20th Television/Summary

Background: 20th Television is the TV production unit of 20th Century Studios.

TCF Television Productions[]

Background[]

20th Television was started as 20th Century Fox Television in the past years. 20th Century Fox Television was the television division of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios). It was originally founded in 1949 (under the name of TCF Television Productions, Inc.) as other studios were branching out into television production as well. In 1955, the studio officially began television production. 20th Century Fox also owned a stake in the NTA Film Network from 1956 to 1961, and has produced some of the most popular television programs over the years. After Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation acquired TCF on March 6, 1986, TCF/News Corp acquired the television holdings of Metromedia (including its TV stations and television production company), this acquisition helped News Corp launch the Fox Broadcasting Company, and TCFTV became the production arm of FBC. Between 1997 and 1998, the company's library expanded by acquiring New World Communications and MTM Enterprises. On August 10, 2020, TCFTV was renamed "20th Television" (the name of the company's former syndication unit, which was folded into Disney Media Distribution), as part of a corporate restructuring. Today, the former TCFTV library is owned by The Walt Disney Company. TCFTV also produced cable television shows under the Fox 21 Television Studios (now known as the short-lived revival of Touchstone Television) name.

1st Logo
(1955-1959)[]

Nicknames: "TCF Tower", "TCF Sunburst"

Logo: A logo similar to the 20th Century Fox logo, except instead of "20th CENTURY FOX", it reads "TCF" and contains an explosion-like shape behind it. Underneath is "FILMED AT THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS OF TCF Television Productions, Inc. IRVING ASHER, Executive in Charge of TV Production".

Variants:

In some cases, this logo is superimposed.
There is an in-credit text for TCF-TV appeared on some shows like some 20th Century-Fox Hour specials.
In color shows, the tower is yellow-orange and the background is blue.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Extremely rare. It's seen on Broken Arrow, How to Marry a Millionaire, My Friend Flicka (in color), also available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website, and the on-screen text variant can be seen on DVD releases and on Me-TV reruns of Perry Mason.

Editor's Note: The logo design is a familiar albeit distinctive take on the classic Fox structure.

2nd Logo
(November 6, 1957-August 20, 1959)[]

Nicknames: "The Searchlights", "Still Searchlights"

Logo: A still version of the standard version of the 1935 movie logo of the era. Over the tower, it was the text:

IRVING ASHER
Executive Producer

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.

Availability: Seen on the second season of How to Marry a Millionaire and Man Without a Gun. It was preserved on the DVD release of the former.

3rd Logo
(September 29, 1959-1963)[]

Nickname: "Starry Sky"

Logo: We see a backdrop of a night sky covered with stars and clouds. Over this backdrop, we see the following text fade in, not similar to any of their movie logos:

20TH
CENTURY-
FOX

This company name, in bold letters, fades in as if it were streaking from the bottom left of the screen. The "20TH" seems to be more to the right of the other text, as displayed here.

Trivia: On Adventures in Paradise, this appeared as an opening logo with a fanfare, followed by the Martin Manulis Productions logo.

FX/SFX: The fading in of the company name.

Music/Sounds: A 1950s-style majestic fanfare with chimes, or the closing theme of the show.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was seen on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis on Me-TV and the Shout! Factory DVDs. Also seen on Adventures in Paradise, which is currently available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website. It was also seen on the NBC series Five Fingers.

Editor's Note: This logo certainly isn't a familiar Fox tower structure. However, it's nothing too strange.

20th Century Fox Television[]

1st Logo
(1959, October 1960-1966)[]

Nicknames: "The Searchlights II", "Zoom Out", "20th Television Fox", "The Tower of Doom"

Logo: We see the usual 1935 film logo animating. We start off with the logo close-up. The camera then backs away as the word "TELEVISION", slanted at an angle, suddenly appears and rapidly zooms out, plastering itself on top of the "CENTURY" on the stack of words, filling the whole screen.

Variants:

The logo also appears in sepia-tone.
Sometimes, the camera would back away slowly.
Sometimes, a sped-up variant of the logo exists.
A sped-up variant of the logo exists. The movie logo of the time opened the pilot to Dobie Gillis, "Caper at the Bijou", with the Martin Manulis Productions logo (the fanfare plays over the Martin Manulis logo).

FX/SFX: The searchlights, the text "TELEVISION" zooming out.

Cheesy Factor: Just like TCP Inc., two searchlights in the background actually bend. Also, the text "TELEVISION" appearing and zooming out looks really choppy and amateurish. When the word "TELEVISION" zooms out, the searchlights start jumping back to the same animation as when the logo began.

