show, the logo may be tinted white, yellow, green or orange.
• A variant is known to exist where the text reads "The Grundy Organization" in a different serif font with proper capitalisation, centred on the icosahedron.
• Another unique variant also exists, which has the icosahedron at a much larger size and coloured black with olive green outlines. "GRUNDY ORGANIZATION" is also seen in the centre coloured white. It was seen on Bellamy.

Technique:

• 1980-1983 and static in-credit variants: None.
• 1981-1990: Scanimate effects. The entire animated sequence is superimposed over the ending scene of the show's intro, making this a unique logo. The version used in the closing credits continued to be still (except on early episodes of Sons & Daughters where the icosahedron was also animated in the credits).

Audio: The end theme of the show. See above for game show mentions.

Audio Variants:

• On the premiere episode of Neighbours, a soft synth theme is heard. This may have also been used on other shows from the era too.
• A variation of the gameshow announcement variation exists on a 1981 Nine Network Christmas tape during the Family Feud segment were the announcement is changed to "Family Feud is a Grundy Organization steal, recorded for the national Nine Network. I have nothing to do with this program. Philip Brady speaking."

Availability: Still seen intact on old episodes of Neighbours, Prisoner, The Young Doctors, and Sons & Daughters, whenever they are rerun sometime in either Australia or the UK.

• It is also seen intact on DVD releases of early episodes of Neighbours, and Sons & Daughters, with the latter being reran on the Seven Network in the early hours of the morning, as well as the original series of It's a Knockout on the Ten Australia website.

Legacy: It's a fondly recalled logo and familiar to a generation of Australian TV fans who grew up with Neighbours, Prisoner, Sale of the Century, and countless amount of other programs.

3rd Logo (January 27, 1988-1997)

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Visuals: On a nighttime background with stars, there's a crystal icosahedron outlined in gold zooming out slowly to make its way to the center as it rotates. Later, there is a gold comet flying from left to right in the middle of the icosahedron to reveal the name "GRUNDY", fading and zooming in the middle of the icosahedron as it continues to rotate and later turns silver, leaving the gold outline in place. As the comet passes by is yet another comet going to the opposite direction on the bottom of the icosahedron revealing the word "TELEVISION" as it fades in while the second comet passes by from the opposite. Later, there is the word "PRODUCTION" fading in below.

Variants:

• Some shows from Grundy won't have the full animation. Just the second half of the animation.
• This logo appeared as an in-credit on the opening credits of Neighbours from 1988 to early 1992, although a still version of the "Rolling Icosahedron" was still used in the closing credits.
• A variation exists on the soap opera Richmond Hill were the full version of the logo is animated into the opening titles. The show's title zooms in from a sign seen in the intro while the background turns into a cartoon-like background. As it zooms in, the background fades to the actual one used by this logo, the show's title also changes to white. The show's title then transitions to beginning of the logo's animation (where the icosahedron zooms out) via a wipe effect starting from the center of the screen all the way to the top and bottom of the screen.
• This logo also appeared as an in-credit on some Australian game shows (including Perfect Match and Wheel of Fortune (not the American series by Merv Griffin)).
• On game shows like Sale of the Century, the logo zooms away to the top, leaving room for the copyright notice, then fading into the logo of the channel it aired on (e.g. the Nine Network for the show mentioned).
• Beginning in mid-1996, the byline "A Pearson Television Company" was placed under "Television Production". Later on, "(Television Production)" was also removed.
• A version without "Production" also exists.
• A bylineless version without both "Television Production" and the Pearson byline also exists as well.
• On shows in New Zealand, especially on TVNZ's channels, the logo zooms out in a box, against either a grey or blue background, with the TVNZ logo underneath it. This can at least be found on the country's versions of Sale of the Century and Wheel of Fortune.
• A still version of this logo also exists which was seen on some episodes of Neighbours on BBC One in the 1990s.

Technique: Early CGI.

Audio: A majestic synth note being held out, or the closing theme theme from any show. However, the game shows do use a slight remix of the music from the show's theme, and the announcer signing-off (example from Sale of the Century: "This is a Grundy Television Production for Nine Network Australia. Peter Smith speaking").

Availability:

• Seen on reruns of Neighbours, among other shows.
• Some series are succeeded by the 1996 Pearson Television International logo.
• It was also seen on Richmond Hill (as it's the first program to have this logo).
• The mid-1996 production variant of this logo is also intact at the end of an early 2000's reissue print of a 1996 episode of Neighbours, which is then followed by the early variant of the 2001 FremantleMedia logo.

Legacy: It's seen as a neat CGI successor to the previous logo.

4th Logo (March 31, 1997-2006)

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Visuals: On a black background, a large, elliptical gold ring with a bronze aura forms in the center of the screen while a white dot that reveals itself to be a comet flies clockwise from the back and circumnavigates it as if circling a globe. As this happens, the top right portion of the ring disappears and a gold trail is formed below, making up a stylized “G” shape. As the aura fades out, a curved boomerang-style trail is cut through the left side. A small point of light shines briefly on the top right end of the “G” upon completion. Throughout this formation, the word “GRUNDY” (in a white Copperplate Gothic font) fades-in below, with the respective company byline a split second later.

Bylines:

• 1997-2001: "A Pearson Television Company"
• 2001-2004: "A FremantleMedia Company"
• 2001-2006: "A FREMANTLEMEDIA COMPANY"

Variants:

• In 1999, while the logo animated, the logo shifted down some to reveal "40 YEARS" above the logo with an arc.
• A still shot of the logo exists.
• A still filmed version with "A GRUNDY FILMS PRODUCTION" below it also exists, which was seen at the end of Aberration.
• Sometimes, a short version where the logo starts with a small point of light shines on the top right. On GTST, the logo appeared with the last Joop Van Den Ende TV-Producties logo (and the music from JVDE played).
• On shows in Germany, such as later episodes of Ruck Zuck (Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak) and Familien Duell (Family Feud), "LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT" would be under "GRUNDY".
• A animated in-credit variant exists, which appeared on the Spanish series Sin Tetas no hay Paraiso, where the logo is cropped to just have the "G" and "grundy" is seen on the bottom of the box.
• A rare superimposed variant also exists, which appeared at the end of episodes of Beato tra le Donne, the Italian version of Man O Man.
• On the original 1998 airings of the final season of Take Your Pick, the text reading "for ITV" and the 1997 copyright notice both appear below.
• On the 1997 BBC series of Give Us a Clue, this logo appears with the 1997 BBC logo with the copyright notice reading "© UK BBC MCMXCVII © Worldwide Grundy Productions UK Ltd. 1997", which appears below.

Technique: All CGI.

Audio: A droning synth wind music, followed by a high-pitched stinger.

Audio variants:

• Usually, the end theme of the show is used, especially during its first appearances.
• On game shows during 1998, a majestic synth fanfare plays during the logo's animation.

Availability:

• Seen on 1997-2006 episodes of Neighbours and all other Grundy shows during the lifespan of this logo.
• The version with the music was seen on most game shows including Sale of the Century, Temptation, later episodes of the Australian version of Wheel of Fortune and the 2002 revival of Perfect Match, among others.
• The abridged variant was used during the first season of the Finnish soap opera Salatut Elämät.
• This logo was also seen on the original 1998 airings of the final season of Take Your Pick, which is then followed by the 1998 Central Presentation for ITV endcap, and on the 1997 BBC series of Give Us a Clue, respectively.