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84-401: On October 25, 1965, after his exit from Four Star Television as a staff writer prior to becoming a producer, Aaron Spelling formed his own company Aaron Spelling Productions, with a two-year exclusive agreement at United Artists Television . Thomas-Spelling Productions was a television production company formed by comedian Danny Thomas and producer Aaron Spelling on April 15, 1966, as

168-602: A movie ranch in Encino . Republic was known for specializing in Westerns , cliffhanger serials , and B-films emphasizing action and mystery. The studio was also notable for developing the careers of such famous Western stars as Roy Rogers , Gene Autry , and John Wayne . It was also responsible for the financial management and distribution of several big-budget feature films directed by John Ford , as well as one Shakespeare motion picture directed by Orson Welles . Under

252-508: A $ 13 million loss for the year ending October 1970, and a $ 43 million loss for the year ended July 1971. The company promoted Sanford Sigoloff , who would later earn a reputation as a turnaround expert, to lead as President. Today, the studio lot is known as CBS Studio Center . In 2006, it became home to the network's Los Angeles stations KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV . In 2008, the CBS network relocated from its Hollywood Television City operations to

336-475: A 24% share in the newly formed Hawk Company organization. On August 27, 1986, Republic Pictures Home Video established a venture with Eagle Productions Ltd. that Eagle would produce family-oriented outdoors programming, and that Republic Pictures Home Video would handle sales, marketing, and distribution of the Eagle Productions titles, with the venture The Eagle Heritage Video Collection is aimed at

420-422: A Hollywood veteran of twenty years in 1952, longed to produce and direct. While he did have some opportunities to do so, such as RKO Radio Pictures ' The Conqueror (1956) with John Wayne , Powell saw greater opportunities offered by the then-infant medium of television . Powell came up with an idea for an anthology series, with a rotation of established stars every week, four stars in all. The stars would own

504-748: A Western shot in seven days for about $ 50,000; "Anniversary", filmed in 14–15 days for $ 175,000-$ 200,000; "Deluxe", major productions made with a budget of around $ 500,000; and "Premiere", which were usually made by top-rank directors who most often did not work for Republic, such as John Ford , Fritz Lang and Frank Borzage , and which could have budgets of $ 1,000,000 or more. Some of these "Deluxe" films were produced by independent companies and were picked up for release by Republic. Although Republic released most of its films in black and white, it occasionally produced higher-budgeted films such as The Red Pony (1949) and The Quiet Man in Technicolor . During

588-473: A Wonderful Life (under NTA, it had already acquired the film's negative, music score, and the story on which it was based, " The Greatest Gift "). On September 14, 1993, following Blockbuster's purchase of a 48.2% stake in Aaron Spelling 's Spelling Entertainment , Spelling announced that they would enter into a $ 100 million purchase and merger with Republic Pictures Corporation, which would close at

672-428: A cast and crew of 220 people, 91 contracted various forms of organ cancers by 1981, including stars John Wayne , Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorehead . An ad executive named Thomas McDermott was brought in to run the studio for Niven, Boyer, and Powell's family. But without Powell's vision, the studio went into a period of decline. Within two years after Powell's death, Four Star had decreased to only five programs on

756-523: A following very quickly. Many were live-action adaptations of radio and comic-strip adventures. Dick Tracy (1937), starring Ralph Byrd as the intrepid detective, was so popular that it spawned three sequels. The Lone Ranger (1938) and its follow-up The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939) were well received, and Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) reached new heights of visual effects. Serials produced after World War II were more economy-minded, with

840-520: A new holding company called Four Star Television, and began publicly trading on the American Stock Exchange on January 12, 1959. After Powell's death in 1963, Four Star was led by Thomas McDermott, followed by Aaron Spelling . It was then purchased and developed for global film and television markets by David Charnay, and subsequently was sold to Ron Perelman ; Perelman sold it to 20th Century Fox Television in 1996. Dick Powell,

924-517: A new partnership with Leonard Goldberg , called Spelling-Goldberg Productions. Spelling, who was still involved with Thomas-Spelling Productions, signed an exclusive deal with ABC via Aaron Spelling Productions for TV series and feature films. In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Spelling was called king in television. In 1982, Aaron Spelling Productions struck a deal with Warner Bros. Television Distribution for worldwide syndication rights to future Spelling productions. In 1984, Spelling had seven shows for

