Rysher Entertainment

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Rysher Entertainment, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
Industry
PredecessorBing Crosby Productions
Founded1945; 78 years ago (1945) (as Bing Crosby Productions)
FounderKeith Samples
Defunct1999; 24 years ago (1999) (original)
FateShut down by Cox Broadcasting. Assets owned by Vine Alternative Investments. Film library is distributed by Paramount Pictures and television series are distributed by CBS Media Ventures
SuccessorCompany: Vine Alternative Investments
Library: Paramount Pictures (film library)
CBS Studios (television arm)
HeadquartersLansing, Michigan United States
OwnerCox Enterprises (1993–1999)

Rysher Entertainment, Inc. was an American film and television production company and distributor. It has its roots dating back to 1949 as Bing Crosby Productions, and was best known for the sitcom Hogan's Heroes and the medical drama Ben Casey. BCP was acquired by Cox Enterprises.

History

Keith Samples re-established the company in April 1991,[1] as an independent company, whose sole product had been the distribution of the series Saved by the Bell (at the time, NBC could not distribute it in syndication due to fin-syn rules). Encouraged by the success, it made its second move with their first foray into animation, Captain N and the Video Game Masters, the off-net syndicated version of the DIC Entertainment series that also aired on NBC, Captain N: The Game Master.[2] Also that year, it attempted to merge with film and television production company The Kushner-Locke Company, only that deal was to be aborted.[3][4]

Also that year, Cox Enterprises was in discussions to purchase the studio and helped them merge with TPE.[5] It was considered that later that year that Gay Rosenthal was inking a deal with the studio to distribute their own projects.[6] The Cox/Rysher merger was finalized,[7] and soon afterwards, Rysher merged with Al Masini's Television Program Enterprises to form Rysher TPE, its alternate name used from 1993 to 1994, and helped them to syndicate California Dreams, with Keith Samples remaining at the helm.[8]

Through it, they produced and distributed shows, such as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (renamed Lifestyles with Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte for the final season) and Star Search. Later, they produced and distributed George & Alana. The company branched out into feature films, and in the span of three years had produced over two dozen. In late 1993, Beverly Hills 90210 star Gabrielle Carteris, through GABCO Productions struck a deal with Rysher TPE for a production/distribution agreement.[9]

In May 1995, Rysher entered into a five-film domestic distribution arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company closed the film unit due to under-performing box office sales in July 1997.[10] Later that year, in 1997, Papazian-Hrsch Entertainment struck a deal with Rysher to develop their TV projects.[11]

In 1998, Rysher collaborated with HBO to distribute some of the series outside of the United States, including Arli$$, Oz and Sex and the City. The company was closed in 1999 after Viacom entered an agreement with Cox Enterprises, allowing Paramount Pictures and its television unit to handle distribution rights.[12] The company's library is incorporated into the one for CBS Media Ventures and Paramount Pictures (except The Opposite of Sex). The company's films and series included Hogan's Heroes (whose partial rights are held by CBS), Ben Casey, Walking Tall, Nash Bridges (continued by Paramount Network Television), Highlander: The Series, Kingpin, and Big Night. In 1998, it and CBS Productions jointly purchased the Ann-Margret CBS drama Four Corners from Columbia TriStar Television.[13]

The company's assets were acquired by 2929 Entertainment in 2001. They were bought by Qualia Capital, LLC. in 2006, and were merged with Gaylord Films and Pandora Entertainment. The combined entity became known as Qualia Libraries Co. and the brand name served as a limited partnership, and now owns the trademark to "Hogan's Heroes". In 2011, Qualia Libraries Co. was acquired by affiliates of Vine Alternative Investments which were integrated into Lakeshore Entertainment in 2015.[14] Vine acquired Lakeshore's library and international sales operations in November 2019. Viacom merged with CBS Corporation, under the name ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global), as a single distribution company in December. CBS Media Ventures currently holds the rights to the television library, while the ancillary, home media and worldwide distribution rights to the film library lie with Paramount Pictures, with Trifecta Entertainment handling North American television rights.

Television programs

Main article: List of Paramount Global television programs § Rysher Entertainment

Feature films

Release date Title Co-Producer Distributor
April 28, 1995 Destiny Turns on the Radio Savoy Pictures
October 27, 1995 Three Wishes Savoy Pictures
November 17, 1995 It Takes Two Dualstar Productions Warner Bros. Pictures
January 20, 1996 Hard Eight Green Parrot The Samuel Goldwyn Company
April 3, 1996 Primal Fear Paramount Pictures
July 26, 1996 Kingpin Motion Picture Corporation of America Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
August 9, 1996 Escape from L.A. Paramount Pictures
August 7, 1996 House Arrest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
August 23, 1996 Foxfire Chestnut Hills Productions/Red Mullet Productions The Samuel Goldwyn Company
September 26, 1996 Big Night Timpano Productions The Samuel Goldwyn Company
September 27, 1996 2 Days in the Valley Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
November 1, 1996 Dear God Paramount Pictures
December 25, 1996 The Evening Star Paramount Pictures
January 10, 1997 Turbulence Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
January 24, 1997 Zeus and Roxanne Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
March 7, 1997 Private Parts Paramount Pictures
April 4, 1997 The Saint Mace Neufeld Productions Paramount Pictures
August 22, 1997 A Smile Like Yours Paramount Pictures
October 3, 1997 Kiss the Girls Paramount Pictures
October 31, 1997 Switchback Pacific Western Productions Paramount Pictures
May 22, 1998 The Opposite of Sex Sony Pictures Classics

References

  1. ^ "COX COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF RYSHER ENTERTAINMENT" (Press release). Cox Enterprises. PR Newswire. Retrieved September 15, 2016 – via The Free Library.
  2. ^ "A sampling of the programming wares at INTV" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 13, 1992. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  3. ^ "Kushner-Locke, Rysher merge" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 1, 1992. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "Rysher/Kushner-Locke merger off" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 27, 1992. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  5. ^ McClellan, Steve (December 7, 1992). "Cox negotiates for Rysher Entertainment" (PDF). Broadcasting. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "First-look for Rosenthal" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 21, 1992. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  7. ^ Freeman, Mike (February 1, 1993). "It's official: Cox to buy Rysher" (PDF). Broadcasting. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  8. ^ "Samples tops at TPE in Cox shuffle" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 29, 1993. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  9. ^ "Rysher TPE signs deal with '90210' co-star" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 4, 1993. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  10. ^ "RYSHER CALLS 'Cut!'" (Press release). Andrew Hindes. Variety. Retrieved May 11, 2018 – via Variety.
  11. ^ "New producers for 'Bridges'" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 29, 1997. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  12. ^ ""ET" ALL PAR TV'S NOW" (Press release). Cynthia Littleton. Variety. Retrieved May 11, 2018 – via Variety.
  13. ^ Hontz, Jenny (January 16, 1998). "Eye web drama in transit". Variety. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  14. ^ "Claim 311 on 2016 CD - eCRB". app.crb.gov. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
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