CBS Productions

Background
CBS Productions was the production arm of the CBS Television Network, formed in 1952 to produce shows in-house, instead of relying solely on outside productions. Its first production was CBS Television Workshop, a drama anthology series that featured an early appearance of Audrey Hepburn. Before 1978, it was simply known as the "CBS Television Network". From 1978-1995, the name "CBS Entertainment Productions" co-existed. On January 17, 2006, it was merged with Paramount Television to form "CBS Paramount Television", whose main production division, CBS Paramount Network Television, continued to produce the former CBS Productions shows that were still running. Currently, all of the CBS library except certain shows they merely held rights to, is owned by ViacomCBS themselves and is distributed by CBS Media Ventures. However, CBS has certain domestic or international rights on co-produced series. On September 2, 2008, CBS Productions was revived as an in-name-only unit of CBS Paramount Network Television (later known as "CBS Television Studios" and now "CBS Studios") by producing non-CBS network produced programs such as 90210 for The CW Television Network. It was revived again in 2015 for CSI: Cyber, and it also produced the Thanksgiving Day Parade from 2016 to 2019.

Historical Note: The CBS logo was created by William Golden and Kurt Weiss on October 17, 1951 and was introduced on broadcast on October 20, 1951.

1st Logo (January 13, 1952-March 6, 1968)
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Nicknames: "CBS Eyemark", "The Eyemark", "The Zooming Eyemark", "The (Eyemark) Shutter", "Iris Diaphragm Shutter", "The Pupil"

Logo: On a white background, we see CBS' huge Eyemark logo. Inside it has yet another Eyemark. As the camera zooms-in, we see the pupil of the eye opening up camera shutter style to reveal, " CBS TELEVISION NETWORK" in its Didot font. The pupil later closes.

Variants:
 * On the TV movie Destination Space, the text " In Association with the " is seen first. Then the text would fade-out and the rest of the animation takes place.
 * Sometimes, the pupil remains open for a longer time than normal.
 * On the TV special Stars in the Eye, after the pupil closes, the word " Presents " appears with superimposed footage of fireworks behind it, which transitions into the intro.
 * There exists a color variant, with the background being an off-white color and the Eyemark and shutter being a shade of brown.

FX/SFX: The zooming-in of the Eyemark, the eye pupil opening and closing. Designed by William Golden, and Animated by Kurt Weiss.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: None, particularly on modern prints. In other cases, it included a male announcer saying "This is the CBS Television Network" or simply "This is CBS", or the opening/closing theme of the show. Occasionally, Voice actors including Hal Simms doing promotional announcements regarding upcoming programming accompanied this card. "See/Watch (NAME OF SHOW) on most of these (same) stations."

Availability: Common. This logo was the standard closing card for the CBS network and appeared mostly on filmed series produced for CBS.
 * This logo appeared on Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide, among other shows.
 * It is intact on every show released on DVD that CBS produced during this period (except for The Honeymooners, as the prints were sourced from syndication airings of the show).
 * This is also seen on some newer TV prints of Perry Mason, Rawhide, and pre-fall 1965 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, which started in early 2009, followed by the silent 2003 Paramount Domestic Television logo on said show, and on more than one occasion, the CBS Television Distribution logo.
 * This logo also inexplicably made a surprise appearance following the 1966 20th Century Fox Television logo on the recent S2 Blu-ray of Lost in Space, which is odd considering the latter series aired in color by 1966.

Editor's Note: This is some exceptional animation for 1952, and remains a classic logo by logo enthusiasts and TV fans alike.

2nd Logo (January 13, 1952-May 28, 1985, 1987-1988)
Nickname: "CBS Eyemark II"

Logo: CBS Productions only used different on-screen versions of the in-credit text:

A CBS TELEVISION NETWORK PRODUCTION

with the CBS Eyemark logo below it, taking place against a blue background. Other series would read "PRODUCED BY THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK", "THIS HAS BEEN A CBS TELEVISION NETWORK PRODUCTION", "(PRODUCED) IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK", or "A CBS TELEVISION NETWORK PRESENTATION".