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1008-512: A pact with Color Systems Technology to do a colorized version of Wanted Dead or Alive , which led to a lawsuit from Compact Video and Four Star against CST. By 1987, David Charnay had sold Four Star to Robert Seidenglanz's Compact Video Systems, which was then majority-owned by Ronald Perelman . After Compact Video shut down, its remaining assets, including Four Star, were folded into Perelman's MacAndrews and Forbes Incorporated . In 1989, Perelman acquired New World Entertainment and Four Star

1092-519: A partnership with 24 properties. The company adopted its name by July 18, 1966, when it announced the financial involvement of ABC with its first show, Range (later Rango ), a half-hour comedy western starring Tim Conway . ABC also picked up another show for a pilot, just in an outline treatment, in The Guns of Will Sonnett . Thomas-Spelling Productions' active operations ended with the last season of The Mod Squad in 1972, with Spelling forming

1176-459: A pilot for Wanted: Dead or Alive with Steve McQueen ), The Westerner with Brian Keith , Black Saddle with Peter Breck and Russell Johnson and The Rifleman , starring Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford and Paul Fix. While not given a production byline, when Joel McCrea and Walter Mirisch developed the 1959–1960 NBC series Wichita Town , adapted from the 1955 film Wichita in which McCrea starred as Wyatt Earp, Four Star provided

1260-823: A result of the buyout between Rupert Murdoch and Ron Perelman in 1996. With the subsequent sale of New World to 20th Century Fox (now owned by The Walt Disney Company ) in 1997, the Four Star catalogue is now owned by Disney Platform Distribution , with a few exceptions: Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures . Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation , an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles , California . It had production and distribution facilities in Studio City , as well as

1344-589: A sizable inventory of programs for syndication, including The Rifleman , Wanted: Dead or Alive , The Rogues , Zane Grey Theatre and The Big Valley . While it did get a hit of sorts in producing a show called Thrill Seekers (a sort of proto- reality TV program, and the first reality show in the United States ), the studio's primary niche was in its successful syndication to global film and television audiences. In 1985, Four Star renewed its ties with Charnay himself. During his tenure, they made

1428-470: A small staff. After Aaron Spelling's June 2006 death, the following May saw Spelling Television shut down and becoming an in-name-only unit of CBS Studios. The CBS/Viacom split essentially resulted in the de-merger of Spelling and Republic. CBS retained the rights to the television side of the Spelling/Republic library, while Viacom (Paramount) retained the theatrical and direct-to-video sides of

1512-566: A subsidiary, Hollywood Television Service, in December 1950. Earl Collins, Republic's branch manager in Los Angeles, accepted the presidency of the new TV arm. Collins made two major announcements: effective June 25, 1951, much of Republic's backlog of feature films would be available to local stations; and, effective that same day, Republic's studio lot would be available for rental to independent TV producers. The Republic features, including

1596-617: The 2019 re-merger , while the Selznick films went to the various territorial television syndication divisions of The Walt Disney Company / ABC , as ABC itself holds the rights to the Selznick films. As for DVD rights, these are also split (and later reunited again): Four Star Television Four Star Television , also called Four Star International , was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell , David Niven , Charles Boyer and Joel McCrea , it

1680-534: The Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns, were uniformly edited to a running time of 53 minutes and 30 seconds each, in order to fit neatly into one-hour time slots. This was looked upon by TV programmers as a tremendous convenience, and Hollywood Television Service found hundreds of ready customers. Hollywood Television Service also produced television shows filmed in the same style as Republic's serials, such as The Adventures of Fu Manchu (1956). Also, in 1952,

1764-687: The Production Code . Republic's leading female star was Judy Canova , who was enormously popular in Republic's customer base of small towns and rural areas. Republic produced many " hillbilly " rural musicals and comedies featuring Canova and the Weaver Brothers and Elviry . She left Republic after a salary dispute in 1943, but was wooed back into the fold in 1951. In 1946, Republic incorporated animation into its Gene Autry feature film Sioux City Sue . It turned out well enough for

