Tandem Productions In the early years, Yorkin and Lear initially established Tandem specifically for television production. The name was chosen because when launching their company, Yorkin and Lear were said to feel like two men riding uphill on a
tandem bicycle. The company produced several variety and dramatic television specials such as the
Fred Astaire specials,
Henry Fonda and the Family,
An Evening with Carol Channing and ''The Scene '66
, to name a few. Tandem was also at hand for various unsold pilots throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including Henry T.
, Meet Me at Danny's
and Barnaby
(not to be confused with Barnaby Jones''). The company also financed the production of theatrical films, some of which were released by
Warner Bros. Pictures,
Paramount Pictures,
Columbia Pictures, and
United Artists. Lear and Yorkin later turned their focus on
situation comedy. The first success in that genre was
All in the Family, which was based on the
British sitcom
Till Death Us Do Part. and launched a new series,
13 Queens Boulevard. A year later, they co-produced the short-lived sitcom
One in a Million, starring Shirley Hemphill. Two years later, TOY produced another sitcom,
One of the Boys. It received negative reception, and after it was cancelled on April 24, 1982, TOY was folded. Despite forming his own production company, Yorkin stayed on board with Tandem as executive vice president.
1980s After Norman Lear bought
Avco Embassy Pictures, he dropped the name "Avco" and reincorporated T.A.T. Communications as
Embassy Television. All series that were still produced by T.A.T. (such as
The Facts of Life,
The Jeffersons, and
One Day at a Time) were produced under the Embassy name. All shows by Tandem Productions that were off the air were distributed by Embassy Telecommunications. In 1983, Ken Stump, the former associate producer for Tandem Productions and T.A.T. Communications was made in charge of production for Tandem Productions and Embassy Television. The same year in June, Lear and Perenchio bought out Yorkin's interest in Tandem. On June 18, 1985, Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio sold Embassy Communications, Inc. to
The Coca-Cola Company for $485 million, but then Coke sold Embassy Pictures to
Dino De Laurentiis since De Laurentiis wanted to start releasing his movies through his own studio. Coke's plan was to keep the television division and to
spin off the other labels that weren't part of the deal. De Laurentiis later folded Embassy Pictures with the formation of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. The majority of the motion picture holdings are currently owned by
StudioCanal. However, Columbia Pictures still retains
Crimewave and
Saving Grace (both co-distributed by Embassy Pictures). SPE also has the television rights to the Avco Embassy Film
The Fog (1980) since a
2005 remake. After the sale of Embassy, CPT also produced and distributed the sitcom ''
What's Happening Now!! which was co-produced by LBS Communications. The same year, Diff'rent Strokes'' moved to
ABC from
NBC after NBC cancelled the series. Tandem Productions remained active, but Coke and Embassy Communications launched Tandem Licensing Corporation as Tandem's licensing division. In 1986, ''Diff'rent Strokes'' was canceled due to low ratings and Tandem Productions was abandoned. Embassy Television, Embassy Telecommunications, and Tandem Productions were merged into the Embassy Communications holding company and Embassy Communications became a full television studio (later becoming part of Columbia/Embassy Television in November 1986). However, Tandem still remained as an in-name-only division of Embassy Communications until January 2, 1988 when it became in-name-only to Columbia Pictures Television and in turn an in-name-only sub-division of ELP Communications. The same year, Coca-Cola spun off and sold Embassy Home Entertainment to Nelson Holdings, Inc. and became
Nelson Entertainment. CPT still retained the television rights to those Embassy movies by
Joseph E. Levine, Avco Embassy Pictures, and Lear/Perenchio's Embassy Pictures. ==Notable TV programs/studios and tapings by Tandem Productions==