PITS Films

PITS Films (often shortened to "PITS" which stood for "Pie in the Sky") was the television syndication arm of Tandem Productions, launched in 1978 to distribute most of that company's material such as Sanford and Son, Maude, and Good Times, all of which were produced by Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear. On January 6, 1982, it became "Embassy Telecommunications" from merging with the distribution division of T.A.T. Communications Company, following the acquisition of Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation by Lear and Jerry Perenchio.

Logo (1979-1982)

ImageVideo

Visuals: Against a blue background are the green text "PITS" in 3-D lettering, "DISTRIBUTED BY", and "FILMS", both in a white bold Helvetica font, above and below the logo respectively. In the three spaces of the letters, some white stars zoom in, one by one, as if they're "growing", and then settle in their spaces in between the "PITS" letters.

Technique: Analog switcher effects, likely done on a Grass Valley 300 switcher.

Audio: A synth tune in "D" key that ascends and descends repeatedly, composed by John Maxwell Anderson.

Availability

Edit Table

Media Title	Date of Release	Additional Notes
Good Times	1979-1982	Only known appearance. On December 6, 2006, the logo was spotted on a capture of a 1979 episode, which was the only sighting known to be available until 2023. On July 29, 2023, the logo was spotted on 1988 TBS reruns of 1974 episodes of Good Times. On August 7, 2023, the logo was spotted on a U-matic tape of the episode "Blood Will Tell" which was found on Internet Archive (albeit only having the end credits) via the University of Baltimore Broadcasting Archive's channel.

References

PITS Films

Embassy Telecommunications