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1848-513: The 1940s and 50s originally released by Warner Bros. which Feiner had previously acquired. Feiner sold Republic Pictures the "rights, and interest of every kind, nature, and description throughout the Universe" to the films in 1986, but retained the license to exploit the films in major U.S. markets (New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, etc.). The plaintiff claimed that the films aired on cable several times without their knowledge. The case

1932-488: The ABC television network, accounting for one-third their prime time schedule. This outweighed other production companies by a large margin, leading many industry insiders to dub ABC as "Aaron's Broadcasting Company". Spelling himself was never amused with this name. Aaron Spelling Productions went public in 1986 after raising $ 80 million. In May 1987, Spelling decided to expand into feature production, with five projects already in

2016-455: The Carnival (1955). Republic kept many of its serials in circulation; they were still playing in local movie theaters well into the 1960s. The backbone of the company was its feature-length Westerns . Many of its Western film leads — among them John Wayne , Gene Autry , Roy Rogers , Bill Elliott , Allan "Rocky" Lane , and Rex Allen — became recognizable stars at Republic. However, by

2100-483: The Classics page. Since 2015, CBS-owned Pop , formerly called TVGN, airs many of these shows, while Paramount+ streaming service and the CBS portal on Hulu distribute the shows online. In December 2019, CBS Corporation and Viacom remerged into a single entity under the name ViacomCBS (and eventually renamed into Paramount Global ), which reunited Spelling library and Republic library full-circles back. Before

2184-525: The Radford lot, and its executives are based from the site. Following the immense success of their syndication of the Republic Pictures catalogue to cable television , National Telefilm Associates announced on December 28, 1984, that they had acquired the logos, copyrights, and trademarks of Republic Pictures Corporation and effectively renamed themselves as such. A television production unit

2268-453: The Republic aegis , and higher budgets with which to improve the quality of the films. After he had learned the basics of film production and distribution from his partners, Yates began asserting more and more authority over their film departments, and dissension arose in the ranks. Carr and Johnston left and reactivated Monogram Pictures in 1937; Darmour resumed independent production for Columbia Pictures ; Levine left and never recovered from

2352-472: The Republic Pictures brand and logo. Overseas, Spelling licensed out the library to distributors such as PolyGram Video / Universal Pictures Video in the United Kingdom. By the end of the decade, Viacom bought the portion of Spelling it did not own previously; thus, Republic became a wholly owned division of Paramount Pictures . Artisan (later sold to Lionsgate Home Entertainment ) continued to use

2436-487: The Republic name, logo, and library under license from Paramount. Republic Pictures' holdings consist of a catalog of 3,000 films and TV series, including the original Republic library (except for the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry catalogs, owned by their respective estates) and inherited properties from NTA and Aaron Spelling. In 2012, Richard Feiner & Co. sued Paramount for the unauthorized exploitation of 17 films from

2520-437: The Republic studio lot became the first home of MCA 's series factory, Revue Productions . While it appeared that Republic was well suited for television series production, it did not have the finances or vision to do so. Yet by the mid-1950s, thanks to its sale of old features and leasing of studio space to MCA, television was the prop supporting Republic. During this period, the studio produced Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of

2604-419: The Universe ; unsuccessful as a theater release, the 12-part serial was later sold to NBC for television distribution. Talent agent MCA exerted influence at the studio, bringing in some high-paid clients for occasional features, and it was rumored at various times that either MCA or deposed MGM head Louis B. Mayer would buy the studio outright. As the demand and market for motion pictures declined with

Spelling Television - Misplaced Pages Continue

2688-550: The Wilshire Courtyard buildings in LA's revitalized Miracle Mile district. Aaron Spelling was said to have loved his old office's 1970s shag carpet so much that he had it removed piece by piece and installed in the new office. The company grew so large with so many different entities that at one point it leased all three top floors of the 5700 building and held additional office space across the street. Aaron Spelling had one of

2772-454: The air. After another two years, all but one had gone off the air; The Big Valley was the only show left. Aaron Spelling began his career at Four Star Television as a staff writer and after a number of hits began producing television shows for Four Star. Spelling left the studio in 1966 to form his own production company with Danny Thomas, Thomas Spelling Productions. For a brief time, Four Star Television owned Valiant Records , but sold

