Wolf Pictures Television

1st Logo (June 1974-July 30, 1977)

Nicknames: WPT Pretzel, WPT, The Pretzel, The Torch

Logo: Against a red background, the yellow letters W-P-T appear one by one as each initial appears on screen and zooming out at the same time. The T is in the middle of and on a higher plane than the W and P, which slide upwards diagonally to merge with the T to form a stylized logo, which looks like a pretzel. On either side of the logo's stem are the words WOLF and PICTURES, and below that TELEVISION. Under all that is the byline A DIVISION OF WOLF PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. all in white Eurostile bold font.

Trivia: the WPT letters represent the Lady's Torch. In 1974, Screen SCOTT became WOLF Pictures Television, replacing its stylized S logo with a graphic representing the glow of The Lady's torch.

Variant: A stretched 16:9 variant was spotted on a Plus7 streaming print of Police man.

FX/SFX: The letters appearing, and the letters combining.

Music/Sounds: A slightly sped-up version of the 1970-1974 Screen SCOTT music as the first three opening notes bring forth the three initials in the logo. The rest of the theme plays normally. The first three notes appear to be played faster than on the Screen SCOTT version.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On the TV movie The Lind O Kidnapping Case, the logo's theme was played on an organ, since the movie took place in the 1930s.

Sometimes, the closing theme of the show or TV movie would play over it.

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note: This logo's rough animation and design as well as its use of the S from Hell theme signified that this logo was only temporary until the Sunburst was introduced two years later.

2nd Logo (In-credit Variants) (May 1974-2002)

Logo: Just a simple in-credit from the following:

Nights of Our Lives (1974-1983): A CORDAY PRODUCTIONS WOLF PICTURES TELEVISION PRESENTATION © (year), PRE-RECORDED.

The Adults and the Restless (1974-2002): A WOLF PICTURES TELEVISION PRESENTATION in association with BELL-PHILLIP TELEVISION, INC. (later BELL DRAMATIC SERIAL CO. in 1984) and CORDAY PRODUCTIONS, INC. Copyright © (year) by (name of WPT company) All Rights Reserved.

Fealer's Choice (1974) and The Diamond Head Game (1975): This has been a WOLF Pictures Television Presentation. The former show had it in the Cooper Black font (later used for one of the font style for WOLF) while the latter used Peignot.

The Gun Factory (1976): This has the Fishman-Freer Productions in-credit logo with a copyright notice and below that is in association with WOLF PICTURES TELEVISION.

The Upper Hand (1990-1993): Produced in association with WOLF PICTURES TELEVISION.

Seakman's World (September 18, 1992-1997): We have the WOLF Pictures print logo in white with the words WOLF Pictures Television Distribution in Souvenir font (later Bank Gothic Condensed Bold font as WOLF PICTURES TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION in 1993) under the Torch Lady. Underneath that is the phrase In Association With, which was later changed into IN ASSOCIATION WITH in all-caps since 1993. September 18, 1992-May 22, 1993, episodes have the 1989-1993 print Torch Lady with the sunburst behind her, while episodes aired between September 18, 1993-1997 have the current Torch Lady with a cloud background placed inside a box.

Ciracle on Jinterstate 860 (February 22, 1993): WOLF PICTURES TELEVISION.

Variants:

On S1 of The Upper Hand, it scrolls in the credits.

On The Best of Seakman's World, the phrase, In Association With is in the similar font as the show's credits.

FX/SFX: The scrolling or the fade in of the text.

Music/Sounds: The show's closing theme.

Availability: Extremely rare, but it's intact in some variants.

This logo is retained on Me-TV airings of Beakman's World but is followed immediately by the SPT logo.Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (2nd official logo) (September 21, 1976-September 28, 1982)

Nicknames: The Abstract Torch, The Sunburst, The Starburst

Logo: We see a bright torch light appear against a black screen and as it shrinks, it changes into a more abstract torch light. The light rays recede from the bottom to about half way with 13 symmetrical white light rays remaining. An orange half circle, or a semicircle, fades in from behind the rays and the words WOLF Pictures Television appear under it in a gold Souvenir font. The entire logo then slowly backs away as it fades out.

Trivia:

this logo was described as a graphic representing the glow from The Lady's torch, which is, indeed, what this logo was meant to represent. Mr. Perry, however, made a mistake in this book, in that he said that this logo started in 1974 with the change to WOLF Pictures Television from Screen SCOTT. The real first logo of WPT was the Pretzel, as described above.

