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157-443: Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( / b ɑːr ˈ b ɛər ə / bar- BAIR -ə ) (founded and formerly known as  H-B Enterprises , Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co. ) was an American production company , which was active from 1957 until its absorption into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001. Founded on July 7, 1957 by Tom and Jerry creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera along with George Sidney , it

314-773: A "one time hit" or an ongoing "entertainment franchise " that can be continued, remade, rebooted , or expanded into other sister industries; such as the video game industry (see Star Wars , Star Trek ). Entertainment projects can be either an original or an adaptation from another industry. In rare occasional cases, a few troubled major studios would also shed their distribution and/or marketing staffs, mainly due to reduced resources, and resort to co-investing and/or co-distributing film projects with larger studios, operating as virtual, production-only movie studios. Notable examples include legendary studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , which, after many years of box office flops (mostly with low budgets), bad management and distribution, and bankruptcy,

471-459: A 35 mm or 16 mm film camera to record the show from a television monitor. Although the pilot film shown to Philip Morris had been a kinescope, the sponsor did not want the lucrative East Coast market, accustomed to quality broadcasts, to see a low-quality kinescope film. Owing to the impending birth of their first child, both Ball and Arnaz insisted on staying in Hollywood and producing

628-694: A 50-50 joint venture between Turner Broadcasting System and Apollo Investment Fund for $ 320 million. Turner purchased these assets to launch a then-new all-animation network aimed at children and younger audiences. Scott Sassa hired Fred Seibert to head Hanna-Barbera, who filled the gap left by Great American's crew with new animators, directors, producers and writers, including Craig McCracken , Donovan Cook , Genndy Tartakovsky , David Feiss , Seth MacFarlane , Van Partible and Butch Hartman . After being newly named as H-B Production Co. , Capitol Critters and Fish Police debuted in 1992. Cartoon Network launched on October 1 of that year, and became

785-667: A Cuban bandleader who had just come off a successful run in the 1939–40 Broadway show Too Many Girls . RKO, after purchasing film rights to the show, cast Ball as Arnaz's love interest in the picture. The duo began a whirlwind courtship, leading to their elopement in Connecticut in November 1940. Despite their marriage, however, their careers kept them separated, with Ball's film work keeping her anchored in Hollywood, while Arnaz's nightclub engagements with his orchestra kept him on

942-554: A Forest ). With the majority of American television animation during the second half of the 20th century made by Hanna-Barbera and more cartoons like CB Bears , Buford and the Galloping Ghost , The All New Popeye Hour and Godzilla , major competition was coming from Filmation and DePatie–Freleng . Then-ABC president Fred Silverman gave its Saturday-morning time to them after dropping Filmation for its failure of Uncle Croc's Block . New live-action material

1099-521: A Mystery and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis . For two seasons, it centered on four teenagers and a dog solving supernatural mysteries, and became one of Hanna-Barbera's most successful creations, spawning several new spin-offs, such as The New Scooby-Doo Movies , Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo and many others, which were regularly in production at Hanna-Barbera into the 1990s. Referred to as "The General Motors of animation", Hanna-Barbera produced nearly two-thirds of all Saturday-morning cartoons in

1256-463: A TV Commercial". Since the original sponsor references were no longer appropriate when the shows went into syndication, a new opening was needed, which resulted in the classic "heart on satin" opening. Other sponsors, whose products appeared during the original openings, were Procter & Gamble for Cheer and Lilt Home Permanent (1954–57), General Foods for Sanka (1955–57), and Ford Motor Company (1956–57). The later Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show

1413-482: A blonde, dyed her hair red to complement the Technicolor features that MGM planned to use her in. MGM cast Ball in a variety of films, but it was her work with fellow comedian Red Skelton in the 1943 film DuBarry Was a Lady that brought Ball's physical comedy to the forefront, earning her the reputation as "that crazy redhead,” which Ricky would later call her on the show. Nonetheless, Ball's striking beauty

1570-433: A boy. Desi Arnaz agreed, telling Oppenheimer that Ball had already given him one girl, and might give him another—this might be his only chance to get a son. When the baby boy was born, Desi Arnaz immediately called Oppenheimer and told him, "Lucy followed your script. Ain't she something?", to which Oppenheimer replied "Terrific! That makes me the greatest writer in the world!" The opening familiar to most viewers, featuring

1727-468: A business manager by the name of Mr. Andrew Hickox, and in the first episode of season 4, called "The Business Manager" Ricky hires a man named Mr. Hickox. Lucille Ball came to Hollywood after a successful stint as a New York model. She was chosen by Samuel Goldwyn to be one of 16 Goldwyn Girls to co-star in the picture Roman Scandals (1933), with film star Eddie Cantor . Enthusiastic and hard-working, Ball had been able to secure film work briefly at

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1884-542: A call from Warner Bros. to resurrect its animation department. Ruegger, along with several of his colleagues, left Hanna-Barbera at that time to develop Tiny Toon Adventures at Warner Bros. David Kirschner , known for An American Tail and Child's Play , was later appointed as the studio's new CEO. Later that year, the company had a licensing agreement with MicroIllusions, a video game publisher, to produce video games based on its properties, namely Jonny Quest , The Jetsons and others. In 1990, while Kirschner and

2041-463: A civil court judge. Gordon was a veteran from the classic radio days in which he perfected the role of the exasperated character, as in Fibber McGee and Molly and Our Miss Brooks . He would go on to co-star with Ball in all of her post– I Love Lucy series ( The Lucy Show , Here's Lucy and Life with Lucy ). Benaderet was a guest star in one episode as elderly Miss Lewis, a neighbor of

2198-470: A comic relief pet of some sort. Starting in 1971, many new spin-offs , such as The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show , featuring Fred and Barney's now teenaged children along with The Flintstone Comedy Hour , The Tom and Jerry Show , The New Fred and Barney Show and "all-star" shows Yogi's Gang , Laff-A-Lympics , Yogi's Space Race and Galaxy Goof-Ups came to the airwaves. Hanna-Barbera teamed up with Avco Broadcasting Corporation in 1971,

2355-712: A company that was once a rival to its owner Taft at that time, who maintains rivalry in the Columbus and Cincinnati markets, to produce two holiday specials for the syndicated market by way of its syndicated division. In 1972, H-B opened an animation studio in Australia, with the Hamlyn Group acquiring a 50% stake in 1974. Hamlyn was acquired by James Hardie Industries . Hanna-Barbera Australia bought itself out from Hardie and Taft in 1988, changing its name to Southern Star Group, since becoming Endemol Shine Australia ,

2512-725: A contract producer William Hanna had secured privately. The program sponsor, Philip Morris cigarettes was incorporated into many of these sequences, so when I Love Lucy went into repeats, they were replaced by the now familiar heart logo. However Hazelton's original animation survives, and can be seen in the DVD boxed set as originally presented. Desilu Productions , jointly owned by Ball and Arnaz, would gradually expand to produce and lease studio space for many other shows. For seasons 1 and 2 (1951–1953), Desilu rented space and filmed I Love Lucy at General Service Studios, which eventually became known as Hollywood Center Studios . In 1953, it leased

2669-405: A contract) or as a subsidiary for an entertainment company, motion picture company, television network, or all, and are generally smaller than the company they are partnered with. A book to film unit is a unit of a book publishing company for the purposes of getting books that they published adapted into film . Films have been using books as a prime source for films for years. In 2012, six out of

2826-485: A deal with the producers. A coin toss gave Hanna precedence in naming the new studio. Harry Cohn , president and head of Columbia Pictures, took an 18% ownership in H-B Enterprises , and provided working capital. Screen Gems became the new distributor and its licensing agent, handling merchandizing of the characters from the animated programs as the cartoon firm officially opened for business in rented offices on