2856-530: The biggest role in the company's early success and growth. Powell became President of Four Star within a few years of its formation and, in 1955, Four Star Films, Inc. was formed as an affiliate which produced such hit shows as The Rifleman ; Trackdown ; Wanted Dead or Alive ; Richard Diamond, Private Detective and The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor . There were also failed series, including Jeannie Carson 's Hey, Jeannie! In late 1958, Four Star Productions and Four Star Films were merged into

2940-683: The company Four Star International . For more than two decades, he served as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Four Star. He directed the company, employing his only son, John Charnay as Director of Public Relations, as well as employing many of Hollywood's leading producers, stars, and executives of the late 20th and early 21st century, including Deke Heyward , Morey Amsterdam , Dick Colbert, Tony Thomopoulos , and collaborating with Aaron Spelling and George Spota for continued film and television projects, as well as many Hollywood stars and starlets before many producers advanced to create their own companies. Four Star amassed

3024-439: The company for nearly $ 6 million, becoming its president. He turned Republic into a diversified business that included plastics and appliances in addition to its film and studio rentals and Consolidated Film Industries, renaming the company Republic Corporations. In 1963, having used the studio for series production for years, Republic began leasing its backlot to other firms, including CBS . In February 1967, Republic's studio

3108-437: The company. Following the cancellation of Four Star Playhouse , two new programs came on CBS: a comedy called Hey, Jeannie! which starred Jeannie Carson , and a western anthology show Zane Grey Theater , more formally named Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater . Carson's show ran for just a season, but Zane Grey Theater ran for four. It hosted the pilot episodes for Trackdown starring Robert Culp (which in turn hosted

3192-458: The daytime soap opera genre and whilst short lived, was incredibly popular abroad. Also in the 1990s the WB was launched and their longest running, highest rated and most successful show during their time in operation was 7th Heaven for ten seasons. By 2006, another new network, The CW, used 7th Heaven in their first season in operation as the newest network; 7th Heaven , in fact, turned out to be

3276-893: The depths of the Great Depression , Yates' laboratory was no longer serving the major studios, which had developed their own in-house laboratories for purposes of both economy and control, while the small, independent producers were going under in the face of increased competition from the majors combined with the general impact of the depressed economy. In 1935, he thus decided to create a studio of his own to insure Consolidated's stability. Six surviving small companies ( Monogram Pictures , Mascot Pictures , Liberty Pictures , Majestic Pictures , Chesterfield Pictures , and Invincible Pictures Corporation ) were all in debt to Yates' lab. He prevailed upon these studios to merge under his leadership or else face foreclosure on their outstanding lab bills. Yates' new company, Republic Pictures Corporation,

3360-449: The end of January 1994. The deal was closed on April 27, 1994, with Republic Pictures Corporation becoming a fully owned subsidiary of Spelling Entertainment and was renamed Republic Entertainment Inc. Following Blockbuster Entertainment's merger with Viacom on September 29, 1994, Blockbuster by then owned 67% of Spelling Entertainment and Republic. At the end of the year, Spelling's existing home video division, Worldvision Home Video ,

3444-440: The fall of 1952. While it ran on alternate weeks during its first season (the program it alternated with was the television version of Amos 'n' Andy ), it was successful enough to be renewed and become a weekly program beginning with the second season and until the end of its run in 1956. Actress/director Ida Lupino was brought on board as the pro forma fourth star, though unlike Powell, Boyer, and Niven, she owned no stock in

Spelling Television - Misplaced Pages Continue

3528-452: The former to expand to the children's video market; however, videos tied to the CTW's flagship series Sesame Street were not included due to a preexisting deal with Random House Home Video that eventually expired two years later. Later on in the year, the company used the landmark legal decision Stewart v. Abend in order to reactivate the copyright on Frank Capra 's 1946 RKO film It's

3612-410: The full acquisition by Viacom in 1999 (where only Spelling Television would be left standing as a separate operating unit), Spelling Entertainment Group's holdings consisted of the following: In 1998, Spelling divested in several assets in an attempt to focus solely on television. Spelling Films was shut down, as well as their home video arm (which operated under the Republic brand). In May 1998, TeleUNO