Music/Sounds:

1959-1964: A rearrangement of the Alfred Newman fanfare used on the movie variation.
1963-1964: A shortened variant of the 1960 theme.
1964-1966: A short tune played on muted trumpets and strings that is a variation of the jingle, but does not sound exactly like a Fox jingle.
1965-1966: A sped-up/shortened version of the 1964 theme.

Music/Sounds Trivia:

The 1965 theme is played about 2/3 into the Cheech & Chong skit Pedro and Man at the Drive-Inn from their 1973 comedy album Los Cochinos. An announcer says, "And now a preview of our coming attractions".

Music/Sounds Variants:

On the TV series Hong Kong, there are three different arrangements of the 1960 theme.
In some cases, it used only the closing theme of the show, or none. Such is the case for The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Availability: Very rare. It can be seen on season 1 of Daniel Boone whenever reran (also available on the Liberation/Goldhill DVD release, and presumably the Fox and Timeless Media Group reissue) and on reruns of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and 12 O'Clock High. Fox has replaced this with a newer logo (most likely the 20th Television one) on most prints and DVD releases of shows from this era, but it can still be seen on older prints. It was also seen on Adventures in Paradise, Follow the Sun and Bus Stop.

Editor's Note: The finishing product of this logo (or rather, its design concept) would not only be used for the next 2 logos but would also be the inspiration for 20th Television's name (as the finishing product of this logo has "TELEVISION" plastered over "CENTURY", making the logo read "20th Television Fox"). Also, the fanfares used on this logo, which often sound nothing like the standard TCF fanfare, could startle a few viewers at first.

2nd Logo
(September 16, 1965-1984)[]

Nicknames: "The Searchlights III", "Zoom Out II", "20th Television Fox II", "The Tower of Doom II", "Slanted Zero"

Logo: We have the 1953 logo. This time, the camera doesn't back away from the tower structure and the 0 is slanted. The word "TELEVISION" appears again and it slowly plasters itself on top of the word "CENTURY".

Variants:

A "gray scaled" variant appeared on B&W prints of classic color shows from the era, such as Batman.
The word "TELEVISION" would appear in either gold, orange, or yellow.
In 1968, the logo is shifted over to the left and the word "TELEVISION" zooms out rapidly onto the structure. A tip of the letter "C" in "CENTURY" is seen.
In 1976, the Registered trademark "®" symbol was added to the 1965 logo. Plus, this version has the image shifted to the left a little more from the 1968 version, but "TELEVISION" remains centered and zooms out again slowly. Consequently, the "C" in "CENTURY" can still be seen.
There is a still version with the text "DISTRIBUTED BY" on the top left corner of the logo.

FX/SFX: Same as the 3rd logo.

Music/Sounds:

1965-1969: The same 1961 theme from the 3rd logo.
1966-1984: The same 1965 theme from the 3rd logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Sped-up NTSC pitched tone variants of both the 1961 and 1965 fanfares also exist which are generally heard on early PAL prints such as Paramount Comedy 2 UK airings of M*A*S*H (most episodes plastered with the 20th Television logo) and Horror Channel UK airings of the short-lived show The Time Tunnel.
There is also a silent version.
On some co-produced shows from the era, a generic theme was used.
Post-1986 prints of the 1974 television movie Hurricane feature the Metromedia Producers Corporation jingle over the logo instead of the standard jingle.
On the DVD and Blu-ray prints of the S1 Batman episode "Hi Diddle Riddle", it uses the 1989 theme from the next logo! This could be due to the HD master for this episode using a different source for the audio (in this case, the 1990s video masters). The Portuguese track from this episode, however, uses the 1995 theme from the last logo instead.
On some episodes of M*A*S*H, the fanfare sounds lighter.
Hulu prints of M*A*S*H from the first two seasons has this logo with the 1989 TCFTV jingle.

Availability: Rare, due to frequent plastering by later Fox logos.