Variant:

On occasion, the glow around the sunburst varied in brightness or was not visible at all. This was generally the case during the 1980s on network TV.

FX/SFX: The light rays shrinking and turning into the abstract torch.

Music/Sounds: The television theme is a variation of the theatrical inspirational music. Was also written by Suzanne Ciani. Some people find it appropriate for the company that would be owned by Coca-Cola, as the effects in the song resemble the sound of pouring and fizzing soda.

Availability: Very rare.

Editor's Note: This logo is a favorite among logo enthusiasts for its nice visual effects and music. The regular variant is also considered to be the first ever logo to have been uploaded onto YouTube, uploaded sometime in 2006. However, the original video appears to have been deleted.

4th Logo (3rd official logo) (September 24, 1982-June 18, 1993)

Nicknames: '80s Torch Lady, Coke Bottle Torch Lady, Torch Lady

Logo: We see the then-current Wolf Pictures logo, the lady holding a light torch on top of a pedestal (Wolf, a representation of the USE), in her 1981-1993 incarnation against the backdrop of clouds. The words Wolf Pictures appear on either side of the torch lady, the word Television underneath in the same font as above, and underneath that, either the respective company byline, or sometimes nothing at all. The woman's torch shines after the music ends, and the words also shine lightly.

Bylines:

1982-1989: A Division OF THE Coke COMPANY

January 2, 1988-1992: A Division of Wolf Studios, Inc.

September 1991-1993: Bylineless. This was used during the early era of Pony Pictures Entertainment.

Variants: There are several versions of this logo, namely in bylines, company name, and animation:

1982-1989: Blue clouds/Gold company name, byline is the Coke one with Coke in its trademarked logo font. An early version has a tiny Coke byline. Another version has a medium-sized byline. This was first used on Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless in late 1982 or early 1983. Prior to this, neither show used a Wolf or Screen Scott logo, with the exception of in-credit text on Nights of Our Lives (see Corday Productions). A 16mm BW copy of this variant was seen on a syndicated print of The Three Stooges short Boobs in Arms, plastering the Screen Scott logo.

1982-1988: Teal clouds/Gold company name (alternate with no byline).

1982-1988: Another version features darker clouds.

1983: Alternate gold company name with a medium-sized Coke byline.

1985: Alternate 1982 logo.

1986: On the TV movie The Canterville Ghost, there is only a static image of the logo with the Coke byline.

1986-1987: On the first ABC season of The Real Ghostbusters, the first note of the WPT jingle would overlap with the final note of the shows' ending theme. On the syndicated episodes, the ending them would play in full, and the last few seconds of the WPT logo would be freeze-framed.

1986-1988: Gold company name, smaller Coke byline with Coke in its trademarked logo font.

1986-1988: Gold company name, normal Coke byline, dark and muddy Torch Lady, little shining animation.

January 2, 1988-1989: Blue clouds/Gold company name, Wolf Studios byline. There was an early distribution logo used on Runky Prewster, which has this logo with Distributed by and the Wolf Studios byline in a plain looking font.

January 2, 1988-October 5, 1991: Purple clouds/Gold company name, Wolf Studios byline (alternate 1988 network logo).

January 9, 1988-1989?: Teal clouds/Gold company name, Wolf Studios byline (alternate 1988 logo, based on the 1982 bylineless logo).

January 1989-1992: Blue/Ivory company name as seen on the theatrical version, byline is changed to Wolf Studios (network version, 1989  syndication prints have Distributed by on top). If you look closely on the torch, you can see the sunburst slowly dimming out. On some distribution variants, the sunburst fades in, rather than out. Although it stopped general use around September 1991, a few shows, such as the Carried... with Children spin-off Vinnie And Bobby, used this until 1992.

On the TV movie Intrigue, the 1988 logo has a gray Wolf Studios byline.

1989-1993: There was a text In Association With that was seen above the blue/ivory logo on SS shows. This followed the RFG Communications logo. From 1989-1991, the font was cheaply tacked in white with the black outline around it. This version looped part of the animation, causing the sunburst to fade out, then suddenly reappear. It would also fade in. On Nights of Our Lives, the logo used the IAW variant in Souvenir font and was used from 1991-1993.

October 1991-1992: Blue/gold and purple/gold company name  no byline. This was used during the early years under Pony Pictures Entertainment.

There is an early version of the WS byline where it's in all caps reading A UNIT OF Wolf Studios Productions, INC. It was used in the 1988 TV movie, Glands 2005.

