Warner Bros. Television
Encyclopedia
Warner Bros. Television is the television production
arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment
, itself part of Time Warner
. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production
arm of The CW Television Network
(in which Time Warner has a 50% ownership stake), though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless
on Showtime and The Closer
on TNT
(though Time Warner owns TNT).
's son-in-law William T. Orr
. ABC
had major success against its competition with Walt Disney
's Disneyland (TV series) and approached Warner Bros.
initially with the idea of purchasing the studio's film library (WB eventually sold the rights to the negatives of 750 films and over 1500 shorts to Associated Artists Productions
, or a.a.p., in 1956). WB formally entered television production with the premiere of its self-titled anthology series Warner Bros. Presents
on ABC. The one hour weekly show featured rotating episodes of television series based on the WB films, Casablanca
and King's Row, as well as an original series titled Cheyenne with Clint Walker
. The first one hour television western, Cheyenne became a big hit for the network and the studio with the added advantage of featuring promotions for upcoming Warner Bros. cinema releases in the show's last ten minutes. One such segment for Rebel Without a Cause
featured Gig Young
notably talking about road safety with James Dean
.
With only Cheyenne being a success, Warner Bros. ended the ten minute promotions of new films and replaced Warner Bros. Presents with an anthology series titled Conflict
. It was felt that "Conflict" was what the previous series lacked. Conflict showed the pilots for Maverick
and 77 Sunset Strip
.
The success of Cheyenne led WBTV to produce many series for ABC such as Westerns (Maverick
, Lawman
, Colt .45
, Bronco
that was a spin off
of Cheyenne, Sugarfoot
, and The Alaskans
), crime dramas (77 Sunset Strip
, Hawaiian Eye
, Bourbon Street Beat
, and Surfside 6
), and other shows such as The Gallant Men
and The Roaring Twenties
using stock footage from WB war film
s and gangster films respectively. The company also produced Jack Webb
's Red Nightmare
for the U.S. Department of Defense
that was later shown on American television on Jack Webb
's General Electric True
.
All shows were made in the manner of WB's B pictures
in the 30s and 40s; fast paced, lots of stock footage
from other films, stock music from the Warners music library and contracted stars working long hours for comparatively small salaries with restrictions on their career.
During a Hollywood television writers strike, Warner Bros. reused many plots from its films and other television shows under the nom de plume of "W. Hermanos". This was another example of imitating Warner Bros' B Pictures who would remake an "A" film and switch the setting.
Two of the most popular stars, James Garner
and Clint Walker
quit over their conditions. Garner never returned to the Warner's fold. Successful Warner's television stars found themselves in leading roles of many of the studio's films with no increase in salary. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
was simultaneously the lead of 77 Sunset Strip, in a recurring role on Maverick, and also headlined several films until exhaustion forced the studio to give him a rest. Many other actors under contract to Warner's at the time, who despite their work conditions, did see their stars rise over time, included Jack Kelly
, Will Hutchins
, Peter Brown
, Ty Hardin
, Wayde Preston
, John Russell
, Donald May, Rex Reason
, Richard Long
, Van Williams
, Roger Smith
, Mike Road
, Anthony Eisley
, Robert Conrad
, Dorothy Provine
, Diane McBain
, and Connie Stevens
. Edd Byrnes and Troy Donahue
would go on to become teen heartthrobs. Another contract player, an Englishman who was growing displeased with Warner as his contract was expiring, would relocate to Europe from Hollywood, only to wind up an international star on TV, and eventually, in films. His name:Roger Moore
. Warners also contracted established stars such as Ray Danton
, Peter Breck
, Jeanne Cooper
and Grant Williams
. These stars often appeared as guest stars, sometimes reprising their series role in another TV series.
The stars appeared in Warner Bros. cinema releases with no additional salary, with some such as Zimbalist, Walker, Garner (replacing Charlton Heston
in Darby's Rangers), and Danton (replacing Robert Evans
in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond)playing the lead roles; many of the stars appeared in ensemble casts in such films as The Chapman Report
and Merill's Marauders
. Some stars such as Connie Stevens, Edd Byrnes, Robert Conrad and Roger Smith made albums for Warner Bros. Records
.
