Twin Cities PBS

Background : Twin Cities PBS is a PBS affiliate located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The primary station, KTCA, went on the air on September 16, 1955, while KTCI, the secondary station, went on the air on May 4, 1965. Prior to September 30, 2015, the station carried the on-air branding Twin Cities Public Television (TPT).

1st Logo (1970s-1979?)
Nickname : "Dancing Lights", "Flashy KTCA"

Logo : On a black background, we see a white light spin around and zoom away from the screen, towards the left. "KTCA" flashes in, one letter at a time, then below that, "St. Paul", then "Minneapolis", flashes in. Finally, a white flash makes the logo disappear.

FX/SFX : Lighting effects with cel animation.

Music/Sounds : None, or the opening theme.

Availability : A 1979 demo reel from the station has this logo.

Editor's Note : None.

2nd Logo (1979?-1983)
Nicknames : "Weather", "Loud Weather in Minnesota"

Logo : On a black background, "F R O M" appears in a Courier-like font glowing blue followed by "MINNESOTA" in the thick font glowing green. Rows of growing raindrops then fade in row-by-row, wiping away the text and then bringing in rows of growing snowflakes. The snowflakes then fade away to let in rows of waves wiping in. They then turn orange to lead way for "K T C A" in white and "MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL" in sky blue, in the same font as the text in the beginning, with "K T C A" glowing orange before it dies down when the waves disappear.

FX/SFX : The text fading in, the rows of objects wiping in.

Music/Sounds : A theme made of 5 horn notes and 3 guitar notes, which is followed by a reversed arrangement of the theme (3 horn notes, 5 guitar notes), which is repeated a couple of times and sounds like a mariachi band playing, each time going down in pitch with sort of a flourish at the end.

Availability : Very rare. It was seen on Ping Chong & Meredith Monk: Paris, Encounters With Minnesota Artists and possibly the very first episodes of Newton's Apple.

Editor's Note : Extremely simple and loud, but what's with the weather imagery?

3rd Logo (1983-1990)
Nicknames : "Tubular Letters", "Water Rectangle"

Logo : On a light gray background, we see "KTCA", in a tubular font very similar to KQED's logo from around that time, constantly shining throughout the logo, along with "MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL", both colored golden orange, flying away from the viewer from the bottom. About the same time, a rectangle containing water inside (possibly to represent the image of a lake) also flies in, but towards the viewer. They both rotate into a tilted position (plus the rectangle appears to flip for a bit), and when they join together, we fade out, though the water in the rectangle still creates little waves.

Variant : A filmed version exists with a few differences, with "KTCA" having different shine effects and the rectangle now has live-action footage of a lake. The music is also high pitched.

FX/SFX : The KTCA logo flying into view, and the water rectangle sliding in. Nice effects for 1983.

Music/Sounds : A downward synthesized glockenspiel tune, then 5 synth-glockenspiel notes, then one last note held at the end. As a station ID, an announcer says "You are watching KTCA, Saint Paul · Minneapolis, Channel 2."

Availability : Rare. Seen on Grant Wood's America, and more notably seen on '80s episodes of Newton's Apple.

Editor's Note : None.

4th Logo (1988-September 21?, 1998)
Nicknames : "KTCA Forest", "A Minnesota Original"

Logo :


 * Opening:
 * 1988-1989:On a black background with a blue spotlight, the same KTCA logo from the first ID moves to the left, along with a "2" in the same font, and "MINNEAPOLIS/SAINT PAUL", in Times New Roman font, underneath the logo, against a 2D forest. While doing that, a sun moves to the upper-right corner. Then, "A" and "MINNESOTA", looking like building blocks, drops down, while "Original" is written out in a cursive font, tilted at an angle, and "water ripples" occur.
 * 1989-1990:On the same background from before, the new logo, which is "KTCA" in a beige Aero Extended font, and a square 2 in that same color, with also "SAINT PAUL - MINNEAPOLIS" on the bottom is in Aero Extended. The animation is identical, except the 2 rotates around in the opposite direction, and the letters "A MINNESOTA" do not have blocks behind them at the end, and are also in Aero Extended.
 * 1990-1998: Same as before, but after all the previous text is off the screen, the word "PRESENTS" in a thin, white Elephant font flashes in with a line of flashing orange dots. The "water ripples" still occur in the background.
 * Closing:
 * 1988-1989: The logo is still (even though it has the "water rippling" effect), and the text underneath the logo says "PRODUCTION". The fonts are the same as the opening counterpart of the time.
 * 1989-1998: Again, the logo is still (with the water rippling) with "PRODUCTION" intact and in the same font as the opening variants of the time.

