Filmways

Filmways, Inc.

Former type	Corporation
Fate	Acquired by Orion Pictures
Successor	Orion Pictures
Founded	1958
Defunct	1983
Headquarters	Sonoma County, California

Filmways, Inc. was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff in 1958. It is probably best remembered as the production company of CBS' "rural comedies" of the 1960s, including The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres, as well as the comedy-drama The Trials of O'Brien, the western Dundee and the Culhane, the adventure show Bearcats!, the police drama Cagney & Lacey, and the sitcoms Mr. Ed and The Addams Family.

Filmways acquired famous companies throughout the years, such as Heatter-Quigley Productions (for Hollywood Squares), Ruby-Spears Productions and American International Pictures.

History

• 1958: Filmways, Inc. was formed by Martin Ransohoff;
• 1966: The company acquired Heatter-Quigley Productions;
• 1969: Filmways bought Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma County, California, outside of San Francisco.^[1]
• 1972: Ransohoff left Filmways, Inc.
• 1974: The company acquired book publisher Grosset & Dunlap from American Financial Group;
• 1975: Filmways, Inc. bought syndicator Rhodes Productions;
• 1978: The company acquired Ruby-Spears Productions;
• 1979: Filmways bought American International Pictures;
• 1980: Rhodes broke apart from the company by becoming independent;
• 1981: Ruby-Spears Productions was sold to Taft Broadcasting;
• 1981: Sears Point Raceway was sold;
• 1982: The company sold Grosset & Dunlap to G. P. Putnam's Sons;
• 1983: Filmways, Inc. merged with Orion Pictures.

Announcements at the end of productions

Most productions ended with the announcement, "This has been a Filmways Presentation". For some shows, the voice-over was made by a cast member:

• Petticoat Junction: First, Billie Jo Bradley, (Jeannine Riley) and, later, Betty Jo Bradley (Linda Kaye Henning)
• Green Acres: Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor), she says "This has been a Filmways presentation, dahling."
• Beverly Hillbillies: Elly May Clampett (Donna Douglas). Early seasons feature Bill Baldwin, the show's regular announcer.
• Mr. Ed: Roger Addison (Larry Keating). Later seasons feature Mister Ed (Allan Lane) saying it after Keating's death in 1963.
• Addams Family: The logo was silent, but in some episodes the phrase was said in a deep baritone voice by Ted Cassidy, but he did not say it in his usual "Lurch" voice.

Ownership of television properties

Today, most of the Filmways library, including Green Acres, The Addams Family, Cagney & Lacey (continued by Orion), Death Wish II (a Cannon film), The Hollywood Squares, and Mister Ed is owned by MGM (successor-in-interest to Orion which it purchased in 1998, and also owners of the Cannon Films library).

Exceptions

• CBS holds ownership rights to The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction. Viacom (the parent of CBS from 1999-2005, actually started as CBS' syndication arm) syndicated these two programs since the 1970s.

• Filmways has co-produced Eye Guess, The Face Is Familiar, and Personality with Bob Stewart Productions. Those three game shows are currently owned by Sony Pictures Television (SPT). SPT co-distributed the MGM library for a short time.

References

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (July 2006)