It was during this period, that shows, particularly Westerns like Cheyenne and Maverick; and the crime dramas like 77 Sunset Strip
, Hawaiian Eye
and Surfside 6
featured catchy theme songs, that became just as much a part of the American pop culture landscape, as the shows themselves. Depending on the particular show (in this case, the Westerns), William Lava
or David Buttolph
would compose the music, with lyrics by Stan Jones
or Paul Francis Webster
, among others. For the crime shows, it was up to the songwriting team of Jerry Livingston
and Mack David
, who also scored the themes for the sitcom Room for One More
, and The Bugs Bunny Show
.
In 1960, WBTV turned its attentions to the younger viewer, for one program, anyway, as they brought Bugs Bunny
and the other WB cartoon characters to prime-time, with The Bugs Bunny Show
, which featured cartoons released after July 31, 1948 (which had not been sold to a.a.p.), combined with newly animated introductory material. Also, that year saw the debut of The Roaring Twenties
(which was thought to be a more benign alternative to Desilu's The Untouchables
. Whether or not that was the actual case, it was, in fact, much less successful).
WBTV expanded on its existing genre of Westerns and crime dramas, and in January, 1962, produced its first sitcom, Room For One More
. Based on the memoirs of Anna Rose, which in 1952 WB made into a movie starring Cary Grant
about a married couple with two children of their own, who went on to adopt at least two more, the TV series starred Andrew Duggan
and Peggy McKay as George and Anna Rose. Acting legend Mickey Rooney
's son Tim
, and Ahna Capri
, who would continue to do episodic TV roles and feature films (arguably, her best-known movie was Enter the Dragon
starring Bruce Lee
) were cast as the Rose's natural children. The show only lasted for half a season. In the fall of that year, a WWII drama The Gallant Men
debuted, but lasted for only one season.
WBTV exclusively produced shows for the ABC network until 1963, when Temple Houston
premiered on NBC
.
In 1964, WBTV once again tried to turn a classic film comedy of its own into a sitcom, with No Time for Sergeants
. Both the sitcom and the 1958 movie were based on the 1955 Broadway play, which starred Andy Griffith
(TV's U.S. Steel Hour also adapted the stage play for TV in 1956). The sitcom starred Sammy Jackson
as Will Stockdale, a naive Georgia farm boy drafted into the military. 1965 saw the debut of F-Troop, a Western spoof taking place at a U.S. Army post after the Civil War. Despite lasting two seasons, it is still considered a classic. Forrest Tucker
, Larry Storch
, and Ken Berry
led an ensemble cast featuring military misfits, and an Indian tribe, who, among other things, forgot how to do a rain dance.
The streak of identifiable series subsided in 1963 with a halt of using stock company (acting) contract players and Jack Webb
taking over WBTV and not being particularly successful. However, many series were still filmed at Warner Bros. such as F-Troop and The F.B.I. (TV series).
and Welcome Back, Kotter
. In 1989, it acquired Lorimar-Telepictures
. Telepictures
was later folded into WBTV's distribution unit
, and in 1990, came back as a television production company. In 1993, Lorimar Television
was folded into WBTV.
In 2006, WBTV made its vast library of programs available for free viewing on the Internet (through sister company AOL's IN2TV
service), with Welcome Back, Kotter as its marquee offering. Some of these programs have not been seen publicly since their last syndicated release in the 1980s.
WBTV has had a number of affiliated production houses that have co-produced many of their shows with WBTV. These include but are not limited to: Bruce Helford
's Mohawk Productions (The Drew Carey Show
, The Norm Show
, The Oblongs
, George Lopez
), John Wells Productions
(ER
, The West Wing, Third Watch
), Jerry Bruckheimer Television
(Without a Trace
, Cold Case), Miller-Boyett Productions
- which was inherited from Lorimar (Full House
, Family Matters) and in 2010, Conan O'Brien
's production company Conaco
switched its affiliation to WBTV from Universal Media Studios, coinciding with O'Brien's move to his new talk show, Conan at Time Warner-owned TBS.
