# Closing credits on old TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 1999, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-credits-on-old-tv-shows/5049 "1999-11-30T11:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kittd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/50afbb/32.png) [@kittd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 1999, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-credits-on-old-tv-shows/5049/1 "1999-11-30T11:44:00Z")
I noticed that the closing credits on lots of old TV shows almost always had a “blank spot”, usually on the lower left-hand corner. Sometimes, that spot was filled with a picture (see “The Dick Van Dyke Show” or “Andy of Mayberry”), but, mostly it looked like the credits were avoiding that space for some reason. Was this for station IDs or the show’s sponsor, and, especially if the latter is true, why did this practice continute thoughout the 70’s, when no one sponsor had their own show? ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 1999, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-credits-on-old-tv-shows/5049/2 "1999-11-30T13:09:00Z")
Just a WAG. I think they’re probably covering a network logo. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-credits-on-old-tv-shows/5049/3 "1999-12-01T16:53:00Z")
No, a sponsor logo. When individual shows stopped having sponsors, the first reaction was: “But we _have_ to put something there; there’s _always_ been something there!” Sorta like the fake tax stamps that are still on soft cigarette packages to this day, though the actual tax stamps vanished in the 60’s. * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-credits-on-old-tv-shows/5049/4 "1999-12-01T19:56:00Z")
Very likely the sponsor logo that isn’t there was for a cigarette brand. ---
**Author:** ![Keeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f05b48/32.png) [@Keeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeves)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-credits-on-old-tv-shows/5049/5 "1999-12-01T21:08:00Z")
I gotta check this out. Dick Van Dyke seems to be on Nick at 4 AM EST, and I’ll try to tape it tonight, but Mayberry is not on at all, it seems. Are there any other shows where you noticed this? ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-credits-on-old-tv-shows/5049/6 "1999-12-01T21:24:00Z")
:: but Mayberry is not on at all, it seems:: Are you kidding? Don’t you get TBS? Isn’t it on a thousand times a day? ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-credits-on-old-tv-shows/5049/7 "1999-12-01T22:13:00Z")
Which reminds me: I saw a big old truck once with the bumper sticker “I’d rather be watching the Andy Griffith Show.” Run away, run away!! * * * John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. That’s my name too. Wait, no it isn’t.