PBS Station Idents

1st Logo

(1985-1990)

Nickname : "The PBS is on you."

Logo : There are two variations of this logo:

On a space background, we see a bunch of neon rainbow rectangles flying in different directions in trails. The PBS logo is seen in white, but when the trails pass by, the PBS letters disappear, they blend in with the background. There are 5 rainbow trails: the first one is yellow with orange, the second is orange with light blue, the third is purple with yellow, the fourth is green with light purple, and the last trail is in blue with yellow, forming the PBS letters in red. For the most part, only the logo's final part was used as a station ID.

Same concept as the "KET" logo, but this time the background is a time-lapse video of clouds (a la Warner Home Video) and this time the text is "Public Broadcasting Service" in a different font.

Variants:

Sometimes, there is no text writing itself on the finished logo.

Sometimes, only the tail end of the logo plays.

One version had "Public Broadcasting Service" writing itself on.

FX/SFX: Excellent CGI for the time.

Music/Sounds: A light synth tune with three bells and a synth bass sounder at the end. On the earliest versions (circa 1988), an electric guitar riff played at the beginning.

Availability: Extinct.

Scare Factor: Low; this is very neat and professional for its time.

2nd Logo

(1990-1993)

Nicknames: "The Spirit of Education", "PBS Circle II" "PBS ID Chapter 2: The Falling Sky"

Logo: On a sky background, we see a red block being cut into pieces by lasers. As they separate, we see parts of a giant circle come together and circular lights circling them. At the same time, the red blocks form the PBS logo (which is the same logo as before, with a slightly different arrangement) and they rotate to face us while the circle gets its "glass" covering and IT rotates to face us. While it's doing that, a triangle (upside down) with the words "THE SPIRIT OF" flies in from the bottom right. As the "glass" covering on the circle gets its "shines", the word "EDUCATION", in neon green, writes itself on the triangle, under the "THE SPIRIT OF" text.

Variants:

The sky sometimes varies. From 1990-1992, it used a dark blue sky background. In 1993, the sky turned red.

Sometimes, there is no triangle with text accompanying the logo.

Sometimes, the tail end (where the PBS text forms itself) plays, cutting out the lasers.

Sometimes, a still logo is shown.

FX/SFX: See 1st logo.

Music/Sounds:

1990-1992: A light synth theme with the three bells and a synth flourish at the end plays, just like logo 1.

1993: A re-arranged version of the theme, this time with an electric guitar and no bells at the end.

Availability: Extinct; tape trading is the only way to see it.

Scare Factor: None; this is a very clean logo.

3rd Logo

(1991-1995)

Nicknames: "PBS Is Like Nickelodeon Now!"

Logo:See Variants.

Variants:

Robot: We see a robot dancing (that has the words "PBS" on it) at a ballet studio, then it pirouettes to the center and bows.

Paint: The PBS text gets splattered with paint.

Rain: We see a desert, then a rain cloud appears and makes some rain. The rain forms the PBS text and goes away, causing plants to grow.

Boomerang: A girl decides to use the P from the text as a boomerang, then she throws it into space, and the girl puts the P back.

Cards: We see some flipping cards in different colors. Then the cards stop, forming the PBS logo.

Skull: The camera zooms around a PBS skull.

Dinosaur: A girl has a PBS dinosaur for a pet.

Nap: A PBS poster is sleeping. A record player playing rock music wakes it up, however.

Opera: A woman sings opera and gets a red PBS tissue on her mouth.

Scribbles: The PBS logo is illustrated with scribbles.

Blender: A PBS blender spins around.

Chair: A PBS chair moves around.

Toaster: A PBS toaster pops out toast saying "We'll be right back."

FX/SFX: See Variants. Most of these IDs were done at Big-Blue-Dot in Boston, MA.

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Music/Sounds: It depends on the variant.

Availability: Extinct; tape trading is the only way to see it.

Scare Factor: None to medium.

4th Logo

(1995-)

Nicknames: "PBS Is Weird!"

Logo: See Variants.

Variants:

Talking Machine Girl: A girl's teeth turn into piano keys, mouths and eyes appear on her face, and she turns into a robotic machine. Then a PBS scorpion appears.

Gift: A boy opens up a present, revealing the present is another copy of himself. Then the PBS "jumpy creature" appears.

Tractor: A tractor that looks like a pig shaves a giant bird's feathers. Then the PBS "running alien" appears.

Cat: A cat runs around the red robot, and then the cat throws up on it. Then the PBS "scorpion" appears.

Skull: An updated version of the PBS skull laughs at us.

Pinchface: Same as the Nickelodeon ID, except Pinchface and the fists say "PBS" and it has the PBS "dinosaur" logo.

Bird: A bird takes off his head, says "yoo-hoo" and puts it back. Then a PBS scorpion appears.

FX/SFX: 2D, 3D, stop-motion or live-action animation.

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Music/Sounds: It depends on the variant.

Availability: Common.

Scare Factor: None to NIGHTMARE! Some of the IDs are in the disturbing way and doesn't seen to be friendly in most situations.