In August 2009 in Australia, The Nine Network and Warner Bros. Television launched digital free-to-air channel GO! with Warner Bros. Television
holding a 33% stake in the new joint venture with Sony Pictures (titles were later picked up by rival Seven
in 2011). During that, the network signed 4 more years with the output between 2011 and 2015.
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, itself part of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
arm of The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
(in which Time Warner has a 50% ownership stake), though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless
Shameless (2011 TV series)
Shameless is an American television drama series that airs on Showtime on Sundays at 10 pm/9 pm Central. It is based on the award-winning British series of the same name broadcast on Channel 4. The series is set in Chicago's South Side Canaryville neighborhood. The series premiered on January 9,...
on Showtime and The Closer
The Closer
The Closer is an American crime drama, starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Georgia police detective who often closes her cases using sometimes-questionable methods...
on TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
(though Time Warner owns TNT).
Beginning and saturation
The division was started on March 21, 1955 with its first and most successful head being Jack WarnerJack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
's son-in-law William T. Orr
William T. Orr
William T. Orr was an American television producer associated with a series of western and detective programs of the 1950s-1970s....
. ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
had major success against its competition with Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Disneyland (TV series) and approached Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
initially with the idea of purchasing the studio's film library (WB eventually sold the rights to the negatives of 750 films and over 1500 shorts to Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...
, or a.a.p., in 1956). WB formally entered television production with the premiere of its self-titled anthology series Warner Bros. Presents
Warner Bros. Presents
Warner Bros. Presents is the umbrella title for three series telecast as part of the 1955-56 season on ABC: Cheyenne, a new Western series that originated on Presents, and two based on classic Warner Bros. films, Casablanca and Kings Row....
on ABC. The one hour weekly show featured rotating episodes of television series based on the WB films, Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
and King's Row, as well as an original series titled Cheyenne with Clint Walker
Clint Walker
Norman Eugene Walker, known as Clint Walker , is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.-Life and career:...
. The first one hour television western, Cheyenne became a big hit for the network and the studio with the added advantage of featuring promotions for upcoming Warner Bros. cinema releases in the show's last ten minutes. One such segment for Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
featured Gig Young
Gig Young
Gig Young was an American film, stage, and television actor. Known mainly for second leads and supporting roles, Young won an Academy Award for his performance as a dance-marathon emcee in the 1969 film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.-Early life and career:Born Byron Elsworth Barr in St...
notably talking about road safety with James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
.
With only Cheyenne being a success, Warner Bros. ended the ten minute promotions of new films and replaced Warner Bros. Presents with an anthology series titled Conflict
Conflict (TV series)
Conflict is a 1956 ABC series that directly succeeded Warner Brothers Presents. It is most famous for having hosted the effective pilots of 77 Sunset Strip and Maverick....
. It was felt that "Conflict" was what the previous series lacked. Conflict showed the pilots for Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
and 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
.
The success of Cheyenne led WBTV to produce many series for ABC such as Westerns (Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
, Lawman
Lawman (tv series)
Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast from 1958 to 1962 starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and featuring Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay on the ABC Television Network. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming during the mid to late 1870s. Warner Bros....
, Colt .45
Colt .45 (TV series)
Colt .45 is an American Western television series shown on ABC between 1957 and 1960. The half-hour show derives from the 1950 Warner Brothers film of the same name starring Randolph Scott and formed part of the William T...
, Bronco
Bronco (TV series)
Bronco is a Western series on ABC from 1958 through 1962. It was shown by the BBC in the United Kingdom. The program starred Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne, a former Confederate officer who wandered the Old West, meeting such well-known individuals as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, Jesse James,...
that was a spin off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of Cheyenne, Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot is the title of a TV western that aired from 1957 to 1961. The series featured Will Hutchins as fledgling frontier lawyer Tom Brewster and Jack Elam as sidekick Toothy Thompson...
