SFM Entertainment is an American television syndicator, film distributor, production company, and licensing firm established on September 29, 1969.SFM at 30
sfment.dreamhosters.com SFM Entertainment is known for setting up 'occasional'

networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

. The name comes from the initials of the company's founders: Walter Staab, Robert Frank, and Stanley Moger.

History

SFM Media Services started on September 29, 1969 as an independent advertising agency by Stanley Moger, Bob Frank and Walt Staab. SFM Media started a division, SFM Entertainment (SFME), to enter the strip-programming business. SFME's first program was ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

''. During the winter of 1976-77, SFM Media Service assisted

Mobil Oil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

in running and launching the

Mobil Showcase Network The Mobil Showcase Network, also known as Mobil Showcase or Mobil Showcase Theatre, was an occasional or ad hoc television network from 1976 to 1984 with an ad hoc group of stations. Background A Mobil Oil media expert, Herb Schmertz, wrote cann ...

. This led to three additional companies approaching SFM on setting up their own 'occasional' networks. In 1978, SFM launched its own network,

SFM Holiday Network The SFM Holiday Network was an 'occasional' network from SFM Media which aired on holiday weekends (such as the 4th of July, Christmas, etc.) from 1978 until 1991. The network would usually clear 88% of the U.S. History After the success of th ...

. SFM subsequently launched the

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...

Golden Showcase Network in 1980. In 1983, SFM worked with

Del Monte Foods Del Monte Foods, Inc (trading as Del Monte Foods) is an American food production and distribution company headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketer of bran ...

to form an ad hoc TV network to broadcast the special ''Believe You Can . . . And You Can!'' over 100 stations on April 21, 1983 at 8 PM EST. In 1994, SFM started up a sports marketing unit in its media services division with the hiring of Jerry Solomon as executive vice president. In 1998, media holding company

Havas Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas consists of ...

purchased SFM, except for its SFM Entertainment division.

Shows distributed by SFM

Some shows distributed by SFM (past or present) include: * ''

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin ''The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin'' is an American children's television series in the Western genre that aired from October 1954 to May 1959 on the ABC television network. In all, 164 episodes aired. The show starred Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orph ...

'' * ''

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors ''Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors'' (French: ''Jayce et les Conquérants de la Lumière'') is an animated TV show which was first broadcast on TF1 on September 9, 1985 on the block ''Salut les p'tits loups !'', and eventually on September 16 in ...

'' * ''

'' (the 1977-1978 version, including the 1975-1977 syndication of the black-and-white original series) * ''

The Flip Wilson Show ''The Flip Wilson Show'' is an hour-long variety show that originally aired in the US on NBC from September 17, 1970, to June 27, 1974. The show starred American comedian Flip Wilson; the program was one of the first American television programs s ...

'' * ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...

'' * ''

The Smothers Brothers Show ''The Smothers Brothers Show'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom featuring the Smothers Brothers that aired on CBS on Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET from September 17, 1965, to April 22, 1966, co-sponsored by Alberto-Culver' ...

'' * ''

The Adventures of Jim Bowie ''The Adventures of Jim Bowie'' is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book ''Tempered Blade'', by Monte Barrett. Synop ...

'' * ''

The Danny Thomas Show ''The Danny Thomas Show'' (titled ''Make Room for Daddy'' for its first three seasons) is an American sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. Starring Danny Thomas as a successful night club entertainer, the show fo ...

'' * ''

The Real McCoys ''The Real McCoys'' is an American situation comedy starring Walter Brennan, Richard Crenna, and Kathleen Nolan. Co-produced by Danny Thomas's Marterto Productions in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincus's Westgate Company, it ...

'' * '' The West Point Story'' (along with

MGM Television MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/dis ...

) * ''

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' is the first Western television series written for adults, premiering four days before ''Gunsmoke'' on September 6, 1955. Two weeks later came the Clint Walker western ''Cheyenne''. The series is loosely base ...

'' (1955–1961) * the '' AFI 100 Years... series'' of TV specials * ''

Zoobilee Zoo ''Zoobilee Zoo'' is a children's television series featuring actors dressed as animal characters that originally aired from 1986 to 1987. It continued to run in syndication until 2000 on several television channels including commercial network ...

