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MTM Enterprises/Productions
Compiled by James Fabiano and Jason Wuthrich
Logo captures by Wisp2007 and others
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly
Background: MTM stands for the initials of the company's co-founder, Mary Tyler Moore. It was also founded by Moore's husband, Grant Tinker, in 1969. After, it was sold to TVS Entertainment (a now-extinct subsidiary of ITV) in 1990; then, to International Family Entertainment, Inc. in 1992, and finally, to News Corp. in 1998, being folded into 20th Century Fox Television.
(1970-1998)
Nicknames: "The MTM Kitten", "Mimsie the Cat", "MEOW!"
Logo: Over the years, the logo has been tweaked colorwise and according to certain shows, but here's the basic concept: An "M" flies backward from off screen, then splits into two. In the space left between the two letters, two "T's" come from the top and bottom of the screen and join to form one. This completes the initials of the company, and the "T" shrinks when a gold circle appears over it. Under the letters are the words "ENTERPRISES INC," "ENTERPRISES," or "PRODUCTIONS." Sometimes the finished logo will read out "AN MTM ENTERPRISES INC. PRODUCTION" ("AN" appears over the first M). Back to the circle, it is ribbon-like and decorated with stars and the letters "MTM" on top. Inside is a live-action orange striped kitten who meows once, obviously in parody of the MGM lion. All the text (except for the later versions) appears in the Peignot font used for Mary Tyler Moore.
Trivia: The cat's name was "Mimsie," though nicknames such as "Dick Turpin" and "Dick Marino" have also been used in naming the cat.
Still Variant: A still version of this logo did turn up in the movies, notably the Orion Pictures Release of "Just Between Friends" and possibly more. This is a still of the "Red/Blue Letters" version of the logo, and is shrunk to a considerably small size. No music, animation, or "meow" is present. See Variations below for the logo seen at the end of Universal's A Little Sex.
Logo Variants: First here are the little differences in the logo, along with dates in which they were used:
Custom Variants: Now, one thing that the MTM logo was known for was that often, it would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means Mimsie's appearance would sometimes be different, usually involving her "wearing" a costume or saying something other than "meow." Here are those variations:
FX: The M zooming out and morphing into 2 Ms, and the T dropping. The rest is shown above.
Music/Sounds: None really, except the end theme usually finished over it and that was it. Starting in 1996, a 5-note jingle was added before the meow.
Availability: Common. Can be seen on St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, and Lou Grant AmericanLife Television Network and WKRP in Cincinnati aired on AmericanLife Television Network and WGN America as MTM (and other production companies now under the News Corp. library) is now followed by 20th Television. The only factors are the rarity of widespread reruns of MTM shows, and Fox's sparse releasing of DVDs.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; the silence, the "meow" the fading out of the music, and the kitten coming out of nowhere might catch some people by surprise. Plus there's the factor of not knowing what Mimsie will look like per program. Other than that it's mostly a cute logo.
Logo captures by Wisp2007 and others
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly
Background: MTM stands for the initials of the company's co-founder, Mary Tyler Moore. It was also founded by Moore's husband, Grant Tinker, in 1969. After, it was sold to TVS Entertainment (a now-extinct subsidiary of ITV) in 1990; then, to International Family Entertainment, Inc. in 1992, and finally, to News Corp. in 1998, being folded into 20th Century Fox Television.
(1970-1998)
Nicknames: "The MTM Kitten", "Mimsie the Cat", "MEOW!"
Logo: Over the years, the logo has been tweaked colorwise and according to certain shows, but here's the basic concept: An "M" flies backward from off screen, then splits into two. In the space left between the two letters, two "T's" come from the top and bottom of the screen and join to form one. This completes the initials of the company, and the "T" shrinks when a gold circle appears over it. Under the letters are the words "ENTERPRISES INC," "ENTERPRISES," or "PRODUCTIONS." Sometimes the finished logo will read out "AN MTM ENTERPRISES INC. PRODUCTION" ("AN" appears over the first M). Back to the circle, it is ribbon-like and decorated with stars and the letters "MTM" on top. Inside is a live-action orange striped kitten who meows once, obviously in parody of the MGM lion. All the text (except for the later versions) appears in the Peignot font used for Mary Tyler Moore.
Trivia: The cat's name was "Mimsie," though nicknames such as "Dick Turpin" and "Dick Marino" have also been used in naming the cat.
Still Variant: A still version of this logo did turn up in the movies, notably the Orion Pictures Release of "Just Between Friends" and possibly more. This is a still of the "Red/Blue Letters" version of the logo, and is shrunk to a considerably small size. No music, animation, or "meow" is present. See Variations below for the logo seen at the end of Universal's A Little Sex.
Logo Variants: First here are the little differences in the logo, along with dates in which they were used:
- 1970-1974: One "M" was red-orange, the other was red, and the "T" was blue and formed by the merging of a light blue "T" and a green one.
- 1971-1978: The "M's" are both red-orange, and the "T" light blue.
- 1978-1982: Company now identified as MTM Productions Inc. The "M's" are now orange.
- 1982-1990: Company identified as MTM Productions (MTM Enterprises, Inc. at the end of 1982). The "M's" are now red.
- 1990-1992: Same as above, but "ENTERPRISES, INC." is very small, to make room for a small byline that says "A TVS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY". Around the 1991-1992 season, the byline was removed.
