NBC Universal Television Studio

Credits

Descriptions by
Donny Pearson and Shadeed A. Kelly

Captures by
Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, JohnnyL80, snelfu, and ClosingLogosHD

Editions by
Shadeed A. Kelly, Bob Fish, V of Doom, Jeff B, betamaxtheflyer, and GoAnimateFan199Pro

Video captures courtesy of
JohnnyL80, ClosingLogosHD, Broken Saw and mosley2k

Background

NBC Universal was first formed on May 11, 2004 by the merger of the General Electric Company's NBC and the entertainment division of Vivendi Universal Entertainment. The day after its founding, the television production and distribution arms of Universal Television (Universal Network Television, Universal Domestic Television, and USA Cable Entertainment) and NBC Studios and the distributor NBC Enterprises were merged, forming NBC Universal Television Studio and NBC Universal Television Distribution. This was the first time NBC added the Universal name to its production and distribution arms. For Universal, it was the second time that its production and distribution arms had a new name; the first time was in 1997 when Universal became "Studios USA", but maintained Universal Worldwide Television and acquired PolyGram Filmed Entertainment in 1998, renaming PolyGram's television operations as Universal's, forming Universal Studios Network Programming and retaining the USA Networks, culminating in the full reformation of Universal Television in 2002 (along with the formation of USA Cable Entertainment). All shows in production by either Universal TV, NBC Studios, or USA Cable Entertainment changed to the NBC Universal name and logo starting on July 30, 2004. On June 14, 2007, NBC Universal Television Studio was renamed Universal Media Studios as the unit would be also developing entertainment for the web.

Logo (July 30, 2004-June 11, 2014)

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Visuals: Over a golden burst of light hovering in space, the text "NBC UNIVERSAL", sandwiched between both halves of Universal's circular globe motif with the six-feathered peacock between "NBC" and "UNIVERSAL", in Copperplate Gothic Bold, slightly zooms out to its familiar distance. The text "TELEVISION STUDIO" then fades in below the logo.

Trivia: The background of this logo would be reused for the Universal HD "The Hi-Def Destination" bumpers and rating disclaimers from 2004-2008.

Variants:

• Medical Investigation features the words "In association with" fading in below "TELEVISION STUDIO", cutting to the 2003-2006 Paramount Network Television logo.
• On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Last Call with Carson Daly, the logo featured the NBC Studios, Inc. copyright stamp. Until the fall of 2005, all shows (except for Daly's show) have a taller height to fit the right side of the screen, aside of a diagonal line in Leno's show starting in the fall of 2004, as well as a wider version in widescreen prints, similar to "NBC 2000" split-screen prototype logos.
• On Law & Order: UK, the logo is seen on the lower right with the Wolf Films logo on the left and the Kudos Film & Television logo with the Shine Group byline below above the Wolf/NUTS logos with the letter "A" above the Kudos logo and the word "Production" below the logos. 2013 episodes omit the words "A" and "Production". Below the logos has the word "for" and below it has the 2013 ITV logo.
• The logo would come in either the standard 4:3 version (seen on full-screen prints) or the widescreen 16:9 version.
• A 2.35:1 scope version exists.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The slower orchestration of the 1999 music plug from the 1996 NBC Studios logo.

Audio Variants:

• On some shows, like Heist and early episodes of 30 Rock, the end title theme plays over this logo.
• Several shows and DVD releases of some shows used the regular 1999 NBC Studios music plug.
• Several other shows used the 2000 warp speed low tone NBC Studios theme (i.e., House, M.D., post-2004 Will & Grace episodes and the Law & Order: SVU season 8 episode "Informed").
• A silent version also exists, which is seen on Complete Savages.
• On Netflix's print of the Law & Order season 1 episode "The Torrents of Greed: Part 1", the late 1986 theme from the 1975 Universal Television logo is heard over the logo due to sloppy plastering.
  • Similarly, Netflix's print of the L&O season 6 episode "Bitter Fruit" also has the 1991 Universal Television theme.
• The pilot episode of the 2006 TV show Conviction has the short 1997 Universal Television theme by Jerry Goldsmith play over the logo.
• ABC and NBC airings used a generic theme.
• On the 30 Rock episode "Cleveland" (as well as certain season 2 episodes of said show), seasons 2-4 of The Office, the 2008 pilot Zip and the 2006 Curious George TV series, the first note is sped-up.
• On one DVD print of the Friday Night Lights pilot episode, the 2007 Universal Media Studios theme is heard over the logo.

Availability:

• It pops up frequently on reruns of Law & Order: SVU on USA, Cloo and MyNetworkTV, Law & Order: Criminal Intent on USA, Ion Television and Cloo, 2004-2007 episodes of Monk on USA and Ion Television, HD prints of the original Law & Order, the first three seasons and the first five Season 4 episodes of The Office (with the exception of DVD releases of the first two seasons which remove it in favor of the 1997 Universal Pictures logo at the beginning, and reruns on Cozi TV, Comedy Central, and Freeform, which replace it with the NBCUniversal Television Distribution or NBCUniversal Syndication Studios logos), among other shows on several other networks such as Syfy, TNT, USA, and Cloo.
• It is also seen on international prints of the 2006 Curious George TV series after the PBS Kids logo, and sometimes before the MGM Television logo.
• It was also still seen on Law & Order: UK until that show went on hiatus.
• It is also preserved on very early episodes of Life, and the 2007 reboot of Bionic Woman.

Copyright Stamps

Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the NBC Universal Television Studio series and TV movies:

• 2004-2007: Copyright © [YEAR] Universal Network Television LLC. All Rights Reserved.
• 2004-2007: Copyright © [YEAR] NBC Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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NBC Universal Television Studio

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