Millar Gough Ink

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

1st Logo (October 12, 1999-November 10, 2011)
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

The text is written in, with only the bottom half of "INK " in white/silver. After a while, a hammer (which, if you look 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. It abruptly cuts to the next or split-screen logo.

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.
 * A warp-speed variant exists.

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

Cheesy Factor: How could there be so very much ink being filled on the bottle? Also, the transition to the next logo or split screen logo is really poorly done.

Music/Sounds: Here are the main music versions: All music versions ended with the sound of the bottle breaking, sometimes, louder.
 * 1999: After the closing theme of the show plays, there is a different splattering sound, but without the shattering sound.
 * 2001-2002: Just the sound of the bottle breaking.
 * Early 2002: An 3-note odd, short piano tune with an eerie sound effect is played in the background before the bottle breaking sound.
 * 2002-2011: An 14-note cathedral organ is played in the background before the bottle breaking sound. A reverberating cartoon ditty.

Music/Sounds Variants: Here are the music or sound variants:
 * On The Strip, there is a different splattering sound, but without the shattering sound.
 * On the Smallville season 1 episodes "X-Ray" and "Hug", the bottle breaking sound is absent.
 * September 24th, 2002: On early season 2 episodes of Smallville, the reverberating cartoon ditty is somewhat slightly quieter before the bottle breaking sound appears.
 * There is a warp-speed variant of the logo where the closing theme of The Strip or Smallville is played before the bottle breaking sound.
 * Sometimes, the logo's jingle is in PAL-speedup.

Availability: Intact. First seen on the short-lived show The Strip on UPN. Also seen on Smallville on The WB (now The C&W), the 2006 TV pilot of Aquaman on The WB (now The C&W and possibly iTunes) and the 2011 remake of Charlie's Angels on ABC. Don't expect this on the company's films, though.

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: For the version with only the sound of the bottle breaking, the bottle breaking with no warning can be jarring to many people. However, for the music version, it may slightly less scary than the earlier version. It depends on the variant:
 * 2001-2002: Medium to high. The bottle 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. The piano tune can be creepy.
 * 2002-2011: Low to medium. It is slightly less scary with the music playing.

2nd Logo (November 15, 2015-May 6, 2019)
Logo: On a black background, we see the stacked words "MILLAR GOUGH". To the right of it is a beaker on the bottle with a big black teardrop and the word "INK" inside.

FX/SFX: None.

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

Availability: 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.