Act III Productions

Background
Act III Communications is Norman Lear's current company formed on October 21, 1985, after four months and three days since Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy Communications, Inc. (Tandem, Embassy Television, etc.) to Coca-Cola. Operations began on January 1, 1986. His first film under the Act III name was Stand By Me and was released by Columbia Pictures. Act III was also the name of a broadcaster Norman Lear was involved in, which owned several Fox and independent stations during the early '90s (most of its stations are now owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group). On February 2, 1989, Act III Communications formed a joint-venture with Columbia Pictures Television called "Act III Television" (later "Act III Productions") to produce television and not managing. This was marked as Norman Lear's return to television after exiting television production in 1978 to focus on feature film and in 1984 from executive producing the short-lived sitcom, a.k.a. Pablo. In 2006, Act III purchased 50% of Village Roadshow Pictures and merged his music industry "Concord Music Group". Act III didn't have a logo until 1991.

1st Logo (February 16, 1991)
Nickname: "ACT III"

Logo: We see "ACT III" in white with a shadow effect with "III" in Roman numerals. There is a white a line that is stretched out underneath the name with the word "TELEVISION" below also in white.

FX/SFX: The logo fading in.

Music/Sounds: The end of the show's theme.

Availability: Ultra rare. Seen at the end credits of All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special. Can be found on the videocassette release of said title.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (June 22-July 7, 1991)
Nickname: "ACT III PT. II"

Logo: Same as the last logo, but it's placed on a blue background.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The end-title theme.

Availability: Extinct. Was last seen on the ultra short-lived series, Sunday Dinner.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (March 7, 1992-May 9, 1994)
Nicknames: "ACT III PT. III"

Logo: On a dark gray background, we see the ACT III logo fading in in chrome lettering with "ACT III" in a Roman font with the word "TELEVISION" in a stretched serif font. There are three black lines from the bottom of the Roman numeral "3" in between the words "ACT" and "TELEVISION".

FX/SFX: The logo fading in.

Music/Sounds: The end-title theme from any show.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was seen on the short-lived series, The Powers That Be and the ultra short-lived series, 704 Hauser; it's intact on the the latter's pilot, however, which can be found on the All in the Family complete series DVD boxset by Shout! Factory and The Best of Norman Lear.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (October 25, 1997-February 21, 1998)
Nicknames: "ACT III PT. IV"

Logo: On a nighttime sky background we see the ACT III logo (as seen in the 1st and 2nd logos) in blue that says "ACT III PRODUCTIONS" and underneath it has a boy wearing a tuxedo that is pointing and is flying on bird in a nighttime sky with the "Enchanté George" text on the lower right-hand, referring to Jim George's production company.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The end-title theme.

Availability: Extinct. It was only seen on the short-lived series, Channel Umptee-3 on The WB's programming block Kids' WB.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (September 30, 2016- )


Nicknames: "ACT III PT. V", "CGI ACT III"

Logo: On a white background, pieces of the Roman numeral "III" from the 1st, 2nd, and 4th logos rise up from the white field with a shadow effect as we pan above the logo. "ACT" then rises up one by one as we focus our view onto the logo. "PRODUCTIONS" pops up below the logo and the logo becomes 2D as the logo becomes blue.

Variant: A still version exists.

FX/SFX: The camera pan, the pieces rising up, and the transition. Nice CGI, considering the other logos don't have much (or there lack of) in animation.

Music/Sounds: The end-title theme.

Availability: Common. The animated version is seen on the miniseries, America Divided, while the still version is seen on the 2017 revival of One Day at a Time and Live in Front of a Studio Audience on ABC.

Editor's Note: None.