A few posts back I mentioned people who were afraid of the YTV logo; bad dreams have been mentioned when discussing it. I always found it friendly and supportive personally, but hey, that's what they said about Captain Howdy.
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| Your mother watches Farmhouse Kitchen in hell. Or Woodseats. |
So I got thinking; why are idents scary? Well, a lot of it's sound based. By its very nature, a TV company ident had to grab the attention of a viewer who had pretty much zoned out during the adverts. Five minutes of Nimble and Long Life beer will do that to you. So, we commence with a bold fanfare, which I suspect scared the shit out of daydreaming kids. Yorkshire TV went with the legendary Baaa-ba-ba-ba-baaaaaaaa. There were others that I did find slightly unsettling. For example, you never quite new what would follow the ATV eye, which strongly gave the impression it was watching you right back.
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| We can seeeeeeee you from in here. |
Actually, their fanfare was a bit full on as well. How to onomatopize this one? Er - hang on - baaaa-baaab-baaaa (bombombom) dingdingding baaaa-ba-baaaaaaaaaa. Not so much scary as slightly unsettling. I could never work out how those animations were done; there's a certain ghostliness about the translucency perhaps?
Here's one from the USA (which is a bit of a cheat, as I'd never have seen it back in the glory years) but I love the Cronenberg-ness of it. I'd have been waiting for the TV to grow a mouth or something. That face on the end is definite nightmare fuel.
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| It turns to look at you when you aren't watching. |
Finally, here's Ulster. Who apparently are finding it necessary to tell us what star system they come from. Presumably the news was read by Rod Serling. I especially like the way they've used scary music box music, just to remind us that there's probably a ghost upstairs.
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| It even looks like teeth, for god's sake. |
All shapes of creepiness. I miss them.
