The Comedy Unit

Credits

Compiled by
Camenati

Background

The Comedy Unit is a Scottish production company that specializes in various forms of comedies such as sitcoms and sketches. They have also branched to radio programmes such as Having it All. It was founded in 1983 under Colin Gilbert and based in Glasgow. In 1996, the company became independent after Gilbert and business manager April Chamberlain left the BBC. A decade later in 2006, The Comedy Unit was bought by the RDF Media Group, which in turn was acquired by Zodiak Entertainment Group four years later. Six years later, Zodiak would be purchased by the Banijay Group.

1st Logo (August 1, 1997-December 31, 2005)

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Visuals: On a mostly white background with two blurry grey, giant triangles on the sides is the text "Comedy" with "A" aligned on the top of the "C". Underneath it is the stretched text "UNIT" and then the spaced, smaller word "PRODUCTION".

Variant: On the 2005 Only and Excuse special, "A" has been replaced with "THE".

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability:

• It was seen on programmes from the late 1990s and early 2000s after the company became independent.
• This includes seasons 6-8 of of Rab C. Nesbitt, the first four seasons of Still Game, Only an Excuse specials from 1997 to 2005, and all episodes of Chewin' the Fat.

2nd Logo (December 28, 2005-)

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Visuals: On a white background, a 3D, thick, and red "C" (which resembles a bean) is seen spinning once with the bottom text "theComedyUnit" already formed.

Bylines:

• December 28, 2005-April 7, 2006: Bylineless.
• September 16, 2006-February 7, 2011: "part of the rdf media group"
• December 31, 2010: "part of the Zodiak Media Group"
• February 10, 2011-December 31, 2015: "part of zodiak media group"
• October 7, 2016-2020: "We are Banijay"
• 2020-2021: "A Banijay Company", with the Banijay logo to the left of the Comedy Unit logo.
• 2021-: "We are Banijay", with the Banijay logo to the left of the byline.

Variants:

• The logo is sometimes in a different structure with the CGI "C" on the left and the text and byline on the right.
• On some rare instances such as the first two seasons of Gary: Tank Commander, the logo is inside a white box.
• From 2009 to 2011, some shows would feature this and the 1997 BBC Scotland logo in a white-black gradient background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Availability:

• Like the previous logo, it was seen on numerous Scottish comedy shows from the late 2000s and onwards.
• The first use of this logo was on the Still Game Christmas special "Cold Turkey".
  • Said show would continue to use this logo for the rest of its run.
  • It also used the bylineless variant alongside the final season of The Karen Dunbar Show.
• The RDF byline can be seen on Legit, Empty and the first two seasons of Gary Tank Commander, among others.
• The 2010 Zodiak byline was only seen on the 2010 Only an Excuse special.
• The 2011 variant was found on the final season of the latter aforementioned show as well as seasons 2 and 3 of Burnistoun, the first two seasons of Scot Squad and Badults, and many more.
• Shows featuring the 2016 Banijay byline include seasons 3-5 of Scot Squad and the later seasons of Still Game.
• The gradient background variant was seen on the 2009 Only an Excuse special and season 1 of both Limmy's Show and Burnistoun.