2983-614: A development and co-finance plan. Macmillan Films was launched by Thomas Dunne Books in October 2010 under the packaging model similar to Alloy while also moving to get film rights from Dunne's published author. Also that year, Random House changed their strategy to film development and packaging only. Condé Nast Entertainment was started by Magazine publisher Conde Nast in October 2012. In 2013, Macmillan Films became Macmillan Entertainment with an expansion to look at other divisions' book for possible films. A production company

3140-559: A division of Banijay . Super Friends , an action-adventure show adapted from DC Comics ' Justice League of America and the first of many iterations of the Super Friends series, premiered on ABC on September 8, 1973. It returned to production in 1976, remaining on ABC through 1985 with The All-New Super Friends Hour , Challenge of the Superfriends and The World's Greatest Super Friends . While Help!... It's

3297-504: A drinking problem like Frawley. Vivian Vance became a consideration on the recommendation of I Love Lucy director Marc Daniels. Daniels had worked with Vance in New York on Broadway in the early 1940s. Vance had already been a successful stage star performing on Broadway for nearly 20 years in a variety of plays, and in addition, after relocating to Hollywood in the late 1940s, had two film roles to her credit. Nonetheless, by 1951, she

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3454-484: A formula for an original series was deemed successful, the studio reused it in subsequent series. Besides copying their own works, Hanna-Barbera drew inspiration from the works of other people and studios. Lehman considers that the studio served as the main example of how animation studios that focused on TV animation differed from those that focused on theatrical animation. Theatrical animation studios tried to maintain full and fluid animation and consequently struggled with

3611-515: A handful of levels so that only the parts of the body that needed to be moved at a given time (i.e. a mouth, an arm, a head) were animated. The rest of the figure remained on a held animation cel. This allowed a typical seven-minute short to be done with only nearly 2,000 drawings instead of the usual 14,000. Dialogue, music, and sound effects were emphasized over action, leading Chuck Jones —a contemporary who worked for Warner Bros. Cartoons and whose short The Dover Boys practically invented many of

3768-455: A performer, though she often feels excluded, as her industry involvement is limited, relative to that of Ricky, Fred, and Ethel. Though charismatic, throughout the series, she is depicted as having few marketable performance skills, and she is often portrayed as being tone deaf, struggling to sing anything other than off-key renditions of songs such as " Glow Worm " on the saxophone , and many of her performances end in disaster. However, to say she

3925-420: A pregnant woman. Later, during the second season, Ball was pregnant again with second child Desi Arnaz Jr. , and this time the pregnancy was incorporated into the series' storyline. (Contrary to popular belief, Ball's pregnancy was not television's first on-screen pregnancy, a distinction belonging to Mary Kay Stearns on the late 1940s sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny .) CBS would not allow I Love Lucy to use

4082-465: A private corporate investment entity (see Legendary Pictures ). Their only source of profit comes from the productions they produce. Because entertainment and media are currently in "high demand", a production company can profit if its management is capable of using its resources to supply good quality products and services to the public. Many entertainment production companies brand their entertainment projects. An entertainment project can either become

4239-451: A production. The entertainment industry is centered on funding (investments from studios, investment firms, or individuals either from earnings from previous productions or personal wealth), projects (scripts and entertainment franchises), and talent ( actors , directors, screenwriters , and crew). Production companies are judged and ranked based on the amount of funding it has, as well the productions it has completed or been involved with in

4396-501: A reasonable backlog of shorts for re-release. While contemplating their future, Hanna and Barbera began producing additional animated television commercials. During their last year at MGM, they had developed a concept for a new animated TV program about a cat and a dog. After failing to convince the studio to back their venture, George Sidney , who had worked with Hanna and Barbera on several of his movies for MGM, offered to serve as their business partner and convinced Screen Gems to make

4553-445: A self-publishing vanity press which are paid services. Both large and small production studios have an editorial board or editor-in-chief , along with other forms of a command hierarchy . Entertainment companies operate as mini conglomerate , operating many divisions or subsidiaries in many different industries. Warner Bros. Entertainment and Lionsgate Entertainment are two companies with this corporate structure. It allows for

4710-514: A significant ratings success, the top-rated program in eight years and the highest for an NBC show since 1970. The Gary Coleman Show , Shirt Tales , Pac-Man , The Little Rascals , The Dukes , Monchhichis , The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show and The Biskitts followed in 1982 and 1983. Following a 1982 strike , more cartoons were outsourced to Cuckoo's Nest Studios , Mr. Big Cartoons , Toei Animation and Fil-Cartoons in Australia and Asia, which provided production services to

4867-426: A single company to maintain control over seemingly unrelated companies that fall within the ranges of entertainment, which increases and centralises the revenue into one company (example: a film production company, TV production company, video game company, and comic book company are all owned by a single entertainment company). A motion picture company, such as Paramount Pictures , specializing "only" in motion pictures

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5024-799: A single year. Josie and the Pussycats , The Funky Phantom , The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan , Speed Buggy , Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids , Goober and the Ghost Chasers , Inch High, Private Eye , Clue Club , Jabberjaw , Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels and The New Shmoo built upon the mystery-solving template set by Scooby-Doo , with further shows built around teenagers solving mysteries with

5181-514: A studio party using a rubber Ricky dummy as her dancing partner. Little information was offered about Lucy's past. A few episodes mentioned that she was born in Jamestown, New York (Ball's real-life home town), later specified to be West Jamestown , that she graduated from Jamestown High School, that her maiden name was "McGillicuddy" (indicating a Scottish or Irish ethnicity, at least on her father's side, though she once mentioned her grandmother

5338-595: A survey conducted by ABC News and People magazine . In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it #12 on their list of the 101 Best Written TV Series. Originally set in an apartment building in New York City , I Love Lucy centers on Lucy Ricardo ( Lucille Ball ) and her singer/bandleader husband, Ricky Ricardo ( Desi Arnaz ), along with their best friends and landlords , Fred Mertz ( William Frawley ) and Ethel Mertz ( Vivian Vance ). During

5495-440: A top notch, first-rate comedian. They also highlighted her growing popularity with audiences, enticing CBS to further use her skills. In 1950, CBS asked Ball to take My Favorite Husband to television with co-star Richard Denning . Ball saw a television show as a great opportunity to work with Arnaz, however, and she insisted that he play her husband, much to the dismay of CBS, which was reluctant to cast Arnaz in that role, as he

5652-528: A total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz , along with Vivian Vance and William Frawley , and follows the life of Lucy Ricardo (Ball), a young, middle-class housewife living in New York City, who often concocts plans with her best friends and landlords, Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vance and Frawley), to appear alongside her bandleader husband, Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz), in his nightclub. Lucy

5809-629: Is an up-and-coming Cuban American singer and bandleader with an excitable personality. His patience is frequently tested by his wife's antics trying to get into showbiz , along with her exorbitant spending on clothes and furniture. When exasperated, he often reverts to speaking rapidly in Spanish . As with Lucy, not much is revealed about his past or family. Ricky's mother (played by actress Mary Emery) appears in two episodes; in another, Lucy mentions that he has five brothers. Ricky also mentions that he had been "practically raised" by his Uncle Alberto (who

5966-475: Is both godfather and honorary "uncle." Fred can also sing and dance, and he often performs duets with Ethel. The Manhattan building they all lived in before their move to Westport, Connecticut during the sixth season, was addressed at a fictional 623 East 68th Street, at first in apartment 4A, then moving to the larger apartment 3B (subsequently re-designated 3D; the Mertzes’ apartment is then numbered 3B), on