FX/SFX : Decent 1980s computer effects.

Music/Sounds :


 * Opening:
 * 1988-1990: A synth-orchestra jingle, with the sound of birds calling, as well as a female announcer saying "The following is a production of KTCA – a Minnesota original."
 * 1990-1998: An orchestral tune mixed with a rock jingle as we hear a male conductor say "One, two." and a female singing "Na-na-na-na-na!" A chord is synchronized into the last note.
 * Closing: The same synth-orchestra jingle, but the announcer says "This program was produced by KTCA - A Minnesota original." It also has the beginning cut off.

Availability : Rare. Some local shows and specials might carry this logo, such as My Mary, a special of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Editor's Note : None.

5th Logo (1989)
Nicknames : "The Loon", "A Parody of a Parody", "MTM Public TV"

Logo : On a black background, the red letters "kA" in Peignot, slide apart to leave room for the light blue letters "TC", also in Peignot, which slide down into place from the top of the screen. "A" appears above the text, followed by a yellow circle with footage of a loon chirping on a lake. "PRODUCTION" appears below as the loon continues chirping and turns its head.

FX/SFX : The word forming, the loon. Obviously a parody of the MTM logo, which already parodied MGM.

Music/Sounds : Silence, followed by the loon chirping with sounds of water rushing.

Availability : Rare. Only seen on My Mary, a special of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Considering this is a parody, it would be seen only once.

Editor's Note : A nice tribute to the MTM logo.

6th Logo (1990-2000)
Nickname : "Blue Waves"

Logo :


 * Opening: On a blue background, we see the trees from before (but copied) with part of the skyline of each city. Waves start to come in from the top left, revealing "KTCA" in Aero Extended, over "SAINT PAUL" and "MINNEAPOLIS", both stacked under "KTCA", and in a smaller white print.
 * Closing: The logo simply fades in, plus "PRODUCTION" appears on the bottom.

Variant : For the opening, on NewsNight Minnesota, after the logo ripples, it stays for a few seconds, only to fade out to make space for "MPTV" in a tall font, and below is "MINNESOTA PUBLIC TELEVISION".

FX/SFX : The waves rippling.

Music/Sounds :


 * Opening: A fantasy-oriented keyboard theme composed by Ralph Schuckett. A longer version is heard at sign-off.
 * Closing: A synth-bass note being held, as well as a "BONG!" sound. It was also composed by Ralph Schuckett.

Availability : Rare. Can be seen on 90s episodes of Newton's Apple, as well as Once Upon a Tree when rerun on select PBS stations.

Editor's Note : None.

7th Logo (1994)
Logo : After the Kartemquin Films logo (an abstract K with "Kartemquin Films" in a red beam resembling the light coming out a projector) fades out, "and" is seen in the bottom right corner. Then, a light emerges from the center of the screen and the text fades out. "K T C A" in black with blue outline appears. Under it is "PUBLIC TELEVISION" and "SAINT PAUL - MINNEAPOLIS" in 2 sets of lines below the text. The light stays on the screen.

FX/SFX : The lighting.

Music/Sounds : None.

Availability : Seen on Hoop Dreams (not the original Turner VHS release however, as it goes straight to the movie after the Fineline Features logo).

Editor's Note : None.

8th Logo (1999-2001)
Logo : On a white background, a blue cloud zooms and rotates in, which then contracts to reveal a yellow and white sunburst with the logo for Twin Cities Public Television,which is of an deformed light blue check mark over "tpt". Below it fades in "A LOCAL PRODUCTION OF TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION", stacked on each other and the name smaller than the rest. The sunburst rotates.

