The John Charles Walters Company was a production company formed in 1978 by four former employees of MTM Enterprises

MTM Enterprises

MTM Enterprises was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show for CBS...

: James L. Brooks

James L. Brooks

James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...

, David Davis, Stan Daniels

Stan Daniels

Stanley Edwin Daniels was a Canadian-American screenwriter, producer and director, who won eight Emmy Awards for his work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi.-Early life:...

 and Ed Weinberger. The company existed from 1978 until 1983 and produced the TV show Taxi

Taxi (TV series)

Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...

.

The foursome who created John Charles Walters were part of the creative team that produced The Mary Tyler Moore Show

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...

 and its spinoff Phyllis

Phyllis (TV series)

Phyllis is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 11, 1975 to March 13, 1977.Created by Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels. it was the second spin-off series from The Mary Tyler Moore Show . The show starred Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, who was previously Mary Richards'...

, as well as The Betty White Show

The Betty White Show

The Betty White Show is an American sitcom which aired on CBS from September 12, 1977, to January 2, 1978. Fourteen episodes were transmitted. The series was produced by MTM Enterprises.-Synopsis:...

 among others, during the 1970s. They were lured away by Paramount

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

 following the end of The Mary Tyler Moore Shows run. Paramount financed the John Charles Walters Company during its existence.

The company also produced The Associates

The Associates (U.S. TV series)

The Associates is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1979-1980. The series starred Martin Short and was cancelled after nine of its thirteen episodes aired, but was nominated for two Golden Globes after its cancellation...

, a TV sitcom about a small group of young Wall Street

Wall Street

Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...

 lawyers which ran during the 1979 television season starring Martin Short

Martin Short

Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...

. The show lasted for nine of the 13 episodes produced, but received two Golden Globe nominations after its cancellation.

Company name

According to a 2003 interview, James L. Brooks said that the company was named the John Charles Walters Company because the foursome "wanted a venerable Protestant name." The book Hailing Taxi indicates that the partners discovered an old pub sign that said "Charles Walters." They bought it in order to make it their logo, but then discovered that there was a director in Hollywood named Charles Walters. They added the name John to avoid legal problems.

The only known existence of Walters appears at the end of both Taxi and The Associates. In the end credits, the back of Walters is seen leaving his office while a female voice off-screen wishes him good night (or Merry Christmas in holiday-themed episodes); Walters merely groans in response while he puts his hat on as he exits. Ed. Weinberger

Ed. Weinberger

Edwin B. “Ed.” Weinberger is an American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and television producer.Ed. Weinberger began his career writing for such stand-up comedians as Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, and Bill Cosby. His first job in television was writing on “The Tonight Show” for Johnny Carson...

is believed to have portrayed Walters during the sequence. The woman is Weinberger's actual assistant.

External links

• Museum of Broadcast Communications - Ed Weinberger profile
• MSNBC.com - TV Vanity Cards (includes John Charles Walters)