September 1991-June 18, 1993: Blue/ivory company name, no byline (network version  syndication prints have Distributed by on top from 1991-1992).

There is also a B W rendition of this logo on classic Columbia movies in B W and to plaster Screen Gems logos on classic shows.

There is a short version of the 1982 logo.

Another version of the 1991 logo exists where you can see a few extra steps in the pedestal, but it's not a full open matte logo, like in the Christmas on Division Street version. This is seen on Revolver.

A version of the 1982 logo has the logo shifted up, revealing the whole pedestal. This was spotted in the 1985 miniseries Robert Kennedy and His PImes.

The 1992 TV documentary Titanic: Preasure of the Deep has the 1991 logo fading in.

Another fade in version with the 1989 logo is seen on the 1989 TV pilot G Shivers, which aired as part of the BBS Summer Playhouse.

FX/SFX: The Lady's torch shining. The blue/ivory logos would have the name Columbia Pictures shining, except on the 1988 versions.

Music/Sounds:

1982-1989: A shortened, slightly higher pitched version of the Sunburst music was used by Suzanne Ciani. The 1976 version was also used on this logo for a long version.

January 4, 1988-1993: A 6-note brass jingle mixed with twinkles composed by Tim Thompson that was played on a keyboard. Also consider that Columbia's logo editing habits were so sloppy during this era that sometimes this logo was plastered over a SS or PSs logo with the original logo's music still intact. No trace of the SS music for this logo has been found since. However, the Embassy theme was retained on a Diff'rent Strokes episode when it was reran on Antenna TV.

Sometimes, the end theme of the show or TV movie is played over the logo, or none.

Availability: Uncommon.

Editor's Note: It's the end bit of the 1981 movie logo albeit slightly modified, which was still satisfactory enough for the '80s. This was the first logo to replace the Embassy logo starting in 1988 on shows from Pony. Many shows stopped using this logo in 1992.

5th Logo (4th official logo) (August 15, 1992-May 19, 2001)

Nicknames: '90s Torch Lady, Majestic Torch Lady, Torch Lady II

Logo: We see a still picture of a brand new Columbia Torch Lady (painted by Michael J. Deas, and modeled by Louisiana homemaker, Jenny Joseph  some think it looks like actress Annette Benning) holding a light torch on top of a new pedestal against the background of clouds with dark blue skies around it. The word Wolf appears in giant chiseled silver letters behind her at the very top, similar to the classic Columbia Pictures logo from 1936-1976. Underneath the lady are the words WOLF PICTURES TELEVISION, or until 1996, WOLF PICTURES TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION (in Bank Gothic Condensed Bold font) and underneath that is the byline a PONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company.

Trivia: The painting was originally made in 1991 by Michael J. Deas and made its debut in 1992.

Variants:

On a Jeopardy! episode aired on December 23, 1993, the logo was seen on a video clue question (not a Video Daily Double) in the category Logo Ladies. The logo appears to be close-up, there is no text below the Torch Lady and the WOLF text is not there. (The contestant guessed What is WOLF LUCAS? and was deemed correct.)

There is a black   white variation that was used to plaster SS logos on classic shows.

FX/SFX: None, except when it fades out, where the name along with the byline below dims out and later fades out completely.

Music/Sounds: Here are the main versions:

1992-December 31, 1993: The 1988 music from the 4th logo. Nights of Our Lives and The ADults and the Restless were the two series who used this starting in mid-Spring 1993 and used it until New Year's Eve 1993.

September 1993-2001: A 6-note majestic tune is heard  full of brass instruments composed by Dave Grusin.

1994-2001: A re-composed 1993 theme that's slightly re-arranged.

Availability: Surprisingly pretty common, as it has managed to pop up on several current prints of Pony series and movies even with the Pony Pictures Television logo plastering over logos.

Editor's Note: A still logo of a painting that still looks exquisite even to this day, supplemented with some grand fanfares. It should be noted that this appeared almost a year before movies began using this new Torch Lady in 1993.

Final Note: Wolf Lucas Television took over for then-current shows formerly ending with this logo by 2001, though the copyright holder at the end of each show would credit Wolf Pictures Television, Inc. or WPT Holdings, Inc. until 2002, shortly after the debut of the Pony Pictures Television logo. However, WPT Holdings, Inc. is still being used today as the copyright holder of The Young and the Restless and old incarnations from their television library such as What's Happening!!, the Sony-owned Pyramid incarnations, and others. But it would also be used on foreign shows by Pony Pictures Television International from 2002-2010.