The 1965 version is retained on the 2nd through the final season of Daniel Boone last aired on Retro TV and World Harvest Television, as well as the DVD sets of these seasons from Liberation/Goldhil and DVD/Blu-ray releases of the 1960's Batman series from Warner Home Video.
The 1976 version is available on the first two episodes of The Fall Guy on the season 1 DVD set, while the next logo is intact on the remainder of the season.
The Magnetic Video print of The Making of Star Wars from 1979 also has this logo (it was omitted from its 1981 reissue as a double feature with SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back, and replaced by the 20th Television logo in the 1995 reissue and its appearance on the ninth disc of the Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set).
It is also seen on the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978, which can easily be found on the bootleg market.
Also appears on the VHS release of Tomorrow's Child. FOX has replaced this with the 20th Television logo on a lot of shows, such as M*A*S*H. However, an airing of the season 6 episode "C*A*V*E" on FOX Classics in Australia kept this logo. It's also seen on the Season 2 Blu-ray of Lost in Space.
Beginning in 2017, this logo has been restored on Hulu prints of the first two seasons of M*A*S*H, marking the first time since the 1980s that this logo has been restored to that series. It was also spotted on FOX Classics broadcasts of the episodes "The Price of Tomato Juice" and "C*A*V*E" in Australia, as well as True Entertainment's print of "Fade Out, Fade In (Part 2)" in the United Kingdom.

Editor's Note: The 1976 variant with the shifted text certainly doesn't look very professional. Other than that, it's a decent logo for its time, though again the fanfares may startle some.

3rd logo
(November 1981-1993)[]

Nicknames: "The Searchlights IV", "Zoom Out III", "20th Television Fox III", "The Tower of Doom III"

Logo: Same as the 1981 theatrical logo, with the word "TELEVISION" zooming out and plastering over the word "CENTURY". Also, only four searchlights are used as opposed to five.

Variants:

From 1981-1987, this logo is presented on film. From 1986-1992, it's in telecine format.
The word "TELEVISION" would appear in either gold, yellow, orange, or ivory. Around 1984, the sky background looks a bit darker.
On the season 3 Simpsons episodes "Bart the Murderer", "Homer Defined", "Treehouse of Horror II", "Lisa's Pony", "Flaming Moe's", "I Married Marge", "Radio Bart", "Separate Vocations", "Colonel Homer", and "Black Widower", you can see more structure on the logo as it appears further out.
On some old syndie prints of S1 Small Wonder episodes, the logo freezes after "TELEVISION" plasters "CENTURY" before cutting to black.
There exists a "matted" 1.78:1 widescreen version.
On a few episodes of Bobby's World, it has a green-ish background.
On a Channel 4 airing of The Simpsons episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment," the logo cuts out before the final note ends.
On one episode of Not Just News, the missing searchlight was reinstated, with the footage of the logo being different.

FX/SFX: Almost the same as the 4th logo.

Music/Sounds:

1981-August 22, 1991: The same 1965 theme from the 3rd and 5th logos. Even though it mainly stopped being used in late 1989, some shows have used it into the 1990-91 season, such as S1 and early S2 episodes of In Living Color, the first two S5 episodes of LA Law ("The B**** is Back" and "Happy Trails;" pretty odd, considering the show used the next theme on its preceding season), the LA Law 100th Episode Celebration, a few international prints of S1 Bobby's World episodes, and the S1 True Colors episode "Prisoners of Love."
November 1989-1993: An extremely short version of the 1979 Fox jingle, later used for the early variant of the standard 20th Television logo from 1992-1993. It officially premiered on the 8th episode of Alien Nation.

Music/Sounds Variants:

There are abridged variants of the 1965 theme, such as the case for Hooperman that the closing theme ends abruptly with the last note of the 1965 theme.
Sped-up NTSC pitched tone variants of both the 1965 and 1989 fanfares also exist which are generally heard on early PAL prints such as Paramount Comedy 2 UK airings of later episodes of M*A*S*H (most episodes plastered with the 20th Television logo) and Channel 4 UK reruns of LA Law.
On some co-produced shows from the era, a generic theme was used.
Two versions of the 1989 theme exist: one where the last note echoes for a bit after fading out and another without the echo. The latter version was seen on In Living Color, the unaired Revenge of the Nerds pilot, and the 1991 M*A*S*H retrospective Memories of M*A*S*H.
On some episodes of Mr. Belvedere, the first note is cut-off (via fade transition).
On Hulu prints of M.A.S.H, some episodes have the 1995 theme while others have the 1989 theme.

Availability: Uncommon.

