Belisarius Productions

Background

Belisarius Productions is the production company of TV producer Donald Bellisario.

(January 22, 1984-)

Logo: We see a wretched stone with sand on it, which blows off to reveal "BELISARIVS". Then, a flash suddenly appears, causing the background to turn black, the name to turn into "BELISARIUS" and the name in silver shining, and the word "PRODUCTIONS" to appear under "BELISARIUS". "BELISARIUS" is in a silver Times New Roman font.

Variants:

On JAG and NCIS, the words, "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" in all-caps or sometimes, "in association with" appears under the logo, this is removed on DVD prints of JAG starting with season 3.
On HD prints of the two-part Quantum Leap episodes "Genesis", the logo's animation is zoomed in. Part 2 is in zoomed-in widescreen. (it is unknown is this appears on the 2017 Mill Creek Blu-ray release)
On HD prints of NCIS, a widescreen version of it also exists, however it merely stretches the logo to 16:9 while keeping the proportion of the IAW text intact; and also appears to be an upscale (despite a native HD version being available). Also, the animation is a lot brighter.

Technique: Live action effects for the sand blowing off the stone followed by primitive computer effects for the flash and subsequent logo reveal.

Music/Sounds: A breeze of air is heard in the background as the dust blows off the stone. Then we hear a synth drone, which segues into a dramatic synthesized chord during the "flash". The chord continues throughout the remainder of the logo. Original NBC and CBS airings of JAG and CBS airings of NCIS use generic network music.

Music/Sounds Variant: On HD prints of the Quantum Leap episode "Genesis Part 2", a low-toned version is used.

Availability: Common.

Seen on all shows produced by this company from 1984 onward, including Airwolf on DVD, Quantum Leap in syndication and both DVD and Blu-ray (original series only), and NCIS on CBS and USA.
It also appeared on JAG and First Monday, the latter is no longer seen but the former is seen on H&I and occasionally aired on Cloo and Decades and is preserved on DVD.

Legacy: Being one of the longest-running television logos, this remains a well-known logo among JAG, Quantum Leap, and NCIS fans.