Screen Gems (1948–1974) Screen Gems was the name of
Columbia Pictures' television studio from November 1948 to May 6, 1974l and duting that time, produced shows such as
Bewitched,
The Flying Nun,
The Partridge Family,
I Dream of Jeannie and
The Monkees. It was one of the largest television producers in history, and it was around that time, one of the few television subsidiaries of a major movie studio that didn't carry the film studio's name. It was highly profitable until 1974, when its name was changed to Columbia Pictures Television. As the successor in interest to Screen Gems, it assumed productions of the daytime soap operas
Days of Our Lives and
The Young and the Restless, as well as the NBC police show
Police Story. The first series produced under the CPT name was the sitcom ''
That's My Mama'', which was slated to be a Screen Gems production. On May 27, 1974, Columbia Pictures Television planned to syndicate ten one-hour musical specials that were set to be taped in Las Vegas nightclubs, and the programs were simulcasted on FM Radio to be set up by Yuri Zabran to premiere as early as 1975. In September 1974, Columbia had signed
Abby Mann to develop long-form television projects, and the first project to came out of the deal was
Medical Story. In 1975,
Carl Reiner joined Columbia Pictures Television to serve as executive producer and host of the show
Good Heavens, which was for the ABC television network. Also, on July 1, 1975, former
NBC vice president Larry White had set up his own production company Larry White Productions with a deal at Columbia Pictures Television. On May 10, 1976, White then joined the studio to displace Gerber as his program chief, who subsequently restarted plans to launch its own CPT-based production company. In early June 1977, CPT acquired worldwide distribution rights to
Barney Miller and
Fish from
Danny Arnold,
Barnaby Jones from
Quinn Martin, and
Soap from
Witt/Thomas Productions. In mid-June, CPT acquired domestic distribution rights to four series from
Spelling-Goldberg Productions such as
S.W.A.T.,
Starsky & Hutch, ''
Charlie's Angels, and Family''. Later on in 1977, former
MGM Television president Harris Katleman and
Universal Television producer
Harve Bennett joined forces to form Bennett/Katleman Productions with a deal at the studio. Also in 1978, Larry White was promoted to president of the studio. From 1978 to 1986, CPT co-produced series with Spelling-Goldberg including
Fantasy Island,
Hart to Hart, and
T. J. Hooker. In mid-February 1979, CPT acquired TOY Productions, whose output included ''
What's Happening!! and Carter Country''. In 1981, Richard Dawson has signed a joint development contract with Rastar Television and Columbia Pictures Television to produce television shows. On August 13, 1981, CPT acquired the television assets of
Time Life. A year later, Columbia partnered with
HBO and
CBS to form
TriStar Pictures. On May 7, 1982, Columbia Pictures acquired
Spelling-Goldberg Productions for more than $40 million. Around the same year, former ABC executive
Barbara Corday started a new Columbia-affiliated production company, Can't Sing Can't Dance Productions.
The Coca-Cola years (1982–1987) The 1980s brought significant changes to CPT. In mid-June 1982, beverage company
The Coca-Cola Company bought
Columbia Pictures for $750 million. By mid-November 1982, CPT agreed to license domestic distribution rights to Spelling-Goldberg's
Family to
Lexington Broadcast Services Company. In 1983, Coca-Cola formed CPT Holdings. By 1984, the company demerged CPT from Columbia Pictures Industries, shifting it to CPT Holdings. In mid-February 1983, producer
Roy Huggins signed a deal with the studio. In mid-May, Columbia Pictures Television entered into an agreement with producer Centerpoint to co-produce miniseries such as
Sadat and
The Last Days of Pompeii. By early September, actress Suzanne Somers (via Hamel/Somers Productions) signed a deal with the studio. By late January 1984, CPT and LBS formed a joint venture for barter syndication, called
Colex Enterprises, which would distribute several properties from CPT's library such as
Father Knows Best and
The Monkees, while throughout the 1980s and 1990s, other shows such as
Bewitched,
I Dream of Jeannie, and
The Partridge Family were licensed to
The Program Exchange. The same year, CPT acquired distribution rights to
Benson. In late 1984,
Barbara Corday took over as president of the studio. Another high-profile deal at CPT arrived in August 1984 when two of the high-profile independent producers North Ave. Productions (backed by Michael S. Baser and
Kim Weiskopf) signed with CPT after leaving 20th Century Fox Television (now
20th Television), while
George Schenck and Frank Cardea (via Schenck/Cardea Productions) reupped their contract with CPT. By mid-June 1985,
Norman Lear and
Jerry Perenchio sold their company, Embassy Communications, Inc. (whose divisions consisted of
Embassy Pictures,
Embassy Television,
Tandem Productions, and Embassy Home Entertainment) to Coca-Cola, resulting in Coca-Cola gaining the rights to such shows as
All in the Family,
