Millar Gough Ink

Background
Millar Gough Ink is the production company by Miles Millar and Alfred Gough.

1st Logo (October 12, 1999-November 10, 2011-2015)
Nicknames: "Orange-Red Ink", "Ink Bottle Gets the Banhammer", "(silent) SPLAT!!"

Logo: In an office setting, at the forefront, we see a bottle filled with orange red/ ink labeled:

MILLAR GOUGH INK

in an Impact font, colored /. Then the word "INK ", also in, is below the two words " MILLAR " and " GOUGH ", with the bottom half of "INK " in white/silver/light-grey. After a while, a hammer (which, if you look very, very closely, can be seen in the reflection on the bottle) swings down and smashes the bottle, causing the orange red/ ink in it to fly everywhere and cover up the screen. An ink bottle's label may also get ripped apart. One second later, it abruptly cuts to the next logo or split screen logo.

Trivia: The ink bottle is based on these unknown ink bottle-making companies who creates bottles of colored inks in it. (Well, that doesn't make sense.)

Variants:


 * On the short-lived show The Strip, 2003 DVD releases and Channel 4 and The WB and E4 airings of season 1 and 4:3 prints of all episodes of Smallville, there is an open-matte version of the logo. Sometimes the logo is cropped.
 * On the 2015 season 1 DVD release of Into The Badlands, the logo is still. As a result, there is no hammer in the still logo.
 * A warp-speed/short variant exists.

FX/SFX: The hammer smashing the orange red/ ink bottle, the orange red/ ink spreading, covering up the screen. It's all live-action.

Cheesy Factor: How could there be so much ink in that one, tiny bottle? Also, the transition to the next logo or split screen logo is really poorly done.

Music/Sounds: Just the sound of the bottle breaking, but in 2002 (starting with season 2 of Smallville), it started using a reverberating cartoon ditty.

Music/Sounds Variants: Starting in 1999 (starting with The Strip), the ending theme is played before the splattering sound. Starting in early 2002, it added piano tune, accompanied by an eerie, distorted chorus.

Music/Sounds Versions:


 * 1999: After the closing theme of the show plays, there is a splattering sound.
 * 2001-2002: Just the sound of the bottle breaking.
 * Early 2002: An odd, short piano tune with an eerie sound effect is played in the background.
 * 2002-2011: A reverberating cartoon ditty.

Availability: First seen on the short-lived show The Strip. Also seen on Smallville, the 2006 TV pilot of Aquaman and the 2011 version of Charlie's Angels. Don't expect this on the company's films, though. Look for the rare print logo on the back of the Smallville DVD/Blu-ray cover.

Editor's Note: While the sound of the bottle breaking can be startling for some people (especially the version without music where it breaks with no warning, which could be jarring to many people), some people may find this logo funny, and it may be favored for fans of Smallville.

Scare Factor:
 * 2001-2002: Medium to high. The bottle suddenly breaking with no warning can be jarring to many people, especially after the long silence during both this logo and the one before such as the Tollin/Robbins Productions logo.
 * Early 2002: Medium, due to the eerie music, but tame compared to the previous variant.
 * 2002-2011: Low to medium. It is slightly less scary with the music playing.

2nd Logo (November 15, 2015-)
Logo: On a black background, we see the stacked words "MILLAR GOUGH" in. To the right of it is a beaker on the bottle with a big black teardrop and the word "INK" in  inside.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None, or the end theme of the show.

Availability: Currently seen on Into the Badlands and The Shannara Chronicles. This logo is expected to appear on the 2022 upcoming show Wednesday. Don't expect this on the company's films, though.

Editor's Note: None.

Scare Factor: Low. The blood red logo on a black background can creep someone out, but it's tamer than the last logo.