Big Ticket Television

Big Ticket Television (also known as "Big Ticket Entertainment" and "Big Ticket Pictures, Inc.") was formed by Larry Lyttle in 1994 as the low-budget television production unit, of the Spelling Entertainment Group, primarily to produce half-hour sitcoms and reality shows. Lyttle wanted to name the unit "Blockbuster Television" after Blockbuster Entertainment, which held a controlling interest in Spelling and was in turn owned by Viacom at the time; however, Viacom vetoed the idea due to the chain's fate being unclear at the time, so he went with "Big Ticket" instead after driving past a Blockbuster and noting its "big ticket" logo. They have produced Moesha and its spin-off The Parkers for UPN (now The CW) as well as the daily syndicated court shows Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Hot Bench, and Adam's Law. Currently, Big Ticket Television remains active as an in-name-only unit of Skydance Corporation's CBS Studios.

1st Logo (September 16, 1995-November 8, 1999)

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Visuals: Against a gray background with white spotlights, a dark grayish TV tube flips in and zooms out with a cyan streak flying across it. The streak wedges into the tube and turns into a white happy smile. The company name "BIG TICKET TELEVISION" comes out of the bottom of the TV tube, then the byline appears below. Sometimes, the visuals make the text disappear and reappear.

Bylines:

• 1995-1996: "A UNIT OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC."
• Late 1995-1999: "A SUBSIDIARY OF SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC."

Trivia: The logo was created by Rod Dyer Design.

Variants:

• In 1998, the registered trademark symbol "®" appears on the bottom-right side of the company name.
• A short version exists, where the logo seems to be slightly sped-up.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A hip-hop beat with a whoosh, an "Mmmm!"-like sound when the smile appears, and a female chorus whispering "Yeah!" Composed by Giorgio Bertuccelli and Michael Skloff.

Audio Variants:

• A long version exists.
• On late season 2 episodes to early season 4 episodes of Judge Judy and season 1 and early season 2 episodes of Judge Joe Brown, it's the ending theme of the show (the 1996-2002 Judge Judy theme by Bill Bodine, in the former case).

Availability: Seen on shows by the company from the time period until 1999.

• This logo is seen on seasons 1-4 along with the first eight episodes of season 5 of Moesha, the first seven episodes of The Parkers, and season 1-early season 4 episodes of Judge Judy and season 1-early season 2 episodes of Judge Joe Brown.
• The long version was seen on Night Stand with Dick Dietrick and the first two seasons of Judge Judy.
• With the exception of The Parkers, all of the shows with this logo had it followed by the 1996 variant of the 1988 Worldvision logo, which is plastered by either the 1995 or 2003 Paramount Domestic Television or the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logos in reruns (and on Pluto TV prints of Moesha), though Pluto TV retains the 1996 variant of the 1988 Worldvision logo on Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown reruns.
• It was also seen on the TV movie Dark Angel which has not been seen since CBS Action (now CBS Justice) in the UK aired it in the early 2010s.

2nd Logo (November 1, 1999-)

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  Wolf Lake variant
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  Enhanced variant

Visuals: Against a white background, the green words "BIG TICKET" in the Bank Gothic MD BT font fly from the left side of the screen to the center. The word "TELEVISION" also flies in, with a registered trademark symbol next to it in purple and in the same font underneath, with the same TV tube screen from the last logo fading in above. The happy smile is drawn on the tube and the byline "A PARAMOUNT/VIACOM COMPANY" appearing below "TELEVISION" in the same animation used on the Spelling Television logo, with the 1990 Viacom logo font and in a green code-out box. For a second, the tube tilts and goes back to its original position.

Variants:

• Like the previous logo, a short version exists, where the logo is sped-up.
• On non-fiction shows like Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown, the tube does not tilt.
• On the first episode of Wolf Lake, the logo is on a black background. The TV tube is also already on-screen, and it tilts as the text flies in.
• Some 2008-2012 episodes of Judge Joe Brown feature a copyright notice under the logo.
• This logo became bylineless in fall 2006 under the ownership of CBS Corporation.
• Starting in September 2012, the logo is enhanced. The font for the name is now in Eurostile, the tube has straighter edges, more pointed corners and a slight purple-white gradient, and the words fly in more smoothly.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Generally the closing theme of the show.

Audio Variants:

• Sometimes, the previous logo's theme is heard.
• On Wolf Lake and Hack, the logo is silent.
• On Adam's Law, the buzzing from the Queen Bee Productions logo continues into the beginning of this logo before playing in silence.
• CBS and The WB airings use a generic theme.

Availability: Seen on shows by the company since 1999.

• This logo was seen on later seasons 5 and 6 of Moesha, The Parkers starting with the episode "Quarantine", and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
• It is also seen on the UPN sales pitch of Gary & Mike and Greetings from Tucson.
• The current enhanced version is seen on Judge Judy (the non enhanced version is kept on two episodes which air on Pluto TV and international reruns of older episodes), Hot Bench (including the Pluto TV airings), Adam's Law, and the 15th and final season of Judge Joe Brown on the Roku Channel.
• The non-enhanced version was also seen on Swift Justice with Jackie Glass and can also be seen on the Roku Channel's prints of Judge Joe Brown.