Warner Bros. Television

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Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros Television.jpg
Founded 1955
President Barry Meyer
Alan F. Horn
Notable Works The O.C.
The West Wing
ER
Friends
Veronica Mars
Supernatural

Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) is the television production and distribution unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a division of Time Warner Inc.

Contents

History

WBTV was formed in 1955, debuting its first series that year when the anthology program Warner Bros. Presents premiered on ABC; of the three rotating series in that show (King's Row, Cheyenne and a TV adaptation of the Warner Bros. movie Casablanca), only Cheyenne lasted beyond Warner Bros. Presents' only season, continuing for a total of eight seasons until 1963. With the popularity of the western genre during the early years of television, WBTV contributed to the success of TV westerns with the production of such shows as Maverick, Colt .45, The Alaskans, Sugarfoot and Bronco (a Cheyenne spinoff).

In addition to its western lineup, WBTV also produced shows in other genres like 77 Sunset Strip, Bourbon Street Beat, Hawaiian Eye, The Gallant Men, F-Troop, The F.B.I., The Bugs Bunny Show and its later incarnations, Kung Fu, Wonder Woman and Alice. During its early years of TV production, WBTV made extensive use of stock footage from the Warner Bros. film library for its shows. It produced shows exclusively for ABC until 1963, when NBC premiered the series Temple Houston. Jack Webb briefly headed WBTV for about ten months in 1963, but Temple Houston was the only series he successfully pitched to a broadcast network during that period.

In 1967, the film studio Seven Arts Productions purchased WB founder Jack Warner's controlling interest in that studio and merged the two studios as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, with the TV unit accordingly being renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Television and the classic WB shield company logo changed at that point to a stylized "W7" logo within a modified shield. Kinney National Services, a parking and office cleaning company expanding into media, purchased the assets of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1969 and the TV company returned to its original name of WBTV, with a newly-adopted logo consisting of a stretched shield with simple "WB" lettering within and a banner beneath the lettering reading "A Kinney Services Company", reflecting its ownership at the time. Kinney sold its non-entertainment assets in 1972 and renamed itself as Warner Communications (now known as Time Warner), and the classic WB shield briefly made its return on WBTV shows from February to September that year, when that logo was replaced by the new Warner Communications corporate logo of a stylized W (designed as a "\\'") within a TV tube shape. The classic shield logo made its return in 1984 and has been used on WBTV shows, with some slight modifications, ever since.

WBTV parent Warner Communications acquired Lorimar-Telepictures in 1989 and split that company's operations. Lorimar Television ran as a separate TV production unit before merging into WBTV in 1993. Telepictures, which initially produced syndicated programming for WBTV's distribution unit, was relaunched following Time Warner's 1996 purchase of Turner Broadcasting to replace Turner Program Services as the distributor of non-WBTV-produced programs whose syndication rights were acquired by WBTV or Turner. Telepictures has since returned to its original function of producing syndicated shows, such as The People's Court, The Tyra Banks Show and TMZ on TV, for distribution by WBTV. The company formed another distribution unit, Warner Bros. International Television, in 1996 for the international distribution of its shows outside North America. It served as a program supplier for co-owned entity The WB Television Network from that network's 1995 formation until 2006, and it presently continues in that role with The CW (created through a 2006 merger between The WB and CBS Corporation's UPN).

Warner Bros. Television Distribution

Warner Bros. Television Distribution (WBTD) was formed by WBTV around 1960 to serve as its distribution unit. WBTD holds the TV distribution rights to the films in the Warner Bros. Pictures library, as well as the rights to its own first-run and off-network syndicated series. It is also the distributor for TV series acquired from the following companies:

