New Line Television

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

New Line Television was the television production/distribution arm of New Line Cinema founded in 1991. Prior to this, New Line co-produced the Nightmare on Elm Street spinoff series Freddy's Nightmares with Lorimar Television. New Line was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System on January 28, 1994 and then Time Warner (currently Warner Bros. Discovery) on October 10, 1996. On October 2006, it was announced that MGM Television would be distributing New Line Television material and television broadcasts of New Line films. Although Warner Bros. has produced television series since 1991, the company remains in use. On February 29, 2008, New Line Cinema was shut down as an independent studio under Time Warner and was made a division of Warner Bros. Pictures. Therefore, New Line Television was folded into Warner Bros. Television. However, the New Line Television brand was revived in 2016 as a specialty label of WBTV to produce television adaptations of previous New Line properties. New Line's film catalog is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures (previously Viacom Enterprises).



1st Logo (October 8, 1988-March 12, 1990)


Visuals: The 1987 New Line Cinema logo with no television indicator, but the animation is sped-up.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: The ending theme of the show.

Availability: Its only known appearance was on Freddy's Nightmares.

2nd Logo (1991?-1994)


Visuals: On a starry background, there is a silver filmstrip with the Filmbox logo in silver and the text "NEW LINE CINEMA" below inside its frames. The logo eases back as the filmstrip scrolls down and zooms in on one of the frames, and an orange comet streaks in from right to left and causes the Filmbox to flip around once.

Trivia: This was a logo bumper for New Line Cinema's syndication movie and TV package, which was syndicated by RHI Entertainment (at the time a New Line affiliate) through New Line Television Distribution.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic synthesized fanfare with a chime section and a whoosh as the streak appears.

Availability: It appeared on television broadcasts of several New Line, RHI, and other third-party programs in syndication in the early-1990s. Such examples include broadcasts of the colorized It's a Wonderful Life (before Republic Pictures took over the rights) and off-network reruns of Motown Merry Christmas.

3rd Logo (1991?-1994)


Visuals: On a black background is a metallic filmstrip, then the camera rotates and part of the filmstrip is cut off with the right side of it rotating, forming the New Line logo. Then the words "NEW LINE TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" in New Line's corporate font, with a line and a byline that reads "A Division of RHI Entertainment, Inc." under them, fade in.

Trivia: This logo was used during the time New Line Cinema owned 55% of RHI Entertainment.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Either a triumphant synth fanfare that starts on the preceding RHI logo, or the ending theme of the program.

Availability: This was found on RHI reprints of the movies In the Line of Duty and A Case of Deadly Force, and The Making of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.

4th Logo (1993?-1997)


Visuals: A shortened version of the 1987 New Line Cinema logo, which starts off with the logo dimming down to the glow behind the box and filmstrips. The text below the logo reads "NEW LINE TELEVISION".

Variant: On the TV-movie Father and Scout, a still version appears.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: The closing theme to the program.

Availability: This appeared on Court TV: Inside America's Courts (and its counterparts Justice This Week and The System) in syndication. It also appeared on the original ABC airing of the TV movie Father and Scout, but home media releases remove this (the DVD has the standard theatrical closing logo with an AOL Time Warner byline).

5th Logo (1994-August 20, 2008)

Visuals: Same as the 1994 New Line Cinema logo, but "CINEMA" is replaced by "TELEVISION", with a line separating the logo from the respective company byline underneath.

Bylines:

  • 1994-1997: "A Turner Company"
  • 1997-2001, 2003-2008: "A Time Warner Company"
  • 2001-2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company"
  • 2002: The AOL Time Warner corporate logo with a line above and below it.
  • 2003-2008: "A TimeWarner Company" (with "TimeWarner" in its corporate font)

Variants:

  • Sometimes, the full animation of the movie logo, albeit with the "NEW LINE TELEVISION" name, is played either normally or sped-up.
  • The typeface for "NEW LINE TELEVISION" and its size may vary.
  • In 1998, the line and the Time Warner byline were shifted up a little underneath the name.
  • On season 3 of The Lost World, the 2001 New Line Cinema logo with the AOL Time Warner byline was used.
  • On Kitchen Confidential, the logo is bylineless.
  • On Red Water, the logo is close-up and is filmed.
  • On the TV movie Wasted, "In association with" appears above the filmstrip.
  • Occasionally, the words "PAY PER VIEW" are added below the company name. This text was not in all-caps from 1995-1997.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: This is a list of themes the logo used:

  • 1994-2008: The finishing of the end title theme from any show, TV movie, or silent.
  • 1997-2008: The last few notes from the movie version or the full theatrical version for some TV presentations.
  • September 18, 2002-May 21, 2003: Same as above, but low-toned.
  • 2003-2008: A battle styled theme using different notes from the previous theme with kettle drums.
  • July 28-September 21, 2004: The low violin notes from the movie version.
  • September 19-December 5, 2005: A 3-note short version using notes from the full movie logo.
  • CBS, Fox and NBC airings used the respective channels' generic themes.

Availability: It's seen on The Lost World, The Mask: The Animated Series, Blade: The Series, Masterminds, the 2002 version of The Twilight Zone, and Family Foreman, among others.

  • It is also seen at the end of the 1999 TV movie Sealed With a Kiss (aka First Comes Love), which can be found on Amazon Video and iTunes.
  • The "Pay Per View" logos were seen on some New Line movies that aired on Starz, Encore, and other pay-per-view services.

6th Logo (March 31, 2016-January 25, 2017)

Visuals: On a black background is an almost still image of the 1994-2010 New Line Cinema logo (with the filmstrip light animation and the 2003 Time Warner byline fading in below the company name).

Variants:

  • A still version exists.
  • Sometimes, it shares the screen with other logos.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: It first appeared (with the RatPac Television logo) on the short-lived TV adaptation of Rush Hour and also appeared on Hairspray Live! (with the 2003 Warner Bros. Television logo). The stand-alone version can be seen on Frequency.

7th Logo (March 21, 2019)


Visuals: Same as the 2011 New Line Cinema logo with the 2018 WarnerMedia byline, but it's shortened (starting with the New Line logo already formed).

Technique: CGI from Picturemill.

Audio: The closing theme of the program.

Availability: Only seen at the end of the miniseries Critters: A New Binge on Shudder.

8th Logo (May 15, 2022-)

Visuals: Same as the 2021 New Line Cinema logo with the 2019 WarnerMedia byline, but it is a still picture.

Bylines:

  • May 15-June 19, 2022: "a WarnerMedia company"
  • 2022-: "A WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY COMPANY"

Variant: On Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the print logo appears instead, with the byline absent.

Technique: CGI from Devastudios.

Audio: None.

Availability: First appeared on the short-lived TV adaptation of The Time Traveler's Wife and later appeared on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

New Line Television
Warner Bros. Television Studios