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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 Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a variety ...
, and was best known for the
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...
''
Hogan's Heroes ''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes (six seasons) from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, the longest broadcas ...
'' and the
medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the characters' jobs and portray some ...
'' Ben Casey''. BCP was acquired by Cox Enterprises.


History

Keith Samples Keith Samples (born 1955 or 1956) is an American filmmaker and former syndication executive. He graduated in 1977 at the Texas Tech University and pursued a sports career. He was founder of the film and television production company Rysher Ent ...
re-established the company in April 1991, as an independent company, whose sole product had been the distribution of the series ''
Saved by the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in primetime, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United States ...
'' (at the time,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
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 DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...
series that also aired on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
, '' Captain N: The Game Master''. Also that year, it attempted to merge with film and television production company
The Kushner-Locke Company The Kushner-Locke Company was an American independent motion picture/television production founded on March 12, 1983 by Donald Kushner and Peter Locke. It is known for films such as ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', '' Liberace: Behind the Music ...
, only that deal was to be aborted. Also that year, Cox Enterprises was in discussions to purchase the studio and helped them merge with TPE. It was considered that later that year that Gay Rosenthal was inking a deal with the studio to distribute their own projects. The Cox/Rysher merger was finalized, and soon afterwards, Rysher merged with
Al Masini Alfred Michael Masini (January 5, 1930 – November 29, 2010) was an American television producer. Life and career Early life and education Al Masini was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Raised by his widowed mother, Masini started working after ...
's Television Program Enterprises to form Rysher TPE, its alternate name used from 1993 to 1994, and helped them to syndicate ''
California Dreams ''California Dreams'' is an American teen sitcom that aired on NBC. It was part of the network's Saturday morning block, TNBC, premiering on September 12, 1992. Created by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon, and executive produced by Pet ...
'', with
Keith Samples Keith Samples (born 1955 or 1956) is an American filmmaker and former syndication executive. He graduated in 1977 at the Texas Tech University and pursued a sports career. He was founder of the film and television production company Rysher Ent ...
remaining at the helm. Through it, they produced and distributed shows, such as ''
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ''Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'' is an American television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes, socialites and magnates. It was hosted by ...
'' (renamed ''Lifestyles with Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte'' for the final season) and ''
Star Search ''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...
''. Later, they produced and distributed ''
George & Alana ''George & Alana'' (also called ''The George & Alana Show'' or ''G&A'') is an American daytime talk show that aired in broadcast syndication from September 18, 1995, to March 29, 1996, and was hosted by actor George Hamilton and his former wife A ...
''. 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 Gabrielle Anne Carteris (; born January 2, 1961) is an American actress and trade union leader. Her best known acting role was as Andrea Zuckerman during the early seasons of the 1990s television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. In 2012, Carter ...
, through GABCO Productions struck a deal with Rysher TPE for a production/distribution agreement. In May 1995, Rysher entered into a five-film domestic distribution arrangement with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
. The company closed the film unit due to under-performing box office sales in July 1997. Later that year, in 1997, Papazian-Hrsch Entertainment struck a deal with Rysher to develop their TV projects. In 1998, Rysher collaborated with
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
to distribute some of the series outside of the United States, including '' Arli$$'', '' Oz'' and ''
Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Sta ...
''. The company was closed in 1999 after Viacom entered an agreement with Cox Enterprises, allowing
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest ...
and its television unit to handle distribution rights. The company's library is incorporated into the one for
CBS Media Ventures CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glob ...
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 ''Nash Bridges'' is an American police procedural television series created by Carlton Cuse. The show stars Don Johnson and Cheech Marin as two Inspectors with the San Francisco Police Department's Special Investigations Unit (SIU). The se ...
'' (continued by
Paramount Network Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...
), '' Highlander: The Series'', '' Kingpin'', and '' Big Night''. In 1998, it and
CBS Productions CBS Productions, Inc. was a production arm of the CBS television network (an initialism of Columbia Broadcasting System, along with its parent company CBS Television Studios, Inc.; the radio network was founded in 1927), now a part of Paramount Gl ...
jointly purchased the
Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...
CBS drama ''
Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
'' from
Columbia TriStar Television Columbia TriStar Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CTT) was an American television production and distribution company that was active from 1994 to 2002. It was operated as the third name of the early television studio Screen Gems and the four ...
. 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 A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited p ...
, 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. Vine acquired Lakeshore's library and international sales operations in November 2019. Viacom merged with
CBS Corporation The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...
, under the name ViacomCBS (now
Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, doing business as Paramount) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquar ...
), 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


Feature films


References

{{Authority control 2929 Entertainment holdings Defunct film and television production companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1945 Mass media companies disestablished in 1999 Television production companies of the United States Television syndication distributors