Variants:
 * Sometimes, there would be no Eyemark at all.
 * 1959-1962: The text would appear on a Eyemark wallpaper background.
 * 1962-1965: The text would appear on a gray background with the N.A.B. "Seal of Good Practice" or "Television Code" logo.
 * 1962-1964: On early seasons of Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies, the "IAW" variant fades after the 1961 Filmways logo.
 * 1962-1966: Appeared in grayscale.
 * 1963-1975: The text would appear on a blue background with a black CBS Eyemark at the lower left corner. Additional text "FILMED AT CBS STUDIO CENTER, STUDIO CITY, CALIFORNIA" would be seen alongside the Eyemark.
 * 1964-1965: The notice is shown on the lower right-hand corner on the Filmways logo.
 * 1965-1969: On The Wild Wild West, there is an additional in-credit name for Michael Garrison on a grayscale background (season 1 only), blue background (subsequent seasons) reading "A MICHAEL GARRISON PRODUCTION" before that logo faded to the "IAW THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK PRODUCTION" logo.
 * 1968-1970: On shows from Talent Associates, the Eyemark appears at the center, sandwiched between the respective in-credit text.
 * 1978-1980: The text is referred to as "A CBS Entertainment Production". Apparently, Five-O was a CBS Entertainment Production in its next-to-last season, as well as its last season.
 * From season 8 through to the end of the original Hawaii Five-O, after the CBS Television Network/"Filmed Entirely On Location in Hawaii" card, there was an extra card that said "Developed by Leonard Freeman Productions." This was also included with the CBS Entertainment card of the final two seasons.
 * The Eyemark would either be black or white.
 * On some episodes of My Three Sons, this logo is sometimes seen in a completely different font.
 * On the 1978 TV movie Like Mom, Like Me, it would read "A CBS Television Production".
 * On the Dr. Seuss TV specials from 1971-1975, such as The Cat in the Hat, the logo is just text, in this format:

this has been a  CBS TELEVISION NETWORK PRODUCTION in association with


 * Then, it would cut to the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The end title theme from any show playing. On some shows from 1959-1962, it would have a majestic 4 note tune (sometimes with a drum roll), or a custom fanfare for that show (Rawhide used a 10-note fanfare, of which the first 6 notes were from the beginning of the Rawhide theme; The Twilight Zone used a 13-note fanfare; Perry Mason used a 5-note fanfare with a drum roll). All of these fanfares were composed by a mystery. The candidates are Lud Guskin, Johnny Mann, Buddy Baker, Jerry Goldsmith, Oliver Wallace, or Morton Stevens.

Availability: Common.
 * It appears on The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Get Smart, Gilligan's Island, the original Hawaii Five-O, and Have Gun, Will Travel, among other key shows.
 * This was also seen on The Wild Wild West, as well as the 1965-1972 episodes of My Three Sons.
 * The Filmways shared version appears on 1962-1965 episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies.
 * Its last use was on the 1985 TV movie Brotherly Love.

3rd Logo (1963?-1967)
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Nicknames: "CBS Eyemark III", "(Zooming-Out) CBS Eye of Doom", "CBS Eye from Hell"

Logo: We see a black Eyemark zooming-out to the top of the screen on a gray background. "CBS" appears one by one in a dramatic fashion in white.

Color Variant: On the color variant of this logo, the background is blue.

FX/SFX: The eye zooming-out and the appearance of the letters.

Music/Sounds: A commanding trumpet with a menacing, cacophonous finish. The fanfare was rumored to be composed by Morton Stevens.

Music/Sounds Variant: On Western Hero, the logo is silent.

Availability: Extinct. This logo was the standard closing card for the CBS network and appeared mostly on filmed series produced for CBS. It was seen on original network airings of Hogan's Heroes, Pistols 'N' Petticoats, Hazel, Lassie, My Favorite Martian, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Lucy Show, The Andy Griffith Show, Captain Kangaroo, Password, Art Linkletter's House Party, The Red Skeleton Hour, The Jackie Gleason Show, To Tell the Truth, What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret, Mission: Impossible, Gunsmoke, and The Gary Moore Show, among other classic shows.

Editor's Note: This logo is quite infamous to some, due to the sudden, menacing music.

1st Logo (1983-1985)
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Logo: It's the same as the 1983 CBS Theatrical Films logo, but "THEATRICAL FILMS" was replaced by "PRODUCTIONS".

Closing Variant: This is a still shot logo that has "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above the logo.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1983 CBS Theatrical Films logo. None for the closing variant.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare.
 * It appears on Columbia House releases of I Love Lucy: The Collector's Edition on VHS.
 * Strangely, on some copies, the "closing variant" appears at the start, and the opening variant appears at the end.

Editor's Note: Pretty good animation in 1983, since it's basically the same as the film division's logo of the era.

2nd Logo (1985)
Logo: Against a black background, we see the text:

CBS-- PRODUCTIONS

written in a light blue, 3D Impact font with a white shadow effect.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the intro soundbite of a movie.

Availability: Rare. This can be found on the VHS and Blu-ray releases of Target, Eleni, and Better Off Dead..., while the DVD release of the latter plasters it with the 1995 CBS Video logo.

Editor's Note: Even for a still logo, this looks really plain and cheap. At least attempt something of a logo instead of this!