6123-569: Is completely without talent would be untrue, as on occasion, she is shown to be a good dancer and a competent singer. She is also at least twice offered contracts by television or film companies—first in the season 1 episode "The Audition", when she replaces an injured clown in Ricky's act at the Tropicana nightclub, and later in the season 5 episode "Lucy and the Dummy", when she dances in Hollywood for

6280-402: Is considered to be a small production company. These companies often work with up and coming talent. Small production companies will either grow to become a major production company, a subsidiary completely owned by another company, remain small, or fail. The success of an entertainment production company is centered on the projects it produces, the talent it can acquire, and the performance of

6437-512: Is depicted trying numerous schemes to mingle with and be a part of show business. After the series ended in 1957, a modified version of the show continued for three more seasons, with 13 one-hour specials, which ran from 1957 to 1960. It was first known as The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show, and later, in reruns, as The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour . I Love Lucy became the most-watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons and it

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6594-533: Is hired to be in Vallée's orchestra, thus allowing him to emigrate to the United States on the very ship on which Lucy and the Mertzes were returning. Lucy later states that Ricky played for Vallée only one night before being traded to Xavier Cugat 's orchestra. The extended flashback segment "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana" and the story of how Lucy and Ricky met is inconsistent with the season 4 episode "Don Juan and

6751-588: Is more inclined to include Ethel in performances at his nightclub because, unlike Lucy, she can sing and dance rather well. The show mentions that Ethel's husband, Fred, served in World War I , and lived through the Great Depression . As such, in the series, Fred is depicted as being very stingy with money and as being an irascible, no-nonsense type. However, he also reveals that he can be a soft touch, especially when it comes to Little Ricky, to whom Fred

6908-442: Is only connected with its other counterpart industries through its parent company. Instead of performing a corporate reorganization, many motion picture companies often have sister companies they collaborate with in other industries that are subsidiaries owned by their parent company and is often not involved in the making of products that are not motion picture related. A film production company can either operate as an affiliate (under

7065-410: Is owned by Paramount Global ). Alloy Entertainment while not a unit of a publisher started using a book packaging to film model of film and TV development by developing the property in-house, hire authors for the books and films, so as to own the property. Random House was the first big six book publisher to establish a book to film unit, Random House Films , in 2005 with a Focus Features deal under

7222-448: Is usually run by a producer or director, but can also be run by a career executive. In entertainment, a production company relies highly on talent or a well known entertainment franchise to raise the value of an entertainment project and draw out larger audiences. This gives the entertainment industry a democratized power structure to ensure that both the companies and talent receive their fair share of pay and recognition for work done on

7379-556: The American Financial Corporation acquired Taft in 1987 and renamed it Great American Broadcasting. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo , The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley , new episodes of Yogi Bear , Fantastic Max , The Further Adventures of SuperTed and Paddington Bear followed in 1988 and 1989. Hanna-Barbera Poland, a Polish branch of the American studio, opened up and dealt with

7536-517: The Columbia Pictures film Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), to play Fred Mertz. However, Gleason wanted nearly $ 3,500 per episode to play the role, a price that was far too high to sustain. Sixty-four-year-old William Frawley , a seasoned vaudevillian and movie character actor with nearly 100 film credits to his name, was a long shot to play Fred Mertz and only came into consideration after he telephoned Ball personally to ask if there

7693-488: The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio in 1938, while working at its animation unit . Having worked at other studios since the early 1930s, they solidified a six decade working partnership, leading to their very first collaborative success, Tom and Jerry , centering on the madcap comical adventures of a cat and a mouse. Hanna supervised the animation, while Barbera did the stories and pre-production. Seven of

7850-530: The Motion Picture Center at 846 Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood, renaming it Desilu Studios , to shoot seasons 3–6 (1953–1957) of I Love Lucy . After 1956, it became known as Desilu-Cahuenga Studios to avoid confusion with other acquired Desilu locations. In an effort to keep up with the studio's growth, and need for additional sound stages, Arnaz and Ball purchased RKO Radio Pictures from General Tire in 1957 for over $ 6 million, effectively owning

8007-614: The Samuel Goldwyn Studio and Columbia Pictures and then eventually at RKO Radio Pictures . It was at RKO that Ball received steady film work, first as an extra and bit player and eventually working her way up to co-starring roles in feature films and starring roles in second rate B pictures , collectively earning her the nickname "Queen of the B's". During her run at RKO, Ball gained the reputation for doing physical comedy and stunts that most other actresses avoided, keeping her steadily employed. In 1940, Ball met Desi Arnaz,

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8164-649: The Upper East Side of Manhattan . In actuality, however, the addresses go up only to the 500s before the street terminates at the East River . Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet , supporting cast members on My Favorite Husband , were originally approached for the roles of Fred and Ethel, but neither could accept, owing to previous commitments. Gordon did appear as a guest star in three episodes, playing Ricky's boss, Mr. Littlefield, in two episodes, and later in an episode of The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show as

8321-455: The supply with talent and resources , the organization of staff, the production itself, post-production , distribution, and marketing . Production companies are often either owned or under contract with a media conglomerate , film studio , record label , video game publisher , or entertainment company, due to the concentration of media ownership , who act as the production company' s partner or parent company . This has become known as

8478-421: The "studio system". Independent studios usually prefer production house (see Lionsgate ), production studio (see Amazon Studios ), or production team (see Rooster Teeth ). In the case of television, a production company would serve under a television network . Production companies can work together in co-productions . In music, the term production team typically refers to a group of individuals filling

8635-666: The 114 cartoons won seven Oscars for "Best Short Subject (Cartoons)" between 1943 and 1953, and five additional shorts were nominated for twelve awards during this period. However, they were awarded to producer Fred Quimby , who was not involved in the development of the shorts. Sequences for Anchors Aweigh , Dangerous When Wet and Invitation to the Dance and shorts Gallopin' Gals , The Goose Goes South , Officer Pooch , War Dogs and Good Will to Men were also made. With Quimby's retirement in May 1955, Hanna and Barbera became

8792-444: The 1952–53 season and a toddler from 1953 to 1956. However, for the 1956–57 season, Little Ricky suddenly aged by two years, becoming a young school-age boy from 1956 to 1960. Five actors played the role, two sets of twins and later Keith Thibodeaux, whose stage name when playing Ricky Ricardo Jr. was Richard Keith . (In " Lucy and Superman ", Little Ricky is mentioned as being five years old but it had been less than four years since

8949-527: The Hair Bear Bunch! , Sealab 2020 , Wait Till Your Father Gets Home and Hong Kong Phooey aired, Charlotte's Web , an adaptation of the novel of the same name , was released on March 1, 1973 by Paramount Pictures , to moderate critical and commercial success, and was the first of only four Hanna-Barbera films not to be based upon one of their famous television cartoons (the other three being C.H.O.M.P.S. , Heidi's Song and Once Upon

9106-564: The Hanna-Barbera properties since then. Cartoon Network Studios Europe was rebranded as Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe paying tribute to the studio in April 2021. The small budgets that television animation producers had to work within prevented Hanna-Barbera from working with the full theatrical-quality animation that Hanna and Barbera had been known for at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. While the budget for MGM's seven-minute Tom and Jerry shorts

9263-547: The Hanna-Barbera studio faced demolition after many of its staff vacated the facilities in 1997, despite the efforts of preserving it. In 1998, following The Powerpuff Girls , Hanna-Barbera moved from Cahuenga Blvd. to Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks, California in 1998, where Warner Bros. Animation was located. I Am Weasel would be its final show in 1999. After the studio's absorption into Warner Bros. Animation, Hanna died of throat cancer on March 22, 2001, at

