CBS Eye Turns 60 - On Air IDs Thursday 10/20

[hubcity]

Actually, I got my wish. Between each primetime show, they showed a widescreen B&W HD-resolution logo with clouds, though the logo was moved slightly up in order to fit the legend "October 20, 1951" below it. Very cool, from this TV geek's POV.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Any pictures of it on the web?

 

[HGN2001]

Here's one I captured. It's standard def, though.

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss30/HGN2001/Screencaps/CBSEyeat60sm.jpg

Harry

 

[timmyb]

OK - I'm going to probe everybody's memories. I would swear that in my childhood - late 50s or early 60s - CBS for a time ran a station ID in which the CBS eye "blinked"...animated blink, in other words. I remember telling my father about this in the 70s, and he had no memory of this.

Did I dream it, or did this really happen?

It wasn't a blink as such....but just like the CBS/Clouds thing is on many public domain videos & likely YouTube, also there was this animated thing of the CBS Eye coming closer to the viewer, with the inside circle (I'll call it the "pupil") opening up (like a pinwheel, but I cannot describe it much better), showing the words "CBS TELEVISION NETWORK" (in a sort of Times New Roman caps font), then the "pupil" closing up again. I believe there was no audio with this.

I am not even sure if CBS actually used this on-air, or if it was just in the network-print films that have circulated amongst traders.

YouTube oughta have it....you could type in the search cbs eye and see what's there, and check the related clips on the right.

cd

If I can trust my memory to when I was 4 or 5 years old, the "iris" opening and closing was used by CBS for first run programming. As far as audio, I seem to remember that either it was silent or a voiceover saying simply, "This is the CBS Television Network." Both were used.

If CBS was plugging another show before going to station ID, the eye in the clouds slide was used. Something like a slide of Gunsmoke right after an ep of Perry Mason...[Slide of Gunsmoke] "On Gunsmoke, Matt tracks a killer who was once his friend, with some unexpected help. Gunsmoke tonight at 10, 9 Central time [fade to the CBS eye in the clouds] on (the) CBS (television network)."

If no plug, then the 5 second zoom in of the pupil opening and closing was used. And as a mere tyke, this scared the crap out of me.


On an aside, I also remember after a CBS dramatic show, (Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, Checkmate, Perry Mason, Have Gun Will Travel, etc.), after the closing credits, you would see a "wallpaper" of rows of CBS eyes of the preceding show, with a "sketch" of the show (ex. Paladin's chess piece) with the text that said something like, "HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL" "A CBS Film Presentation" and a couple of other lines." with either a 4 note, 13 note or a 5 note jingle.

Anyone else recall seeing that?

 

[Mario500]

I have always liked the design of the CBS eye and other logos used by broadcasters such as the logos used by my local TV stations when I was younger. I prefer those old station logos to the current logos. I believe all of those logos contributed to my interest in art.

On an aside, I also remember after a CBS dramatic show, (Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, Checkmate, Perry Mason, Have Gun Will Travel, etc.), after the closing credits, you would see a "wallpaper" of rows of CBS eyes of the preceding show, with a "sketch" of the show (ex. Paladin's chess piece) with the text that said something like, "HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL" "A CBS Film Presentation" and a couple of other lines." with either a 4 note, 13 note or a 5 note jingle.

Anyone else recall seeing that?

I remember the rows of CBS eyes proceeding episodes of "The Twilight Zone" presented by the Sci-Fi Channel (I prefer the original name to the current name SyFy).

 

[cd637299]

Oh yes, the wallpaper.....I have seen it many times, even the syndie prints. *That* is as creepy as it comes.

cd

 

[oldiesfan6479]

...I also remember after a CBS dramatic show, (Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, Checkmate, Perry Mason, Have Gun Will Travel, etc.),
after the closing credits, you would see a "wallpaper" of rows of CBS eyes of the preceding show, with a "sketch" of the show...
with the text that said something like, "HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL" "A CBS Film Presentation" and a couple of other lines." with either
a 4 note, 13 note or a 5 note jingle. Anyone else recall seeing that?

Yes, it airs at the end of the (from 35mm film) episodes of Twilight Zone and Perry Mason
currently airing on Me TV.

 

[trusty]

If no plug, then the 5 second zoom in of the pupil opening and closing was used. And as a mere tyke, this scared the crap out of me.

When I first saw it as a kid, I said, "There's something wrong with that." So, I would wait until the end of programs on CBS and watch it until I figured it out: It was the eye within the eye - and THEN the pupil opened up like a shutter. The eye with the opening pupil didn't bother me; it was that "outer eye" at the beginning of the animation that just "wasn't supposed to be there".

 

[hubcity]

Here's one I captured. It's standard def, though.

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss30/HGN2001/Screencaps/CBSEyeat60sm.jpg

Harry

Very nice. CBS News posted their report to YouTube, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RriG7CZx08U

 

[anotherguyTN]

Here's one I captured. It's standard def, though.

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss30/HGN2001/Screencaps/CBSEyeat60sm.jpg

Harry

Thanks for the link.