Columbia Pictures Television
Columbia Pictures Television (CPT) was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems (SG). The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974.
History
Early years
CPT was home to the popular daytime soap operas Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless. During the 1970s and 80's, CPT made many co-productions with Spelling-Goldberg Productions, including S.W.A.T., Starsky & Hutch, Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, and T.J. Hooker.
CPT also made some co-productions with Screen Gems, including I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Partridge Family, The Monkees, The Flying Nun, and Gidget.
The 1970s
1974
- Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. and CPT Holdings, Inc.1 were created.
1976
- The company retires the Eric Siday/Van Alexander Screen Gems jingle and the first CPT logo, replacing it with a shortened version of the new theatrical logo, with a synthesized jingle by Suzanne Ciani.
The 1980s
1982
- The Coca-Cola Company bought Columbia Pictures Industries and its new logo added the byline "A Unit of The Coca-Cola Company", continuing to use a shortened version of the Cianni jingle.
1984
- Columbia Pictures Television joined forces with Lexington Broadcast Services Company by creating a joint venture between the two companies called Colex Enterprises2.
1985
- Norman Lear's hit TV shows joined the CPT family when the studio acquired Embassy Television (ET), the television division of Embassy Pictures and Tandem Productions, which included a large library of shows, such as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, Who's The Boss?, and Silver Spoons, among others.
- CPT and LBS Communications produced What's Happening Now!! as the 80s sequel of What's Happening!!. CPT considered the 70s version as their own after acquiring the Tandem/Embassy TV library.
1986
- The partnership between CPT and Embassy Television was called Columbia/Embassy Television (CET, simply referred to as Embassy Communications). CET continued to use CPT and EC as their separate names on the air. Embassy added a Coca-Cola byline this year.
- CPT went on to produce the hit sitcom, Designing Women.
- CET acquired Merv Griffin Enterprises, known for producing the popular game shows, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
1987
- The venture "Colex Enterprises" ended and the company was succeeded by Columbia Pictures Television Distribution (CPTD).
- Coca-Cola launched a television distribution arm of CPT called Coca-Cola Telecommunications. This logo was only seen on the syndicated version of The Real Ghostbusters and on Punky Brewster reruns, distribution of the latter show having been acquired from NBC.
- A merger took place in 1987 when CET acquired TriStar Television (TSTV, first spelled Tri-Star) from partners CBS and HBO.
- December 21: CET and TSTV merged to form a brand new Columbia Pictures Television, as part of the new Columbia Pictures Entertainment (CPE). A modified logo is made to reflect the changes, with a new byline and a new jingle.
1988
- The shows that were produced by Embassy Communications were now produced by CPT, but in the closing credits, the copyright was going to the new ELP Communications.
1989
- Sony Corporation bought CPT's parent, Columbia Pictures Entertainment, from Coke.
The 1990s
1991
- CPE changed its name to Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).
- TriStar Television was re-created as a TV production label.
1994
- CPT and TSTV launched Columbia TriStar Television (CTT) as a joint venture between the two television companies, and CTT also had the rights to produce the ELP Communications shows, as well as Merv Griffin's Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (although Griffin still holds the copyrights to both shows).
- Susan Stafford, the former letter turner of Wheel of Fortune along with Jack Barry's family sold Barry & Enright Productions to SPE.
- CTT reran and produced the classic game show The Joker's Wild and is still being produced today.
- CPT went on to produce the animated series, The Critic.
- CTT acquires Bob Stewart Productions.
1995
- Columbia TriStar Television Distribution (CTTD), the TV distribution arm of CTT, was created to distribute shows from its library, as well as produce and distribute new syndicated shows, and distribute the Columbia TriStar movie library.
- Columbia TriStar International Television (CTIT), the international TV distribution arm of CTT, was formed to distribute its movie and TV libraries around the world.
1996
- CTT launched Columbia TriStar Children's Television (CTCT), the studio's animation division.
1997
- The CTCT's name was changed to Adelaide Productions.
- CTT acquired Chuck Barris Productions from Chuck Barris, including a revival of The Newlywed Game.
1998
- ELP was consolidated to CTT after Beakman's World was cancelled.
- The group celebrated 50 years of television entertainment since the re-activation of Screen Gems as Columbia's TV division.
1999
- CTTD introduced Screen Gems Network, the first broadcasted show to air classic shows from the 1950s to the 1980s from the CTT vault and got cancelled in 2001.
- TriStar TV was folded into CTT after Mad About You and The Nanny went off the air, but TriStar still kept its name on Early Edition and Malcolm & Eddie, which both got cancelled and ended its name in 2000.
2000s
2001
- July 2: CPT was folded into CTT, however, SPE kept the name CPT Holdings on The Young and the Restless.
- CTT and CTTD merged to create Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (CTDT).
2002
- Between July and September: Sony Pictures announced that it would change its TV subsidiary from CTDT to Sony Pictures Television.
Notes
CPT Holdings, Inc.
CPT Holdings, Inc.1 was introduced in 1974 as a copyrighting name and the holder for classic shows for Columbia Pictures Television from recent buyouts. It is currently a service mark of Sony Pictures Television
Other than its own series Designing Women and its daytime drama The Young and the Restless, the company holds What's Happening!!, The Joker's Wild, incarnations from Pyramid, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and 3's a Crowd.
During the years of Columbia Pictures Television, the company identified itself in the credits as Columbia Pictures Television, CPT Holdings, Inc., Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. and Columbia Pictures Television Distribution.
Colex Enterprises
Colex Enterprises2 was created in 1984 as a partnership between CPT and Lexington Broadcast Services Co. The venture ended in 1987 and was succeeded by CPTD, which was succeeded in 1995 by CTTD, then in 2001 by CTDT which is now known as SPT since 2002.
Colex was most popularly known for distributing classic shows from the libraries of Screen Gems and CPT.
See also
External links
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