Sterner Stuff

Background
Sterner Stuff began life as Stern-Co. Productions, established by Theodore Stern in 1956. He was joined by his son Phil, where he would serve as an uncredited writer and receive producer royalties before acquiring the company in 1962. The company had a distribution deal lined up with MCA TV/Universal Television which lasted until 1987. In 1979, Julia West would join the company and it was rebranded to Sternwest Productions. Sternwest would shut down in 2004 and merge with an earlier iteration of Sterner Stuff, ran by their children Jerry and Renee, still operating to this day. The rights to Sterner Stuff’s pre-2004 catalog is owned by Universal Television, with some exceptions for films not distributed by Universal.

1st Logo (1957-1978)
Logo: Basically an in-credit mention reading "A STERN-CO. PRODUCTION" or "in association with STERN CO. PRODUCTIONS"

Variant(s):


 * This would often share the screen with other logos.
 * Sometimes, the text would appear on a blue background.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the program.

Availability: First seen on the short-lived Space Cowboys, later appeared on the short-lived Numbers, County Law and a number of television films distributed by Universal Television, save for When John Came Back and Poor Sweet Lola, which were distributed by Metromedia Producers Corporation and EMI Television Programs respectively.

1st logo (1979-1989)
Logo: We see various multicolored "SW"s on a blue background. The blue copies fade away as the others blink out. A giant yellow "SW" fades in with "STERNWEST" in white appearing in front of it, while "PRODUCTIONS" appears below the shape.

Variant: Early on the logo takes place on a brown background.

FX/SFX: The words and shapes appearing and disappearing.

Music/Sounds: A bombastic horn fanfare, or none.

Availability: Appeared on a number of TV movies. Also appeared on the film No Air, which was going to be a television film initially before it received a theatrical release.

2nd Logo (1987-2004)
Logo: On a white background, we see a robotic toy walking up to the viewer. The robot's chest is open, revealing a TV monitor with the word "Sternwest" in a black Peignot font.

FX/SFX: Live action.

Music/Sounds: Rhythmic robot noises.

Availability: First seen on the syndicated run of The Halloween Gang, and along with the Gecko Studios logo, plastered the Blessard Animation Productions logo on reruns of the first season in local syndication and home video releases through Family Home Entertainment. This was removed on more recent prints due to Blessard buying them back. It also appeared on the four episode special Nick At Nite's Commercial Corner, the unsold pilot for an American adaptation of Watch With Mother and various TV movies. This doesn't appear on Christmas by the Century: A Reflection on a Thousand Years of Holiday Spirit, which favors an in-credit mention along with the logos for Schaffer Productions, Bert Stratford Productions and The Fred Rappoport Company.

1st Logo (2009-)
Logo: A white splotch forms on a black background, with a black line getting painted in. We go to a mirrored perspective and see a red line getting drawn in as well. We zoom back as the text "STERNER STUFF" appears between the lines. Sparks can be seen by the corners.

FX/SFX: The lines and text.

Music/Sounds: An urban tune.

Availability: Appeared on the web series 10 minutes, 10 Stories. Also appeared on the films Channel 2, Don't Watch These: Three of the Worst Movies Ever Made, Elvis and the Devil and 7 Deadly Tales.