The Simpsons episodes "There's No Disgrace Like Home", "Krusty Gets Busted", "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington", "Treehouse of Horror II", "Saturdays of Thunder", "Colonel Homer", and "Black Widower" preserve this logo on their respective season DVD releases.
It has strangely been spotted on Comedy Central's prints of Office Space and French Kiss, but has been plastered over with the 20th Television logo in recent airings due to split screen credits. A similar situation happened on a few episodes of The Pretender when reran on TNT, but has now been plastered by the 2013 20th Television logo on H&I (Heroes and Icons).
On VHS, it can be seen on The Simpsons Christmas Special ("Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"), L.A. Law, and, in the UK, on The Simpsons episodes "The Telltale Head" and "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment".
More recently, the logo has been sighted on several 1970s-'80s TV movies on Fox Movie Channel. It can also be seen on some early season one and most season two and three episodes of In Living Color on DVD.
The 1981 and 1989 variants can be found on the 2006 DVD of the Alien Nation TV series, and also appeared on original ABC airings of Capitol Critters.
The 1981 version of this logo can be seen on Fox Movie Channel's prints of The Hurricane.
The 1981 version of this logo can be also seen on Paramount Comedy 2 UK airings of some episodes of M*A*S*H starting with the 10th and penultimate season, although most episodes plastered with the 20th Television logo.
The 1980s variants are also seen on the Shout! Factory DVDs of Mr. Belvedere, although FamNET reruns of said show plastered it with the 2008 20th Television logo on almost all episodes, and the 1995 20th Television logo on several episodes while Antenna TV reruns plaster it with the bylineless 2013 20th Television logo on all episodes.
This can also be found on the unaired TV pilot of Revenge of the Nerds, which can be found on the "Panty Raid Edition" DVD release of the original movie.
On Netflix, it was seen on several episodes of the first two seasons of Bobby's World, while others have either the 20th Television or 1996 Saban International logos.
One of its last appearances was on the 10th episode of the fourth season of In Living Color (which was actually produced during season three (1991-92), but delayed into the fourth).
The 1989 version was also spotted handful of early Simpsons episodes on FXNOW, FX's streaming service, in 4:3 mode only. (Streaming rights have since been transferred to Disney+, and it is currently unknown which logo appears there.) This appeared in the first few episodes of the Fox TV series The Adventures of Beans Baxter before Fox Square Productions took over (that not using a proper logo; just a copyright notice).
Despite general use stopping around 1992, the news series Not Just News (co-produced with Fox Television Stations) used this into 1993.

Editor's Note: It's more of the same like the last two logos, but with the 1981 film logo and a smoother zoom-out on the word "TELEVISION". This logo marks the first time that the familiar shortened TCF theme was used for Fox's television logos after approximately three decades of unconventional fanfares.

Note: 20th Century Fox Television was supplanted by Twentieth Television Corporation from 1989 to 1994. From September 18, 1992-April 16, 1995, the standard 20th Television logo of these years was used. See 20th Television for details on that logo.

5th Logo (Dance Fever variant)
(November 1983-1984)[]

Nicknames: "The Searchlights V", "The Chryon Searchlights", "Print Searchlights"

Logo: On a black background, we see the '80s TCF print logo. Under it is the word "TELEVISION" and a copyright stamp.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Probably the ending theme of the show.

Availability: Extinct. It was only seen on the fifth season of Dance Fever in local syndication.

Editor's Note: None.

5th logo (April 28, 1995-June 12, 2022)[]

Nicknames: "The Searchlights VI", "CGI Searchlights", "Zooming Tower", "The Tower of Tepidity", "The 20th Tower"

Logo: It's exactly the same as the standard 20th Television logo, but now the stack of words has been modified to resemble the standard Fox stack, with "TELEVISION" added to the bottom and the whole thing looking rather taller, reading " 20th CENTURY FOX TELEVISION". When the logo is finished zooming out, the Registered trademark "®" symbol and the News Corporation byline fade in at the same time.

Variants:

The color scheme of the 1995 version of the logo varies for each show, resulting in the tower being slightly darker or lighter.
On the short-lived sitcom Andy Richter Controls the Universe, the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" below the News Corporation byline fades in at the same time as the News Corporation byline and even there's a black banner at the bottom. This would be followed by the 1995, 2002 or 2003 Paramount Television logos. On the region 1 DVD release of the series from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment, this logo and the Paramount Television logos are plastered by the CBS Television Distribution logo, although both the Fox and Paramount logos were retained when the show aired on Universal HD and HDNet a few years ago. It is presumed that international releases of the series on DVD will retain the original end logos since Fox (now Disney) owns the international rights.
September 26, 1998-2007:, On shows featured/produced in widescreen/high definition, the sky background is more blue, with the searchlights looking less realistic than those in the standard version. Debuted on Martial Law with the already formed logo squished to 4:3, then cropped to 4:3 in season 2, while most shows began using the widescreen variant in 1999. Also, the registered trademark "®" symbol is already there and the News Corporation byline fades in once the logo completely finishes zooming out.
- On 24: The Video Game, Family Guy Video Game!, the Nintendo DS port of The Simpsons Game, and the short-lived series The Winner, the trademark "TM" symbol is seen instead of the registered trademark "®" symbol.
On Titus, the pilot episode of Reba, Method & Red, and seasons 1-2 of The Bernie Mac Show, the logo plays in reverse.
On The Big House, we see the already formed 1998 logo, but it stays on-screen longer for a few more seconds before fading out.
On seasons 3-5 of Soul Food, there is a still version of this logo. On The Simpsons Arcade Game, downloadable on X-Box Live and PSN, a still version of the enhanced logo is used.
On April 13, 2007, starting with Drive, the logo was given a more "enhanced" look, with the effects looking more realistic. Like the 1998 variant, the registered trademark "®" symbol is already there. The News Corp. byline fades in later. However, some shows still used the 1995 or 1998 variants, such as King of the Hill (until November 18, 2007), American Dad! (until May 4, 2008), The Simpsons (until January 25, 2009), Family Guy (until May 17, 2009), and 24 (until its series finale on May 24, 2010)
On the very short-lived 2009 animated sitcom Sit Down, Shut Up, there was a shortened version of the 2007 logo.
Beginning with the 9th season of Bones on September 16, 2013 and ending with episode 8 of season 3 to Duncanville on June 12, 2022 (the final appearance of this logo), the logo is bylineless. This was due to the split of News Corporation which occurred back at the end of June (with Fox and all of the former company's entertainment divisions going to the then-newly-formed 21st Century Fox). Strangely, The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, and American Dad! still used the byline until November 10, 2013. The Simpsons and Family Guy started using the byline-less version on November 17, 2013, while Bob's Burgers and American Dad! started using it on November 24, 2013.
On current prints of Buffy the Vampire Slayer starting with season 6 with no English audio option, there was a shortened version of the 2013 bylineless logo. Also, the shortened 1997 fanfare is heard, carrying it from the Kuzui Enterprises and Sandollar Television logos.
A standard fullscreen version of the 2013 bylineless logo exists. Spotted on 4:3 HD remastered prints of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, sourced from Disney+.
On the pre-broadcast pilot of the short-lived series A.U.S.A., the logo is slightly extended, starting off with a close-up of the structure, then easing into the normal animation. The standard version was used when it hit broadcast.
On old AMC broadcasts of Young Frankenstein and The Longest Day, B&W versions of the 1995 and 1998 logos with the 1997 fanfare appear.
On the fourth season of The Simple Life, the logo cuts off when the byline fades in.
On The Simpsons S9 episode "The Last Temptation of Krust", nearing the end of a musical number, the 1995 logo with the '97 fanfare appears, but is pushed away by the remainder of the episode. This variant is preserved on syndie prints, as well as the DVD release of the season.
On Ally McBeal and seasons 1-7 of Family Guy, the logo fades out when the fanfare finishes.
On seasons 1-7 episodes of Family Guy and direct-to-DVD film, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, the logo fades out.

FX/SFX: The logo zooming out, the moving searchlights, and the byline and Registered trademark "®" symbol fading in.

Music/Sounds: Here are the main versions:

April 28, 1995-March 21, 2018: A re-arranged and re-recorded variant of the 1989 jingle by Bruce Broughton. It is slightly different from the 1995 20th Television fanfare. It's the 2nd alternate theme that was first used for 20th Television in 1994.
1995-July 14, 2014: The 1994/1995 20th Television fanfare.
October 19, 1997-September 14, 2020: A re-arranged, re-recorded, faster variant of the 1961 jingle composed by David Newman.
August 29, 2005-October 4, 2012: A truncated variant of the 1997 film jingle, much shorter than the above. Used on Season 1 of Prison Break, the first four seasons of Glee and Season 1 of American Horror Story.
September 14, 2005-July 24, 2020: A re-orchestrated and another truncated/altered version of the 1997 film jingle, albeit edited to resemble the 1995-2018 jingle.
September 4, 2012-August 21, 2020: The 2008 20th Television fanfare.
August 26, 2015-December 22, 2020: The last 4 notes of the 1997 20th Century Fox fanfare; the last note is cut short. Used only on the short variant.