- 1992-1995/1996-1998: All letters are gold, the words "An International Family Entertainment Company" appear, after MTM was bought by the Family Channel.
- 1995-1996: 25th Anniversary logo; on a white background is a black "25," with a similarly colored MTM under that. The kitten appears in the rounded part of the "5". Evidence needed for this variation; likely only a print logo.
Custom Variants: Now, one thing that the MTM logo was known for was that often, it would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means Mimsie's appearance would sometimes be different, usually involving her "wearing" a costume or saying something other than "meow." Here are those variations:
- The Duck Factory: As the logo forms, a off-screen voice states, "Where's the cat?" Instead of meowing, Mimsie says, "Quack!"
- Graham Kerr: Mimsie wears a chef's hat.
- Hill Street Blues: Mimsie wears a policeman's cap.
- Lou Grant & Paris: There is a still picture of the logo.
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Same as usual, but on the 2nd episode, Mimsie's meow is higher-pitched, rather shrill. On Episode 71, the cat is replaced by the image of Miss Moore herself, saying "Th-th-th-that's all folks!", a line spoken by Mary Richards during that episode. Who is also saying the line of Porky Pig.
- The Bob Newhart Show: The 1972 Christmas episode features a wreath in place of the MTM ribbon.
- The New WKRP: Dubbed with Les Nesman Jr. exclaiming "Ooh!"
- Newhart: Each episode featured Mimsie meowing... in Bob Newhart's voice. On the final episode, the cat yells "QUIET!" (the two Darryls' first and only word)
- Remington Steele: Mimsie wears a Sherlock Holmes deerstalker cap and meerschaum pipe. While meowing, the pipe drops out of her mouth and falls in front of the word "Productions". (NOTE: The "variation" seen on YouTube where Mimsie drops a gun and it fires a hole into the logo is a mockup and was never a real variation)
- St. Elsewhere: Mimsie is wearing a scrub suit and a surgical mask, which is animated to look like a mouth is moving underneath when she meows. On the final episode, she (possibly portrayed by another cat) is hooked on life support on a hospital bed throughout the last credit roll. The credits run as usual over a picture of the MTM circle, with life support equipment attached on either side. You can hear the beeps of the heart monitor over the end theme too. After the credits complete, the company name fades in and Mimsie flatlines and dies, with a long high pitched beep heard. This variation is especially rare, as reruns of the finale plastered it over with the typical credits. (As a sidenote, the actual cat, Mimsie, died in 1988, the same year St. Elsewhere ended.)
- The Steve Allen Show: Mimsie (who also wears Allen's famous eyeglasses) lip-syncs Allen's "Schmock!"
- White Shadow: Mimsie is replaced by a black and white cat bouncing a basketball. There is a shorter version with the company name already there and the cat footage looped (and thus he is continually bouncing the ball). The other has the letters animating as usual and at the end, the ball falls off-screen and the cat appears to be looking down at it.
- Xuxa: Another dub job, instead of "meow," Mimsie says "ciao"
- A Little Sex: MTM logo forms as usual...but Mimsie is a cartoon! She is also more to the side of the circle, which now has a black background. She meows as always, and then another cat enters the circle! The two felines rub against each other and start purring.
FX: The M zooming out and morphing into 2 Ms, and the T dropping. The rest is shown above.
Music/Sounds: None really, except the end theme usually finished over it and that was it. Starting in 1996, a 5-note jingle was added before the meow.
Availability: Common. Can be seen on St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, and Lou Grant AmericanLife Television Network and WKRP in Cincinnati aired on AmericanLife Television Network and WGN America as MTM (and other production companies now under the News Corp. library) is now followed by 20th Television. The only factors are the rarity of widespread reruns of MTM shows, and Fox's sparse releasing of DVDs.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; the silence, the "meow" the fading out of the music, and the kitten coming out of nowhere might catch some people by surprise. Plus there's the factor of not knowing what Mimsie will look like per program. Other than that it's mostly a cute logo.
Latest page update: made by VofDoom
, Jul 15 2008, 9:16 PM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by VofDoom
2 words added
25 words deleted
view changes
- complete history)
Edited by VofDoom
2 words added
25 words deleted
view changes
- complete history)
Keyword tags:
20th Century Fox Television
Mimsie
MTM Enterprises Inc.
MTM Productions
News Corporation
More Info: links to this page
| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
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| Spidey016 | Never forget | 1 | May 21 2008, 2:55 PM EDT by nirmallovesnihangs | |
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| nirmallovesnihangs | In search of sweet mimsie, mimsey | 1 | May 21 2008, 3:18 AM EDT by nirmallovesnihangs | |
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Thread started: May 21 2008, 1:56 AM EDT
Watch
I have seen mimsie/mimsey's name spelled two different ways. I am looking for mim's logo on the Steve Allen Show, WKRP Cincinatti, A Little Sex (the ending animation only, not entire movie), and The Mary Tyler Moore reunion show from '91. I just want the ending vid clips if anyone could youtube them n post them or sumthing...thaks!
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| logoboy95 | Mimsie the Cat is retained on DVD right now. | 0 | Feb 15 2008, 2:29 AM EST by logoboy95 | |
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Thread started: Feb 15 2008, 2:29 AM EST
Watch
R.I.P. Mimsie the Cat 1968-1988
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Keyword tags:
20th Century Fox Television
Mimsie
MTM
News Corproation
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