Nicknames: "The Neon Sign", "Flash of Doom", "WGBH Outline", "The Flash from Hell", "Eerie Outline", "Flash of Final Judgment", "Nightmare on WGBH Street", "Sleepless in Boston" Logo: Here are the main variants of this logo: Version I: On a black background, two orange lines of "electricity" form two, orange, 2D "shadows", one on top and one on bottom. Then the lines form an orange outline of "WGBH" in between the "shadows". The lines stop, and an orange flash starts behind the outline. The flash clears out "WGBH" as "Boston Presents" appears in an orange Helvetica font. The "Boston Presents" logo was a bumper used at the beginning of the show. Version II: Similar to the other logo, but usually with the "WGBH" logo already formed as it fades in, and then the flash occurs and the word "BOSTON" appears, spaced-out, below the logo in an orange Art Deco font. Trivia: Their slogan up to 1982 was "Public Television. It's better than ever." Variants: There are many variants in terms of the music and the announcer: 1977-1986: The full version of the music,with the complete animation and "Boston Presents" ending, and no announcer. 1986-1993: Same as above, but shortened to when "WGBH" begins to flash. 1993-2009: The short version of the music, with the logo already formed and no announcer. 1993-2009: Same as above, but with an announcer. 2002-2009: The short version of the music with no announcer, and the complete (sped-up) animation, and no announcer, but the logo itself has been digitally enhanced. This version can be seen on episodes of Frontline. Another version has the logo zooming in a bit while the animation is being drawn, which can be seen on episodes of NOVA, and was also used as a station ID. Another version had the PBS logo appearing in its place and shining with an announcer saying "You're watching WGBH Boston.". A superimposed variant of the animation can be seen on episodes of Masterpiece Theater. Sometimes, the closing theme of the show will play over this logo. This can be seen on pre-2009 episodes of Arthur and Between the Lions. 1993-2009: A version can occasionally be spotted in which the "glowing" animation is played, but no text appears. This can be seen on most pre-2005 episodes of Arthur. On later episodes of Arthur, the byline "WGBH is a trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation" (and sometimes a URL) is shown below written in the Arthur font. Another local version used in the 1980s begins with a blue flash, followed by an orange "2" written in the same style as the WGBH logo zooming up. This variant was always played when the station signed on in the morning, and played in reverse when it signed off at night. No music or sounds play here. On Evening with Pops, the 1986 logo was superimposed into the intro. The 1993 version of the logo was superimposed of The American Experience. There is a version where the logo forms in warp speed. However, during the flash, the logo turns into the PBS logo. This is seen on some episodes of Mystery. On The End of the Rainbow, the logo is pink, possibly due to film deterioration. FX/SFX: The lines of electricity, and the flash. Cheesy Factor: The flash and light effects are typical of CGI in the Scanimate era of the '70s and early '80s. The enhanced variant slightly tones down the cheesiness, but the music is still evil-sounding and very dated—although the theme fits this logo a lot more than the 1st one. Music/Sounds/Voice-over: Same as the 1st logo, which adds to the creepiness. There have been 2 versions, a long version and a short version. The entire 7-second jingle is used as the long version, and is in much better sound quality and plays at the correct speed. The short version features only the rising synth chord (but we still hear the UFO noise, but only abridged), and is much more common nowadays. Sometimes, an announcer will say "A production/presentation of WGBH Boston." or "(show's name) is a production/presentation of WGBH Boston." Music/Sounds Variants: The Mystery version has the full music along with a male announcer saying "Mystery is a production of WGBH. Produced in Boston, shared with the world." A version has been seen with abridged animation, no voice-over, and slightly lower-pitched music on Design Squad. Two versions can be heard whether it's long or short; one is the original pitch, while the other is slightly higher pitch. The 1986 version has the former, while the 1993 version has the latter. The 1977 version has either. Sometimes the 1993 or 2002 logos have an announcer saying "(Show's name) is a production/presentation of WGBH Boston." or simply "A production/presentation of WGBH Boston". From 1998 to 2002, on Mystery and Masterpiece Theatre, the announcer has a British accent. On the 1999 revival of Zoom, a kid from the show voices over, with the short music. Starting in 2002, there would be no announcer and it would just have the music. One variant has a creepy voice-over say "Mystery is a presentation of WGBH Boston."
The End of the Rainbow variant had a warped version of the music, possibly due to film deterioration. Availability: Very common, quite possibly the most common PBS logo you can find. The first version made its debut on the NOVA episode "Hitler's Secret Weapon", and can be seen in its various versions on many PBS shows, such as NOVA, Frontline, American Experience, Masterpiece Theatre, The Victory Garden, and Arthur, among others. The 1993 version with the short music and no announcer has been sighted on early episodes of Fetch with Ruff Ruffman. The "Boston Presents" version can be found on video and may also show up on WGBH shows produced from 1982-1993 if your station has older prints. The original unabridged version can be seen on videocassettes and DVDs of their 1979 miniseries The Scarlet Letter, all of which also preserve the 1971 PBS logo. Current prints of Arthur plaster it with the 9th logo. Scare Factor: Once again, depends on the variant. - Early Variant:High to nightmare.This logo has scared many with its dark colors, eerie animation, and that creepy synth music from the first logo.It's less scary for people who are used to seeing it. This is also a favorite for those who don't find this logo scary. - 1993 and 2002 Variants:Medium to high. The shorter version of the music is less scary, though we still have the dark animation. - Zoom Variant: Low to medium. The animation is still there but the kid voice over and shorter music drops the scare factor. - Closing Theme/No Flash Variants:Low to medium, the animation is still there, but the lack of the music makes it less scary.
