Endemol

Logo descriptions by mr3urious and Shadeed A. Kelly Logo captures by mr3urious, Shadeed A. Kelly, channel4fan, and EnormousRat Videos courtesy of EnormousRat, dennisguilaume1993, LogosForTheWin, and Shpaldar's channel

Background: Endemol (a.k.a. "Endemol Entertainment") is a Dutch production company founded in 1994 by Joop van den Ende and John de Mol through a merger of both their production companies: "Joop van den Ende TV-Producties" and "John de Mol Produkties". Their first big success was the reality series Big Brother, which first aired in the Netherlands in 1999. The company was owned by Mediaset from May 14, 2007 and later sold to Apollo Global. On May 15, 2014, Apollo and 21st Century Fox announced a joint venture to merge Endemol and Shine Group.

1st Logo (1994-September 20, 2001) Endemol: 1994-2001Endemol Entertainment (1998)

Nicknames: "Spread-Out Letters", "Zoom-Out Letters"

Logo: On a black background, we see the gold letters of the word "ENDEMOL" zooming out one letter at a time at a fast pace with the word "ENTERTAINMENT" zooming-out underneath "ENDEMOL", where we later see a warp effect while the letters continue to zoom out and start to spread to finish forming the word. There is a blue blast effect which later reveals a white spiked-arched crown (one above and one below), which would later turn blue. The words "ENDEMOL" and "ENTERTAINMENT" later turns from gold to light-gold or yellow.

Variants: This logo would have an effect just like the Embassy Television and Embassy Communications logos: the animation would play over the ending of any television show, but the background would later turn black. There is also a short variant.

FX/SFX: The letters zooming out.

Music/Sounds: A loud whoosh as the letters are zooming out, followed by 2 drumbeats and another whoosh, NBC airings used it's generic theme.

Availability: Rare. It's seen on such shows like Chains of Love, RTL's Mini-Playback Show, and Lucky Letters. The short variant is seen on S1 episodes of Fear Factor and may have been seen on Big Brother 1 & 2.

Scare Factor: Medium for the long version. The loud sound effects and dark background will scare someone. Low for the short variant.

Editor's Note: This is a memorable logo for those older viewers who grew up watching Big Brother, especially for the next 3 logos which are very more common to find.

2nd Logo (November 27, 2001-September 17, 2006) Endemol (Netherlands) - CLG WikiEndemol USA: 2001Endemol USA: 2003Endemol Argentina (1999-2006)Endemol UK-Channel 4: The Salon

Nicknames: "The Eye", "Big Brother is Watching You"

Logo: Against a black background, a cloud of vapor appears, forming a slanted ellipse on it's side, which spins to face the screen and "endemol" written underneath the eye. Later, a eye fades in on the ellipse.

Variants: Shows produced by Endemol's divisions outside of the Netherlands had the country's name below. For example, American-produced shows would appear as "endemol usa" (with "usa" underneath the company name or to the bottom right of the ellipse). A special variant at the beginning of shows was used for Argentina. When the logo is completed, it slides to the left, revealing "argentina", which slides to the right. "presenta" appears below the logo. One variant had a small wordless Endemol logo at the center of the screen with "endemol uk productions" and a small wordless Channel 4 logo next to it in white on a flashy aquamarine blue background. At the bottom right is a copyright date.

FX/SFX: The vapor.

Music/Sounds: Usually the end theme of the show can be heard. The logo's own music is a synth splash sound, followed by metallic clangs and a deeper "whoosh" sound, ABC, NBC and CBS airings used their generic themes.

Availability: Uncommon. Currently seen on Fear Factor on Chiller, Big Brother, and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on TV Land.

Scare Factor: Low.

3rd Logo (December 19, 2005-July 16, 2012) Endemol (Netherlands) - CLG WikiEndemol UK (2007- )Endemol (2006)Endemol USA (2006)Endemol Netherlands (2006- )Zeppotron (2006) Nicknames: "The Eye II", "Big Brother is Watching You II"

Logo: On a black background, we see the same Endemol logo from before zooming out through a iris-out effect, and during that, the eye looks around for a few seconds.

Variants: A "reverse coin spinning" would sometimes be used instead. On the UK version of Deal or No Deal, the logo is much smaller and wordless, with "endemol u.k. productions", the Deal or No Deal logo, and a copyright date below. The logo appears in-credit on the Dutch version of Deal or No Deal. For any American versions, it would simply have "usa" right next to the logo. The logo is sped up on some shows. Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe reads "zeppotron, an endemol company For BBC" instead. On one episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, the episode began with the normal introduction before Charlie Brooker suddenly mentions there's no time left in the show and says goodbye as the "end" credits appear, where the normal Zeppotron logo appears. This was done as part of a segment against networks pushing back credits at the end of the show--the episode ended with him just dumping his viewers back onto BBC Four once it was over. For True Entertainment, see here.

FX/SFX: The logo spinning up or looking around.

Music/Sounds: Usually the end theme of the show, but like the previous logo, it sometimes comes with it's own music, which consists of two whooshes when the logo is zooming out, and then a clang when it's done zooming out.

Availability: Still commonly seen on Deal or No Deal on GSN and the syndicated version, 1 vs. 100 on GSN, Big Brother, and Fear Factor episodes of the time on Chiller, among other shows.

Scare Factor: None to minimal for the one with the end credit theme playing over, or with network generic music, but low for the one with its own music.

4th Logo (February 12, 2008-) Endemol Netherlands (2008- )Endemol (2011)Endemol Italia (2009)

Nicknames: "The Eye III", "Big Brother is Watching You III", "CGI Eye"

Logo: On a blue background, the Endemol logo appears slowly rotating, surrounded by the reflections and shadows of itself. There is a light blink over the shield.

Variants: There is a print logo with international names was used on on Nintendo DS games. Italian byline was used on La Prova del Cuoco. There are also USA and UK versions. Games for other platforms use the regular animation. The standard logo would come right after the 51 Minds logo. Would appear in-credit on the 3rd season of 1 vs. 100 on GSN. Starting in 2011, the logo was put on a black background. The blue background is still used. Sometimes the logo is sped-up. On Wipeout: The Game, the logo shakes a bit as it first appears, then animates normally.

FX/SFX: The logo turning.

Music/Sounds: Originally, it used the previous logo's theme, but it later used a soft guitar/choir sounder.

Availability: Seen on Wipeout on ABC, Hell on Wheels on AMC and Big Brother on CBS. Also seen as an in-credit on the 3rd season of 1 vs. 100 on GSN. Appears on some licensed international shows and games, like on all of the Wipeout games for the Wii. The sped-up variant is seen on Steve Harvey in syndication. The version with the blue background is currently seen on Steve Harvey.

Scare Factor: None for the guitar/choir version. Low for the one with the previous logo's theme.