, and The Alaskans
The Alaskans
The Alaskans is a 1959 television series set in the port of Skagway, Alaska during the 1890s. The show features Roger Moore as "Silky Harris" and Jeff York as "Reno McKee", a pair of adventurers intent on swindling travelers bound for the Yukon Territories during the height of the Klondike Gold...
), crime dramas (77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
, Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
, Bourbon Street Beat
Bourbon Street Beat
Bourbon Street Beat is a private detective series which aired on the ABC network from 1959-1960 and featured Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which...
, and Surfside 6
Surfside 6
Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
), and other shows such as The Gallant Men
The Gallant Men
The Gallant Men is a 1962-1963 ABC television series which depicted an infantry company of American soldiers fighting their way through Italy in World War II.-Description:...
and The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a 1939 crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...
using stock footage from WB war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
s and gangster films respectively. The company also produced Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
's Red Nightmare
Red Nightmare
Red Nightmare is the best known title of Armed Forces Information Film 120, Freedom and You. It was meant to educate the U.S. armed forces about the nature of Communism...
for the U.S. Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
that was later shown on American television on Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
's General Electric True
GE True
GE True is an American anthology series sponsored by General Electric. Telecast on CBS, the series presented stories previously published in True magazine. Articles from the magazine were adapted to TV by Gene Roddenberry and other screenwriters.Jack Webb produced and hosted the 33 episodes during...
.
All shows were made in the manner of WB's B pictures
B pictures
In the field of video compression a video frame is compressed using different algorithms with different advantages and disadvantages, centered mainly around amount of data compression. These different algorithms for video frames are called picture types or frame types. The three major picture...
in the 30s and 40s; fast paced, lots of stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
from other films, stock music from the Warners music library and contracted stars working long hours for comparatively small salaries with restrictions on their career.
During a Hollywood television writers strike, Warner Bros. reused many plots from its films and other television shows under the nom de plume of "W. Hermanos". This was another example of imitating Warner Bros' B Pictures who would remake an "A" film and switch the setting.
Two of the most popular stars, James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
and Clint Walker
Clint Walker
Norman Eugene Walker, known as Clint Walker , is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.-Life and career:...
quit over their conditions. Garner never returned to the Warner's fold. Successful Warner's television stars found themselves in leading roles of many of the studio's films with no increase in salary. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. is an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice behind the character Alfred Pennyworth in Batman: The Animated Series...
was simultaneously the lead of 77 Sunset Strip, in a recurring role on Maverick, and also headlined several films until exhaustion forced the studio to give him a rest. Many other actors under contract to Warner's at the time, who despite their work conditions, did see their stars rise over time, included Jack Kelly
Jack Kelly (actor)
Jack Kelly was an American film and television actor most noted for the role of "Bart Maverick" in the TV series Maverick, which ran on ABC from 1957 to 1962...
, Will Hutchins
Will Hutchins
Will Hutchins is an American actor most noted for playing the lead role of the young lawyer Tom Brewster in the Warner Brothers Western television series Sugarfoot on ABC from 1957-1961.-Biography:...
, Peter Brown
Peter Brown (actor)
Peter Brown is an American television actor known for his role as Deputy Johnny McKay opposite John Russell in the 1958 Warner Bros. western series Lawman.-Early life:...
, Ty Hardin
Ty Hardin
Ty Hardin, born Orison Whipple Hungerford, Jr., is a former American actor best known as the star of the 1950s ABC western television series Bronco.-Early life:...
, Wayde Preston
Wayde Preston
Wayde Preston or William Erskine Strange was a television actor noted for the series Colt .45 and for his appearance as Waco Williams in a 1958 episode of Maverick entitled "The Saga of Waco Williams"...
, John Russell
John Russell (actor)
John Lawrence Russell was an American actor, and World War II veteran, most noted for playing Marshal Dan Troop in the successful ABC western television series Lawman from 1958 to 1962....