9420-850: The Happy Days Gang , Richie Rich , The Flintstone Comedy Show , Space Stars , The Kwicky Koala Show , Trollkins and Laverne and Shirley in the Army debuted in 1980 and 1981, while Taft purchased Ruby-Spears from Filmways (which was eventually absorbed into Orion Pictures the following year), making it a sister studio to Hanna-Barbera and as a result, several early-1980s series were shared between both studios. While Filmation, Sunbow Productions , Marvel Productions , Rankin/Bass , DIC , Saban Entertainment and other Hollywood animation factories introduced successful animated series syndicated , including some based on licensed properties, Hanna-Barbera fell behind, as it no longer dominated

9577-541: The Hospital" was watched by more people than any other television program up to that time, with 71.7% of all American television sets tuned in, topping the 67.7 rating for the inauguration coverage the following morning. Unlike some programs that advance the age of a newborn over a short period , I Love Lucy at first allowed the Ricardos' son Little Ricky to grow up in real time. America saw Little Ricky as an infant in

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9734-814: The Lion and Hardy Har Har ) and The Jetsons soon followed in 1961 and 1962. Several animated television commercials were produced as well, often starring their own characters (including the Pebbles cereal commercials for Post ) and the opening credits for Bewitched , in which animated caricatures of Samantha and Darrin appeared. These characterizations were reused in The Flintstones' sixth season episode "Samantha". In 1963, Hanna-Barbera's operations moved to 3400 Cahuenga Boulevard West in Hollywood Hills / Studio City . This contemporary office building

9891-475: The Mertzes vacationed there in 1940. Despite his being a university graduate and proficient in English, Ricky is portrayed as a driver of a horse-drawn cab who waits for fares at a pier where tourists arrive by ship. Ricky is hired to serve as one of Lucy's tour guides, and the two fall in love. Having coincidentally also met popular singer, Rudy Vallée , on the cruise ship, Lucy arranges an audition for Ricky, who

10048-485: The Ricardos needed an older couple to play off of. While performing in Husband , veteran character actors Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet had played Rudolph and Iris Atterbury, an older, more financially stable couple as Mr. Atterbury had been George Cooper's boss. Ball had initially wanted both actors to reprise their roles on television; however, both were unavailable at the time the show went into production as Benaderet

10205-435: The Ricardos. Barbara Pepper (later featured as Doris Ziffel in the series Green Acres ) was also considered to play Ethel, but Pepper had been drinking very heavily after the death of her husband, Craig W. Reynolds. Her friendship with Ball dated back to the film Roman Scandals (1933), in which both appeared as Goldwyn Girls . She did, however, turn up in at least nine episodes of I Love Lucy in bit parts. Many of

10362-617: The Starlets". At one point in that episode, Lucy, after finding out that she was not invited to join Ricky at a movie premiere, bemoans that she made a mistake fifteen years before when her friend Marion Strong asked her if she would like to go on a blind date with a Cuban drummer, to which she said "yes." Throughout the series, Lucy is usually found with her best friend, Ethel. A former singer and actress in Albuquerque, New Mexico , Ethel tries to relive her glory days in vaudeville . Ricky

10519-530: The TV animation market as it did years earlier and lost control over children's programming, going down from 80% to 20%. The Smurfs , adapted from the Belgian comic by Peyo and centering on a group of tiny blue creatures led by Papa Smurf , debuted on NBC on September 12, 1981 and aired for nine seasons until December 2, 1989, becoming so the longest-running Saturday-morning cartoon series in broadcast history,

10676-553: The age of 90 years old. While Cartoon Network Studios took over production of programming, the Los Angeles City Council approved a plan to preserve the Cahuenga Blvd. headquarters in May 2004, while allowing retail and residential development on the site. Barbera died of natural causes on December 18, 2006, at the age of 95 years old. Warner Bros. Animation continues to produce new productions based on

10833-523: The air". For six seasons, it became the longest-running animated show in American prime time at the time (until The Simpsons beat it in 1997), a ratings and merchandising success and the top-ranking animated program in syndication history. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, but its reputation eventually improved and it is now considered a classic. The Yogi Bear Show , Top Cat , The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series (consisting of Wally Gator , Touché Turtle and Dum Dum and Lippy

10990-626: The airing of "Lucy Goes to the Hospital".) Jess Oppenheimer stated in his memoir, Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time , that the initial plan was to match the sex of the Ricardo's baby with Ball's real baby, inserting one of two alternate endings into the broadcast print at the last minute. When logistical difficulties convinced Oppenheimer to abandon this plan, he advised Desi Arnaz that as head writer, he would have Lucy Ricardo give birth to

11147-419: The attention of CBS, which, in 1948, enlisted her to star in one of two new half-hour situation comedies in development, Our Miss Brooks and My Favorite Husband . Choosing the latter, Ball portrayed Liz Cugat (later anglicized to Cooper), the frustrated and scheming housewife of a Minneapolis banker, played originally by actor Lee Bowman in the series pilot, and later by actor Richard Denning . Based on

11304-410: The background during scenes in which he did not perform, as well as Ball's mother, DeDe, whose distinctive "uh oh" could be heard in many of the episodes. In later years, CBS would devise a laugh track from several I Love Lucy audiences and use them for canned laughter on shows done without a live audience. I Love Lucy' s pioneering use of three cameras led to it becoming the standard technique for

11461-461: The characters in the series were named after Ball's family members or close friends. For example, Marion Strong was one of her best friends and a roommate for a time in New York, and she also set Ball and Arnaz up on their first date. Lillian Appleby was a teacher of Ball's when she was in an amateur production on the stage. Additionally, Pauline Lopus was a childhood friend, while Fred was the name of both her brother and grandfather. Ball and Arnaz had

11618-455: The company's daily activities. In some cases, a production company can be run by only a handful of people. The company's funds are mainly committed towards employing talent, crew, and acquiring new updated production equipment on a regular basis. Many productions often require at least one to two cameras and lighting equipment for on location shooting. Production equipment is either leased or purchased from another production company or directly from

11775-672: The concepts in limited animation—to disparagingly refer to the limited television cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera and others as "illustrated radio". In a story published by The Saturday Evening Post in 1961, critics stated that Hanna-Barbera was taking on more work than it could handle and was resorting to shortcuts only a television audience would tolerate. An executive who worked for Walt Disney Productions said, "We don't even consider [them] competition". Animation historian Christopher P. Lehman argues that Hanna-Barbera attempted to maximize their bottom line by recycling story formulas and characterization instead of introducing new ones. Once

11932-405: The contrast. Freund also pioneered "flat lighting," in which everything is brightly lit to eliminate shadows and the need for endless relighting. Audience reactions were live, which created a more authentic laugh than the canned laughter used on most filmed sitcoms of the time. Regular audience members were sometimes heard from episode to episode, and Arnaz's distinctive laugh could be heard in

12089-418: The corporation that would produce the I Love Lucy shows. The company was named Desilu , from the combination of both their first names "Desi" and "Lucille". Though some television series were already being filmed in Hollywood, most used the single-camera format familiar from movies, with a laugh track added to comedies to simulate audience response. Ball wanted to work in front of a live audience to create

12246-506: The credits superimposed over a "heart on satin" image, was created specifically for the 1959–67 CBS daytime network rebroadcasts, and subsequent syndication. As originally broadcast, the episodes opened with animated matchstick figures of Arnaz and Ball making reference to whoever the particular episode's sponsor was. These sequences were created by the animation team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera , who declined screen credit because they were technically under exclusive contract to MGM at

