Filmways

Former American television and film production company Filmways, Inc.Final logo, used from 1981 to 1982TypeCorporationIndustryMotion picturesTelevision programsFounded1952; 74 years ago (1952)FounderMartin RansohoffEdwin KasperDefunct1982; 44 years ago (1982)FateAcquired by Orion Pictures and renamed as Orion Pictures CorporationSuccessorOrion Pictures CorporationHeadquartersSonoma County, California, U.S.Key peopleMartin RansohoffEdwin KasperRodney Erickson Filmways, Inc. (also known as Filmways Pictures and Filmways Television) was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff and Edwin Kasper in 1952. It is probably best remembered as the production company of CBS' "rural comedies" of the 1960s, including Mister Ed, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres, as well as the comedy-drama The Trials of O'Brien, the western Dundee and the Culhane, the adventure show Bearcats!, the police drama Cagney & Lacey, and The Addams Family. The company also briefly distributed SCTV in the United States and also distributed a syndicated half-hour edition of reruns of Saturday Night Live in the late 1970s. Notable films the comp