3696-438: The heart of Yates, marrying him in 1952. She was originally featured in musicals as Republic's answer to Sonja Henie , but Yates tried to build her up as a dramatic star, casting her in leading roles opposite important male stars. Yates billed her as "the most beautiful woman in films", but her charms were lost on the moviegoing public while her noticeable Czech accent limited her range, and soon exhibitors complained that Republic

3780-457: The increasing popularity of television, Republic began to cut back on its films, slowing production from 40 features annually in the early 1950s to 18 in 1957 (in 1956—the year the company had recorded a profit of $ 919,000—it temporarily ceased production of features. ) Perhaps inspired by the success of American International Pictures catering to teenaged audiences, Republic dispensed with its old "no exploitation" rule and released several films in

3864-534: The interest of hunting, fishing and other "non-consumptive" uses of the outdoors. In 1987, Republic Pictures decided to expand onto its television production activities, in association with Jaffe/Lansing Productions , on a television movie for ABC , which is When the Time Comes , plus two prospective projects for CBS , which are Indiscreet , and Mistress , which was part of a three-picture deal between Jaffe/Lansing and Republic Pictures. That year, Chuck Larsen

3948-555: The label to Warner Bros. Records in 1966, shortly after pop group The Association released their first records for the label. Early copies of the album And Then... Along Comes the Association show the Four Star disclaimer blacked out at the bottom of the label. From 1967 to 1989, David Charnay was the leader of a buyout group that owned a controlling interest in Four Star Television and subsequently renamed

4032-695: The largest offices in Hollywood for a single executive. Upon the company's exit, media companies from all over Los Angeles vied for the desirable office suites; the newly formed The CW briefly looked at the offices when considering a location for the new start-up network. Spelling Television briefly moved to smaller offices in Santa Monica in 2006. By 2000, Aaron Spelling remained active and involved as CEO until his death in 2006. Company president Jonathan Levin handled day-to-day operations and longtime Spelling producing partner, E. Duke Vincent helped guide

4116-405: The last network broadcast series produced by Spelling Television. Spelling's ABC, Fox, and WB shows were enormously successful for the company and they wasted no time entering into the world of merchandise in the 1980s and 1990s. The company also was one of the first production companies to actively run a website for a show they produced, when the internet was just taking off in the 1990s. The website

4200-574: The late 1940s and 1950s, Yates utilized a low-cost, two-color process called Trucolor (similar to Cinecolor , favoring blues and oranges) in many Republic films, including Johnny Guitar , The Last Command (1955), and Magic Fire (1956). In 1956, the studio devised its own widescreen film process, Naturama , and The Maverick Queen was the first film made in that process. Shut out of their attempts to acquire television broadcasting licenses, most studios resisted making their film libraries available to local stations. Republic, however, established

4284-434: The late 1950s about juvenile delinquency , such as The Wayward Girl (1957), Juvenile Jungle (1958), and Young and Wild (1958). A tearful Yates informed shareholders at the 1958 annual meeting that feature film production was ending; the distribution offices were shut down the following year. On July 1, 1958, Victor M. Carter, a Los Angeles businessman and turnaround specialist, acquired controlling interest in

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4368-921: The library. Currently, all television programs that were produced or acquired by Spelling Television are distributed by CBS Media Ventures . The Spelling Television company logo and series were seen on broadcast television for the last time during the rerun of the 7th Heaven series finale on September 16, 2007. The Spelling logo continues to appear on the covers of DVD releases of the Spelling library except for those shows owned outright by Sony Pictures Television , and shows that were not originally produced by Spelling although eventually later acquired, such as Bonanza . In late 2008, some of Spelling Television's productions, including Beverly Hills, 90210 , Melrose Place , Twin Peaks , and The Love Boat began streaming full episodes online through CBS's website under

4452-542: The loss of his studio, staff and stars, all of whom now were contracted to Republic and Yates. Meanwhile, Yates installed a staff of new, "associate" producers who were loyal to him. Freed of partners, Yates presided over what was now his film studio and acquiring senior production and management staff who served him as employees, not experienced peers with independent ideas and agendas. Republic also acquired Brunswick Records for recording sessions with singing cowboys Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. They hired Cy Feuer as head of