1st Logo (March 30, 1985-June 19, 1992)
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Nicknames: "CBS Eyemark IV", "Eyemark Filmstrip"

Logo: Against a certain colored background, we see the text:

CBS- ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTIONS

and with an Eyemark logo to the right of "CBS" with a filmstrip next to it. The filmstrip also has little "comet streaks" on its left side.

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the logo is shown on an all-white, gray, or blue background, with the letters smaller and on the bottom of the screen.
 * The logo is sometimes superimposed or scrolling in the end credits.
 * The text "A Production of" would sometimes appear above.
 * Sometimes, there is a copyright stamp underneath the logo.
 * Sometimes, the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" appears below the logo, The Honeymooners Reunion Special had the IAW text type in.

FX/SFX: None. The IAW byline typing in on The Honeymooners Reunion Special.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Rare.
 * This is seen on the first three seasons of Rescue 911, the first season of Evening Shade (Antenna TV airings retained this but DVDs remove this logo and plaster with the CBS Television Distribution logo), the first two seasons of The (New) Twilight Zone (MeTV and former Chiller airings retained this with the CBS Television Distribution logo following soon after), the 1987 TV movie Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge, the 1990 film Gunsmoke: The Last Apache, and the 1992 film Gunsmoke: To the Last Man.
 * It was also seen on several television specials like I Love Lucy: The Very First Show!, the short-lived talk show The Pat Sajak Show from 1989-90, as well as some TV movies from this time.
 * The in-credit version appeared on the pilot of the short-lived game show The Hollywood Game.
 * It made its debut on CBS Storybreak, and didn't make full use until the 1985-86 season.

Editor's Note: The design of the logo is neat, but nothing else beyond that.

2nd Logo (September 15, 1991-March 5, 1996)
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Logo: Against a blue/purple gradient background, we see the text:

CBS ENTERTAINMENT   PRODUCTIONS

zoom out over the background with "CBS" in the turquoise-blue gradient color. "ENTERTAINMENT" is in a red rectangle. A sky blue CBS Eye zooms out and places itself below the text.

Variants:
 * There is a superimposed variant of this logo that has appeared on some shows.
 * A short version exists, where it starts at where the CBS eye moves up.
 * On the 1992 Guiding Light Primetime Special, the logo is a still image against a black background.
 * There is a still version.
 * There is a variant that has the byline A PRODUCTION OF CBS BROADCAST INTERNATIONAL OF CANADA LTD.

FX/SFX: The CGI animation.

Music/Sounds:
 * A synthesized re-arrangement of 3 notes of the 4-note 1959 CBS Television fanfare, the end theme, or, most commonly, silence. The short version uses the last note being longer.
 * There is also a longer version, where we hear a synth harp at the beginning, then it leads to the normal version.
 * Starting in 1994, a generic theme is used due to split screen credits.

Availability: Fairly common.
 * It's seen on post-season 2 episodes of Evening Shade, pre-1995 episodes of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, CBS Soap Break, and Rescue 911 (except for the first, second, third, and final seasons), among others.
 * It still appears on DVD prints of the first two seasons of Walker, Texas Ranger, the first three seasons of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and the final two Gunsmoke TV movies: The Long Ride (1993), and One Man's Justice (1994), as well as the 1st season of Touched By An Angel. However, the DVDs of the 1st 2 seasons of Caroline in the City, and the second season of Dave's World both plaster this logo with the CBS Television Distribution logo.
 * The in-credit version appeared on the short-lived game show The Hollywood Game.
 * It was also seen at the end of the Family Home Entertainment and Golden Books Family Entertainment VHS releases of Frosty Returns (however, it is plastered by the 9th logo on current CBS airings and the Classic Media logo on the Frosty The Snowman DVD in which this special is included), and made its final appearance in the 1996 TV movie Dead Man's Island while it made its debut on P.S. I Luv U.

Editor's Note: The logo features some nice CGI from the early '90s (and not the late '80s, despite what some have claimed).

1st Logo (September 13, 1995-1998)
Nicknames: "CBS Eyemark VI", "Turning Eyemark", "We are CBS", "CBS Eyemark on Hands"

Logo: Over a textured yellow or gold CBS Eyemark background, we see a pair of ghostly gray hands holding up a gray CBS eye logo. We then fade to a closer shot of the hands holding the logo, with "CBS PRODUCTIONS" in a Futura font in front with "CBS" bigger, along with a CBS Eyemark below, all in black.

Trivia: This logo was based on the CBS 1995-96 on air look, "You're on CBS".

Variant: Sometimes, the hands holding up the CBS eye logo are omitted, so we only see the text on the textured yellow background.

FX/SFX: The hands, and the fade.

Music/Sounds: None, a generic theme on NBC and CBS, or just the end title theme playing over the logo.