, Donald May, Rex Reason
Rex Reason
Rex Reason is an American actor.He is the brother of actor Rhodes Reason, who is two years younger...
, Richard Long
Richard Long (actor)
Richard Long was an American actor better known for his leading roles in several ABC television series, including The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor and Bourbon Street Beat.-Early life:...
, Van Williams
Van Williams
Van Zandt Williams is a former actor best known for his television role as Britt Reid/the Green Hornet. He teamed for one season with the late Bruce Lee as his partner Kato, in the television series The Green Hornet, broadcast on ABC during the 1966-67 season.Williams was also known for his...
, Roger Smith
Roger Smith (actor)
Roger LaVerne Smith is an American television and film actor and screenwriter. He starred in the television detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He is married to the actress Ann-Margret.-Early life:...
, Mike Road
Mike Road
Mike Road is a voice actor and a Warner Bros. television series contract player whose career dates back to the 1950s....
, Anthony Eisley
Anthony Eisley
Anthony Eisley was born Frederick Glendinning Eisley in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose father was a general sales manager for a large corporation. Father of Amanda Eisley, Jonathan Eisley, Nan R...
, Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the 1965 CBS television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West, and his portrayal of World War II ace Pappy Boyington in the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep...
, Dorothy Provine
Dorothy Provine
Dorothy Michelle Provine was an American singer, dancer, actress, and comedienne.-Career:Provine was born in Deadwood, South Dakota, to Virgil and Kathleen Provine. She attended the University of Washington, where she majored in drama. In Washington she handed out prizes for a local television...
, Diane McBain
Diane McBain
Diane McBain is an American actress who, as a Warner Brothers contract player, reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s...
, and Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens is an American actress and singer, best known for her roles in the television series Hawaiian Eye and other TV and film work.-Early life:...
. Edd Byrnes and Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
would go on to become teen heartthrobs. Another contract player, an Englishman who was growing displeased with Warner as his contract was expiring, would relocate to Europe from Hollywood, only to wind up an international star on TV, and eventually, in films. His name:Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
. Warners also contracted established stars such as Ray Danton
Ray Danton
Ray Danton , also known as Raymond Danton, was a radio, film, stage, and television actor, director, and producer whose most famous role was The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond...
, Peter Breck
Peter Breck
Joseph Peter Breck is an American prolific character actor of stage, who has played roles on television and in film...
, Jeanne Cooper
Jeanne Cooper
Wilma Jeanne Cooper , best known as Jeanne Cooper, is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Katherine Chancellor on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless...
and Grant Williams
Grant Williams
Grant Williams was an American film actor and operatic tenor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of Scott Carey in the seminal science fiction film The Incredible Shrinking Man , which has since become a cult classic.-Early life:Born John Joseph Williams in New York City to a Scottish father...
. These stars often appeared as guest stars, sometimes reprising their series role in another TV series.
The stars appeared in Warner Bros. cinema releases with no additional salary, with some such as Zimbalist, Walker, Garner (replacing Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
in Darby's Rangers), and Danton (replacing Robert Evans
Robert Evans
Robert Evans may refer to:*Bob Evans , American football and basketball coach*Robert Harding Evans*Robert Wilson Evans, archdeacon and author*Bob Evans , Welsh international football goalkeeper...
in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond)playing the lead roles; many of the stars appeared in ensemble casts in such films as The Chapman Report
The Chapman Report
The Chapman Report is a 1962 film made by DFZ Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and Richard D. Zanuck, from a screenplay by Wyatt Cooper and Don Mankiewicz, adapted by Gene Allen and Grant Stuart from Irving...
and Merill's Marauders
Merrill's Marauders (film)
Merrill's Marauders is a 1962 Cinemascope war film directed and co-written by Samuel Fuller based on the exploits of the jungle warfare unit of the same name in the Burma Campaign. The source is the non-fiction book The Marauders, written by Charlton Ogburn Jr., a communications officer who served...