'' (with

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 ...

) live action pre-school program * ''

Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televisi ...

'' (syndicated version from 1988) * ''

Rainbow Brite ''Rainbow Brite'' is a media franchise by Hallmark Cards, introduced in 1984. The animated ''Rainbow Brite'' television series first aired in 1984, the same year Hallmark licensed Rainbow Brite to Mattel for a range of dolls and other merchand ...

'' * ''

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song. Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by the then-husband-and-wife duo of Elmo Shropshire and Patsy Trigg in 1979. Lyrics The lyrics tell the story of a grand ...

'' * ''

Make Room for Daddy ''The Danny Thomas Show'' (titled ''Make Room for Daddy'' for its first three seasons) is an American sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. Starring Danny Thomas as a successful night club entertainer, the show fo ...

'' * ''The

Joey Bishop Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (February 3, 1918 – October 17, 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk/ ...

Show'' * ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'' * ''

Mister Peepers ''Mister Peepers'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from July 3, 1952, to June 12, 1955. Overview Wally Cox starred as Robinson J. Peepers, Jefferson City's junior high school science teacher. Others in the cast included Tony Randall as ...

'' * ''

Help! I'm a Fish ''Help! I'm A Fish'' ( da, Hjælp, jeg er en fisk; also known as ''A Fish Tale'') is a 2000 Danish-German-Irish traditionally animated science fantasy musical film directed by Stefan Fjeldmark, Greg Manwaring and Michael Hegner, and written by ...

'' * '' The Doctors'' * ''

Edward the Seventh ''Edward the Seventh'' is a 1975 British historical drama series, made by ATV in 13 episodes. Based on the biography of King Edward VII by Philip Magnus, it starred Annette Crosbie as Queen Victoria, Timothy West as the elder Edward VII, wi ...

'' (British miniseries distributed in U.S. in 1979) * ''

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

'' (a 1978 behind-the-scenes look at ''

Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...

'') * '' Good Morning World'' * '' Lotsa Luck'' * ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseann ...

'' (produced by

Carsey-Werner Productions The Carsey-Werner Company (previously known as Carsey-Werner Productions and Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions, before that, Carsey Productions and also known as Carsey-Werner Television) is an independent production company founded in 1981 by ...

) * ''

The Jerry Lewis Show ''The Jerry Lewis Show'' was the name of several separate but similar American variety, talk and comedy programs starring comedian Jerry Lewis that aired non-consecutively between 1963 and 1984. The original version of the series aired on ABC from ...

'' (1967–1969

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

series; sketches edited from original hour-long shows into half-hour reruns) * ''The Toys That Rescued Christmas'' (2004) * '' Superstars'' **''

Battle of the Network Stars ''Battle of the Network Stars'' is a series of competitions in which television stars from ABC, CBS and NBC would compete in various sporting events. A total of 19 of these competitions were held between 1976 and 1988, all of which were aired b ...

'' **''Female Superstars'' *SFM I movie and documentary package **''The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt'' ** ''Pinocchio in Outer Space'' *''Stamp of Greatness'' – weekly half-hour program profile those on the postage stamps *''Directions'' – weekly half-hour program on fashion *''The

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

Show'' – half-hour weekly sports series moderated by Steinbrenner as two well-known sports figures debate sports related issue in front of an audience *''Faces of Love'' – first-run anthology series from major authors feature romance *'' The Hugga Bunch'' – 5-part limited series *''The Texas 150th Birthday Celebration'' – 3-hour live special featuring top Texan stars mark the 150th anniversary of Texas *''The March of Time'' – award-winning British documentary series * ''The

Dione Lucas Dione Lucas (born Dione Wilson, 10 October 1909 – 18 December 1971) (pronounced dee-OH-nee) was an English chef, and the first female graduate of Le Cordon Bleu. Her father was the architect, jeweller and designer Henry Wilson, and her sister was ...

Cooking Show''

Units

* SFM Entertainment ** ''

References

External links

* {{Authority control Television production companies of the United States Television syndication distributors Entertainment companies established in 1969

History

Shows distributed by SFM

Units

See also

References

External links