Music/Sounds Variants:

The Fox network commonly and traditionally uses their own fanfare over logos, due to generic credits; due to the fact that much Fox programming is produced by Fox, these fanfares go well with this logo.
- Starting in September 1997, different Fox drumrolls were used. They were discontinued as a result of the 9/11 attacks on September 16, 2001.
- The first batch of remixes (Star Wars Remix, Techno Star Wars, Funk Pop Rock, Police Siren and Dramatic Piano) were introduced on September 17, 2001, starting with repeats of The Simpsons and King of the Hill, still during the 2000-2001 season. They officially became part of the FOX tradition with the beginning of the 2001-2002 season, starting with the season 2 premiere of Dark Angel on September 28, 2001, usually only using the final four notes.
- The second batch of remixes (Fast Rock, Undercover, Connect Us, Fox Now, Fun Beats, 24 Hours, Marching Drums, Future Vibes, Workshop Bass, Heroic Battle and Tropical Beatbox) were introduced in the summer of the 2002-2003 season, starting with the season 4 finale of Futurama on August 10, 2003, and became part of the FOX tradition with the beginning of the 2003-2004 season, starting with Luis and the season 4 premiere of Boston Public on September 19, 2003.
- There are 17 different remixes of the generic themes, namely:
  - Star Wars Remix (2001-2019; most shows among FOX programming used this theme)
  - Techno Star Wars (whistle version) (2001-2003; used in Futurama, Family Guy, The Bernie Mac Show and Oliver Beene)
  - Techno Star Wars (chorus version) (2001-2003; used in The Simpsons, The Tick, Family Guy, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Greg the Bunny and The World's Funniest Movie Outtakes)
  - Police Siren (2001-2002; used on Dark Angel, Firefly and the original The X-Files)
  - Funk Pop Rock (2001-2003; used in King of the Hill, Grounded for Life, That '70s Show, That '80s Show, Titus and The Bernie Mac Show)
  - Dramatic Piano (2001-2003; used in Ally McBeal, The American Embassy and Girls Club)
  - Fast Rock (2003-2006; used in Futurama, Arrested Development, Cracking Up, My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, A Minute with Stan Hooper, The Next Great Champ, Oliver Beene and North Shore)
  - Undercover (2003-2005, 2018; used in The Simpsons, Kitchen Confidential, That '70s Show and American Dad!, then after a long hiatus, it was used for a short time in The Four: Battle for Stardom and Terrence Howard's Fright Club)
  - Connect Us (2003-2010, 2016-2018; used in King of the Hill, The Wanda Sykes Show, Back to You and American Dad!, then after a long hiatus, it was used again in The Last Man on Earth)
  - Fox Now (2003-2011, 2017; used in The Simpsons, Quintuplets, That '70s Show and Method & Red, then after a long hiatus, it was used for a short time in Making History)
  - Fun Beats (2003-2019; used in Family Guy, Malcolm in the Middle, The Cleveland Show, American Dad!, Ghosted and The Orville)
  - 24 Hours (2003-2019; used in 24, 24: Redemption, 24: Live Another Day, 24: Legacy, Past Life, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lucifer, 9-1-1, The Exorcist, The Gifted, Houdini & Doyle, Scream Queens and APB)
  - Marching Drums (2003-2019; used in The Bernie Mac Show, Skin, American Juniors, That '70s Show, Family Guy, the Teen Choice Awards, The Simple Life, The Inside, Happy Hour, The O.C., Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy, Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, That's Just Wrong, Stacked, In the Flow with Affion Crockett, New Girl, Pitch, World's Funniest, Bordertown, Rosewood, Sleepy Hollow, Last Man Standing, Rel and Mental Samurai)
  - Future Vibes (2003-2004; used in Forever Eden, Cracking Up and The Jury)
  - Tropical Beatbox (2003; used only in Luis)
  - Workshop Bass (2003-2005; used in Arrested Development, The Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee, The Casino, World's Craziest Videos and Totally Outrageous Behavior)
  - Heroic Battle (2003-2004; used only in Boston Public)