Sanford and Son,
The Jeffersons,
Good Times,
Maude, ''
Diff'rent Strokes, Archie Bunker's Place, The Facts of Life, One Day at a Time, Who's the Boss?, and Silver Spoons, among others. AITF'', however, was still distributed by
Viacom Enterprises at the time. Coke also made plans to spin off Embassy Pictures and Embassy Home Entertainment. Under Coca-Cola's ownership, Embassy saw success with
227 and
Married... with Children. The same year, CPT and LBS launched ''
What's Happening Now!! in first-run syndication. The show was a sequel to the 1970s ABC sitcom What's Happening!!''. Also that year,
Barney Rosenzweig (via The Rosenzweig Company) had signed a three-year distribution deal with the studio to distribute their own projects. During that year, CPT revived the previous Screen Gems brand name to market classic television shows for syndication. By mid-September 1985, CPT acquired domestic distribution rights to three series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, such as
Hardcastle and McCormick,
Riptide and
The Rousters. At the time the acquisition was announced, the latter of the three series was cancelled but no plans were made yet to put it in syndication, hence it not being mentioned. The former was subsequently put in syndication by the above mentioned Colex Enterprises. Major changes took place in 1986. By early May, Coke acquired
Merv Griffin Enterprises, producer of the popular series,
Dance Fever,
The Merv Griffin Show, and the two game shows,
Jeopardy! and
Wheel of Fortune; (the nighttime versions were distributed by
King World and later,
CBS Media Ventures). However,
Sony Pictures Television holds off-net syndication rights to these shows, mainly broadcasting them on
Game Show Network, while sister company
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment holds home video rights. By mid-May 1986, Joe Indelli, president of Columbia Pictures Television Distribution, resigned in order to launch a new company that was owned by
MTM Enterprises to syndicate its own programs and Robert King, who was partner of The Television Program Source, would replace him. Also in 1986, Embassy Television, Embassy Telecommunications, and Tandem Productions were all merged into Embassy Communications; the Tandem unit ceased production to be used after the cancellation of ''Diff'rent Strokes'' but remained in-name-only, while the Columbia and Embassy units continued to exist separately. Also on the same year on August 28, CPT acquired Danny Arnold's Four D Productions, Inc. for $50 million. On November 24, 1986, Coca-Cola regrouped CPT, Embassy Communications, and Merv Griffin Enterprises, forming a new subsidiary, Coca-Cola Television and a first-run syndication unit,
Coca-Cola Telecommunications, from a merger between two units of CPT: its first-run syndication branch and The Television Program Source (a joint venture with Alan Bennett and former King World president Robert King that was created on October 15, 1984, which Coca-Cola had a small investment in originally, and notably distributed the 1985–1986 nighttime syndicated version of
The Price Is Right and was slated to distribute a new version of
Match Game for syndication beginning in 1987). It was headed by Gary Rosenthal, who was leading Embassy Telecommunications, and also inserted was a new subsidiary Coca-Cola Television Operations. On September 9, 1986, Columbia Pictures Television's European division expanded its branch, producing programming for ITV franchisee holders, such as
HTV, and added new co-productions from other ITV franchisees such as
Anglia Television and
Yorkshire Television. Distribution of some programs, such as ''
What's Happening Now!!, The Real Ghostbusters, Punky Brewster and Dinosaucers, was also shifted to Coca-Cola Telecommunications. The former two were previously distributed by CPT, while the latter two were slated to be distributed by CPT. CPT acquired the rights to Punky
, a former NBC in-house production, because Financial Interest and Syndication Rules prevented the network from producing more episodes for syndication after they cancelled it. During the fall of 1986, the sitcom Designing Women began a successful seven-year run on CBS. The same year, Tri-Star Pictures formed Tri-Star Television, which produced the short-lived series Downtown. More series from Tri-Star Television debuted in 1987, such as Take Five, Nothing in Common, My Two Dads, Werewolf, and Buck James''. Also that same year,
Clyde Phillips joined the studio as an independent television producer. In 1987, a major reorganization shook up at Columbia/Embassy Television, whereas Embassy employee Glenn Patrick resigned to start his own film and television production company, and
Barbara Corday was appointed as president at the studio. The Columbia name would now be used for dramatic shows, while the Embassy name would be used for comedic output. Owing to the association with
Castle Rock Entertainment, CPT signed on to handle international distribution and off-net syndication of Castle Rock's properties, because Columbia had a 40% interest in the studio.