4536-533: The merger, Spelling Entertainment integrated Worldvision into their Republic Pictures unit, thus dismantling Worldvision as a production company. Worldvision distribution functions continued until 1999, when it was folded into Paramount Domestic Television that year and assumed distribution functions (Viacom had bought Paramount Communications – formerly Gulf+Western – the parent of Paramount Pictures and its television division , in 1994). In 1995, Viacom attempted to sell its then-78% share of Spelling. One reason

4620-433: The mid-1940s, Yates was producing better-quality pictures, mounting big-budget fare such as The Quiet Man (1952), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), Johnny Guitar (1954), and The Maverick Queen (1956). Another distinguishing aspect of Republic Pictures was Yates' avoidance of any controversial subject matter ( exploitation films being a staple of B movies), in contrast to the other "Poverty Row" studios that often dodged

4704-450: The original Republic film library. In 1985, the company bought out Blackhawk Films , and eventually, Republic decided to close Blackhawk in 1987. Also that year, Republic Pictures Home Video, the home video division of Republic Pictures, had signed an agreement with Hawk Company, headed by Robert Clouse , in order to gain access to 31 projects that were developed by Hawk, for home video release, and that Republic Pictures Home Video received

4788-881: The production facilities. In 1957 Four Star debuted the first of its many police/detective shows, Richard Diamond, Private Detective . The "Diamond" series was originally created for radio by Blake Edwards , and the character played by Powell, but Powell recast the character with the then-unknown Clark Gable -lookalike David Janssen . Don Taylor portrayed Richard Diamond in the pilot film. Other crime series produced by Four Star included Target: The Corruptors! with Stephen McNally and Robert Harland , The Detectives starring Robert Taylor , Adam West, Tige Andrews, Mark Goddard, Russell Thorson and Lee Farr and Burke's Law starring Gene Barry , Gary Conway, Russell Thorson and Leon Lontoc and Honey West starring Anne Francis and John Ericson . Another program, The Rogues , starred Boyer and Niven with Gig Young on NBC TV. This

4872-568: The result of years of wartime stress on costs and the postwar exchange and trade restrictions enacted by the nations of Continental Europe (practically closing off the market to smaller studios such as Republic), the Paramount Case (even though Republic never owned more than a handful of theaters), and the rise of television. In 1947, Yates stopped the production of short subjects, reduced the amount of serials, and organized Republic's feature output into four types of films: "Jubilee", usually

4956-422: The running times slashed from 20 minutes per episode to 13 minutes, and with the cliffhanger endings borrowed from older Republic serials and features. The studio also stopped licensing expensive comic-strip and radio properties, and instead created generic cops-and-robbers stories and science-fiction adventures. Despite the obvious economies, the Republic serials still found an audience, the last film being King of

5040-437: The series. Clampett took his direction credit under the name " Kilroy ". Republic also released another cartoon series in 1949 (this time without Clampett): a free-wheeling series of animated travelogues called Jerky Journeys , written and produced by Leonard Levinson , but only four cartoons were made. From the mid-1940s, Republic films often featured Vera Hruba Ralston , a former ice skater from Czechoslovakia who had won

5124-482: The studio and the program, as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had done successfully with the Desilu studio. Powell had intended for the program to feature himself, Charles Boyer , Joel McCrea and Rosalind Russell ; however, Russell and McCrea backed out, and David Niven came on board as the "third star". The fourth star would be a guest star at first. CBS liked the idea, and Four Star Playhouse made its debut in

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5208-428: The studio to dabble in animated cartoons. After leaving Warner Bros. in 1946 (reportedly because of angering his peers at the studio's cartoon division for taking credit that was not really his), Bob Clampett approached Republic and directed a single cartoon, It's a Grand Old Nag , featuring the equine character Charlie Horse. Republic management, however, had second thoughts owing to dwindling profits and discontinued

5292-451: The studio's music department. At the 1958 annual meeting, Yates announced the end of motion picture production. In its early years, Republic was sometimes labeled a " Poverty Row " company, as its primary products were B movies and serials . Most of the technical staff had been with Mascot, a serial specialist, and thus was already geared to the steady production of weekly chapter plays. Republic's own serials began in 1936 and developed