12403-507: The entire run of the show. In 1957, I Love Lucy was re-tailored into an hour-long show originally titled The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show that was to be part of an anthology series called the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse . The hour-long Lucy–Desi show was to alternate on a monthly basis with other hour long Playhouse shows. The new series put a much heavier emphasis on big name guest stars as being part of

12560-403: The episodes. Ball and Arnaz enlisted the services of Karl Freund , a cinematographer who had worked on such films as Metropolis (1927), Dracula (1931), The Good Earth (1937) and DuBarry Was a Lady (1943) (which also starred Ball), as well as directing The Mummy (1932), to be the series cinematographer. Although at first Freund did not want anything to do with television, it

12717-440: The exposure, when shooting in public locations, major productions often employ security to ensure the protection of the talent and crew working on a specific production. After filming is completed, the production enters into post production, which is handled by a post production company and overseen by the production company. The editing, musical score, visual effects, re-recording of the dialog, and sound effects are "mixed" to create

12874-460: The fact that Ricky never says this sentence exactly this way. An extended flashback segment in the 1957 episode "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana" of The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show filled in numerous details of how Lucy and Ricky met and how Ricky came to the United States. The story, at least insofar as related to newspaper columnist Hedda Hopper , is that the couple met in Havana when Lucy and

13031-425: The final film, which is then screened at the final screening. Marketing is also launched during this phase, such as the release of trailers and posters. Once a final film has been approved, the film is taken over by the distributors, who then release the film. For legal reasons, it is common within the entertainment industry for production companies not to accept unsolicited materials from any other company, talent, or

13188-703: The first 24-hour all-animation channel, to air its library of cartoon classics, of which Hanna-Barbera was the core contributor. In 1993, the studio again renamed itself to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. (though the Hanna-Barbera Productions name was still used in regards to the pre-1992 properties) and, while Turner acquired its remaining interests from Apollo Investment Fund for $ 255 million, 2 Stupid Dogs , Droopy, Master Detective , The New Adventures of Captain Planet and SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron emerged that year. Turner refocused

13345-506: The general public. It is also common for filmmakers or producers to become entrepreneurs and open their own production companies so that they can have more control over their careers and pay, while acting as an "in-house" creative and business driving force for their company but continuing to freelance as an artist for other companies, if desired. I Love Lucy I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with

13502-426: The guild. Productions with smaller budgets are allowed to use both guild talent and talent from the public. The majority of the talent and crew working in the entertainment industry are members of their professions guild. Most productions in the entertainment industry are guild productions. A production company is responsible for the development and filming of a specific production or media broadcast. In entertainment,

13659-669: The kind of comic energy she had displayed on radio. The idea of a film studio that could accommodate an audience was a new one for the time, as fire safety regulations made it difficult to allow an audience in a studio. Arnaz and Oppenheimer found the financially struggling General Service Studios located on Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood. Studio owner Jimmy Nasser was eager to accommodate the Desilu company and allowed them, with financial backing of CBS, to renovate two of his studios so that they could accommodate an audience and be in compliance with local fire laws. Another component to filming

13816-524: The lot of Kling Studios (formerly Charlie Chaplin Studios ) on July 7, 1957, one year after the MGM animation studio closed. Sidney and several Screen Gems alumni became members of the studio's board of directors and much of the former MGM animation staff—including animators Carlo Vinci , Kenneth Muse , Lewis Marshall, Michael Lah and Ed Barge and layout artists Ed Benedict and Richard Bickenbach —became

13973-440: The manufacturer. In the entertainment industry, in order to secure experienced professional talent and crew, production companies often become a signatory company to that talent or crew members "guild". By becoming a signatory company, it agrees to abide by the guild regulations. All big budget guild productions are exclusive to guild members and non guild members are not allowed to participate in these productions unless authorized by

14130-412: The music and played the piano for the show, while Wilbur Hatch was used to conduct the orchestra. Two problems arose after Philip Morris signed on to sponsor the show, that would ultimately change the fate of I Love Lucy . Ball and Arnaz had originally decided that the series would air on a biweekly basis, much like The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show . Philip Morris, however, was insistent that

14287-663: The new production staff while Hoyt Curtin was in charge of providing the music. The Ruff and Reddy Show , the company's first television series, premiered on NBC on December 14, 1957, then The Huckleberry Hound Show debuted one year later, in 1958, airing in most markets, and was also the first cartoon to win an Emmy . Several animation alumni joined – in particular former Warner Bros. Cartoons storymen Michael Maltese and Warren Foster as head writers, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears as film editors and Iwao Takamoto as character designer. After reincorporating as Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. , The Quick Draw McGraw Show and

14444-485: The nine best picture Oscar nominees were originally books. Previously, publishers did not develop their books into movie nor receive any of the profits. Neither Scholastic or Little Brown, get any box office revenue from the Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga movies just through book sales. As the publishers faced decreasing revenue due to increased competition from self-published e-books, or Amazon.com moving into

14601-531: The novel, Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, by Isabel Scott Rorick , My Favorite Husband was produced by Jess Oppenheimer and written by Oppenheimer, plus scribes Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr. Premiering on July 23, 1948, and sponsored by General Foods , Husband became a hit for CBS. During the run of the radio program, Ball also appeared in two feature films with Bob Hope, Sorrowful Jones in 1949, and Fancy Pants in 1950. Both films were box office and critical successes, further cementing Ball's reputation as

14758-514: The opening credits of Bewitched . With these productions, Hanna-Barbera may have usurped Disney as the most successful animation studio in the world, with its characters becoming ubiquitous across different types of media and myriad consumer products. By the 1980s, however, the studio's fortunes were in decline, as the profitability of Saturday-morning cartoons was eclipsed by weekday afternoon syndication . Taft Broadcasting acquired Hanna-Barbera in 1966 and retained ownership until 1991. It

14915-424: The past. If a production company has major funding either through earnings, studio investors, or private investors, and has done or been involved with big budget productions in the past, it is considered to be a major production company. These companies often work with well-known and expensive talent. If a production company does not have much funding and has not done or been involved with any big budget productions, it

15072-473: The plot and although the Mertz characters continued into the new series, their roles became somewhat diminished. Although a lighter workload was welcomed by Frawley, Vance came to somewhat resent the change. Arnaz, in an effort to please Vance, for whom he had much respect, proposed doing a spin-off from I Love Lucy called The Mertzes . Seeing a lucrative opportunity and the chance to star in his own show, Frawley

15229-418: The premise of the show and writing the series' first scripts. The trio chose to adapt many storylines for television using the backlog of episodes of My Favorite Husband . In addition, the series' ensemble cast and crew were assembled. Arnaz retained his orchestra, which was used in the series musical numbers and to score the show's background and transitional music. Arnaz's childhood friend Marco Rizo arranged

15386-469: The process their expertise is required, or how long they are involved in the project. For example, in a theatrical performance, the production team has not only the running crew , but also the theatrical producer , designers , and theatrical direction . The production company may be directly responsible for fundraising the production or may accomplish this through a parent company , partner, or private investor. It handles budgeting, scheduling, scripting,

15543-628: The producers in charge of the MGM animation studio's output. In addition to continuing to write and direct new Tom & Jerry shorts, now in CinemaScope , Hanna and Barbera supervised the last seven shorts of Tex Avery 's Droopy series and produced and directed the short-lived Spike and Tyke , which ran for two entries. In addition to their work on the cartoons, the two men moonlighted on outside projects, including title sequences and commercials for I Love Lucy . MGM decided in mid-1957 to close its cartoon studio, as it felt it had acquired

15700-411: The production of most sitcoms filmed in front of an audience. Single-camera setups remained the technique of choice for sitcoms that did not use audiences. This led to an unexpected benefit for Desilu during the series' second season when it was discovered that Ball was pregnant. Not being able to fulfill the show's 39-episode commitment, both Desi and Oppenheimer decided to rebroadcast popular episodes of