- Due to Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, a new generic theme was introduced on September 21, 2019, retiring the different dynamic Fox generic themes in use for 18 years. Some series such as The Simpsons had retired using these generic themes as early as 2011, while others such as Family Guy kept using them. Some series such as Bob's Burgers, Bless the Harts, and Duncanville have no generic theme at all.
In exceptional cases, it used only the closing theme of the show, or is completely and utterly silent.
A warp speed version of the 1995-97 theme exists, which was used on 24 and the first season of Lie To Me.
Sometimes, only the second half of the theme will play.
There are many abridged variations of the 1997 jingle such as American Dad! and The Cleveland Show that used it.
Some season 1 episodes of The Pretender will have the 1995 TCFTV fanfare over the 1999-2007 logo. This is also seen in Asian airings of Stark Raving Mad and on season 2 episodes of Millennium.
There is also a long version of the theme.
On 1995-97 and some post-1997 episodes of The Simpsons such as "Simpson Tide" and "Treehouse of Horrors" X, XIV, XV, XVIII, and XX, the 1989 TCFTV logo theme is played.
On the first two episodes of Bob's Burgers, "Human Flesh" and "Crawl Space," the 1989 theme is used, except pitched slightly higher.
Same as before, on some co-produced shows, as well as The CW (on Reba only), The WB (starting in 2003?), CBS, ABC (starting in 1998) or NBC shows, a generic theme was used.
On the Family Guy episode "Blue Harvest", the 1997 fanfare is low-pitched to fit in with the show's closing theme.
On the Network Ten and Sky 1 airings of 24: Live Another Day in Australia and the United Kingdom, a warp speed version of the 1995 20th Television fanfare was strangely used on the 2013 bylineless variant.
Sky 1's print of The Simpsons season 10 episode "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" features the 1995 20th Television fanfare.
On Quintuplets, the 1999 filmed TCFTV tower features the 1995 20th Television fanfare.
HITS airings of The X-Files have the 2007 revision with the 1995 20th Television fanfare.
On The Simpsons season 7 episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", the fanfare comes in roughly half a second to one second after the logo starts animating. Given Sky 1's prints of older episodes freeze at the end transitioning into commercials, the last note of the fanfare is abruptly cut off.
The American Dad! season 9 episode "Da Flippity Flop" uses the 2012 TCFTV fanfare, rather than the usual abridged version of the '97 fanfare. As a result of this, given how short this variant of the logo normally is, the last few notes of the fanfare play over a black screen. ITV2's broadcast of the episode fixes this in a way by freezing the logo before the cut to black, so the fanfare finishes over the static image.
The American Dad! season 9 episode "The Full Cognitive Redaction of Avery Bullock by the Coward Stan Smith" uses an abridged version of the 2012 TCFTV fanfare, consisting of the first two notes and the last four notes of the standard fanfare. Strangely, this fanfare isn't present on any other episode, despite fitting the length of the logo as opposed to the example directly above.
Some episodes of The Simpsons on Fox in Bulgaria have a double-pitched variant of the 1997 theme. This could be due to the fact that the episodes are PAL prints aired in the country.
On St. Elsewhere episodes on Hulu containing the logo, the end theme plays as the logo appears (credits were adjusted to fit in the logo as the theme song ends). However, in at least one instance, no cuts are made and thusly you can hear the meow sound effect from the MTM Enterprises logo even though it is plastered with this one.
On Duncanville, the 2015 TCFTV fanfare is warp speed.
On 2009-12 episodes of The Simpsons, and 2009-13 episodes of Family Guy, the 1997 theme is used on the 2007 logo (despite season 8 using the 4:3 version on the latter).
On 2013-20 episodes of Family Guy as well as current prints of Buffy the Vampire Slayer starting with the season 2 episode "Halloween" with no English audio option, the 1997 theme is used on the 2013 bylineless logo, shortened to 8 notes on the last 2 seasons of the latter, due to plastering older logos.

