Company type | Production company |
---|---|
Industry | Television |
Founded | 1965 |
Founders | William Asher Elizabeth Montgomery |
Defunct | 1976 |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
Ashmont Productions was an American television production company. The company was founded by William Asher and his then wife Elizabeth Montgomery initially as a production company for the television series Bewitched . [1]
The production company also became a production venue for several other ABC shows until the studio's close in 1976.
Ashmont Productions was formed in 1965 by director William Asher and his then-wife, actress Elizabeth Montgomery. Montgomery was the star of ABC's Bewitched and husband Asher directed it. The production company's original purpose was exclusively as a production outlet for Bewitched. The name "Ashmont" was a combination of the first syllables of Asher's and Montgomery's names. [2] The combination of the couple's names was very similar to rival Desilu Productions, formed by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.
However, in 1965, the company only had one production credit on a season 1 episode of Bewitched. The company did not become active again until the start of the eighth and final season of the show in 1971. [3] After Bewitched, Ashmont produced The Paul Lynde Show and Temperatures Rising . The production company closed its doors in 1976 after the filming of the original pilot for the television series Tabitha . [4]
Year | Title | Notes | References |
---|---|---|---|
1965; 1971-1972 | Bewitched | 26 episodes | [5] |
1972–1974 | Temperatures Rising | Produced all 46 episodes Also known as The New Temperatures Rising Show | |
1972–1973 | The Paul Lynde Show | Produced all 26 episodes | |
1976 | Tabitha | Original 1976 pilot episode only |
Paul Edward Lynde was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched, the befuddled father Harry MacAfee in Bye Bye Birdie and a regular "center square" panelist on the game show The Hollywood Squares from 1968 to 1981. He also voiced animated characters for five Hanna-Barbera productions.
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American actress whose career spanned five decades in film, stage, and television. She portrayed the good witch Samantha Stephens on the popular television series Bewitched, which earned her five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations.
"Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)" is a show tune and popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey. It is part of the Great American Songbook. The song was introduced by Vivienne Segal on December 25, 1940, in the Broadway production during Act I, Scene 6, and again in Act II, Scene 4, as a reprise. Segal also sang the song on both the 1950 hit record and in the 1952 Broadway revival. It was performed by Carol Bruce in the 1954 London production.
Richard Allen York was an American actor. He was the first actor to play Darrin Stephens on the ABC fantasy sitcom Bewitched. He played teacher Bertram Cates in the film Inherit the Wind (1960).
Bewitched is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife. The show was popular, finishing as the second-rated show in America during its debut season, staying in the top ten for its first three seasons, and ranking in eleventh place for both seasons four and five. The show continues to be seen throughout the world in syndication and on recorded media.
Richard Stanford Cox, known professionally as Dick Sargent, was an American actor. He is best known for being the second actor to portray Darrin Stephens on ABC's fantasy situation comedy Bewitched. He took the name Dick Sargent from a Saturday Evening Post illustrator/artist of the same name.
Alice Pearce was an American actress. She was brought to Hollywood by Gene Kelly to reprise her Broadway performance in the film version of On the Town (1949). Pearce played comedic supporting roles in several films before being cast as nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz in the television sitcom Bewitched in 1964. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series posthumously after the second season of the series. She died from ovarian cancer in 1966.
Robert Montgomery was an American actor, director, and producer. He began his acting career on the stage, but was soon hired by MGM. Initially assigned roles in comedies, he soon proved he was able to handle dramatic ones, as well. He appeared in a wide variety of roles, such as the weak-willed prisoner Kent in The Big House (1930), the psychotic Danny in Night Must Fall (1937), and Joe, the boxer mistakenly sent to Heaven in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). The last two earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Alice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress and singer on stage, film and television.
William Milton Asher was an American television and film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific early television directors, producing or directing over two dozen series.
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Screen Gems is an American brand name owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation, initially as a cartoon studio, then a television studio, and later on as a film studio. The label currently serves as a film production that specializes in genre films, mainly horror.
Joyce Collins Bulifant is an American actress and author. In addition to recurring roles on television, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Marie Slaughter, Bulifant is recognized for film roles in The Happiest Millionaire and Airplane! and as a frequent panelist on game shows, including Chain Reaction, Match Game, and Password Plus.
Tabitha is an American fantasy sitcom and a spin-off of Bewitched that aired on ABC from September 10, 1977, to January 14, 1978. The series starred Lisa Hartman in the title role as Tabitha Stephens, the witch daughter of Samantha and Darrin Stephens who was introduced on Bewitched during its second season.
Temperatures Rising is an American television sitcom that aired on the ABC network from September 12, 1972 to August 29, 1974. During its 46-episode run, it was presented in three different formats and cast line-ups. The series was developed for the network by William Asher and Harry Ackerman for Ashmont Productions and Screen Gems. Set in a fictional Washington, D.C. hospital, the series first featured James Whitmore as a no-nonsense chief of staff, forced to deal with the outlandish antics of a young intern and three nurses.
The Paul Lynde Show is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC. The series starred comedian Paul Lynde and aired for one season, with original episodes airing from September 13, 1972, to March 14, 1973.
ABC Daytime is a division responsible for the daytime television programming block on the ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows and talk shows.
"Sisters at Heart" is the thirteenth episode of the seventh season, and 213th episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) fantasy television sitcom Bewitched. This Christmas episode aired on ABC on December 24, 1970, and again the following December.
Richard Michaels is a retired American film and TV show director and producer whose career spanned five decades.
"I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha" is the pilot episode of American television series Bewitched. The episode was produced three weeks after starring actress Elizabeth Montgomery gave birth to her first child with her husband, series director William Asher. The episode was written by Sol Saks, the creator of the series, and initially aired September 17, 1964 on ABC. José Ferrer served as the episode's narrator, starting with the words, "Once upon a time...". Ferrer was not credited for this role. In the episode, Samantha Stephens promises her new husband Darrin that she will not use magic, a promise that initiates a pattern that continues into each subsequent episode of the series; the conflict in each episode surrounds Samantha's failed attempts to keep her promise.