Mimsie the Cat
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Mimsie the Cat (March 24, 1968 – June 1, 1988) was the mascot of the TV production company MTM Enterprises. She was an orange cat who was found in a shelter and was featured on MTM's logo.[1]
After retiring from acting, Mimsie moved to San Fernando Valley, California.[2] She died at 20 years old in 1988.[2][3]
The MTM logo
[edit]Over the years, the logo has been tweaked colourwise and according to certain shows, but here is the basic concept:
An "M" flies backward from off screen and splits into two. In the space left between the two letters, two "T"s come from the top and bottom of the screen and join to form one. This completes the initials of the company, and the "T" shrinks when a gold circle appears over it. Under the letters are the words "ENTERPRISES PRODUCTION" (or whatever MTM is calling the company at the time). The circle is ribbon-like and decorated with three stars and the letters "MTM" on top. Inside is an orange striped kitten who meows once, obviously in parody of the MGM lion.
A still version of this logo did turn up in the movies, most notably the Orion Pictures release of "Just Between Friends" and possibly more. This is a still of the "Red/Blue Letters" version of the logo, and is shrunk to a considerably small size. No music, animation, or "meow" is present.
A still version of this logo was used for MTM's TV Distribution division. It has the regular "MTM" (in gold) and under that are a line and the words "TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION GROUP". The circle and picture of the kitten are larger, and the kitten looks like she is smiling.
First, here are the little differences in the logo, along with dates in which they were used:
- 1970-1971: One "M" was red-orange, the other was red, and the "T" was blue and formed by the merging of a light blue "T" and a green "T".
- 1971-1978: The "M"s are both red-orange, and the "T" light blue.
- 1978-1982: Company identified as MTM Productions, Inc.
- 1983-1991: Company identified as MTM Enterprises, Inc. and the "M"s are now red.
- 1992-1995, 1996-1998: All letters are gold, the byline "AN INTERNATIONAL FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY." appears, after MTM was bought by The Family Channel.
- 1995-1996: 25th Anniversary logo; on a white background is a black "25", with a similarly coloured "MTM" under that. The kitten appears in the rounded part of the "5".
The MTM logo would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means the kitten's appearance would sometimes be different. Here are those variations:
- The Duck Factory: As the logo forms, an off-screen voice states, "Where's the cat?", and instead of meowing, the cat goes "Quack!"
- Graham Kerr: The kitten wears a chef's hat.
- Hill Street Blues: The kitten would wear a policeman's cap. The logo said "AN MTM ENTERPRISES PRODUCTION" instead of the standard message.
- Lou Grant: There is a still picture of the logo.
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The kitten meows normally. On the second episode, the kitten's meow is higher-pitched, rather shrill. On episode 71, the cat is replaced by Miss Moore herself, saying "Th-th-th-that's all folks!", a line spoken by Mary Richards during that episode.
- The Bob Newhart Show: The 1972 Christmas episode features a wreath in place of the MTM ribbon. Now that's a good one for Christmas.
- The New WKRP in Cincinnati: Dubbed with Les Nessman, Jr. exclaiming "Ooh!"
- Newhart: The kitten meows... in Bob Newhart's voice. On the final episode, she lip syncs Darryl and Darryl yelling "QUIET!" That is the two Darryls' first and only word.
- Remington Steele: The kitten is wearing a Sherlock Holmes deerstalker cap and meerschaum pipe. While meowing, the pipe drops out of her mouth and falls in front of either "PRODUCTIONS" (1982) or "ENTERPRISES, INC." (1983-1986, 1987) and rests there.
- St. Elsewhere: The kitten wears a scrub suit and a surgical mask, which is animated to look like a mouth is moving underneath when she meows. On the final episode, the kitten is hooked on life support on a hospital bed while the end credits play over this logo, worst yet when the credits reach their conclusion, she goes flatline and dies (this is an allusion to Mimsie's actual death in 1988).
- The Steve Allen Show: The kitten wears Steve Allen's famous eyeglasses and lip-syncs Allen's "Schmock!"
- The White Shadow: The cat (who is not Mimsie, it's a different black and white cat) is pawing at a basketball. Also has "AN MTM ENTERPRISES PRODUCTION", and no animation in the letters.
- Xuxa: Another dub job, instead of "meow", the kitten says "ciao".
- Home Video: The kitten holds a remote control. After meowing, the kitten hits the "rewind" button. The picture winds backwards (and it loses colour) and the kitten meows again.
The logo did not really have music, as the end theme usually finished over it. A 5-note jingle was added in 1996.
The silence, the "meow", the fading out of the end theme, and the kitten coming out of nowhere would catch some people by surprise. Other than that, it's mostly a cute logo.
It was used from 1970-1998.
References
[edit]- ↑ Armstrong, Jennifer Keishin (2013). Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-4516-5920-7. Retrieved 2026-08-10 – via Internet Archive.
- 1 2 People Mary Tyler Moore 1936–2017: Celebrating the Life of a TV Pioneer. New York: Time Inc. Books. 2017. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-68330-969-7. Retrieved 2026-08-10 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Howard, Douglas L.; Bianculli, David, eds. (2018). Television Finales: From Howdy Doody to Girls. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. pp. 249, 382. ISBN 978-0-8156-3604-5. Retrieved 2026-08-10 – via Google Books.