Desilu Logo (1967)
Background[]
Desilu Productions, co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, was best known for its hit productions such as I Love Lucy, Star Trek, and The Untouchables. The couple jointly owned Desilu Productions from its inception in 1950 until their divorce in 1960, after which Ball bought Arnaz out and ran the company by herself for several years. She eventually sold the company in 1967 to Gulf+Western. After the sale, company officials renamed it Paramount Television.
Its entire library is currently owned by CBS Television Studios. The pre-1960 library is copyrighted to CBS Broadcasting, while CBS Studios, Inc. holds the copyrights to the 1960s library (previously copyrighted by Paramount Pictures Corporation).
Low for the original variant and low to medium with the battling loud music. The animation and the music can scare a few. The battling loud music can also scare some people who never listened before. None to low for the variant on Season 1 of Mission Impossible, the music may be funny.
Logos[]
1st logo: Desilu did not use a logo until 1952. As superimposed or scrolling on the end credits, we see the text:
A
DESILU PRODUCTION
From 1951-1952, the copyright stamp fades-in below. From 1952-1963, this would fade to the "script" logo.
2nd logo: Over a specialty backdrop, we see the words "FILMED IN HOLLYWOOD BY" ("Filmed in HOLLYWOOD and MEXICO by" on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour). The word "Desilu" is written in a cursive font, either in black, white, or in a 3D-ish appearance. Then, a round ball dots the "i". The copyright information appears at the bottom. This phrase was shortened to "FILMED BY DESILU" in 1957.
Variants[]
- There is a still in-credit variant appeared on filmed location shows.
- Another in-credit logo has the Desilu script name between "A" and "PRODUCTION"
- At the beginning of some programs, the word "Presents" is seen below.
- For Desilu Sales, Desilu's distribution arm starting in 1962, the text "Distributed by Desilu Sales, Inc." is seen in a script font on a gray background.
3rd logo: On a black background six multicolored (red, pink, and orange) circles surround a white one and then merge together with it to form a blue circle, which backs away upward as the word "Desilu" is written in a yellow cursive font. As the circle takes its place over the "i," it turns white.
Variants[]
- When Desilu merged with Paramount Pictures in 1966, the Paramount copyright stamp and print logos would appear under it.
- On Star Trek reruns from 1978 onward and on Blu-ray releases of Season 2, the Paramount copyright is chyroned in. Then they would cut to the then-current Paramount Television logo, 2006 CBS Paramount Domestic Television "Eye in the Sky" logo, or the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo afterward. Some older prints will have the logo with the chyroned Paramount copyright, but will not be followed by any Paramount logo. This has been seen on the 1980 Paramount Home Video releases of Star Trek: Television Classics, Volumes 1-5. A version with a pink tint, due to film quality, can be found on the 1984 Laserdisc release of The Menagerie: Parts I & II under the Television Classics collection. Original airings and Blu-ray releases of Season 1 will either have just the logo or with the 1967 Paramount-Norway copyright. When the series aired on Me-TV and H&I, the Desilu logo will either have the 1967 Paramount-Norway copyright (for season 2) or the 1978 Paramount copyright (for season 1) if the succeding logo (CBS Paramount or CBS Television Distribution) does not have a copyright. On the other hand, if the Desilu logo does not have either copyright, the logo will be bylineless and the copyright will be placed on the succeding logo.
- There was a red Desilu logo seen on Mission: Impossible.
- There's another variant where the year appears as "1967" instead of its Roman numeral equivalent.
- On recent prints of a few 1967 episodes of Mannix, a 1996 copyright stamp for CBS Studios is used (the 1967 stamp is retained on most other episodes from '67).
Music/Sounds[]
1st logo: The closing theme from any show.
2nd logo: Music played during the end of the show. Some I Love Lucy episodes have an announcer saying, "I Love Lucy is a Desilu Production". Sometimes, it's even followed up with "Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz will return next week at the same time". 3rd logo: A five-note horn fanfare; starts on a light note as the circle forms. Would later be used on Paramount Television's 1st logo. Sometimes this music would play faster. All were composed by Wilbur Hatch.
Music/Sounds Variants[]
- Season one episodes of Mission: Impossible would sometimes have "bump" music (the basis for the "M:I" theme) as the fanfare.
- Some season two episodes of Mission: Impossible episodes had a battling loud rendition of the fanfare. This would later be used on Paramount Television's first logo in early 1968.
- In other cases, it's silent.
Scare Factor[]
1st logo: None.
2nd logo: None to low.
3rd logo: Low for the original variant and low to high with the battling loud music. The animation and the music can scare a few. The battling loud music can also scare some people who never listened before. None to low for the variant on Season 1 of Mission Impossible, the music may be funny.
Video[]
Desilu logo