The Hidden Genius of '90s Sitcom Logos

---

00:00 The Nineties - Syndication turns sitcoms into cash cows
01:39 Family Matters - catchphrases and clichés
03:13 Full House - the squeaky clean family sitcom
04:37 Married with Children - the anti-sitcom
05:30 Friends aka F•R•I•E•N•D•S
07:05 Seinfeld - a show about nothing
08:22 The Nanny - surprise international hit
09:49 Sponsor - Surfshark
10:56 The Simpsons - the 1990s Golden Age
12:07 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - this logo slaps!
13:31 Home Improvement - a logo with some grunt
15:07 Frasier - a touch of class
16:21 TV Show branding today vs back in the day

---

Music from Streambeats and Epidemic Sound

[nolram]

Would love to see video game logos getting judged !

[coolmanjack]

Seinfeld's logo has always been reminiscent to me of comedy club logos as well which really ties into the theme

[Chaotic_Pixie]

Fun Fact: The Logo isn't all that changes about Seinfield intro/outro. The music does too. It's timed and produced differently for every single episode to flow with the jokes he's telling... to compliment them versus distract from them. It's incredibly clever sound design and logo design.

I really do miss the diversity in tv show locations of the 90s. It helped make tv interesting.

[frederica]

You mention how key art for modern shows has almost replaced logo design, and how it's closer to youtube thumbnails than logos printed in paper TV guides. I'd love to see a video expanding on this, about the ways that TV logo design has changed, and the way that technology and media consumption has influenced these changes.

[MedlifeCrisis]

You’ve carved such a cool niche because your videos are so good. Just crazy that I’be just watched and loved a video about 90s sitcoms’ logos’ TYPEFACES. That’s four levels of niche!

[MusicBoxRox]

Fun fact: Family Matters didn't just steal the logo from the Hogan Family, they also re-used the exact same interior sets (the kitchen and staircase are dead giveaways). They were also used on another 90s sitcom, "Step by Step."

[bmac]

The Friends logo is pretty iconic. But I can see the point that it got that way because the show legitimized it to an extent by being such an icon, in a similar way to many old sports logos or certain flags.

[nowhammies]

The "Family Matters" DVD font originates as "House-A-Rama Kingpin", which definitely dates to before 2012. It was in use on The Price is Right from at least February 2007, first in the pricing game More or Less, and then on the Showcase prize descriptor placards when Drew Carey took over as host later that year.

[DEVOn.A.Skertic]

Was always impressed by the Home Improvement opening sequence and logo lay out, however never watched the show.
I did subconsciously jump up and down with the opening title card on Frasier. Simplicity, iconic, the various colours and little Easter eggs . PURE BRILLIANCE, UP & DOWN!!!

Wonderful video.

[Yanjingzaizai]

Now I need a "every popular American tv show tier list based on their logo" live

[alwinter]

I recently saw a coffee mug that had the Seattle skyline on it in a style very similar to the Frasier logo. I instantly began humming the theme song and next thing I know, I started watching Frasier from season 1 for the first time in many years. That logo is so good yet so overlooked. Also, the show itself really holds up!

[LucasBenderChannel]

I'm gonna give you a weird but heartfelt compliment: Your videos are exactly what they should be like. 😂 I think you nail EXACTLY what these videos about fonts and typefaces should look, sound and feel like! Good job! Great execution :)

[erik_gerhard]

I think the Friends logo deserves a little more credit. If anything, a minimal logo would have gone against the motivations of the show. It looks handwritten, (whether or not it actually is, ) representing the casual and pseudo-spontaneous nature of the stories, 😂 and colored dots are interspersed, echoing the set design and "togetherness" the show was trying to push for.

[LiveHedgehog]

I'd love to see a video like this on the various Doctor Who logos.

[Officialmartymars]

By far the best Linus on YouTube, only watched 1:51 of the video but these are like cathartic typographic therapy for me

[Richardincancale]

Good to see Fleabag pop up at the close. I watch almost no TV but I searched out that series and it really was fantastic - a real groundbreaker in style and eccentricity!

[savannah]

Brb, gotta go find and watch every international version of the Nanny.

[ticecube]

Friends would be an A for me. Iconic and simple. There's no confusing it for anything else. Thanks for making a video about a design element in society nobody talks about much.

[nicholascasbarra]

@13:18 - I suspect the choice in typeface for all the 90's era TV shows, including Fresh Prince would've been the limtations of the media. These shows were made to be broadcast on screens at 720x480 pixels from the other side of the living room - so simplyfying the design elements got the stylistic point across while being easily legible

[jam-etc]

the friends logo has to be one of the most 90s damn things ever. the overproduced 'handwritten' font just screams late 90s. It feels like everything had that kind of grunge edge to it. I never watched friends- I was a bit young for it- but I do recall the obsession with the graffiti tag type logos and album art and what not, that's for sure