15857-416: The production process begins with the development of a specific project. Once a final script has been produced by the screenwriters, the production enters into the pre-production phase, most productions never reach this phase for financing or talent reasons. In pre-production, the actors are signed on and prepared for their roles, crew is signed on, shooting locations are found, sets are built or acquired, and

16014-486: The production's shooting locations for both privacy and safety reasons. In many cases, the director, producers, and the leading actors are often the only people with access to a full or majority of a single script. Supporting actors, background actors, and crew often never receive a full copy of a specific script to prevent leaks. Productions are often shot in secured studios, with limited to no public access, but they are also shot on location on secured sets or locations. Due to

16171-689: The promotion and distribution of animated H-B content and is most well known for releasing VHS tapes with Polish music distributor P.P. Polskie Nagrania, which mostly consisted of numbered compilation releases of Hanna-Barbera shows on one tape. This would last until 1993, when the company separated and reincorporated itself as Curtis Art Productions. Great American sold Worldvision to Aaron Spelling Productions , while Hanna-Barbera and its library remained with them. Hanna-Barbera split off from Worldvision Home Video in early 1989 to start out its own home video division, Hanna-Barbera Home Video. In January 1989, while working on A Pup Named Scooby-Doo , Tom Ruegger got

16328-552: The proper shooting permits are acquired for on location shooting. Actors and crew are hand picked by the producer, director, and casting director, who often use collaborators or referenced personnel to prevent untrusted or unwelcomed people from gaining access to a specific production and compromising the entire production through leaks. Once a production enters into principal photography, it begins filming. Productions are almost never cancelled once they reach this phase. Codenames are often used on bigger productions during filming to conceal

16485-517: The publishing field, publishers have started to enter the film and TV production business to boost their net income with Amazon attempting to compete there too. More screenwriters are turning to book publishers to get their screenplay published as a book, so as to have a boost in their attempt to have the screenplay turned into a movie, given that it is a known product after the book. Publisher Simon & Schuster , though not involved with film and TV, shares possible film and TV deals with CBS (S&S

16642-411: The rising expenses associated with producing it. Limited animation as practiced by Hanna-Barbera kept production costs at a minimum. The cost in quality of using this technique was that Hanna-Barbera's characters only moved when necessary. Production company Generally the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating a particular product, regardless of where in

16799-459: The road. Despite steadily working in pictures, Ball's movie career never advanced to the level of a headlining feature-film actress. Nevertheless, she remained popular with film audiences. Ball came to the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after receiving critical acclaim for her starring role in the 1942 Damon Runyon film The Big Street , which bought out her contract. It was under contract with MGM, however, that Ball, who had previously been

16956-539: The role of " record producer " usually reserved for one individual. Some examples of musical production teams include Matmos and D-Influence . The aforementioned publishing conglomerates distribute said creative works, but it is not uncommon for production companies to act as a publication . For example, The Walt Disney Company and Nintendo act as publisher for Walt Disney Animation Studios and Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development respectively. Self-publishing , in this case, should not be confused with

17113-673: The role of Fred Mertz to be a less financially successful and more curmudgeonly (in contrast to Gordon's Mr. Atterbury) character to fit Frawley's persona. CBS relented only after Arnaz contractually bound Frawley to complete sobriety during the production of the show, and reportedly told the veteran actor that if he ever appeared on-set more than once in an intoxicated state he would be fired. Not once during I Love Lucy' s nine seasons did Frawley's drinking ever interfere with his performance, and over time Arnaz became one of Frawley's few close friends. The role of Ethel Mertz also took quite some time to cast. Since Lucy's Husband co-star Bea Benaderet

17270-481: The same time, rival networks NBC , ABC , and DuMont were showing interest in a Ball-Arnaz series, which Ackerman used to convince CBS to sign the duo. A pilot was ordered and kinescoped in Hollywood in March 1951, which coincided with Ball's first pregnancy, and the ending of Husband , which aired its last radio show on March 31, 1951. Ball and Arnaz used the same radio team of Oppenheimer, Pugh, and Carroll to create

17427-592: The second season, Lucy and Ricky have a son named Ricky Ricardo Jr. , who often goes by "Little Ricky" and is portrayed by multiple actors throughout the seasons. His birth was timed to coincide with the real-life birth of Ball's son, Desi Arnaz Jr. Lucy is naïve and ambitious, with a hunger for stardom and a knack for getting both herself and her husband into trouble whenever she yearns to make it big in show business . The Ricardos' best friends, Fred and Ethel, are former vaudevillians . The Mertzes' history in entertainment only strengthens Lucy's resolve to prove herself as

17584-588: The series' first season to help give Ball the necessary rest she needed after she gave birth, effectively allowing fewer episodes to be filmed that season. Unexpectedly, the rebroadcasts proved to be ratings winners, effectively giving birth to the rerun , which would later lead to the profitable development of the rerun syndication market. The show's original opening and commercial bumpers were animated caricatures of Ball and Arnaz. They were designed and animated by MGM character designer and future "Flintstones" cartoonist, Gene Hazelton (1917–2005) and were produced under

17741-501: The show air weekly, thus diminishing the possibility of Ball continuing her film career alongside a television show. Another problem lay in the fact that Philip Morris wanted the series to originate from New York rather than Hollywood. At the time, most television shows were produced from New York with live broadcasts of the show airing for eastern and Midwest audiences. West Coast viewers were able to view live programs only through low-quality kinescopes , which derived their images by using

17898-410: The show came when it was decided to use three 35 mm film cameras to simultaneously film the show. The idea had been pioneered by Jerry Fairbanks , and had been used on the live anthology series The Silver Theater, and on the game show Truth or Consequences , as well as subsequently Amos 'n' Andy as a way to save money, though Amos n' Andy did not use an audience. Edwards's assistant Al Simon

18055-435: The show never displayed episode titles on the air). The episode in which Lucy Ricardo gives birth, " Lucy Goes to the Hospital ", first aired on January 19, 1953, which was the day before the inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower as President of the United States . To increase the publicity of this episode, the original air date was chosen to coincide with Ball's real-life delivery of Desi Jr. by Caesarean section . "Lucy Goes to

18212-411: The show on film, however, would require that Ball and Arnaz become responsible for producing the series themselves. Union agreements at the time stipulated that any production filmed in a studio use film studio employees. CBS staff were television and radio employees and thus fell under different union agreements. Thus, Arnaz reorganized the company he created to manage his orchestra bookings and used it as

18369-498: The show on film, something a few Hollywood-based series had begun to do. Both CBS and Philip Morris initially balked at the idea, because of the higher cost that filming the show would incur, yet acquiesced only after the couple offered to take a $ 1,000 a week pay cut in order to cover the additional expense. In exchange, Ball and Arnaz demanded, and were given, 80% ownership in the I Love Lucy films (the other 20% went to Oppenheimer who then gave 5% to Pugh and 5% to Carroll). Shooting

18526-409: The show, Ball and Arnaz learned that she was once again pregnant (after multiple miscarriages earlier in their marriage) with their first child, Lucie Arnaz . They filmed the original pilot while Lucy was "showing", but did not include any references to the pregnancy in the episode. This was because CBS thought that talk of pregnancy might be in bad taste and because an ad agency told Arnaz not to show

18683-413: The show. Frawley derisively described Vance's appearance as "a sack of doorknobs." It was reported that Vance, who was 22 years younger than Frawley, was not really keen on the idea that her character Ethel was married to a man that was old enough to be her father. Vance also complained that Frawley's song-and-dance skills were not what they once were. Frawley and Vance had an adversarial relationship during

