When did NBC stop using the "snake" id?

[Mike Stroud]

Here's one from the historical back pocket, folks; does anybody have any earthly idea at what point the Peacock channel quit using the snake-like animated ID that closed out programs and led into station breaks? It was, of course, de riegur in the 1950s and 1960s, but by the time I can first remember watching, circa 1973, NBC had discontinued that in favor of program promos, and I thought it funny that the other two networks still used their plain, unadorned IDs at the end of a show while NBC did not. Only on occasion after then did NBC use its traditional logo (usually after a news special) without a program promo, and that seldom up until the time of the change to the infamous abstract "N" in 1976.

I have seen clips of shows as late as 1970 that still featured the snake, so my guess would be maybe the beginning of the 1971 season or so when NBC either phased it out or dropped it completely. Does anybody know for sure? That would solve a great mystery to me.

 

[MHB]

According to this article, the "snake" ran until the end of 1975.

http://pediaview.com/openpedia/NBC_logos#NBC_snake_logo_.281959.E2.80.931975.29

I remember reading, at the time, that before the logo was eliminated, the three-tone chimes that accompanied it were eliminated and replaced with a voiceover (late 1974?). I'll try to find an article that says that.

 

[radiorob2.0]

The first few "Saturday Night Live" episodes in the fall of 1975 used the snake logo at the end of the credits. If you have access to the DVD's or on-line you can see it for yourself.

 

[easttxtv]

An episode of Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show from early 1975 used the snake in it's end credits.

 

[Mike Stroud]

Well, it appears to me that my memory was mistaken. Either that, or the fact that I wasn't old enough to stay up late to see SNL or Tomorrow, accounts for my belief. From this, I can probably conjecture that NBC began phasing it out in daytime and primetime over a period of, say, two years from perhaps '72 to '74, since I recall seeing it precious few times--and the times I did see it, the snake was stationary within a square against a black background, with the announcer simply saying, "This is the NBC Television Network"--no chimes, no animation as in the past.

According to the source MHB has provided, NBC ran the peacock opening for the last time on New Year's Eve 1975. That, I recall, was still used periodically when I first became aware of things in '73, particularly at the beginning of program blocks, namely The Today Show, the morning game shows at 10/9 CT, the afternoon lineup at 1:30/12:30 CT, and primetime. Of course, by that point, it was superfluous to remind people that the shows were in color, as almost all had been for nearly a decade--CBS and ABC had discontinued their "IN COLOR" notifications probably around '70 or so. The peacock was just simply a tradition people had come to expect, and I suspect NBC's faltering Nielsens was the main motivating factor for them plucking the old boy's feathers, at least for a few years.

 

[bpatrick]

The replacement for the "snake" became something of a joke:
the stylized red-and-blue "N" which NBC acquired the rights to
from the Nebraska public-TV network (their "N" was all red).
I remember one night Johnny Carson said, "It's not NBC anymore.
It's just 'N'". NBC tried a new peacock inside the "N" in the late
'70s/early '80s, then settled on the peacock with six feathers that
we see today.

NBC just couldn't do anything right in the mid-'70s, could it?

 

[MHB]

According to the source MHB has provided, NBC ran the peacock opening for the last time on New Year's Eve 1975. That, I recall, was still used periodically when I first became aware of things in '73, particularly at the beginning of program blocks, namely The Today Show, the morning game shows at 10/9 CT, the afternoon lineup at 1:30/12:30 CT, and primetime. Of course, by that point, it was superfluous to remind people that the shows were in color, as almost all had been for nearly a decade--CBS and ABC had discontinued their "IN COLOR" notifications probably around '70 or so. The peacock was just simply a tradition people had come to expect, and I suspect NBC's faltering Nielsens was the main motivating factor for them plucking the old boy's feathers, at least for a few years.

Getting back to the peacock for a second:

I also seem to remember that after the peacock was "eliminated" in favor of the "N" logo in 1976, they continued to use it on a minimal basis (once or twice per day?) just to maintain the trademark rights?

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

The replacement for the "snake" became something of a joke:
the stylized red-and-blue "N" which NBC acquired the rights to
from the Nebraska public-TV network (their "N" was all red).
I remember one night Johnny Carson said, "It's not NBC anymore.
It's just 'N'". NBC tried a new peacock inside the "N" in the late
'70s/early '80s, then settled on the peacock with six feathers that
we see today.

NBC just couldn't do anything right in the mid-'70s, could it?

Saturday Night Live also parodied the "N" with a "Dancing N" during Weekend Update around the 1977-78 season. Not sure the exact times that was used--just recalling what I saw on the classic SNL reruns that aired late night Saturdays on some NBC affils around 1999-2000; many of the original cast's seasons were repeated during that time.

And "NBSee Us" (fall '78)--need I say more? (especially how SNL parodied that infamous campaign).

 

[azumanga]

The replacement for the "snake" became something of a joke:
the stylized red-and-blue "N" which NBC acquired the rights to
from the Nebraska public-TV network (their "N" was all red).

Actually, NBC created their own "N" without knowing that Nebraska ETV created their logo that was exactly the same, save for the color scheme. As a result, NBC bought the rights to the NETV logo in exchange for cash, equipment and costs of creating a new logo for NETV. Also just as chagrinning for NBC is that they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars creating their logo, while NET only spent no more than $100 on theirs.

Getting back to the peacock for a second:

I also seem to remember that after the peacock was "eliminated" in favor of the "N" logo in 1976, they continued to use it on a minimal basis (once or twice per day?) just to maintain the trademark rights?

I don't believe I ever saw the peacock on-air between 1976 and 1979.

 

[anotherguyTN]

IIRC both the Peacock and the Snake were used on the Laugh-In reunion specials in the early 90's.

 

[azumanga]

I overlooked it earlier, but here's a "Hec Ramsey"-era "Mystery Movie" open that incorporates the snake logo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHk5cGwuS6A

Rare to see a complete Mystery Movie open with the "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie" title and snake logo at the end -- the ones for Columbo on YouTube were from syndicated copies, which used the Mystery Movie open, but edited the ending, for obvious reasons.