. Some stars such as Connie Stevens, Edd Byrnes, Robert Conrad and Roger Smith made albums for Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
.
It was during this period, that shows, particularly Westerns like Cheyenne and Maverick; and the crime dramas like 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
, Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
and Surfside 6
Surfside 6
Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
featured catchy theme songs, that became just as much a part of the American pop culture landscape, as the shows themselves. Depending on the particular show (in this case, the Westerns), William Lava
William Lava
William "Bill" B. Lava was a musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated cartoons from 1962 onwards, replacing the deceased Milt Franklyn. Lava's music was very different from that of Franklyn and previous composer Carl Stalling...
or David Buttolph
David Buttolph
David Buttolph was a film composer who scored over 300 movies in his career. Born in New York City, Buttolph showed musical talent at an early age, and eventually studied music formally...
would compose the music, with lyrics by Stan Jones
Stan Jones (songwriter)
Stan Jones was an American songwriter and actor.Stanley Davis "Stan" Jones was born in Douglas, Arizona, and grew up on a ranch. When his father died, his mother moved the family to Los Angeles, California. He attended the University of California at Berkeley, competing in rodeos to make money...
or Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...
, among others. For the crime shows, it was up to the songwriting team of Jerry Livingston
Jerry Livingston
Jerry Livingston was an American songwriter, and dance orchestra pianist.-Biography:...
and Mack David
Mack David
Mack David was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning from the early 1940s through the early 1970s. Mack was credited with writing lyrics and/or music for over one thousand songs...
, who also scored the themes for the sitcom Room for One More
Room for One More (TV series)
Room for One More is a short-lived 1962 ABC situation comedy, principally starring Andrew Duggan and Peggy McCay as the heads of the Rose family. Its humor derives from their decision to augment their existing family with two adopted children...
, and The Bugs Bunny Show
The Bugs Bunny Show
The Bugs Bunny Show is a long-running American television anthology series hosted by Bugs Bunny, that was mainly composed of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons released by Warner Bros. between August 1, 1948 and the end of 1969. The show originally debuted as a primetime half-hour program on...
.
In 1960, WBTV turned its attentions to the younger viewer, for one program, anyway, as they brought Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
and the other WB cartoon characters to prime-time, with The Bugs Bunny Show
The Bugs Bunny Show
The Bugs Bunny Show is a long-running American television anthology series hosted by Bugs Bunny, that was mainly composed of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons released by Warner Bros. between August 1, 1948 and the end of 1969. The show originally debuted as a primetime half-hour program on...
, which featured cartoons released after July 31, 1948 (which had not been sold to a.a.p.), combined with newly animated introductory material. Also, that year saw the debut of The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a 1939 crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...
(which was thought to be a more benign alternative to Desilu's The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
. Whether or not that was the actual case, it was, in fact, much less successful).
WBTV expanded on its existing genre of Westerns and crime dramas, and in January, 1962, produced its first sitcom, Room For One More
Room for One More (TV series)
Room for One More is a short-lived 1962 ABC situation comedy, principally starring Andrew Duggan and Peggy McCay as the heads of the Rose family. Its humor derives from their decision to augment their existing family with two adopted children...
. Based on the memoirs of Anna Rose, which in 1952 WB made into a movie starring Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
about a married couple with two children of their own, who went on to adopt at least two more, the TV series starred Andrew Duggan
Andrew Duggan
-Career:During World War II, Duggan was in the 40th Special Services Company, led by actor Melvyn Douglas in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His contact with Douglas later led to his performing with Lucille Ball in the play Dreamgirl. He developed a friendship with Broadway...
and Peggy McKay as George and Anna Rose. Acting legend Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
's son Tim
Tim Rooney
Timothy Hayes Yule was an American actor and voice actor. He was the second son of actor Mickey Rooney and suffered from a muscle disease known as dermatomyositis....