18840-459: The staff, some of its employees worked at home. The Flintstones premiered on ABC on September 30 1960, becoming so the first animated series airing in prime time. It is loosely based on The Honeymooners and is set in a fictionalized Stone Age of cavemen and dinosaurs. Jackie Gleason considered suing Hanna-Barbera for copyright infringement , but decided not to because he did not want to be known as "the man who yanked Fred Flintstone off

18997-863: The studio formed Bedrock Productions and Great American putting Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears up for sale, Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone , Rick Moranis in Gravedale High , Tom & Jerry Kids , Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures , The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda and Wake, Rattle, and Roll debuted that year. The Pirates of Dark Water , Yo Yogi! and Young Robin Hood would follow in 1991. Turner Broadcasting System outbid MCA (then-parent company of Universal Pictures ), Hallmark Cards and other major companies in acquiring Hanna-Barbera while also purchasing Ruby-Spears as well. The two studios were acquired in

19154-795: The studio from 1982 to the end of its existence. Challenge of the GoBots , Pink Panther and Sons , Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show , Snorks , The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible , Galtar and the Golden Lance , Yogi's Treasure Hunt , The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians , The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo and Paw Paws debuted in 1984 and 1985. Pound Puppies , The Flintstone Kids , Foofur , Wildfire , new episodes of Jonny Quest , Sky Commanders and Popeye and Son arrived in 1986 and 1987. After its financial troubles affected Hanna-Barbera,

19311-616: The studio into its corporate structure in 1967 and 1968, becoming its distributor. Hanna and Barbera stayed on while Screen Gems retained licensing and distribution rights to their previous produced cartoons and trademarks to the characters into the 1970s and 1980s. Shazzan , The Banana Splits , Wacky Races and its spin-offs ( Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop ) and Cattanooga Cats followed from 1967 to 1969. The studio's record and music label, Hanna-Barbera Records,

19468-439: The studio to produce new shows exclusively for its networks. In 1995, while Bruce Johnson would leave the company, Dumb and Dumber debuted, while Seibert launched What a Cartoon! for Cartoon Network. During 1996, Dexter's Laboratory , The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and Cave Kids debuted, while Turner merged with Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery ). While Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken aired,

19625-718: The studio where they had started as contract players. Desilu acquired RKO's two studio complexes located on Gower Street in Hollywood, and in Culver City (now part of the Paramount lot and Culver Studios respectively), along with the Culver City back lot nicknamed " Forty Acres ". The sale was achieved by the duo selling their ownership of the once-thought-worthless I Love Lucy films back to CBS for over four million dollars. In 1962, two years after their marriage dissolved, Ball bought out Arnaz's shares of Desilu, becoming

19782-488: The studio's sole owner. She eventually sold off Desilu in 1967 to Gulf+Western , owners of Paramount Pictures . After the sale, Desilu-Cahuenga became a private production company and was known as Ren-Mar Studios until 2010, when it was acquired by the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company and renamed Red Studios – Hollywood. As with My Favorite Husband , I Love Lucy writers decided that

19939-415: The talent. Marketing is also a major factor. All films, as a tradition, are often marketed around the image and the performance of the actors; with an option of marketing the behind the scenes crew such as the directors and screenwriters. Unlike many other businesses, a production company does not rely on an ongoing revenue stream , they operate on ongoing investments; this often requires a parent company or

20096-512: The television series that was named I Love Lucy . The couple's agent, Don Sharpe, brought the pilot to several advertising agencies with little luck but finally succeeded with the Milton H. Biow agency. Biow's agency presented the pilot to its clients and was able to convince cigarette giant Philip Morris to sponsor the show. During the spring and summer of 1951, I Love Lucy moved into production. Oppenheimer, Pugh, and Carroll began fine-tuning

20253-416: The theatrical cartoon short series Loopy De Loop followed in 1959. Walt Disney Productions laid off several of its animators after Sleeping Beauty (1959) bombed on the box-office during its initial theatrical run, with many of them moving to Hanna-Barbera shortly afterwards. In August 1960, it moved into a window-less, cinder block building at 3501 Cahuenga Boulevard West. Though too small to house

20410-493: The time. The original sponsor was cigarette maker Philip Morris , so the program opened with a cartoon of Lucy and Ricky climbing down a pack of Philip Morris cigarettes. In the early episodes, Lucy and Ricky, as well as Ethel and Fred on occasion, were shown smoking Philip Morris cigarettes. Lucy even went so far as to parody Johnny Roventini 's image as the Philip Morris "bellhop" in the May 5, 1952, episode, "Lucy Does

20567-400: The word "pregnant", so "expecting" was used instead. In addition, sponsor Philip Morris made the request that Ball not be seen smoking during the pregnancy episodes. The episode "Lucy Is Enceinte" first aired on December 8, 1952 ("enceinte" being French for "expecting" or "pregnant"). One week later, on December 15, 1952, the episode titled "Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable" was aired (although

20724-420: Was Cuban. CBS executives did not think audiences would buy into a marriage between an all-American girl and a Latin man. To prove CBS wrong, the couple developed a vaudeville act, written by Carroll and Pugh, that they performed at Newburgh NY's historic Ritz Theater with Arnaz's orchestra. The act was a hit and convinced CBS executive Harry Ackerman that a Ball-Arnaz pairing would be a worthwhile venture. At

20881-526: Was Swedish), and that she met Ricky on a cruise with her friend from an agency she once worked for. Her family was absent, other than occasional appearances by her scatter-brained mother Mrs. McGillicuddy ( Kathryn Card ), who could never get Ricky's name right. Lucy was also secretive about her age and true hair color, and tended to be careless with money, in addition to being somewhat materialistic, insisting on buying new dresses and hats for every occasion and telling old friends that she and Ricky were wealthy. She

21038-437: Was a role for him on her new show. Ball, who had only briefly known Frawley from her days at RKO , suggested him to both Arnaz and CBS. The network objected to the idea of casting Frawley, fearing that his excessive drinking—which was well known in Hollywood —would interfere with a commitment to a live show. Arnaz nonetheless liked Frawley and lobbied hard for him to have the role, even to the point of having Lucy scribes re-tailor

21195-634: Was about $ 35,000, the Hanna-Barbera studios were required to produce five-minute Ruff and Reddy episodes for no more than $ 3,000 apiece. To keep within these tighter budgets, Hanna-Barbera furthered the concept of limited animation (also called "planned animation") practiced and popularized by the United Productions of America (UPA) studio, which also once had a partnership with Columbia Pictures. Character designs were simplified, and backgrounds and animation cycles (walks, runs, etc.) were regularly re-purposed. Characters were often broken up into

21352-521: Was already playing Blanche Morton on The Burns and Allen Show , and Gordon was under contract by CBS to play Mr. Conklin on both the radio and television versions of Our Miss Brooks . Casting the Mertzes, as they were now called (the surname taken from a doctor that I Love Lucy scriptwriter Madelyn Pugh knew as a child in Indianapolis), proved to be a challenge. Ball had initially wanted character actor James Gleason , with whom she appeared in

21509-414: Was also depicted as a devoted housewife, adept cook, and attentive mother. As part of Lucy's role was to care for her husband, she stayed at home and took care of the household chores, while her husband Ricky went to work. During the post war era, Lucy took jobs outside of the home, but in these jobs, the show portrayed her as being inept outside of her usual domestic duties. Lucy's husband, Ricky Ricardo,

