Castle Rock Television

Logo descriptions by Logoboy95 and Logophile Logo captures by Eric S., Bob Fish, V of Doom, Logophile, and Gilblitz112 Editions by V of Doom and Shadeed A. Kelly Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, Eric S., and Matthew Mayfield (Logophile)

Background: Castle Rock Entertainment created a television unit when the company was formed in 1987, and produced its first program, an NBC pilot, Heart and Soul, in 1988. Glenn Padnick, the company's co-founder and partner, previously ran Embassy Communications, and it was decided to operate a television branch for him to run. Although Castle Rock continues to operate, the television department has been dormant since The Seinfeld Story in 2004. It has possibly been dissolved into Warner Bros. Television. They don't use a proper logo entirely (for the most part), just the Castle Rock movie logo with a sped-up version of the studio's fanfare and a copyright stamp below.

1st Logo (July 21, 1988-September 4, 1989)

Nicknames: "The Lighthouse", "The Early Lighthouse"

Logo: On a pink, orange and yellow morning sky is the black lighthouse (with the sun behind it) with land and blue water. Below is "CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT". Under that is the copyright stamp: "Copyright © (YEAR) CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT All Rights Reserved". This was likely a placeholder logo used before the animated logo was ready for use.

Variant: An early version exists without the copyright stamp. This was seen on Heart and Soul. In this case, the copyright info is part of the end credits.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the closing soundtrack to the program.

Availability: Extremely rare.

This appeared on Heart and Soul and Julie Brown: The Show, both pilots that aired on NBC and CBS, respectively. This might have appeared on the 1989 CBS pilot The Ed Begley, Jr. Show and the original NBC airing of "The Seinfeld Chronicles" (considering Julie Brown aired two months after the Seinfeld pilot). The logo is preserved on the Julie Brown pilot as it's seen as a bonus feature on the DVD release of The Edge, which was sold on Julie Brown's website, but has since then become long out of print.

Editor's Note: It's the first time Castle Rock's iconic lighthouse logo appeared in any shape or form on-screen. It would take about a year before the animated logo would debut on television first and then in movies nine days later.

2nd Logo (July 5, 1989-November 17, 1994)

Nicknames: "The Lighthouse II", "The Light Tower", "Majestic Lighthouse"

Logo: Same as the 1989 Castle Rock Entertainment logo, but the logo is sped-up and shortened, and a copyright stamp appears under the company name.

Variants:

July 5, 1989: The main version of this logo shows that the first copyright stamp appears underneath the logo, then this one fades out until the logo fades out to black. May 31, 1990-November 17, 1994: The second copyright stamp appears under it. Instead of this one fading out, this logo fades out later. On The Powers That Be, Ann Jillian, New Attitude and the 704 Hauser pilot episode "Meet the Cumberbatches", the logo has no copyright stamp. Powers and Hauser are co-productions by ELP Communications and Columbia Pictures Television while Ann Jillian and New Attitude has the copyright info as part of the end credits. Some shows have the copyright stamp in a slightly different font. Seen on Thea and the original broadcast of Seinfeld (the DVD and HD version is reconstructed, with the copyright info in a different font (like the one in the next logo) and it fades out when the music ends (the reconstructed version has the logo fading out a second after the music ends). Also before the light beams past the screen, you can briefly see the company name in black. You have to look hard, but it's there. Note the original version does pop up on the revised pilot of "The Seinfeld Chronicles" on the season 1-2 DVD set as well as appearing of the Dinkins version of "The Non-Fat Yogurt" on season 5.   The short-lived 1989 ABC sitcom Homeroom has the copyright info in a stylized font (same as the one used in the credits). Here the copyright stamp is seen before the light beams past the screen. The logo fades out slightly earlier than usual.    The short-lived 1992 Fox sitcom Great Scott! has yet another version with a different font in the copyright. On the original broadcast of Seinfeld episodes on NBC during the 1993-1994 and 1994-1995 seasons, the logo is part of the split-screen credits and the company name and copyright stamp are very small to fit inside the logo. May have been used for other seasons.

Copyright Stamps:

(July 5, 1989-December 17, 1989) "Copyright © (year) CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT All Rights Reserved". (May 31, 1990-November 17, 1994) "Copyright © (year) CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT Castle Rock Entertainment is the author of this program for the purpose of copyright and other laws. All Rights Reserved.".

