Stephen Arnold Music composed playful sonic branding in support of Weigel Broadcasting's new diginet, Catchy Comedy, which airs nostalgic sitcoms such as Cheers, All in the Family, The Carol Burnett Show, Night Court, I Love Lucy and more.

“The music makes people smile and lets them know that Catchy Comedy is a destination for fun,” says Will Givens, Weigel Broadcasting's senior vice president for network marketing in a statement. “This music is important to establishing our brand and putting viewers into the right emotional state. It's our sonic identity.”

The sonic branding is based on a five-note theme that is “charming, memorable and crafted to take people by surprise,” said Stephen Arnold Music President Chad Cook, also in a statement. “We explored many musical ideas before we found the perfect hook. Once we had it, it became the foundation for everything else.”

The studio wove the theme into a long-form network anthem and from there produced numerous shorter pieces for promos, IDs and other marketing media.

“The theme is modular and incorporates a range of musical figures and flourishes utilizing drum fills, organ riffs, mallet lines to name a few,” Cook said. “That gave us the flexibility to create a variety of short versions with different leads in. We also produced multiple endings with exaggerated comedic flourishes via bassoon, whistles, kazoo and upright bass. We provided the network's editors with all the stems. They can use them as a toolkit to produce whatever they need.”

The theme also lends itself to variation through alternate orchestrations and tempos.

“We can create a spot for Cheers that sounds more modern than one forThe Dick Van Dyke Show,” said Givens. “Everything will have a common comedic feel, but with different temperaments. While we're currently focused on classic comedies, at some point in the future we may add contemporary shows and this theme will also work for that. It's sound is timeless.”

Givens adds that the sonic branding complement's Catchy Comedy's visual branding, which is based on poppy retro colors – such as red, gold and orange – and geometric shapes. “Our animation team choreographed the motion graphics to align with the beat of the music,” he says.

Even more imaginative uses for Catchy Comedy's sonic branding may be coming. “We've talked about a lyric version,” said Givens. “We're super thrilled with the work. Stephen Arnold Music came ready to rock, collaborated well with our team and delivered great music.”