Variant : On Almanac, the Twin Cities Public Television logo is smaller, and below is "P R E S E N T A T I O N". This fades out and "MPTV" and "Minnesota Public Television" fade in. This whole time, the whole thing is surrounded by a repeating circle reading "twin cities public television · saint paul · minneapolis · ktca".

FX/SFX : The sunbursts.

Music/Sounds : A 4-note guitar theme with some xylophone notes after it.

Music/Sounds Variant : The Almanac variant has four airy tubular bell notes and an announcer saying "Almanacis a production of Twin Cities Public Television, for the stations of Minnesota Public Television."

Availability : Rare. May have been seen on Almanac.

Editor's Note : None.

9th Logo (2000-2010)
Logo: On a white background, we see the logo of Twin Cities Public Television, to the left of the screen. Under it is "TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION" and under it to the right is "st. paul · minneapolis" with a dot dividing them. The logo bends down, like it's bowing down, and returns to its normal position. A later version has the logo shown first until everything moves into place with a PBS logo the the right of it.

Variants :


 * For the earlier version, there is a variant with "a production of" to the right.
 * On Almanac, right after the Twin Cities Public Television logo bends down, the whole thing fades to a white screen with text reading "MPTV". Below is "Minnesota Public Television".
 * For the later version, onRudy Maxa's World, "A presentation of" is on top of the Twin Cities Public Television logo and to the right of "st. paul · minneapolis" is "· tpt.org".

FX/SFX : The logo bowing down and/or moving.

Music/Sounds : A three note theme with an applause. The theme may be either a low tune harp for its public productions or a violin theme for productions made for The Minnesota Channel. The PBS variant has no applause.

Music/Sounds Variant : The Almanac variant of this logo has the same audio from mentioned show's variant from before.

Availability : Rare. Seen on Almanac in the Twin Cities area and on programs like DragonflyTV.

Editor's Note : None.

10th Logo (2010-September 30, 2015)
Logo : We see a black background. A light passes through the screen, thus making the background brighten up to reveal a blue background with translucent bars and squares. A line of squares on the bottom form "saint paul · minneapolis" and disappear as the bars bring forward the Twin Cities Public Television logo from above in white and the text "NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS" under it. The background ripples and there are now lights in the background.

Variants :


 * On Almanac, the Twin Cities Public Television logo is larger, "NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS" is missing, and the logo gets wiped out to make room for "mpta", and "minnesota public television association".
 * On The Lowertown Line, the Twin Cities Public Television logo is to the left and to the right is the PBS Circle P-Head. Below is "SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS".

FX/SFX : The flash.

Music/Sounds : A sparkly three note theme.

Music/Sounds Variant : The Almanac variant has a reverse cymbal crash, followed by a quiet synth, plus a female saying "Almanac is a production of Twin Cities Public Television, for the stations of Minnesota Public Television Association."

Availability : Uncommon. Seen on SciGirls and Suze Orman's Financial Solutions for You.

Editor's Note : None.

11th Logo (September 30, 2015- )
Nicknames : "Aurora Borealis" "Twin Cities PBS Aurora" "KTCA Aurora"

Logo : On a space background with the Northern Lights, the logo is revealed by some lights, in which the logo is now modified. The logo now has a different font and check mark design for the "tpt" part, has the PBS logo included, and now the name is "TWIN CITIES PBS" stacked on the right. It zooms in slightly as the background changes colors. Then the following fades in below:

Text Variants :


 * SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS
 * For co-productions, "A CO-PRODUCTION OF" fades in above, while below fades in "SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS © Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved".
 * © Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 * SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS © (YEAR) Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Or none.

Variants :


 * On Seized: Inside the Mystery of Epilepsy, "A PRESENTATION OF" fades in and the PBS logo is missing with "tpt" and the stacked words "NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS" in its place. "SAINT PAUL | MINNEAPOLIS" fades in below.
 * On Almanac, the logo gets wiped out for "mpta" and "minnesota public television association".

FX/SFX : The lights.

Music/Sounds : A peaceful synth chord.

Music/Sounds Variant : One variant has a different chord followed by two guitar notes.

Availability : Current.

Editor's Note : None.