Compiled by James Fabiano and Jason Jones
Logo pictures by Eric S., V of Doom, and Shadeed A. Kelly
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, kidinbed and V of Doom


Background: Screen Gems was revived as television subsidiary by Columbia PIctures in 1948 to produce and syndicate various popular shows, TV movies, and the Columbia Pictures movie library, but in 1974 it was renamed as Columbia Pictures Television.


1st Logo
(1952-1955)

Nickname: "The TV Tube"

Logo: We see a TV tube-like shape (outlined in dark gray and filled in black) over a light gray background. There are a couple of stars shining inside (like stars in the sky) under the phrase "A Screen Gems, Inc. Presentation/(Film) Production".

FX: The little stars twinkling.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme for whatever slow played over it, or silent.

Availability: Extinct; only appeared on the first season of Father Knows Best. It was last seen when TV Land reaired episodes of that show.

Scare Factor: Low to medium.



2nd Logo
(1955-1960)
Nickname: "Torch Lady"

Logo: Like the then current Columbia Pictures logo, we see a lady (Columbia, a representation of the USA) holding a light torch on top a pedestal with a backdrop of clouds over her. The torch lady's head is between the words "SCREEN GEMS" with "A" above it and "Film Presentation" or "Film Production" below it. The byline "Television Subsidiary: Columbia Pictures Corporation" appears below that.

FX: The lady's torch "shining".

Music/Sounds: A majestic horn fanfare at the begin/end of some syndicated programs (nicknamed the "Fanfare of Doom"). Usually, on the closing variant, you will hear the ending theme for whatever show played over it with the announcer saying, "This has been a Screen Gems Film Production, from the Hollywood studios of Columbia Pictures".

Availability: Can probably still be seen on reruns of various SG shows of the era, as it would look silly to cover up the logo as it blends with the ending theme of the show before it. As silly as it may sound, C-T has edited this logo out of many classic programs reran on TV Land. So consider this logo rare.

Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:

• Medium to high; the old B/W film and scary drawing might send some chills, but the fanfare has been considered by many to be overly bombastic and scary.
• Low to medium for the closing theme variant.

3rd Logo
(1960-1963)


Nickname: "Torch Lady II"

Logo: Same as the 1955 logo, excluding the clouds and the additional captions. Only the name "Screen Gems" remains, and the words are smaller and somewhat stretched out, and the words are shown on each side of the lower body and legs.

Trivia: An updated version of sorts can be seen as the logo for the "Screen Gems Network," the syndicated package of classic SG, Columbia, and ELP shows.

Color Variant: A rare color variant of this logo was seen on Hazel.

FX: The lady's torch "shining".

Music/Sounds: Usually, the end title theme from any show has played over this with the announcer spiel: "This has been a Screen Gems Film Presentation/Production from (the Hollywood studios of) Columbia Pictures.". Other shows would have a fanfare with a different announcer saying, "From Columbia Pictures, A Screen Gems Production".

Availability: Last seen on reruns of Hazel, Dennis the Menace, The Naked City and Route 66 to name a few. Surprisingly, this has been edited over with the Boxes of Boredom or the SPT logo on some shows recently.

Scare Factor: Low to medium.



4th Logo
(1963-1965)

Nicknames: "The Dancing Sticks", "Stars and Spotlights" (Heaven knows WHY, this is what some people in the newsgroup rec.arts.animation called the latter)

Logo: A group of animated lines "drop down" at the right of the black screen to ascending jazz notes as a swarm of circles scatter near the middle of the left side leaving behind the words "Screen Gems." (These circles were what one rec.arts.animation post described as the "spotlights." The "stars" may come from the fact that the circles sparkle like stars.) As this happens, the lines shrink somewhat and spread out, filling the right half and shaking slightly back and forth. As the logo completes, an announcer says "A Screen Gems Production (or) Presentation".

Color Variant: When broadcast in color, the sticks are pale rainbow colors and the dots are brighter. Also, on one color variant, the dots are rainbow colors as well.

FX: The lines dropping and shrinking.

Cheesy Factor: The lines' animations. Also, what are the dancing sticks supposed to represent?

Music/Sounds: A jazzy trumpet fanfare that ascends as the sticks drop in, and ends with a stinger when the logo finishes. An announcer states that the production is "A Screen Gems Presentation/Production.". One extremely rare version of the logo does not use an announcer spiel. This was often used for Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the era, as Screen Gems syndicated these from the late-1950's to 1974.

Availability: Ultra rare. It does appear in color without the signature music on the 1999 Columbia Pictures documentary The Lady with the Torch. However, due to replacement with various newer logos, both Sony Pictures Television related and syndication, this is very hard to find on television.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; dramatic music and spooky announcers may make some jumpy. But pretty tame, especially compared to its successor.



5th Logo
(1965-1974)

Nicknames: "The Spiral S", "The Filmstrip S", "The Creepy Screen Gems Logo", "The S From Hell", "The Spiral S (From Hell)", "Burning S", "Scream Gems", "The Personification of All That Is Evil"

Logo: Two parallelograms come from the top and bottom of the screen, and the upper one is at a distance while the lower is closer. They fly towards each other, and the higher moves forward while the lower backs away. As they do so, they grow in length and wrap around a space where a dot appears, forming a stylized "S." Under that the words "SCREEN GEMS" zoom in.

Variants:

• Starting in late 1973, "a division of COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC." zoomed up with "SCREEN GEMS".
• When shown in Black and White, the standard scheme seems to be a light gray screen and black S and words. When shown in color, the standard scheme seems to be a yellow screen, red S, and black words. The words may or may not have actually been red at one time as well. Later on, the S and the words were both black, attributed by some to film deterioration. However, when the Columbia byline was added, everything was changed to a light gray, and that color change seemed more natural.
• Several shows in 1970 didn't have the name in bold.
• There is also a still variant of this logo with the phrase "Distributed by" above "SCREEN GEMS".

FX: The parallelograms wrapping around the dot, "SCREEN GEMS" zooming in.

Cheesy Factor: Really rough animation all over.

Music/Sounds: Composed by Eric Siday and Van Alexander, it is an synthesized tune said to be produced by violins. It consists of six notes followed by two oversynthesized tones. In 1970, it was shortened so only three notes came before the tones. A variation of this was also used for the short-lived first Columbia Pictures Television logo.

Music/Sound Variants: There is a version of the logo where no music is played. Another version consists of a static rendition of the logo, which was seen on the first season of Police Story with and without Columbia bylines respectively. The latter version had the end theme of Police Story playing over the logo. On Batfink, a customized trumpet fanfare played over the logo.

Availability: This logo was seen for a few years beautifully restored on Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie reruns on TV Land, but both shows are no longer rerun. It was also shown in an edited form on Fox Family reruns of The Partridge Family and in a sped-up form without music on The Hallmark Channel reruns of Bewitched. HBO's print of Brian's Song (original) had the silent version, played in full. The 1973-1974 episodes of The Young and the Restless haven't been reran. Also, the still variant is very rare, being seen originally on the TV show Soupy Sales.

Scare Factor: Nightmare for the full music variant and medium to high for the 1970-1974 variants. Numerous people have very unfond memories of this logo, mostly due to the creepy theme music combined with the animation, which is very in-your-face. Possibly one of the scariest logos ever made. The scare factor is low to medium for the Batfink variant.