List of shows produced by Warner Bros. Television

Title Format Network Years
Warner Bros. Presents Anthology ABC 1955–1956
Cheyenne Western ABC 1955–1963
Maverick Western ABC 1957–1962
Sugarfoot Western ABC 1957–1961
Colt .45 Western ABC 1957–1960
Bronco Western ABC 1958–1962
Lawman Western ABC 1958–1962
77 Sunset Strip Crime drama ABC 1958–1964
Hawaiian Eye Crime Drama ABC 1959–1963
Surfside 6 Crime drama ABC 1960–1962
The Bugs Bunny Show Animated anthology ABC 1960–1968
CBS 1968–1973
ABC 1973–1975
CBS 1975–1985
ABC 1985–2000
The Gallant Men Military drama ABC 1962–1963
F Troop Sitcom ABC 1965–1967
Temple Houston Western NBC 1963–1964
The F.B.I. Crime drama ABC 1965–1974
The Road Runner Show Animated anthology CBS 1966–1968
ABC 1968–1973
Kung Fu Drama ABC 1972–1975
Give-N-Take Game show CBS 1975
Wonder Woman Adventure ABC 1975–1977
CBS 1977–1979
Alice Sitcom CBS 1976–1985
The Dukes of Hazzard Adventure CBS 1979–1985
Love, Sidney Sitcom NBC 1981–1983
Scarecrow and Mrs. King Spy drama CBS 1983–1987
V Science fiction NBC 1984–1985
Night Court Sitcom NBC 1984–1992
Growing Pains Sitcom ABC 1985–1992
Spenser: For Hire Crime drama ABC 1985–1988
Head of the Class Sitcom ABC 1986–1991
Full House Sitcom ABC 1987–1995 1
Murphy Brown Sitcom CBS 1988–1998
Just the Ten of Us Sitcom ABC 1988–1990
Family Matters Sitcom ABC 1989–1997 1
CBS 1997–1998
Life Goes On Drama ABC 1989–1993
The Flash Adventure CBS 1990–1991
Sisters Drama NBC 1991–1996
Step by Step Sitcom ABC 1991–1997 1
CBS 1997–1998
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper Sitcom ABC 1992–1997 1
Living Single Sitcom FOX 1993–1998
Babylon 5 Science fiction Syndication 1993–1997
TNT 1997–1998
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Drama Syndication 1993–1997
ER Medical drama NBC 1994–2009
Friends Sitcom NBC 1994–2004
Living Single Sitcom FOX 1993–1998
MADtv Sketch comedy FOX 1998–2009
The Drew Carey Show Sitcom ABC 1995–2004
The Wayans Bros. Sitcom The WB 1995–1999
The Parent 'Hood Sitcom The WB 1995–1999
Jesse Sitcom NBC 1998–2000
The West Wing Political drama NBC 1999–2006
Gilmore Girls Drama The WB 2000–2006
The CW 2006–2007
Smallville Superhero drama The WB 2001–2006
The CW 2006–2011
Without a Trace Police procedural CBS 2002–2009
What I Like About You Sitcom The WB 2002–2006
Everwood Drama The WB 2002–0206
Two and a Half Men Sitcom CBS 2003–present
The O.C. Teen drama FOX 2003–2007
One Tree Hill Teen drama The WB 2003–2006
The CW 2006–2012
Cold Case Police procedural CBS 2003–2010 2
Joey Sitcom NBC 2004–2006
The Closer TNT 2005–2012
Supernatural Paranormal drama The WB 2005–2006
The CW 2006–present
Twins Sitcom The WB 2005–2006
The War at Home Sitcom FOX 2005–2007
The Class Sitcom CBS 2006–2007
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Comedy-drama NBC 2006–2007
Gossip Girl Teen drama The CW 2007–present 2
Aliens in America Sitcom The CW 2007–2008 2
Life Is Wild Drama The CW 2007–2008 2
Pushing Daisies Dramedy ABC 2007–2009
Chuck Action comedy NBC 2007–2012
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Science fiction FOX 2008–2009
The Mentalist Crime drama CBS 2008–present
Eleventh Hour Crime drama CBS 2008–2009
Fringe Science fiction FOX 2008–present
Privileged Dramedy The CW 2008–2009 2
Southland Crime drama NBC 2009
TNT 2010–present
Hank Sitcom ABC 2009
The Middle Sitcom ABC 2009–present
The Vampire Diaries Fantasy drama The CW 2009–present
The Beautiful Life Drama The CW 2009 2
Eastwick Fantasy drama ABC 2009–2010
The Forgotten Crime drama ABC 2009–2010
V Science fiction ABC 2009–2011
Human Target Action drama FOX 2010–2011
Life Unexpected Drama The CW 2010–2011 2
Hellcats Sports drama The CW 2010–2011 2
Nikita Action The CW 2010–present
Chase Crime drama NBC 2010–2011
Mike & Molly Sitcom CBS 2010–present
Better with You Sitcom ABC 2010–2011
Undercovers Espionage NBC 2010
The Whole Truth Legal drama ABC 2010
Bleep My Dad Says Sitcom CBS 2010–2011
Shameless Drama Showtime 2011–present
The Paul Reiser Show Sitcom NBC 2011
Ringer Suspense drama The CW 2011–present 2
The Secret Circle Paranormal drama The CW 2011–present 2
2 Broke Girls Sitcom CBS 2011–present
Person of Interest Crime drama CBS 2011–present
Hart of Dixie Medical drama The CW 2011–present 2
Suburgatory Sitcom ABC 2011–present
I Hate My Teenage Daughter Sitcom FOX 2011–2012
Work It Sitcom ABC 2012
Are You There, Chelsea? Sitcom NBC 2012–present
Alcatraz Suspense drama FOX 2012
Major Crimes Crime drama TNT 2012–present
Little in Common Sitcom FOX TBA