, and Ahna Capri
Ahna Capri
Anna Marie Nanasi, better known by her professional name Ahna Capri was Budapest, Hungary-born American film and television actress best known for her role as Tania in the classic martial-arts movie Enter the Dragon.Capri started her career as a child actress, appearing on such series as Father...
, who would continue to do episodic TV roles and feature films (arguably, her best-known movie was Enter the Dragon
Enter the Dragon
Enter the Dragon is a 1973 Hong Kong martial arts co-production with Golden Harvest and Warner Bros. studios, directed by Robert Clouse; starring Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly and John Saxon. This is Bruce Lee's final film appearance before his death on July 20, 1973...
starring Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
) were cast as the Rose's natural children. The show only lasted for half a season. In the fall of that year, a WWII drama The Gallant Men
The Gallant Men
The Gallant Men is a 1962-1963 ABC television series which depicted an infantry company of American soldiers fighting their way through Italy in World War II.-Description:...
debuted, but lasted for only one season.
WBTV exclusively produced shows for the ABC network until 1963, when Temple Houston
Temple Houston (TV series)
Temple Houston is a 1963–64 NBC television series which has been called "the first attempt . . . to produce an hour-long Western series with the main character being an attorney in the formal sense." It was the only show Jack Webb sold to a network during his ten months as the head of production at...
premiered on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
In 1964, WBTV once again tried to turn a classic film comedy of its own into a sitcom, with No Time for Sergeants
No Time for Sergeants
No Time for Sergeants is a 1954 best-selling novel by Mac Hyman, which was later adapted into a teleplay on The United States Steel Hour, a popular Broadway play and 1958 motion picture, as well as a 1964 television series. The book chronicles the misadventures of a country bumpkin named Will...
. Both the sitcom and the 1958 movie were based on the 1955 Broadway play, which starred Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
(TV's U.S. Steel Hour also adapted the stage play for TV in 1956). The sitcom starred Sammy Jackson
Sammy Jackson
Sammy Jackson was an American actor known particularly for his roles reflecting rural life and a country music disc jockey, although he also played pop-standards during 1983 at Los Angeles's KMPC.-Biography and persona:...
as Will Stockdale, a naive Georgia farm boy drafted into the military. 1965 saw the debut of F-Troop, a Western spoof taking place at a U.S. Army post after the Civil War. Despite lasting two seasons, it is still considered a classic. Forrest Tucker
Forrest Tucker
Forrest Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television from the 1940s to the 1980s. Tucker, who stood 190 cm tall and weighed 93 kg , appeared in nearly 100 action films in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:Forrest Meredith Tucker was born in Plainfield, Indiana, a son of...
, Larry Storch
Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr...
, and Ken Berry
Ken Berry
Kenneth Ronald "Ken" Berry is an American dancer, comedic actor and singer. He began on stage as a dancer and later starred in television sitcoms.-Life and career:...
led an ensemble cast featuring military misfits, and an Indian tribe, who, among other things, forgot how to do a rain dance.
The streak of identifiable series subsided in 1963 with a halt of using stock company (acting) contract players and Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
taking over WBTV and not being particularly successful. However, many series were still filmed at Warner Bros. such as F-Troop and The F.B.I. (TV series).
Later years
In 1976, the company acquired Wolper Productions, most notably for Chico and the ManChico and the Man
Chico and the Man is an American sitcom which ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974 to July 21, 1978. It stars Jack Albertson as Ed Brown , the cantankerous owner of a run down garage in an East Los Angeles barrio, and Freddie Prinze as Chico Rodriguez, an upbeat, optimistic Chicano...
and Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...
. In 1989, it acquired Lorimar-Telepictures
Lorimar-Telepictures
Lorimar-Telepictures was a production and television syndication firm established in 1986 with the merger of Lorimar and Telepictures until both TV divisions became separate in 1988...
. Telepictures
Telepictures
Telepictures is an American production company, currently operating as a label of Warner Bros. Television, with Hilary Estey McLoughlin currently serving as President...
was later folded into WBTV's distribution unit
Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Television Distribution is an American television distribution arm of Warner Bros. Television, itself a part of Time Warner formed circa 1960. In 1989, the studio formed Warner Bros...
