HBO Independent Productions
Background
HBO Independent Productions was a production company of HBO that was established in 1990 to produce sitcoms for broadcast and basic cable television.
1st Logo (August 25, 1991)
Logo: On a white background, we see the letters "IND" surrounded by a brownish-red circle, with the word "HBO" aligned vertically on the upper left side and the word "productions" in a curved font on the lower right side. Then, it cuts to a dark red screen with the text "A TIME WARNER COMPANY" in white.
Technique: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Rare. It's seen on the pilot episode of Roc.
2nd Logo (September 1, 1991-October 3, 2019)
Logo: We see a wall with a light on top, along with the taped white paper with the IND logo design from the previous logo. A hand reaches up and pulls a switch to an ultraviolet light bulb (or "blacklight"), causing the white background to turn blue-violet, and the logo to glow reddish-purple. The logo also emits a white flash around the edges, which slowly dies down. The lights then flicker off to black at the end.
Variants:
- Early on in its usage, the logo cut to a black screen with "A TIME WARNER COMPANY" in white fading in.
- In 1992, the byline "a division of Home Box Office" was added at the bottom left end of the screen.
- From 1993 to 1996, the letters "IND" were replaced by "HIP", and the word "ind" was added before the word "productions" on the lower right. The byline is now in all-caps, and is moved to the bottom right.
- In some extremely rare instances, the logo cut to a black screen at least half a second later than the original variant, and the text "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" in a bold white font faded in in the center of the screen (also for about a half-second later than its predecessor).
- In 1996, the letters "HIP" were replaced by a red HBO logo surrounded by the words "INDEPENDENT PRODUCTIONS" with "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" below.
- The more common "short" version cuts out the part in which the hand turns on the light.
Technique: Mostly live action.
Music/Sounds: An acoustically reverbed clicking noise, followed by an electric "hissing"-type sound and a light buzz. Sometimes, the ending theme of the show would be used.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- Sometimes, on Everybody Loves Raymond, the finishing theme of the Where's Lunch? logo plays instead of the Worldwide Pants Incorporated logo.
- On DVD and international prints of the S9 Everybody Loves Raymond episode "Favors", this logo has the Worldwide Pants, Incorporated theme due to a plaster error.
- On a few early S2 episodes of Roc, a light pounding "thump" sound played over the black "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" screen.
- On Voroniny, the music is low-pitched.
- Original CBS and Fox airings used a generic theme.
Availability: Common.
- All three versions appear on shows like Martin, Roc and Everybody Loves Raymond (the most notable appearance of the version with the HBO logo).
- The "HIP" version also appears on later episodes of The Ben Stiller Show.
- Even though the company ceased operations in 2006, this logo appeared as a legacy credit on all seasons of the Russian sitcom Voroniny, a local adaptation of Everybody Loves Raymond.
3rd Logo (April 26-August 27, 2006)
Logo: On a white background, we see a square of grass with the bottom right corner rounded-off. Some little white flowers bloom in the bottom left corner and form the HBO logo. The words "INDEPENDENT" and "PRODUCTIONS", with the latter in a smaller font than the former and on its left side, also grow in a similar fashion. The square turns a solid spring green.
Technique: 2D computer animation.
Music/Sounds: The sounds of children laughing, a dog barking, and other "outdoor" sounds. Sometimes, the ending theme of the show would be used.
Availability: Very rare. It's only seen on Lucky Louie. Also seen on the failed pilot of Pink Collar.