1Produced until 1993 by Lorimar Television
2Co-produced with CBS Paramount Television/CBS Television Studios

Other shows distributed by Warner Bros. Television

Title Format Network Years
My Favorite Martian Sitcom CBS 1963–66 1
Gilligan's Island Sitcom CBS 1964–67 2
Here's Lucy Sitcom CBS 1968–74 3
The New Dick Van Dyke Show Sitcom CBS 1971–74 4
Shazam! Superhero drama CBS 1974–77 5
It's a Living Sitcom ABC 1980–82 6
Syndication 1985–89
ALF Sitcom NBC 1986–90 7
Crime Story Crime drama NBC 1986–88 8
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd Comedy-drama NBC 1987–88 9
Lifetime 1989–91
The Wonder Years Comedy-drama ABC 1988–93 10
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Sitcom NBC 1990–96 11
MADtv Sketch comedy FOX 1995–2009 12
Will & Grace Sitcom NBC 1998–2006 13

1Produced by Jack Chertok Television and CBS; originally distributed by Metromedia Producers Corporation, then Telepictures Distribution
2Produced by Gladasya Productions, United Artists Television and CBS; originally distributed by UATV, then MGM/UA Television and then Turner Program Services
3Produced by Lucille Ball Productions, with co-production by Paramount Television in the first season only; originally distributed by Telepictures Distribution
4Produced by Cave Creek Enterprises; originally distributed by Telepictures Distribution
5Produced by Filmation Associates; WBTD distributes the series via sister company DC Comics
6Produced by Witt-Thomas-Harris Productions; originally distributed by Golden West Television, then Lorimar-Telepictues after its acquisition of Golden West
 7Produced by Alien Productions; originally distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures; while WBTD still holds the international TV distribution rights, the North American rights are now held by Debmar-Mercury, whose parent company Lionsgate owns the show's North American DVD distribution rights
8Produced by Michael Mann Productions and New World Television
9Produced by You and Me Kid Productions
10Produced by The Black/Marlens Company and New World Television; originally distributed by Turner Program Services
11Produced by NBC Productions, Quincy Jones Productions and The Stuffed Dog Company; NBC Universal owns the ancillary rights to the series, but WBTD is the distributor for the show
12Produced by Bahr/Small Productions and Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment
13Produced by NBC Studios until 2004, then by NBC Universal Television; NBC Universal owns the ancillary rights to the series, but WBTD is the American distributor for the show, while MGM Worldwide Television distributes the show internationally

External links

Retrieved from "http://www.tviv.info/Warner_Bros._Television"

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