Availability: Uncommon.
 * It appeared on such shows like seasons 3 & 4 of Walker, Texas Ranger; the first 2 seasons of Caroline in the City, the final season of Rescue 911, the first season of Early Edition, post-1995 episodes of Dave's World, Moloney, and even the first season of Kids Say The Darndest Things. Also seen on seasons 4 and 5 of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and the first seasons of Promised Land and Early Edition.
 * However, this logo was plastered by the CBS Television Distribution logo on most current prints of Early Edition including the DVD and Start TV airings, and on the DVD's of the 1st 2 seasons of Caroline in the City, and by the CBS Paramount Network Television "Wallpaper" logo on Walker, Texas Ranger: The Complete Third Season on DVD.

Editor's Note: Another fine logo from CBS, especially a treat for those who remember CBS's look from 1995-96.

2nd Logo (September 15, 1997-November 28, 2019)
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Logo: We see a flash of light, which dies down to reveal the CBS Eyemark logo (the Eyemark-shaped light is coming from the center of it) with " CBS PRODUCTIONS " around it, floating above a floor in a blue and white studio whose walls have a CBS logo pattern on them. The text is in the familiar CBS Didot font and the entire logo is brown. The logo then slowly zooms away.

Trivia: This logo was based on the CBS 1997-98 on air look, "The Address is CBS: Welcome Home". Designed by Pittard Sullivan.

Variants:
 * Starting in 1999, a better known version debuted, which omits the light. The logo is redone and in a lighter shade of reddish-brown, and the font is smaller, with the metallic silver outline more visible. Now & Again continued to use the original version, and Walker, Texas Ranger continued to use the original version until its end in 2001. Interestingly enough, Snowden's Christmas used the original version on the VHS release despite the CBS premiere used the 1999 logo.
 * A widescreen version exists for the 1999 version.

FX/SFX: The flash of light, and the zooming out. The 1999 version, as mentioned above, excludes the flash of light.

Music/Sounds:
 * Mostly none or the outro of the end title theme from any show playing over the logo until 2008. On occasion, the music score from the 97-98 on air look plays over the logo, along with voice actor Mark Elliott reading a short promo.
 * 2009-2019: A light orchestral sounder, played by low strings, low horns and a piano with a bang of a timpani and a clash of cymbals. It sounds a little bit like the 3-note CBS jingle. This debuted on the second season of 90210.
 * A short version exists, where we begin a split-second before the cymbals end.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On Kids Say the Darndest Things and the short-lived series Now & Again, there's a mysterious synth sounder. On the latter show, this theme would trail into the 1995 Paramount Domestic Television logo, but on current prints, it was cut-off by the CBS Television Distribution logo.
 * On Earl Jenshus' "earlier works" demo reel, a long version of the mysterious synth sounder is heard. This can be seen here.
 * On Listen Up!, it plastered over the Fox Television Studios logo, but keeps its music (the abridged version) intact.
 * On The Beautiful Life: TBL, the shortened CBS Paramount Television jingle is heard.
 * On Russian TV prints of Early Edition, this logo is short and almost still with the ending theme playing over it. On one episode, a bad plaster job resulted in this logo having the music for Columbia TriStar Television.
 * CBS, NBC and The CW airings used their generic themes.
 * On most episodes of Family Law, the scream from the preceding Paul Haggis Productions logo would extend onto this logo.

Availability: Common.
 * It's seen on Walker, Texas Ranger seasons 5-8, The District, The Gregory Hines Show, Still Standing, Yes, Dear until 2006, The King of Queens until 2007, the final season of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (and the two TV movies that followed it), the last few seasons of Promised Land, Kids Say the Darndest Things, and the CSI franchise, among others. This was used until summer 2006 when this logo was replaced by the CBS Paramount Network Television logo.
 * The logo is not plastered over on syndicated reruns of shows except on season 5 of Walker, Texas Ranger on DVD and Early Edition reruns on GMC (now Up) and DVD releases, which have the CBS Television Distribution logo instead.
 * When the company was revived in 2008, this logo appeared on 90210 (until season 4), S2 episodes of The Cleaner, the short-lived Melrose Place revival (except the pilot episode which used the CBS Television Studios logo), the first three seasons of The Good Wife, and the first two seasons apiece of Hawaii Five-O and Blue Bloods.
 * From March 2015 to March 2016, the logo was brought back on CSI: Cyber. It's also surprisingly re-appeared on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 2016 to 2019.
 * It also appeared on original prints of season one episodes of Rescue Heroes and season three episodes of Tales from the Cryptkeeper, but current prints remove this logo. It can also be seen on later seasons of Touched By An Angel on MeTV and Start TV airings.

Editor's Note: This is a clean logo, with simple, but effective CGI that still holds up over two decades later. That it's been brought back numerous times is a testament to how well it's held up. This would also become the basis of the later-popular (now widely-hated) CBS Television Distribution logo.