5376-432: The successful production company. In late 2005, Spelling Television had downsized its staff and signed into a pod development and production deal with Paramount Television, and moved its employees there to Paramount. Spelling Television was eventually downsized even further and became a small "production shingle" under CBS Paramount Television (now CBS Studios ), a division of CBS Corporation (now Paramount Global ), with

5460-469: The supervising leadership of Herbert J. Yates , Republic was considered a mini-major film studio, producing almost 1,000 motion pictures. Created in 1935 by Herbert J. Yates , a longtime investor in film (having invested in 20th Century Pictures at its founding in 1933) and owner of the film processing laboratory Consolidated Film Industries , Republic was initially founded upon Yates' acquisition of six smaller independent Poverty Row studios. In

5544-615: The works for different studios, and four projects ASP is heading up for the development slate. On August 17, 1987, Spelling extended its contract with ABC for three more years. On September 28, 1987, Spelling's arrangement with ABC became non-exclusive as it was signed a deal to other networks. In 1988, Aaron Spelling Productions acquired Laurel Entertainment and most of the Taft Entertainment Company , including Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. All three companies became part of Spelling Entertainment Inc. – though Worldvision

5628-410: Was (after Four Star Playhouse ) the closest the studio's owners would come to appearing on the same program. The idea was for the three actors to alternate as the lead each week playing moral con-man cousins out to fleece reprehensible villains, often with one or two of the others turning up to play a small part in the caper (real ensemble episodes were rare). The schedule of who pulled leading man duty

5712-652: Was acquired by Sony Pictures . In September 1998, Spelling licensed the North American home video rights to its library to Artisan Entertainment , initially for seven years. That same month, Virgin Interactive's software development assets were sold to Electronic Arts . After the late 2005 corporate split between Viacom and CBS Corporation, some of the above have gone to each company. Films mostly went to Viacom's Paramount Pictures unit and television with CBS Corporation's CBS Television Distribution unit until

5796-694: Was for Melrose Place . Spelling Entertainment Inc. was acquired by Charter Company on April 6, 1991. On March 31, 1992, Spelling and Charter announced a merger agreement. On October 5, 1992, Charter changed its name to Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. and updated its NYSE ticker symbol to SP. On October 5, 1993, Blockbuster, Inc. acquired a controlling stake in Spelling Entertainment Group. On April 28, 1994, Spelling Entertainment acquired Republic Pictures for $ 100 million. On September 29, 1994, Blockbuster merged with Viacom. Blockbuster by then owned 67% of Spelling Entertainment. After

5880-493: Was hired by Republic Pictures as president of domestic television distribution, and will select the two from a number of series we have in development. In January 1993, Blockbuster Entertainment announced they would purchase a 35% stake in Republic, In June 1993, the company's home video division signed a deal with the Children's Television Workshop for the release of several of the company's properties on VHS in order for

5964-687: Was inspired by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz founding Desilu Productions a year earlier. McCrea left soon after its founding to continue in films, television and radio, and was replaced by Ida Lupino as the fourth star—although Lupino did not own stock in the company. Four Star produced several popular programs in the early days of television, including Four Star Playhouse (its first series), Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre , Stagecoach West , The June Allyson Show (also known as The DuPont Show Starring June Allyson ), The Dick Powell Show , Burke's Law , The Rogues and The Big Valley . Despite its stars sharing equal billing, Powell played

6048-420: Was largely determined by the actors' movie commitments, thereby giving Niven, Boyer, and Young additional work between film roles. In any event, Young wound up helming most of the episodes since he usually had more spare time than Niven or Boyer, but even he had to be replaced by Larry Hagman as another cousin for two episodes when Young was too busy. The series lasted only through the 1964–65 season. The studio

6132-609: Was later settled, with Feiner now sharing in the royalties. Republic Entertainment Inc. has since been folded by Paramount, who later formed a holding company called Melange Pictures for the Republic library, logos and brand. After Lionsgate's domestic deal with Paramount expired, Paramount signed new deals with Olive Films and Kino Lorber to distribute the Republic Library. As before, the Republic brand and logo continue to be used by both companies under license. On March 24, 2023, Paramount Global announced it would revive