, and in 1990, came back as a television production company. In 1993, Lorimar Television
Lorimar Productions
Lorimar, later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American television production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993...
was folded into WBTV.
In 2006, WBTV made its vast library of programs available for free viewing on the Internet (through sister company AOL's IN2TV
In2TV
In2TV was a website offering ad-supported streaming video of classic TV shows in the USA only .The main appeal of the service was that it made available numerous old shows which were rarely, if ever, aired on broadcast television...
service), with Welcome Back, Kotter as its marquee offering. Some of these programs have not been seen publicly since their last syndicated release in the 1980s.
WBTV has had a number of affiliated production houses that have co-produced many of their shows with WBTV. These include but are not limited to: Bruce Helford
Bruce Helford
Bruce Helford is an American television writer and producer.Helford was the co-creator of The Drew Carey Show. He served as executive producer of the series for its entire run, from 1995 to 2004. Helford also served as executive producer and writer for Roseanne during season five of that series...
's Mohawk Productions (The Drew Carey Show
The Drew Carey Show
The Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor....
, The Norm Show
The Norm Show
The Norm Show is an American television sitcom that ran from 1999 through 2001 on the ABC television network.-Synopsis:...
, The Oblongs
The Oblongs
The Oblongs is an American animated television program aimed at teenagers and adults. It is loosely based on a series of characters introduced in creator Angus Oblong's picture book entitled Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children...
, George Lopez
George Lopez (TV series)
"The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez...
), John Wells Productions
John Wells (TV producer)
John Marcum Wells is an American theater and television producer, writer and director. He is best known for his role as executive producer and show runner of the television series ER, Third Watch, and The West Wing. His company, John Wells Productions, is currently based at Warner Bros. studios in...
(ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, The West Wing, Third Watch
Third Watch
Third Watch is an American television drama series which first aired on NBC from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 132 episodes, broadcast in 6 seasons of 22 episodes each....
), Jerry Bruckheimer Television
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
(Without a Trace
Without a Trace
Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...
, Cold Case), Miller-Boyett Productions
Miller-Boyett Productions
Miller-Boyett Productions was an American television production company that mainly developed television sitcoms from the 1970s through the 1990s...
- which was inherited from Lorimar (Full House
Full House
Full House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
, Family Matters) and in 2010, Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
's production company Conaco
Conaco
Conaco is the television production firm owned by entertainer Conan O'Brien. It has produced programs primarily for NBCUniversal, including O'Brien's Late Night and Tonight shows. David Kissinger, former NBCU executive and the son of Henry Kissinger, has been president since 2005.Conaco's first...
switched its affiliation to WBTV from Universal Media Studios, coinciding with O'Brien's move to his new talk show, Conan at Time Warner-owned TBS.
In August 2009 in Australia, The Nine Network and Warner Bros. Television launched digital free-to-air channel GO! with Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
holding a 33% stake in the new joint venture with Sony Pictures (titles were later picked up by rival Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
in 2011). During that, the network signed 4 more years with the output between 2011 and 2015.
See also
- Peter Roth (executive)Peter Roth (executive)Peter Roth is an American television producer, currently serving as the chief executive of Warner Brothers Television.-Career:Roth graduated from Tufts University in 1972 and began his television career in 1976 as manager and later director of children's programs and VP of current programming for...
- Warner Bros. Television DistributionWarner Bros. Television DistributionWarner Bros. Television Distribution is an American television distribution arm of Warner Bros. Television, itself a part of Time Warner formed circa 1960. In 1989, the studio formed Warner Bros...
- Warner Bros. International TelevisionWarner Bros. International TelevisionWarner Bros. International Television is the Global television arm of Warner Bros. Television and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment formed in 1996.Warner Bros. International Television distributes from the following:-Television:*Warner Bros...
- Warner Bros. AnimationWarner Bros. AnimationWarner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...