LBS Communications

Credits

Descriptions by
Jason Jones, Jeffrey Gray, James Fabiano, Juniorfan88 and Logoboy95

Captures by
Juniorfan88, Shadeed A. Kelly, wisp2007, V of Doom, Pygmalion X, TimYeiLogoCollector and others

Editions by
Juniorfan88, Shadeed A. Kelly and Brendan Richards

Video captures courtesy of
JohnnyL80, Eric S. and TrickyMario7654

Background

Lexington Broadcast Services (commonly known by its initials, "LBS") was created in 1976 by Henry Siegel. It was reincorporated to "LBS Communications, Inc." in 1984. LBS also joined forces with Columbia Pictures Television to create "Colex Enterprises", which distributed TV series by Screen Gems and CPT. Over the years, the company would produce/distribute television shows such as Inspector Gadget and Heathcliff (DiC), What's Happening!! and What's Happening Now!! (CPT), Baywatch and Family Feud (Mark Goodson), and World of Wrestling. LBS was also an ad-sales barter until they formed "TV Horizons".

After Colex Enterprises dissolved in 1986, LBS Communications began to lose money and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. This left the company to sell more than 80% of its assets to All American Television in March 1992. LBS would live on in the 1990s as an in-name-only unit of All American Television, which was sold to Pearson, plc. in 1997 and renamed to Pearson Television; the production company would close in 2001.

Today, most of the LBS library, with the exceptions of their DiC co-productions (WildBrain), What's Happening Now!! (Sony Pictures Television), and Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (Columbia Pictures), is owned by Fremantle.

1st Logo (September 1976-1984)

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Logo: On a black background, a white beam of light with several twinkles on it "scans" across the screen, leaving a large fused "LBS", consisting of an "L" and "S" nearly fused together and a "B" in the gap between them, in its trail in the center of the screen, which then slides back a little. After the LBS text slides, a small white flash appears, leaving behind the text "LEXINGTON BROADCAST SERVICES COMPANY" in white.

Variants:

• A filmed version also exists.
• On Not for Women Only, the in-credit LBS logo is seen with the text "Distributed by LEXINGTON BROADCAST SERVICES" above it.
• In 1983, the text is superimposed in the Helvetica white font with a comma and the word "INC." at the end, also blacking out the original text. The flash is also altered.
• There is also a still variant of this logo with the texts "AN" above and "COMMUNICATIONS PRESENTATION" below the logo respectively.
• On most episodes of The Glen Campbell Music Show, the animated logo is superimposed over the credits.
• On early '90s Family Channel airings of Inspector Gadget, the logo is slightly sped up.

Technique: Scanimate.

Music/Sounds: An uplifting synth tune accompanied by a rising series of beeps, and a synthesized "zap" accompanying the flash. All three elements of the soundtrack sound like they were made on a Moog synthesizer.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On early episodes of Inspector Gadget, the logo is silent.
• On The Glen Campbell Music Show, the end theme plays over the logo.
• On a Serbian-dubbed print of Inspector Gadget, this logo had the music from the 1996 Saban "Twirly-Doo" logo. This is most likely due to a reverse plastering error.

Availability: Very rare.

• It first appeared on LBS' first nationally syndicated program Hot Fudge.
• This logo can be found on the Inspector Gadget: The Original Series DVD set and on the Inspector Gadget: Go, Go Gadget Collection DVD (with the exception of the "Launch Time" episode, which replaces all logos at the end with the Cookie Jar logo).
• It also appeared when This TV aired certain episodes of the aforementioned series.
• The variation with "INC." is quite rare, but can be seen on some early episodes of Tales from the Darkside last seen on Syfy and the now-defunct Chiller. Some airings of the show on Syfy, however, have the 1986 Lorimar-Telepictures logo, while DVDs (and Comet in the USA, and Horror Channel airings in the UK) use the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo instead, but it's intact on the 2015 Strawberry Shortcake - Double Feature: The Wonderful World of Strawberry Shortcake/Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City DVD released by CBS.
• The still variant can be seen at the end of Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation.
• This can also be seen on GetTV airings of The Glen Campbell Music Show.
• It also appeared on 1980s syndication prints of shows from the CPT catalog as well.

2nd Logo (June 27, 1984-March 26, 1988)

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Logo: On a shaded violet gradient background with a floor, a curved "LBS" (exactly like in the 1st logo, but in a medium shade of light blue) zooms out while "unfolding" and stops in the center of the screen. "LBS COMMUNICATIONS INC." wipes in under the logo as the LBS logo "shines". The shadow of the LBS logo can be seen below on the floor.

Variants:

• There are also two main variants of this logo; a filmed version and a videotaped version.
• There is a more recent variant seen on What's Happening Now!! in which the words "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" fade in at the bottom. This is then followed by the 2002 SPT logo.
• There is a superimposed version seen on a PSA for Kideo TV where the "LBS COMMUNICATIONS, INC." text is in a different font and is blue, with "KIDEO-TV IS A TRADEMARK OF LBS COMMUNICATIONS INC." below the logo.

Technique: Scanimate effects mixed with CGI.

Music/Sounds: A 9-note synthesizer score ending in two drumbeats. Andrew Holtzman is its composer.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On the What's Happening Now!! episode "Mr. First Nighter", it uses the 1982 CPT music.
• On the superimposed Kideo TV variant, an announcer (John Harlan), continuing from the DiC logo (the first half of the logo combo), says "...and is produced in association with LBS Communications, Inc.!".