21666-537: Was becoming interested in playing more glamorous roles rather than Ethel. During the thirteen-episode run of the Lucy–Desi hour-long shows, Vance was given a lot more latitude to look more attractive as Ethel, something she was denied during the run of the I Love Lucy episodes. Frawley's resentment of Vance intensified after she declined to do the spin-off show and the two rarely talked to each other outside of their characters' dialogue with one another. Just before filming

21823-509: Was delayed for a year by a lawsuit from Cohn's family, wife Joan Perry and sons John and Harrison Cohn, who felt the studio undervalued the Cohns' 18% share in when it was sold a few years previously. In 1966, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles and Space Ghost debuted, and by December of that year the litigation had been settled, Taft finally acquired Hanna-Barbera for $ 12 million and folded

21980-470: Was designed by architect Arthur Froehlich . Its ultra-modern design included a sculpted latticework exterior, moat, fountains, and a Jetsons -like tower. The Magilla Gorilla Show , Jonny Quest , The Peter Potamus Show , Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel followed in 1964 and 1965. The partnership with Screen Gems would last until 1965 when Hanna and Barbera announced the sale of their studio to Taft Broadcasting . Taft's acquisition of Hanna-Barbera

22137-425: Was enthused. Vance, however, declined for a number of reasons, the biggest factor being that she felt she and Frawley could barely work together on the ensemble show they were doing at the time, so it would be much less likely the two could work together on their own series. Vance also felt that the Mertz characters would not be as successful without the Ricardos to play off of, and despite being her biggest success, she

22294-552: Was headed by Danny Hutton and distributed by Columbia . Children's records featuring its characters were released by Colpix . Hanna-Barbera teamed up with the National Catholic Office for Radio and Television to produce 26 half-hour animated films in 1970, which never materialized. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! debuted on CBS on September 13, 1969; created by Ruby and Spears, it is a mystery-based program which blended comedy, action, and elements from I Love

22451-780: Was headquartered in Los Angeles at the Kling Studios from 1957 to 1960, then on Cahuenga Boulevard from 1960 to 1998 and subsequently at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks from 1998 to 2001. Notable productions that the studio produced include The Huckleberry Hound Show , the Flintstones franchise, the Yogi Bear franchise, the Scooby-Doo franchise (until 2001), The Smurfs , and

22608-516: Was hired by Desilu to help perfect the new technique for the series. The process lent itself to the Lucy production as it eliminated the problem of requiring an audience to view and react to a scene three or four times in order for all necessary shots to be filmed. Multiple cameras would also allow scenes to be performed in sequence, as a play would be, which was unusual at the time for filmed series. Retakes were rare and dialogue mistakes were often left in

22765-631: Was in sharp contrast to the physical antics she performed in her films. Throughout her career, MGM tried to utilize her in multiple different film genres that did little to highlight her skills. Given their difficulties in casting her, MGM chose not to renew her contract when it expired in 1946. Ball began working as a freelance artist in films and also began to explore other venues. Before and during World War II, Ball made several notable and successful guest appearances on several radio programs, including both Jack Haley 's radio show and bandleader Kay Kyser 's radio program. These appearances brought Ball to

22922-460: Was in this year when Turner Broadcasting System acquired the studio, using the back catalog to establish Cartoon Network the following year. By the time Hanna died in 2001, Hanna-Barbera as a standalone company was folded into Warner Bros. Animation. The name continues to be used for copyright, marketing and branding purposes for former properties now produced by Warner Bros. William Denby "Bill" Hanna and Joseph Roland "Joe" Barbera met at

23079-504: Was no threat and was professional, Ball began to warm to her. In 1954, Vance became the first actress to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress . Vance and Ball developed a close, lifelong friendship with Ball frequently listening to Vance's input during episode productions. In 1962, after the end of I Love Lucy, Ball would ask Vance to co-star in her new series The Lucy Show . Vance and Frawley disliked each other. However, they were always professional while performing on

23236-483: Was not available, Mary Wickes , a longtime friend was offered the role, but declined because she did not want to strain her friendship with Ball. Actress Barbara Pepper , who was a close friend of Ball, was also considered for the role. The two had a long history together, as Pepper had been one of the Goldwyn Girls who came to Hollywood with Lucy in 1933. Pepper was ruled out by Ball and Arnaz because she too had

23393-861: Was produced, as well as new live-action/animated combos since the mid-1960s. In 1975, former MGM executive Herbert F. Solow joined the company to start a live-action unit, Hanna-Barbera Television, to produce prime time programming, which later spun off and became Solow Production Company in 1976. Along with the animation industry in the U.S., it moved away from producing in-house in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While The Great Grape Ape Show and The Mumbly Cartoon Show aired, Ruby and Spears worked with Hanna-Barbera in 1976 and 1977 as ABC network executives to create and develop new cartoons before leaving in 1977 to start their company, Ruby-Spears Enterprises , with Filmways as its parent division. In 1979, Taft bought Worldvision Enterprises , which became Hanna-Barbera's new distributor. Super Friends , The Fonz and

23550-649: Was restructured at the end of 2010 under new management and currently struck deals with some of the Big Six studios (most notably the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group and Warner Bros. ); Miramax , which was downsized by former owner Disney into a smaller division. Because a production company is only operational when a production is being produced and most of the talent and crew are freelancers , many production companies are only required to hire management staff that helps to oversee

23707-555: Was seen during a family visit to Cuba ), and that he had attended the University of Havana . A catchphrase strongly associated with Ricky is " Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do" (sometimes "Lucy, you got a lotta splainin to do" ), whenever something Lucy had kept a secret from Ricky that turned into a complicated, problematic situation and was finally revealed to him. The line is still often mentioned in articles about I Love Lucy and even printed on official merchandise, despite

23864-493: Was sponsored by Ford Motor Company (1957–58) and Westinghouse Electric Corporation (1958–60), as part of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse . The original openings, with the sponsor names edited out, were revived on TV Land showings, with a TV Land logo superimposed to obscure the original sponsor's logo. However, this has led some people to believe that the restored introduction was created specifically for TV Land as an example of kitsch . The animated openings, along with

24021-561: Was still a relatively unknown actress in Hollywood. Vance was performing in a revival of the play The Voice of the Turtle in La Jolla, California . Arnaz and Jess Oppenheimer went to see her in the play and hired her on the spot. Vance was reluctant about giving up her film and stage work for a television show, yet was convinced by Daniels that it would be a big break in her career. Ball, however, had many misgivings about hiring Vance, who

24178-404: Was the first scripted television program to be filmed on 35 mm film in front of a studio audience, by cinematographer Karl Freund – won five Emmy Awards and received many nominations and honors. It was the first show to feature an ensemble cast . As such, it is often regarded as one of the most influential television programs in history. In 2012, it was voted the 'Best TV Show of All Time' in

24335-474: Was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings . As of 2011, episodes of the show have been syndicated in dozens of languages across the world and remain popular with an American audience of 40 million each year. A colorized version of its Christmas episode attracted more than eight million viewers when CBS aired it in prime time in 2013, 62 years after the show premiered. The show – which

24492-440: Was the personal plea of the couple that convinced him to take the job. Freund was instrumental in developing a way to uniformly light the set so that each of the three cameras would pick up the same quality of image. Freund noted that a typical episode (20–22 min.) was shot in about 60 minutes, with one constant concern being the shades-of-gray contrast in the final print, as each stage of transmission and broadcast would exaggerate

24649-489: Was younger and far more attractive than the concept of Ethel as an older, somewhat homely woman (Vance was two years older than Ball). Ball was also a believer in the Hollywood adage at the time that there should be only one pretty woman on the set and Ball, being the star of the show, would be it. Arnaz, however, was impressed by Vance's work and hired her. The decision was then made to dress Vance in frumpier clothing to tone down her attractiveness. Eventually realizing that Vance

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