Columbia Pictures Entertainment (1987–1989) On December 18, 1987, Coca-Cola spun off its entertainment holdings, selling them to Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. for $3.1 billion. Tri-Star was renamed as Columbia Pictures Entertainment (which they partially owned) after the film
Ishtar turned out to be a notorious failure both critically and financially. CPT Holdings then became a standalone division from CPT. As a result, Columbia/Embassy Television and Tri-Star Television were merged to create a new Columbia Pictures Television and Embassy Communications was reduced as in-name-only and renamed to ELP Communications as the copyright holder for shows produced by Embassy. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Telecommunications and the distribution arm of Embassy Communications were merged to become Columbia Pictures Television Distribution. As a result, many of the staff, including
Barbara Corday, who had been as president of the studio since 1984, as well as former presidents Herman Rush and Peter Seale, were laid off and replaced mostly by Tri-Star alumnus, such as
Scott Siegler, who was president of the studio, and former Columbia/Embassy Television executives were assigned to the new unit, namely Gary Lieberthal and Barry Thurston. Other executives retained by CPE included Arnold Mesnser, who was previously president of Tri-Star Telecommunications, took over the responsibilities of Rush and Seale and still had an unspecified corporate operation at CPE's headquarters for the New York area. Herman Rush and Peter Seale had plans to set up a new syndication company to handle the former CCT product. On February 2, 1988, Barry Thurston, vice-president of Columbia/Embassy Television, became president of Columbia Pictures Television Distribution. On December 26, 1988, writer
Pamela Pettler signed a deal with the studio. On February 2, 1989, Columbia Pictures Television formed a joint venture with Norman Lear's
Act III Communications, called Act III Television to produce television series and not manage.
The Sony years to the end (1989–2001) On November 8, 1989,
Sony bought Columbia Pictures Entertainment for $3.4 billion, and the next day, Sony acquired The Guber-Peters Entertainment Company (formerly game show production company
Barris Industries with the library of game shows including
The Newlywed Game,
The Dating Game, and
The Gong Show) for $200 million after hiring film producers
Peter Guber and
Jon Peters to run the company. On November 5, 1990, CPE folded its first-run syndication unit Guber-Peters Television into Columbia Pictures Television Distribution. On August 7, 1991, CPE changed its name to Sony Pictures Entertainment and TriStar Television was relaunched on October 10. That year, the company signed a deal with
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment to distribute its programming. Throughout the 1990s, the studio launched such successful shows for Columbia such as ''
Beakman's World on TLC and CBS in 1992, Ricki Lake in syndication which lasted 11 years, Party of Five on Fox, NewsRadio on NBC, and the short-lived cult following animated series The Critic on ABC and Fox in 1994, and for TriStar such as Mad About You on NBC in 1992, Forever Knight on CBS, first-run syndication, and USA in 1992, The Nanny on CBS in 1993, Malcolm & Eddie on UPN in 1996, and Early Edition on CBS in 1996. One of the most successful by far was Seinfeld'', a
Castle Rock Entertainment production which Columbia distributed in off-net syndication years later. On August 21, 1992, Columbia's subsidiary CAT Holdings, Inc. (Columbia Act III Television) and
Franklin/
Waterman Entertainment created a joint venture called Franklin/Waterman 2. On December 7, 1992, SPE acquired the game show library of
Barry & Enright Productions. In 1992, CPT had the potential to sell the off-net syndication rights to the library to a company backed by a joint venture between
RHI Entertainment and Trilogy Entertainment Group. Later that year, director
Jonathan Lynn had signed a deal with the studio to develop their own television projects, including an NBC series commitment. On May 10, 1993, CPT and
MCA TV formed their barter divisions. CPT's barter division was called Columbia Pictures Television Advertising Sales (a.k.a. "Columbia Television Advertising Sales"). This division handled series by TriStar Television and Merv Griffin Enterprises, as well as off-net series by
Castle Rock Entertainment,
HBO Independent Productions, and
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment. CPT used other companies such as
Group W Productions for ''Beakman's World'',
MTV's One World Entertainment for
Married... with Children, and
Tribune Entertainment for
Designing Women. From 1994 until March 1996, the company distributed programming made by the CapCities/ABC-Brillstein-Grey joint venture Brillstein-Grey Communications until MCA purchased an investment made by the parent company.
Merger with TriStar Television, restructuring, and expansion (1994–2001) On February 21, 1994, after takeover by
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television merged under the leadership of
Jon Feltheimer and the two combined studios became
Columbia TriStar Television. After the merger, Columbia Pictures Television Distribution was renamed as Columbia TriStar Television Distribution. During that year, SPE acquired a vast back catalog of independently produced game shows with the acquisition of
Stewart Television. Along with the Merv Griffin, Chuck Barris, Barry & Enright, and CPT game shows they had already owned, these were part of the basis of the Game Show Network, launched on December 1, 1994. In 1998, ELP Communications became an in-name unit of Columbia TriStar Television. In 1997, most new shows, as well as some existing CPT shows like
Party of Five, was later produced by CTT, and also in January 1997, changed monikers from Sony Television Entertainment to Columbia TriStar Television Group. On July 1, 2000, Barry Thurston stepped down as president of Columbia TriStar Television Distribution after 17 years and was succeeded by then-current president, Steve Mosko. On January 1, 2001, Columbia Pictures Television was officially folded into Columbia TriStar Television, with
Days of Our Lives and
Walker Texas Ranger being the last known shows to feature the separate CPT logo, just in time when
NBC started using split-screen credits. On October 25, 2001, CTT and CTTD merged to form Columbia TriStar Domestic Television. On September 16, 2002, Sony Pictures changed the name of its television division to
Sony Pictures Television. ==See also==