Availability: Was very common during its own time, but has gotten much rarer now, bordering on extinct in the near future, as this logo is no longer in use as of December 2020.

Typically found on network programming provided by Fox. Also seen on some CBS (Yes, Dear, Martial Law, and Still Standing, etc.), NBC (The Pretender, 1997-2000 seasons and the two TV movies), or ABC (The Practice and Boston Legal, etc.) shows.
May or may not be present in syndicated repeats of network programs, as the 20th TV logo may follow or plaster it.
The still shot version of this logo can be found on Soul Food: The Series, starting with S3, DVD's (released by CBS) retain it.
The version with the edited 1997 theme can be seen on reruns of American Dad! and Family Guy reruns on Adult Swim, the latter left the block in September 2021, among others.
Many DVD releases of The Simpsons, seasons 15-17 replace the 1995 logo with the 2007 logo. Sky 1 (now Sky Showcase) in the UK has recently been airing upscaled HD "remastered" of The Simpsons season 8 episodes, replacing the 1995 logo with the 2007 logo.
- Blu-ray releases of The Simpsons, seasons 13-17 replace the 1995 logo with the 2007 logo.
- Disney+ and HD 'remastered' prints of seasons 1-20 The Simpsons, replace the older logos with the 2007 logo.
Also seen on some international prints of FX shows such as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Fargo.
It can be also sometimes spotted on some movie airings on channels like AMC, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, and FX, the latter five owned by TCFTV's parent company.
The bylineless 2013 variant plasters the Fox Television Studios logo on streaming prints of Malcolm in the Middle.
After its Disney acquisition, this was used on shows during the 2019-2020 season, like for example, the first seasons of Bless the Harts and Duncanville.
Despite the rebranding to its current name (20th Television) on August 10, 2020, this logo was still in use until the end of the year. Disney had also stated that episodes produced prior to the rebranding will not be plastered, with the exception of the shows on the Animation Domination block, as they use the 20th Television logo on by the beginning of the 2020-2021 TV season, then switched to the new 20th Television Animation logo in 2021 for the new seasons of the animated shows.
With the renaming, this logo had made its final appearance as a whole on the series finale of the short-lived series NeXt which aired on December 22, 2020, but it made a surprise appearance on episode 8 to season 3 of Duncanville which aired on June 12, 2022, likely because of an editing mistake.
This is strangely cut-off from Hallmark Channel airings of Reba. However, CMT and UP airings still retain it.
Interestingly, most TV airings of Fox shows in French territories (Canada, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Vietnam) from the late 90s up until the mid-2000s usually opened with the 1995 logo, albeit with a slightly dark/brownish taint and a computer generatized fade-in/fade-out. 90s shows used the 1995 theme, while later shows/airings in the 2000s era used the 1997 Fox theme. Airings of widescreen/letterboxed/HD shows like Bones also used this practice back in the day, but with the 1998 enhanced logo (and no fade-in/fade-out). Recent shows no longer use this practice nowadays.
Strangely, the 1995 logo was seen at the start of a late 90s French TV airing of Asterix in America (Asterix et les Indiens).
When the Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) reran Batman in the late 90s/early 2000s, the 1998 version plastered the 2nd logo.

Editor's Note: While both the 1995 and 2007 versions have held up well enough, this logo and its 20th Television counterpart strangely have not been updated to match the 2009 theatrical logo. This version of the tower design has been used since 1992 (albeit in a modified form) which even predates the 1994 film version.

20th Television[]

(August 10, 2020-)[]

Nicknames: "The Searchlights VII", "CGI Searchlights II", "Zooming Tower II", "The Tower of Tepidity II", "The 20th Tower II", "The 2008 Enhanced 20th Tower"

Logo: It has the same as the 2013 bylineless version of the 2008 20th Television logo.

FX/SFX: Same as the 2013 logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 2013 logo.

Availability: Very common.

Copyright Stamps[]

Here is some information about the copyright stamps on 20th Television series:

20th Television/Summary

Contents

TCF Television Productions[]

Background[]

1st Logo
(1955-1959)[]

2nd Logo
(November 6, 1957-August 20, 1959)[]

3rd Logo
(September 29, 1959-1963)[]

20th Century Fox Television[]

1st Logo
(1959, October 1960-1966)[]

2nd Logo
(September 16, 1965-1984)[]

3rd logo
(November 1981-1993)[]

5th Logo (Dance Fever variant)
(November 1983-1984)[]

5th logo (April 28, 1995-June 12, 2022)[]

20th Television[]

(August 10, 2020-)[]

Copyright Stamps[]

Fan Feed

20th Television/Summary

TCF Television Productions[]

Background[]

1st Logo(1955-1959)[]

2nd Logo(November 6, 1957-August 20, 1959)[]

3rd Logo(September 29, 1959-1963)[]

20th Century Fox Television[]

1st Logo(1959, October 1960-1966)[]

2nd Logo(September 16, 1965-1984)[]

3rd logo(November 1981-1993)[]

5th Logo (Dance Fever variant)(November 1983-1984)[]

5th logo (April 28, 1995-June 12, 2022)[]

20th Television[]

(August 10, 2020-)[]

Copyright Stamps[]

Fan Feed

1st Logo
(1955-1959)[]

2nd Logo
(November 6, 1957-August 20, 1959)[]

3rd Logo
(September 29, 1959-1963)[]

1st Logo
(1959, October 1960-1966)[]

2nd Logo
(September 16, 1965-1984)[]

3rd logo
(November 1981-1993)[]

5th Logo (Dance Fever variant)
(November 1983-1984)[]