Screen Gems Network

Last updated
Screen Gems Network
Screen Gems Network.jpg
Screen Gems Network logo, used from 1999-2002; based on the 1992 Columbia Pictures logo
Developed byBarry Thurston
Narrated by Billy West
Theme music composer Peter Himmelman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersDouglas Ross
Greg Stewart
J. Rupert Thompson
Production companyEvolution Media
Original release
Network Broadcast syndication
ReleaseSeptember 20, 1999 (1999-09-20) 
September 9, 2002 (2002-09-09)

The Screen Gems Network (SGN) was an American afternoon television program which ran in syndication from September 20, 1999, to September 9, 2002, launched by Columbia TriStar Television Distribution and produced by Evolution Media. The concept for the program was announced on January 11, 1999 [1] and it began airing on September 20, 1999; for the block's first season, only half-hour sitcoms were part of the block, with the second season expanding to include hour-long drama shows. (While not part of the Screen Gems Network itself, CTTD and Evolution also produced 130 half-hour compilations of shorts featuring The Three Stooges in a similar manner to that of the Screen Gems Network.) [2]

Contents

SGN was the first broadcast-based service airing classic shows from the Columbia Pictures Television vault, airing shows with a resource base of 58,000 episodes of 350 television series from the 1950s to 1980s, included were shows created by Columbia Pictures Television, Tandem Productions, and ELP Communications. [1] The announcer of the program was Billy West, who was tapped by CTTD to be the announcer for the program on August 11, 1999. [3] [4]

Programs were creatively grouped for theme weeks such as "Love is in the Air", "Pilots", "Best Music Videos" and "Before They Were Stars". Holiday based theme weeks include promotions for Halloween, Christmas, Mother's Day and Father's Day, among others.

The block was intended to be carried by stations in daytime slots, primarily afternoon and early evenings; for instance, WNYW in New York ran the block at 2 p.m., while WUAB in Cleveland aired it at 11 a.m. [5] The block covered 62% of the country by March 1999; this number had risen to 80% of the stations carrying it by January 2000. [6] [7] The block was still being advertised by CTTD as late as May 2001. [8]

List of series aired

Screen Gems

Columbia Pictures Television

Tandem Productions

ELP Communications

Paired series

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TNT (American TV network)</span> American pay television channel

TNT is an American basic cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that launched on October 3, 1988. TNT's original purpose was to air classic films and television series to which Turner Broadcasting maintained spillover rights through its sister station TBS. Since June 2001, the network has shifted its focus to dramatic television series and feature films, along with some sporting events, as TBS shifted its focus to comedic programming.

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinemax</span> American movie-focused pay television network

Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent network Home Box Office (HBO) and initially focusing on recent and classic films upon its launch on August 1, 1980. Programming featured on Cinemax currently consists primarily of recent and older theatrically released motion pictures, and original action series, as well as documentaries and special behind-the-scenes featurettes.

<i>Bewitched</i> American sitcom (1964–1972)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick at Nite</span> Nighttime programming block on Nickelodeon

Nick at Nite is a nighttime programming block on the American basic cable channel Nickelodeon. The programming broadcasts from prime time to late night. The block initially consisted of syndicated sitcoms and films from the 1950s to the 1970s. Nick at Nite gradually shifted its programming to primarily airing sitcoms as recent as the mid-1990s to the 2010s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia TriStar Television</span> American television production and distribution studio

Columbia TriStar Television, Inc. 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 fourth name of Pioneer Telefilms, both part of Sony Pictures Entertainment and the third company to use the Columbia and TriStar names together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Pictures Television</span> American content company

Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems (SG) and the third name of Pioneer Telefilms. For 26 years, the company was active from 1974 until New Year's Day 2001, when it was folded into Columbia TriStar Television, a merger between Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television. A separate entity of CPT continues to exist on paper as an intellectual property holder, and under the moniker "CPT Holdings" to hold the copyright for the TV show The Young and the Restless, as well as old incarnations from the company's television library such as What's Happening!!

<i>Jeannie</i> (TV series) 1973 American animated television series

Jeannie is an American animated television series that originally aired for a 16-episode season on CBS from September 8 to December 22, 1973. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera in association with Screen Gems, and its founders William Hanna and Joseph Barbera are the executive producers. Despite being a spin-off of sorts of the television sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie has little in common with its parent show. In this version, the title character is rescued on the beaches of southern California by a high school student, Corey Anders. Jeannie is accompanied by genie-in-training Babu, and they become companions to Corey and his best friend, Henry Glopp, both of whom also help Jeannie and Babu adjust to their new home as well as life in Los Angeles. The series was marketed towards a younger demographic than I Dream of Jeannie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNJU</span> Telemundo TV station in Linden, New Jersey

