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Screen Gems

Background[]

Screen Gems Inc. is a California-based film production studio that is currently a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. It formed in 1929 and specialized in animation, but began producing normal television shows, thus becoming a television subsidiary nearly two decades later in 1948.

In 1974, the company became Columbia Pictures Television after merging with its then-parent company, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. six years prior.

Today, the Screen Gems name has since been resurrected and the company now exists as a film-producing branch of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group.

Logos[]

[]

Superimposed over the screen, they see in-credit text that reads:

A

SCREEN GEMS, INC.

PRODUCTION

Variants[]

  • On Days of Our Lives, the text would read as "A CORDAY PRODUCTIONS, SCREEN GEMS PRESENTATION".
  • For those co-produced by Hanna-Barbera, it would say "A SCREEN GEMS FILM PRESENTATION, TELEVISION SUBSIDIARY COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION".
  • On Decision: The Conflicts of Harry S. Truman, under the Ben Gradus Productions text says, "In association with SCREEN GEMS INC. and DAVID M. NOYES".
  • On the short-lived game show Line 'em Up, in the first reel says "a SCREEN GEMS production".
  • On The Jetsons episode "The Coming of Astro", the letter "A" isn't shown next to the words "SCREEN GEMS" (This version can still be seen intact on The Jetsons episode on Boomerang and Amazon Video on Demand.

[]

On the same light gray background seen on the last logo, there is a TV tube-like shape that's outlined in dark gray and filled in black. There are about eight stars shining inside (like stars in the sky) around the phrase "A SCREEN GEMS INC. Presentation" or "A SCREEN GEMS INC. Production".

Variants[]

  • There is one version where the stars shining are more animated and differently shaped. Also, there isn't any glow surrounding them.
  • From late 1954 to early 1956, the word "Film" is added inside the tube.

[]

Like the 1942 version of the 1936 Columbia Pictures logo, there is 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 and upper body is between the words "SCREEN GEMS" with the letter "A" in Vivaldi font above it and "FILM PRESENTATION" or "FILM PRODUCTION" below it. The byline "TELEVISION SUBSIDIARY COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION" appears below that.

Variant[]

There is a special variant for the 10th Anniversary of Screen Gems. The logo is the same, except for the text "10ᵀᴴ ANNIVERSARY FILM PROGRAM" seen below in place of the standard text.

[]

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.

Variants[]

  • An updated version of sorts could be seen as the logo for the "Screen Gems Network", the '90s syndicated package of classic SG, Columbia, Tandem, and ELP shows.
  • A rare color variant of this logo was seen on Hazel.
  • An opening version featured the lettering "COLUMBIA" over a filming studio, with a camera crane moving (similar to the 1960 NBC "Cameraman" logo) and then it fades to the Screen Gems logo.

[]

Eleven 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" in a Benguiat Frisky font (Arab Becker Brushstroke). (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.

Color Variant[]

When filmed and broadcast in color, the sticks and the dots are rainbow colors. There is at least one stick jump from the bottom and one other bounce from the top to total 11.

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On a yellow background, two red parallelograms (or lines) 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 red dot appears, forming a stylized "S". Under that, the text "SCREEN GEMS" zooms in.

Variants[]

  • There's an in-credit logo that's shown on the short-lived series Adventures of the Seaspray with the text "in association with" and "Screen Gems" in the same font as the credits.
  • Another in-credit version was shown on The Pierre Berton Show with the text "SCREEN GEMS Canada Production" in the same font as the credits.
  • Starting in late 1972, the byline "A DIVISION OF COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC." zooms up with "SCREEN GEMS".
  • When shown in black & white, the standard scheme appears to be a light gray screen and black "S" and words. When shown in color, the standard scheme appears 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. On some prints of The Partridge Family, 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 appeared more natural. At the same time, other Screen Gems shows carried the normal color scheme (as did The Partridge Family when it was rerun on Hallmark Channel).
  • 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" in small print above "SCREEN GEMS".
  • Another still variant with and without Columbia bylines respectively was seen on some shows like the first season of Police Story and Ghost Story (also known as Circle of Fear).
  • Another variant has the byline appearing after the company logo/text animation stop. This variant was seen on early episodes of the miniseries QB VII.
  • There is a variant where (possibly due to film deterioration), the screen is white and the "S" is bright. Seen on the pilot episode of Love on a Rooftop.
  • Another variant is similar to the one above, but even brighter, making the "S" invisible and the words "SCREEN GEMS" barely visible. Seen on the Love on a Rooftop episode "The Six Dollar Surprise".
  • Another variant like the ones above, contains the byline, has the "S" being partly invisible and the name and byline barely visible to see. This was spotted in a B&W print of The Paul Lynde Show episode "Togetherness".
  • On a late '80s print of an episode of Occasional Wife, the animation and music of the logo was slightly faster than usual, probably due to time compression.
  • A still version with a sky blue background was seen on S1 E5 of the short-lived series The Girl with Something Extra.
  • Another still version with a pink background was seen on the pilot of the same show.
  • On the GetTV airing of the TV special The Temptations Show, the logo strangely skips in the middle of its animation, speeding up the logo and music in the process
ScreenGemsFilms1

Music/Sounds[]

1st logo[]

The end-title theme from any show. In the game show Line 'em Up, a voiceover says "Line 'em Up is a Screen Gems production in association with CFTO TV enclosing".

