NBC/1986-2002

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

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20th ID (Come Home to NBC) (1986-1987)

Visuals: Against a black background, a red CGI mound appears. As it rises, more rainbow colors are revealed. Then from the top of the screen, the head/neck of the NBC peacock swings in, and the mound spreads to become its feathers. This peacock is the current version, and it backs away with a color trail around it. Below, the words:

NBC

in its typeface NBC Futura (which is NBC's proprietary font), fly in, also with a CGI-like appearance. When they move back into their places, they take on a more "solid", 2D color.

Technique: CGI designed by Marks Communications and animated by Pacific Data Images.

Audio: A Broadway-sounding tune, with the NBC chimes near the end. Danny Dark announces, "This is the NBC television network!" One variant has a jazzy instrumental version of the "Come Home to NBC" promo music.

21st ID (Come Home to NBC) (1987-1988)


Visuals: The words "COME HOME" become illuminated. Then it, the word "to", and the NBC peacock land down on a rectangle-like shape as the logo ends.

Technique: CGI by Pacific Data Images.

Audio: The campaign's song "Come Home to NBC".

22nd ID (Come Home to the Best, Only on NBC) (1988-1989)


Visuals: The logo starts with "COME HOME TO THE BEST" on a black background with multicolored glass house-like shapes and lights rising. "BEST" is contained in a rectangle. The words flip to reveal the NBC logo with "ONLY ON" above it. A yellow line shoots between "ONLY ON" and the logo.

Technique: CGI by Pacific Data Images.

Audio: A instrumental version of the campaign's song "Come Home to the Best, Only on NBC", with a male announcer saying "Come home to the best, only on NBC!"

23rd ID (Come Home to the Best, Only on NBC) (1989-1990)


Visuals: Several squares colored blue, red, orange or yellow are seen moving across the screen, upwards, downwards, to the left or to the right. Two of these squares have N or B engraved inside it, whilst the outline of C moves upwards along with the B. At the bottom, "Come Home to the Best" in white wipes in from the left and an orange line and rectangle slide in beneath from the right and left, respectively. Just before the squares slide away from the screen, a thick gray streak appears, moving downwards. The NBC peacock fades in and zooms out and the aforementioned text fades out to make way for "Only on NBC" to fade in, word by word.

Variant: There is an extended variant of this ID. There, the text "Come Home to the Best" and the orange shapes appear before the shapes in the background slide onscreen, this time on the center. Additionally, the text fades out before more squares appear and the B is shown to briefly fill with white.

Technique: CGI by Pacific Data Images.

Audio: An upbeat orchestral beat with one of the two voice-overs:

  • A man (the same one from the previous ID) saying "Come home to the best, only on NBC!"
  • The same man saying "Come home to the best television network, for news, sports and entertainment" followed by an orchestra singing "Come home to the best, only on NBC!"

24th ID (The Place to Be) (1990-1991)


Visuals: The camera zooms away from the NBC logo on a black background with multicolored glass panes and gold lights. As this happens, "THE PLACE TO BE!" zooms out. The camera stops at an angle.

Variant: There is a variant without the tagline.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An instrumental version of the campaign's song "NBC: The Place to Be" with Don LaFontaine saying "NBC is the place to be."

Audio Variant: On the version without the tagline, LaFontaine says "This is the NBC television network."

25th ID (The Place to Be) (1991-1992)


Visuals: The words "THE PLACE TO BE" in an arch on the peacock slides to the right, covering its beak.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A soft piano rendition of the NBC mnemonic.

26th ID (It's a Whole New NBC) (1992-1993)


Visuals: The NBC logo appears on a glass pane that the camera zooms away from before stopping at an angle, whereupon light rays shine through the pane. This is set on a black-orange gradient background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The campaign's song "It's a Whole New NBC".

27th ID (The Stars Are Back on NBC) (1993-1994)


Visuals: The NBC logo zooms out at an angle on a black background with thin, multicolored streaks.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The campaign's song "The Stars Are Back on NBC".

28th ID (1993-2002)

Visuals:

  • Particles: There is a rush of white "fireflies" (what they are referred to from now on). The fireflies take on the six primary colours and transform into the NBC peacock. When the peacock is formed, white fireflies continue to fly around in the black background.
  • Historical: The sequence starts out with the 1931 logo (a square with a diagonal "NBC" text in it, and lightning bolts around the "B") against the black background, then it morphs into the 1943 logo, into the 1954 "Xylophone" logo, into the 1962 NBC peacock logo, into the 1979 NBC peacock logo and into the current NBC peacock logo.
  • Impressionist: The first element shown is a watercolor painting of a peacock bursting into view on a white background; the peacock then gradually becomes less detailed until it morphs into the NBC peacock logo.
  • Ice Sculpture: A man uses a chainsaw to make an ice sculpture of the NBC peacock.
  • Skywriting: On a sky background, an orange biplane flies over. The camera then cuts to the seat of the plane as it flies. Then, the camera cuts to the wheels. The camera then cuts to the seat again. The screen then cuts to the wheels and then the front of the plane. The plane then reveals a cloud version of the 6 feathered NBC Peacock with the head looking at the right and then turns into color. When the logo forms, there's no corporate text at all, but the URL "www.NBC.com" may appear surrounded by a black oval.
  • Flipping: There is the 6-feathered NBC peacock over a revolving set of many-colored feathers in the background. The logo appears to be flipping as if it were a book. It then makes a stop at the near end. There's no corporate text at all in this logo, but the URL from before may appear below.
  • Laramie Redux: It's the 1962 NBC peacock logo, but it morphs into the current 6-feathered peacock near the end.
  • Beams: On a white background, a man with a suit comes down, and yellow, purple, red, blue, and green streaks comes out of his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. The man looks around, and the streaks form the NBC logo.
  • Cartoon Peacock: There is the NBC peacock on a purple background. He looks in shock that its feathers are not open, so he breathes in to open them. After that, he morphs into the NBC logo.
  • Raindrops: There is the NBC peacock in tiny raindrops. The screen then zooms out to see the peacock in its full size.
  • Website: On a black background, red, blue and yellow mugs bounce on color matching saucers, all while the letters "N", "B" and "C" do the same movement as the mugs. Then, a computer cursor flies and clicks on the screen, revealing a computer interface. It shows two small folder icons with the NBC word mark and the NBC peacock, with a large folder icon showcasing the show's logo (e.g.: ER, NewsRadio, Hope & Gloria, etc.) on the right, and the rectangles with "open" on them on the left. The cursor moves to the menu bar and clicks on the "Edit" tab and the "Next" button. The cursor then moves to the "open" buttons and clicks on them, revealing the characters on the shows mentioned above, all while "next" fades in. The cursor then clicks on the large folder and a ringing clock appears. Finally, an application window randomly appears zooming in to cover the rest of the screen, with the window on the top saying "NBC <100%>" and the NBC peacock spreading its wings.

Variant: On Access Hollywood, the URL is absent.

Trivia: The 1993 IDs were designed by a selection of seven well-known artists, such as John Kricfalusi of Ren and Stimpy fame and Peter Max, who were commissioned by NBC to create said IDs for that year's Fall season. The 1995 IDs were made by Pinnacle Productions.

Technique:

  • Particles: 2D animation by Mark Malmberg.
  • Historical: 2D animation by J.J. Sedelmaier.
  • Impressionist: 2D animation by Joan C. Gratz.
  • Ice Sculpture: Live-action footage.
  • Peacock in the Sky: CGI.
  • Flipping: CGI.
  • Laramie Redux: 2D animation.
  • Beams: 2D animation by Bill Plympton.
  • Cartoon Peacock: 2D animation by John Kricfalusi.
  • Website: 2D animation and CGI.

Audio:

  • Particles: A tranquil synth theme with a backing that sounds a bit like the NBC peacock theme from the '60s.
  • Historical: A whimsical tune based around the NBC Chimes.
  • Impressionist: A baroque tune ending with the NBC Chimes played on the flute.
  • Ice Sculpture: A rock tune, followed by the NBC Chimes played on electric guitar.
  • Skywriting: A dramatic theme with the sounds of the biplane's engine followed by a bell version of the 3 note NBC theme.
  • The Flipping Peacock: A series of chimes that leads into a bombastic fanfare.
  • Laramie Redux: Same as the NBC Laramie ID.
  • Beams: A 4-note bell theme, completed with a high pitched scream, a trumpet, and a trumpet trilling, ending with the NBC Chimes played on bells. A cartoonish sigh is heard at the end.
  • Cartoon Peacock: A cartoonish theme (a homage to the 1962 "Laramie Peacock" ID), with a duck quack, the peacock breathing, and morphing into the logo.

Audio Variant: On Access Hollywood episodes from 1997-99 distributed by 20th Television: a majestic rendition of the NBC chimes, ending in an orchestral flourish. For the 1999-2001 episodes of the said show distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution: it used the NBC Studios music used in 1999. Sometimes, a normal NBC chimes is heard for said show's 1997-99 episodes. This was only used on the Flipping variant.

Availability: It was used in-between programs in the mid-late 1990s. Check old off-air recordings. The Caricature, Historical, Impressionist and Cartoon Peacock IDs were continued to air on NBC until 2002. The Skywriting and Flipping variants was also seen on pre-2001 episodes of Access Hollywood.

29th ID (It's NBC) (1994-1995)

Visuals: There are the words "It's NBC!" on a black background. This is followed by the NBC logo.

Technique: Appears to be 2D computer animation.

Audio: The NBC chimes.

30th ID (The Year to Be on NBC) (1995-1996)


Visuals: The NBC logo zooms out on a black background with 8 "N B C"s on it (four on each side). Next to the logo, an red exclamation point appears.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The NBC chimes.

31st ID (Must See TV) (1996-1997)


Visuals: On a red and yellow background, there are the words "it's must see". Later on, the peacock appears as it spreads its wings. Then, it shines and gains its colors. As that happens, the NBC wordmark comes in letter by letter and completes the logo as "must see tv" appears. The background moves during this time.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None.

32nd ID (1996-2005) (Europe)


Visuals: Essentially a live-action version of the 1950s "Xylophone" ID, but viewed at an angle and with the 1986 NBC logo.

Technique: Mostly live-action.

Audio: The NBC chimes.

Availability: This was used in Europe.

33rd ID (2000-2004)

Visuals: Same as the 2000-2004 NBC Studios logo, but without the "STUDIOS" text.

Variant: A 75th anniversary variant exists.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A fully orchestral, more majestic and trumphiant-sounding rendition of the NBC chimes.

Audio Variant: The 75th anniversary variant uses a reorchestration of the theme from the Laramie Peacock logo.

Availability: Was only seen as a station ID.