Availability:

• This logo is the easiest to find from the company.
• The videotaped version survived on Tales from the Darkside on the now defunct Chiller and Syfy, althrough some episodes plastered it with the 1986 Lorimar-Telepictures logo.
• The videotaped version of this logo, along with the videotaped variant of the DIC Entertainment "Vortex" logo also appears on the 1991 UK VHS release of Heathcliff And Cats And Company: Xmas Memories from Tempo Video.
• The 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo plastered this logo on Tales From The Darkside DVD releases, Comet airings, and Horror Channel airings in the UK, but it's intact on DVD releases of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin and What's Happening Now!!, as well as uploads to the official The Jim Henson Company YouTube channel of the former.
  • It is unknown if the ThrillerVideo/IVE VHS releases of TFTD retain this logo, or the above logo.
• It was also seen on season two of Inspector Gadget and was on most of the seasons of Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, respectively (DVD releases of both also preserve the logo).
• The filmed version is rare. It was seen on Pole Position and Rainbow Brite, respectively, both of which rarely rerun on TV in most regions anymore, among some other DiC shows from the era (though if they are rerun in the future, this logo might be intact).
• The filmed version of the logo is also intact on certain episodes of M.A.S.K. on Shout! Factory TV.

3rd Logo (April 12, 1987-April 27, 1991)

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Logo: On a black background, a group of round balls pan to the left of the screen. The "LBS" logo slides in from the right of the screen and the camera revolves to the front of it, during which two groups of 5 conical lights (possibly representing meteors) streak through. The logo makes a stop at the front of the screen, a spotlight illuminates the logo, and "LBS COMMUNICATIONS INC." fades in below.

Variants:

• If LBS was distributing the program, once the logo finishes, the words "Distributed by" would fade in above the company name. It would also sometimes have a copyright stamp.
• On The New Gidget, the logo starts midway and is zoomed back a bit for the text "in association with" to appear below. The music is also poorly abridged.
• The normal 1987 LBS version exists in a filmed and a videotaped version.
• The "LBS" logo can be either blue, dark blue, or purple.
• A still in-credit variant with magenta lettering with the text "In association with" in white is seen on the final season of 21 Jump Street. Later episodes of that season have a still image with a smaller LBS logo in magenta and the company name in a big bold white font on a gradient violet background. This is similar to the second logo.
• On the 1988 documentary Mysteries of the Pyramids, the text below the logo changes to "PRESENTS", and then the animation is played in reverse.
• On the 1989 TV special Exploring Psychic Powers... Live, "PRESENTS" is put in the middle of the screen while the logo plays in reverse.
• On the 1990 TV special A Tribute to John Lennon, the logo fades in halfway, and no text appears below the LBS logo at all, and a 3rd set of meteors fly through the background; the camera then zooms into the lower hole in the "B" to reveal a starfield and the word "PRESENTS" in a chromed font over it.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds:

• 1987-1989: An ascending/descending jingle with twittering sounds as the meteors streak through, followed by a whoosh and a tense remix of the '84 LBS theme. A short version starts just as the meteors streak.
• 1988 (Mysteries of the Pyramids): An eerie sounder.
• 1988 (Bonanza: The Next Generation): The closing theme of the movie.
• 1989-1991: A descending synth jingle with a deep wind sound, then a 2-note synth choir jingle. The distribution variant has a longer version with the last note of the first jingle and the first note of the second one being held on longer. The 2nd half of the 1989 theme is used on the end of Exploring Psychic Powers... Live.
• 1989 (Start of Exploring Psychic Powers... Live): A chorus.
• 1989 (Hunt for Stolen War Treasures): A drum pounding through-out (probably part of the opening theme), with an announcer saying "The following is an LBS presentation."
• 1990: A quiet synth sounder. There is also a low toned version.
• 1990 (A Tribute to John Lennon): A synth fanfare.

Availability:

• 1987-1989: Very rare. The distribution version appears occasionally on Father Knows Best on Antenna TV. It was also spotted on a repeat of Hazel on TV Land years ago and the last season of Inspector Gadget. It was also intact on the final season of Tales from the Darkside (that would feature the 2nd Tribune Entertainment logo) last seen on Syfy, but some episodes plaster it with the 1986 Lorimar-Telepictures logo instead. This can also be found on Inspector Gadget tapes released by Maier Group. It is also seen on some episodes through the finale of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin on DVD as well.
• 1989-1991: Rare, but you can still find this version on some shows currently like What's Happening Now!! on TVOne and occasionally on Father Knows Best and The Monkees on Antenna TV. It's also on CBN's reruns of The Young Rebels and Nostalgia Television's reruns of The Interns, as well as Eisched.
• 1990: Extinct. It was seen on a few syndie episodes in tandem with the 1989 logo on Family Feud.
• In-credit and Still variant: This is also extinct. It was only seen on the final season of 21 Jump Street in syndication, but current prints remove this and the other. International prints, however, may keep this, as did a French TV airing in the mid-90s.

4th Logo (September 23, 1991-May 18, 1992)

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Logo: It starts out with a yellow/white oval coming out first. Then, the LBS logo in red goes down from the top of the screen, and afterwards, it displays a purple banner which reads "15^TH ANNIVERSARY". After the logo is completed, the entire logo shines near "1976-1991" (the dates).

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: Either a mellow synthesizer score with a "ching" sound to indicate the shine, a five-note somber tune with synth guitar chords, of which a short version exists, or none.

Availability:

• This appeared on season 2 of Baywatch, as well as on the 1991-1992 syndicated season of Family Feud.
• Currently, it is plastered by the 2001 and 2018 FremantleMedia/Fremantle logos on season 2 Baywatch episodes on DVD and HD remasters; you'll have to look elsewhere for earlier prints.
  • However, a VHS release of the said show from Avid Home Entertainment retained this.
• It was also last seen on second season episodes of Baywatch on Universal Channel Poland as well.
• This is preserved on the Goodtimes Home Video VHS of The Elvis Files.