2nd logo[]

The end title theme of any show.

3rd logo[]

  • A majestic horn fanfare at the begin/end of some syndicated programs (nicknamed the "Fanfare of Doom"), or the opening theme of the movie or short. There exists two known versions of this fanfare.
  • Usually, as a closing logo, you will hear the ending theme for whatever show or movie played over it sometimes with Harry Cohn announcing: "This has been a Screen Gems Film Production, from the Hollywood studios of Columbia Pictures".

Music/Sounds Variant[]

When the movie 20 Million Miles to Earth premiered on television, Screen Gems plastered the Columbia Pictures logo, keeping the fanfare intact.

4th logo[]

Usually, the end title theme from any show has played over this with Harry Cohn, the longtime president of Columbia Pictures announcing:

  • "This has been a Screen Gems Film Presentation (from Columbia Pictures), Herbert B. Leonard, Executive Producer".
  • "This has been a Screen Gems Film Presentation (from Columbia Pictures), produced by Herbert B. Leonard."
  • "This has been a Screen Gems Production."
  • "This has been a Screen Gems Film (Production/Presentation)."
  • "This has been a Screen Gems Film (Production/Presentation), from the Hollywood studios of Columbia Pictures". Announced by Hal Gibney.
  • The opening variants would have a fanfare with a different announcer saying, "From Columbia Pictures, A Screen Gems Production".

5th logo[]

An 8-note jazzy trumpet fanfare that ascends as the sticks drop in, and ends with a 5-note stinger when the logo finishes. An announcer states that the production is "A Screen Gems Production" (for shows produced in-house) or "A Screen Gems Presentation" (for co-productions with other companies) near the end.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants[]

  • One extremely rare version of the logo does not use an announcer spiel. This was often used on international prints of Screen Gems shows.
  • The final season of Route 66 has "A Screen Gems Presentation, Herbert B. Leonard, Executive Producer".

6th logo[]

  • Composed by Eric Siday, the entire score was performed on a Moog modular synthesizer (Siday was one of the first musicians to have one). It consists of 6 French horn-like notes, followed by 2 synth-brass quadruplets with the last note held.
  • In 1970, the Siday theme was shortened so only three notes came before the tones. This shortened variant was sped-up and was used for the first short-lived Columbia Pictures Television logo.

Music/Sounds Variants[]

  • There is a version of the logo where no music is played, in other words, silence. This was seen on the 1971 television movie Brian's Song.
  • The still version seen on Police Story had the end theme playing over the logo.
  • The 1966 series Hawk (with Burt Reynolds), some later prints of The Peter Potamus Show, and the 1966 edition of NFL Game of the Week, carried an alternate recording of the Eric Siday music, which had sharper, more "shrill" tones, almost sounding like a loud saxophone.
  • On some first season episodes of I Dream of Jeannie (seen in syndication in the '70s and early '80s), as well as the half hour packaging of Batfink, an alternate trumpet fanfare played over the logo (said to be composed by Van Alexander, but this is not certain).
  • Current Prints of The aftermentioned Show has this logo with The Long Sony Pictures Television Music instead.
  • In other cases, it used the closing theme of the show or TV movie.
  • Some prints have the music more higher pitched.
  • When ABC reran Bewitched on their daytime schedule in 1968, this logo had the "Dancing Sticks" music attached to it, probably due to a plastering error (on at least two episodes).

Scare Factor[]

1st logo[]

None.

2nd logo[]

Low to medium. The television can scare some with the closing theme.

3rd logo[]

Depending on the logo variant:

  • Original version: Medium to nightmare. The old B&W film quality and Torch Lady might send some chills, but the fanfare has been considered by many to be overly bombastic and scary.
  • With the opening/closing themes: Low to medium.

4th logo[]

Low to medium. The torch lady could catch you off guard, but it's tamer than the 3rd logo.

5th logo[]

Low to medium. The dramatic music and spooky announcers may make some jumpy. But it's otherwise pretty tame.

6th logo[]

Depending on the variant:

  • 1965-1970: None. It’s cool.
  • 1970-1974: See above.
  • Hawk variant: See above.
  • With the 1963 theme: See above.
  • Trumpet variant: See above.
  • Phantom S variant: See above.
  • With The SPT Theme: See above.
  • Still variant: See above.
  • Remainder of the variants: See above.

Videos[]

Gallery[]

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