6216-468: Was merged into New World by April 1990. After Four Star International became part of New World, Four Star operated as in-name-only. In 1993, Four Star acquired 50% of Genesis Entertainment . As part of the acquisition, Genesis acquired television distribution rights to Four Star's 160 feature films and television series. Four Star International is now owned by The Walt Disney Company , with most of its library of programs controlled by 20th Television as

6300-533: Was merged with Republic Pictures Home Video and took the latter name. In 1996, Republic shut down its film production unit. In September 1997, Republic's video rental operations were taken over by Paramount Home Video ; although its sell-through operations remained. In September 1998, Spelling announced that they would license the American and Canadian video rights to the Republic Pictures library to Artisan Entertainment , and would continue to be released with

6384-465: Was presented to their producer-owners as a collaborative enterprise focused on low-budget product. Acquiring and integrating these six companies enabled Republic to begin life with an experienced production staff, a company of veteran B-film supporting players and at least one very promising star, a complete distribution system, and a functioning and modern studio. In exchange for merging, the principals were promised independence in their productions under

6468-476: Was producing too many Ralston pictures. Years later, John Wayne admitted that he had departed Republic in 1952 over the prospect of having to appear in yet another film with her. Yates remained Ralston's most ardent supporter, and she continued to appear in Republic features until its final production, Spoilers of the Forest (1957). By the mid-to-late-1940s, the American film industry faced an existential threat,

6552-744: Was purchased outright by CBS and, having more than quadrupled the stock price for shareholders, Carter sold his controlling interest. Other than producing a 1966 package of 26 Century 66 100-minute made-for-TV movies edited from some of the studio's serials to cash in on the popularity of the Batman television series, Republic Pictures' role in Hollywood ended with the sale of the studio lot. Republic sold its library of films to National Telefilm Associates (NTA). Non-entertainment acquisitions included Mansbach Metal Company and Kentucky Electric Steel Company, both acquired in September 1968. Republic reported

6636-542: Was set up under the Republic name and offered, among other things, off-network repeats of the CBS series Beauty and the Beast and game show Press Your Luck in syndication . There were also a few theatrical films, including Freeway , Ruby in Paradise , Dark Horse , Live Nude Girls , and Bound . At the same time, subsidiary NTA Home Entertainment was renamed Republic Pictures Home Video and began remarketing

6720-494: Was successful in the late 1950s as a result of the success of its programs. Four Star also helped bring some prominent names in television and movies to public attention including David Janssen , Steve McQueen , Robert Culp , Chuck Connors , Mary Tyler Moore , Linda Evans , Jeannie Carson , Lee Majors , The Smothers Brothers , Aaron Spelling , Dick Powell , David Niven , Joel McCrea , Charles Boyer , Ida Lupino , Richard Long , Peter Breck and Sam Peckinpah . The studio

6804-408: Was that they wanted to recoup the debt incurred from buying Paramount Communications. Also, they felt that the operations of Spelling Television was too similar to its Paramount Television division. Potential bids came from PolyGram , New World Entertainment , and News Corporation . These plans were called off in 1996 as Viacom could not find the perfect bidder. The remainder of Spelling Entertainment

6888-421: Was the only Taft division to continue operating. The sale was completed on March 1, 1989. In 1990, the company started Spelling Films International as a distributor for feature films such as feature film financing. In the early 1990s Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place helped propel Fox even higher and reach a new generation of young teen viewers. Sunset Beach was Spelling's first and only foray into

6972-410: Was then acquired by Viacom on June 23, 1999. Before the merger with Viacom, most of Spelling's shows were distributed by Worldvision, with older Spelling shows distributed by several others including Warner Bros. Television and 20th Television . The company's first home was a suite of offices on the old Warners lot in Hollywood. A newer base followed when the company was an original anchor tenant of

7056-492: Was well known as being sympathetic to creative staff. Powell often battled with network executives on behalf of writers, directors, and actors. On January 2, 1963, a day after his last appearance on his program The Dick Powell Show aired, Dick Powell died of stomach cancer . The stomach cancer was likely a result of having directed Howard Hughes 's The Conqueror , amidst dust clouds of atomic test radiation in Utah. Out of

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