WNJU is a television station licensed to Linden, New Jersey, United States, serving as the Telemundo outlet for the New York City area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network. WNJU is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside NBC flagship WNBC. WNJU's studios are located on Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Through a channel sharing agreement with WNBC, the two stations transmit using WNJU's spectrum from an antenna atop One World Trade Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Program Exchange</span> American television program syndicator

The Program Exchange was a syndicator of television programs. It was founded as DFS Program Exchange in 1979, which became elongated to the DFS-Dorland Program Exchange from 1986 to 1987. From 1986 to 2008, it was a division of Saatchi & Saatchi, an advertising agency, while merging with Dorland Advertising in 1986, and would later be acquired by Publicis in 2000. In January 2008, Publicis transferred The Program Exchange from the Saatchi & Saatchi subsidiary to its ZenithOptimedia subsidiary, the logo was then changed to reflect this move. In 2016, the programexchange.com website was shut down; the shutdown coincided with NBCUniversal's purchase of one of its most prominent clients, DreamWorks Classics while Jay Ward Productions is sold to WildBrain since 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola Telecommunications</span> Syndication unit of Columbia Pictures Television

Coca-Cola Telecommunications (CCT) was a short-lived first-run syndication unit of Columbia Pictures Television created on November 4, 1986, that was a merger between CPT's first-run syndication division and The Television Program Source. The Television Program Source was a joint-venture between Alan Bennett, former King World president Robert King, and CPT that was founded on October 15, 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screen Gems</span> American film studio

Screen Gems is an American film production company 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HBO</span> American pay television network

Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay 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 business unit is based at Warner Bros. Discovery's corporate headquarters inside 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan's West Side district. Programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television programs as well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, occasional comedy, and concert specials, and periodic interstitial programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bohbot Kids Network</span> Former American kids network

Bohbot Kids Network was a children's programming block operated by Bohbot Entertainment that aired on syndicated television stations from 1992 to 2000.

Harry Stephen Ackerman was an American television producer, credited with creating or co-creating twenty-one series, seven of which were at one time being broadcast simultaneously. Some of the sitcoms in which he was involved in production during the 1950s and 1960s are also among the most popular American shows in the early history of the “small screen”, such as Father Knows Best, Dennis the Menace, Leave It to Beaver, The Farmer's Daughter, Hazel, Bewitched, The Flying Nun, and Gidget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff Norton</span> American actor

Clifford Charles Norton was an American character actor and radio announcer who appeared in various movies and television series over a career spanning four decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunset Gower Studios</span> Television and movie studio in Hollywood

Sunset Gower Studios is a 14-acre (57,000 m2) television and movie studio at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and North Gower Street in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1912, it continues today as Hollywood's largest independent studio and an active facility for television and film production on its twelve soundstages.

<i>The Monkees</i> (TV series) American sitcom (1966–1968)

The Monkees is an American television sitcom that first aired on NBC for two seasons, from September 12, 1966, to March 25, 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as a rock 'n roll band. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series television and won two Emmy Awards in 1967, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The program ended in 1968 at the finish of its second season and has received a long afterlife through Saturday morning repeats and syndication, as well as overseas broadcasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antenna TV</span> American television network

Antenna TV is an American digital television network owned by Nexstar Media Group. The network's programming consists of classic television series, primarily sitcoms, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Antenna TV's programming and advertising operations are headquartered in the WGN-TV studios in Chicago. The network's operations are overseen by Sean Compton, who serves as the president of networks for Nexstar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boyce and Hart</span> American singer-songwriter duo

Sidney Thomas "Tommy" Boyce and Bobby Hart were an American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is well known for its songwriting for The Monkees.

References

  1. 1 2 Schlosser, Joe (January 11, 1999). "CTTD pitches classic TV" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable . Cahners Business Information: 12 via World Radio History.
  2. West voice of Screen Gems. business.highbeam.com, Retrieved on February 28, 2014
  3. "PRNewswire" Columbia TriStar Television Distribution Taps 'Futurama' Star Billy West To Blast Back to the Past for Screen Gems Network prnewswire.com, Retrieved on February 28, 2014
  4. Schlosser, Joe (6 September 1999). "West to voice for ColTriStar" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable : 46 via World Radio History.
  5. Schlosser, Joe (18 October 1999). "Gems: N.Y. setting, diamond timing" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable : 37 via World Radio History.
  6. Schlosser, Joe (22 March 1999). "WB picks up Felicity, Buffy" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable : 28 via World Radio History.
  7. "NATPE: Better Than Usual" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable : 7. 31 January 2000 via World Radio History.
  8. "The Future of Advertising is Here!" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable : 51. 7 May 2001 via World Radio History.
  9. "Here they come" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable : 90. 8 May 2000 via World Radio History.