Logos[]
1st logo (1978-1984):On a black background, a blue rectangle appears and grows on the screen as it begins to spin outward, trailing as does so, at one point getting really close to the screen. As it continues to spin counterclockwise, it begins to form a circle around it, which draws in from two opposite ends. Once the line is in the vertical position and the circle is fully formed, it stops spinning and the trail disappears. The result is a blue circle with a line going down the middle, forming the "CP" part of the logo. Then the "CP" moves to the left as the words "Connecticut Public Broadcasting", in white and stacked on top of each other, slide in from the right, as if bumping the "CP". As that happens, a blue dot appears within the "CP" to form the "T", completing "CPT". When all the moving stops, the word "Connecticut" then flashes brightly.
2nd logo (1984-1990):On a black background, There is a large, neon-colored steel circle with a vertical line going down the middle, which swings up. The bottom right part of the circle is barely disconnected from the line, and a dot is in the inside of the circle on the top left side. Once the circle is finished swinging up, the words:
Public Television
fade in below in a rounded, shiny metal font. The circle sparkles, and then glows blue behind it. The background then lights up with faded blue at the bottom.
Variants[]
- On local programs, the circle shines blue as a spotlight passes through. After that, the logo fades before it completes.
- Sometimes, there is a blue glass circle zooming from the top instead.
- There's a variant where the text "25th Year" is next to the logo. It was used for their 25th anniversary.
- Sometimes on the glass variant, the Praxis Media Inc. logo trails in below.
3rd logo (1980s):On a black background, the same circle from before is shown in bronze, and sparkles a bit. The words
Public Television
are shown below the logo in a Helvetica font, also in bronze.
4th logo (1990-1993):Against a dark gray background, a side-facing circle folds to the left leaving a residue of circles, which fades into the circle from before, which settles itself in the center and becomes silver. Several multi-colored lines wipe in from the bottom to reveal the words "Connecticut Public Television" (also in silver) in a Times New Roman font shown below, which are similar to the previous logo. The circle and the text are viewed at a straight angle with a bit of drop shadow and shine a bit as a spotlight shines upon the whole thing.
Variants[]
- Usually, the logo was cut short to the shining. Sometimes, the multi-colored lines portion is shown.
- The logo animates superimposed on episodes of Scientific American Frontiers.
- On Season 4 episodes, the logo looks mostly the same as the on-screen logo.
- On Season 5 episodes and the first Season 6 episode, the logo is more blue, and the "'Connecticut" is slightly smaller than the Season 4 logo.
- When used locally, the station info first wipes in.
5th logo (1992-1994):Against a background with blue marble squares there is the silver letters "CPTV" on a gray square. On the top and bottom of "CPTV" there are purple and blue streaks. The blue squares zoom toward us and the gray square zooms to the right, a la Paramount Home Video's Feature Presentation ID.
6th logo (1993-2004):On a moving dark cloudy background, there are many multicolored stylized "C"s and glass dots merging into each other. Once the "C"s and dots merge, "CONNECTICUT PUBLIC TELEVISION" in a pale blue italicized font appears to the right of the "C". The "C" and the dot turn red and the dot has a light streak explosion-like effect.
7th logo (2004-2009):On a multicolored (purple, white, and blue) background, there is a red stylized "C" with the dot which is seen in the 6th logo, and is close up where there are several characters and celebrities (Alan Alda being licked by a seal on Scientific American Frontiers, Angelina from Angelina Ballerina dancing, and Barney smiling) chroma-keyed in the "C". The "C" with the dot pans out as the characters disappear. The text "CPTV" (acronym for Connecticut Public Television) appears next to it in a similar font for the text in the 6th logo. Then a purple, white and blue line is drawn and "CONNECTICUT" is seen above the line.
8th logo (2009-): On a room-esque background with a floor and a spotlight, there are stylized glass "C"s with dots merge into each other from the left. Once they finish, while light bursts into us, there is the finished product, which is the same C-Dot logo from the 2 previous logos, but embedded in what looks like a cut off square or half of a trapezoid, colored red. The words "Connecticut Public Television" fly in one by one (a la the 1984 KLRU logo).
10th logo (2013-):On a light gray background, there is the text "CPTV" wipe in from the bottom left to the top right of the screen. The text slowly zooms in towards the viewer then halts.
Music/Sounds[]
1st logo
A downward-arpeggio keyboard and bongo combo as the CP logo forms and the words slide in, and a final piano note for the "Connecticut" flash.
2nd logo
A dreamy new age-style synth note (which is sampled from the song "Look What You Find" by George Duke).
Music/Sound Variant[]
Sometimes, on the 25th anniversary variant, a female announcer says "The following is a special CPTV 25th anniversary presentation.".
3rd logo
Same as before, only abridged.
4th logo
A majestic fanfare (the first half being slightly reminiscent of the 1986 Golden Book Video logo). It's often abridged to the last part of the tune (the last note is shorter), or one single note.
5th logo
A synth bell with an announcer saying "The following is a CPTV original."
6th logo
A 4-note dreamy synth tune with a "ding" at the end.
Music/Sound Variants[]
- On the station ID, a news-like twinkling theme is used, with the first four notes of the regular music playing twice in different keys, building up to a different, longer "ding". Droning synths are heard at the end, with a six note chime that repeats until the logo ends.
- On Angelina Ballerina, the show's closing theme plays over it.
7th logo
3 bell/triangle notes, followed by a 4-note fanfare, composed by Stan Smith. On other shows, a female announcer says "A production of CPTV Connecticut."
Music/Sound Variants[]
- Sometimes, there is the ending theme of the show.
- The music was sometimes re-composed by Brendan Cooney with a different melody at the start: a simple C chord along with a gong/cymbal crash are heard with superhero music and a louder, slightly shriller 4-note fanfare. Unfortunately, it's out of sync with the text.
8th logo
The last note of the 2009 PBS logo. For the local variant, a nice violin piece or a female announcer saying the funding provided for the program.
9th logo
Something that sounds like the closing to a country song.
Scare Factor[]
1st logo
None to medium
2nd logo
None.
3rd logo
None to medium.
4th logo
None to medium
5th Logo
None to medium
6th logo
None to medium
7th logo
None to medium.
8th Logo
None.
Videos[]
CPTV logo (1994-2001)