FX/SFX: Same as the 1989 movie logo.

Music/Sounds: A sped-up rendition of the last five notes of the movie jingle. Sometimes, the closing theme was used.

Availability: Rare.

It's currently seen on Seinfeld DVDs in high-res and in excellent quality (they were plastered over with the 3rd logo in syndication until January 26, 2010, when the remastered HD widescreen version, which was seen exclusively on TBS HD beginning in 2008, premiered). The earlier variant was seen intact only on the pilot episode of Seinfeld titled "The Seinfeld Chronicles" on DVD; current digital prints replace it with the reconstructed version. This also appeared on the short-lived comedy series Morton & Hayes, Homeroom, Thea and Great Scott! as well as the Fox comedy special The Please Watch the Jon Lovitz Special. The version without the copyright stamp is extinct as the aforementioned shows that used it have not re-aired or been released on home video.

3rd Logo (December 8, 1994-November 25, 2004)

Nicknames: "The Lighthouse III", "CGI Lighthouse", "CGI Light Tower", "Ultra Majestic Lighthouse"

Logo: Same as the 1994 movie logo, but once again, the logo is sped-up and shortened, and a copyright stamp appears underneath the company name.

Bylines: Below the name, one of these three bylines appear below the logo.

December 8, 1994-October 3, 1996: "A TURNER COMPANY", with a copyright stamp underneath the byline. September 25, 1997-December 19, 2000: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY", with a copyright stamp underneath the byline (same here). March 21, 2002-July 1, 2003: "AN AOL TIME WARNER COMPANY" (No version with the copyright stamp is used.)

Copyright Stamps:

"Copyright © (year) CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT Castle Rock Entertainment is the author of this program for the purpose of copyright and other laws. All Rights Reserved.". (Regular version.) "© (year) Castle Rock Entertainment and the National Broadcasting Company, Inc. are the authors of this program for the purpose of copyright and other laws. All rights reserved." (Used on The Single Guy, which Castle Rock co-produced with NBC Studios.)

Variants:

On the original broadcast of Seinfeld episodes on NBC during the 1994-1995, 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 seasons, the logo is part of the split-screen credits and the company name and copyright stamp are very small to fit inside the logo. May have been used for other seasons. On an Australian airing of one episode of Seinfeld, this logo has the last one or two seconds cut off by the Sony Pictures Television logo starting too early. This is probably due to the Seven Network's notoriously sloppy plastering habits. Sometimes, the logo has no byline when the copyright stamp appears. This is seen on most season 8 episodes of Seinfeld, season 2 of Boston Common, pre-1995 episodes of said show in syndication and the 2004 documentary The Seinfeld Story. On Mission Hill, the byline and the copyright stamp were eliminated, while international airings of the show and prints on Adult Swim have the byline and the copyright stamp intact. On original airings of the final season of Seinfeld, the web address "www.seinfeld.com" is seen above the lighthouse. On the TV movie pilot of The Lazarus Man, the Turner byline and copyright stamp appear in a different font. On the unaired pilot for Zero Effect, it has the "AOL Time Warner" byline fading in without the copyright info. The FX TV series Lucky has an almost still version of the logo with AOL Time Warner byline with only the water shimmering.

FX/SFX: The lighthouse and the company name zooming out, the byline and copyright stamp appearing.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo. This was eventually changed to an abridged version of the 1994 jingle in 1996.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Strangely, there is a low toned version of the theme. On the Seinfeld final season episode "The Merv Griffin Show", it's the classic jazzy theme of said show. On the Seinfeld S8 episode "The Millennium", the logo plays normally but ends with Newman quacking. On a few episodes of Seinfeld and the unaired pilot for Zero Effect, it's the end title theme.

Availability: Common.

This can be seen on Seinfeld episodes beginning with the sixth season. The "Turner" version can be found on the "Best of" Seinfeld 100th Episode VHS tape that was released in 1995 as part of a promotion with General Mills. This also appears on Mission Hill, The Lazarus Man (the TV movie pilot is available on VHS from Turner Home Entertainment), Boston Common, and Movie Stars, as well as on Lucky, which can be found on the For Your Consideration Emmy DVD.