Desilu Productions
Desilu Productions was an American television production company based in Los Angeles ( California), which was led by the actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
The Desilu Studios are origin of the sitcom I Love Lucy, and many other successful television series, including Star Trek (Star Trek), My Favorite Martian, The Andy Griffith Show, Cobra, you ( Mission: Impossible ), The Untouchables ( The Untouchables ), Mannix, The Lucy Show, tennis, racquet and guns (I Spy ), and Hogan's Heroes ( Hogan's Heroes ).
Successor company Desilu were Paramount Television and Lucille Ball Productions.
History
Desilu was founded in 1950 by actor - couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The name is formed from the two first names Desi and Lucille, their ranch in Chatsworth, about 40 kilometers northwest of Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley, to bear this name. Desilu acquired originally the production of ball radio sitcom My Favorite Husband, which was produced for the CBS Radio Network, while one of them a TV version for CBS developed, under the title of I Love Lucy went into production in 1951. In the first years we rented a plan for production at the General Service Studios in Hollywood.
Desilus steadily increasing footprint introduced in 1954 to buy his own studio, the Motion Picture Center on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, which henceforth called Desilu Studios. The end of 1957 acquired Desilu by the General Tire and Rubber Company also the studio plots that were beginning year still occupied by RKO Radio Pictures: the film studio in Culver City with the associated Backlot "Forty Acres " and the film studio on Gower Street in Hollywood, the developed to Desilus most important location. With the acquisitions that grew "Ball - Arnaz TV empire" to a total of 33 sound stages - four more than Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer ( MGM) in 1957 possessed.
The early success of Desilu can be greatly attributed to Arnaz ' unorthodox business style, which he placed as a producer of sitcom I Love Lucy in the day. Since Arnaz had no business knowledge, it the concept of amortization was completely alien. As a rule, he hit all applicable production costs on the first episode of the new season, rather than spreading the investments made on the planned number episodes. Thus, the production cost of all episodes were covered after a short time already that could be made towards the end of the season to absurdly low cost. In addition Arnaz bought all episodes of I Love Lucy after their broadcast by CBS at an amazingly low price back - in contrast to the Network and the former television industry Arnaz recognized the resale potential for subsequent repetitions.
An attempt to enter with Desilu in film production took place, during the television hiatus in the summer of 1956 with the film Forever, Darling, which under the label Zanra Productions - was released on MGM - written backwards Arnaz. Arnaz and Ball were hoping thus to the success of her 1954 MGM produced and released film The Long, Long Trailer to be able to continue; Forever, Darling, however, failed at the box office and all film projects were buried. Only with Yours, Mine and Ours Desilu was able to record a hit for himself with the public and the critics. When the film - with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda in the lead roles - was released in April 1968 on United Artists, Ball, the company had, however, already been sold.
A loss for Desilu was the cancellation of Carol Burnett, which was scheduled for own sitcom; Burnett instead took the offer for a weekly variety show broadcast on TV, who brought it under the title of The Carol Burnett Show on eleven seasons. Unsuccessful the attempts that turned pilot episode for a comedy with Carol Channing and an adventure series with Rory Calhoun were to sell to a network. Developed by Arnaz legal drama Without Consent with Spencer Tracy was still stopped during development, since they brought no suitable screenplay about.
1960 Desi Arnaz sold the rights to the produced before 1960 Desilu series on CBS. His share of Desilu sold Arnaz but contrary to popular belief, not directly to his divorce from Lucille Ball in 1960. Desilu In the preparations already ran for Balls successor series The Lucy Show, after which it was decided together that ball should completely take over the studio. Arnaz was in 1962 his presidency about the studio and sold his share of ball, which took over his succession as studio chairman. Lucille Ball was thus the first woman to lead a major studio and one of the most influential women in Hollywood at that time.
In the following years was ball chairman and managing director of Desilu, while at the same time also played the main role in their own weekly television series. Burned out by the stress of the obligations brought with them, they sold the company in 1967 to the conglomerate Gulf Western, the Desilu with his other production company, which in 1966 acquired film studio Paramount Pictures merged. The combination of the Desilu Studios with Paramount Studios designed in a particularly simple case - the former RKO Hollywood studio at the Gower Street leading directly from the property of Paramount. From Desilu Productions was the end of 1967 Paramount's television production unit Paramount Television.
Developments after the end Desilus
Acquisition of current television production
Prior to the acquisition of Desilu Paramount was active only in the production of movies, after attempts to enter with Telemount Productions in the production of television programs were abandoned. At the time of acquisition in 1967 Desilu had five TV series in production, all of which were launched in September as the new season; than in December, the name " Paramount Television" including a new studio logo replaced the former Desilu logo, almost half of the episodes had already been aired each.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968) and The Lucy Show (1962-1968) experienced a change in their eighth respectively sixth and at the same time each last year of broadcasting. Star Trek (1966-1969) and Mission: Impossible (1966-1973) were both in each second year of broadcasting, as they became Paramount productions - both series should bring it years later to extremely lucrative movie series at Paramount. Only restart of the year was the series Mannix (1967-1975), which enjoyed a few weeks of their eight -year term under the Desilu logo.
Lucille's subsequent television series
Ball founded after the sale of Desilu production company Lucille Ball Productions for their next television series, Here's Lucy, whose first season was 1968-1969 still produced in association with Paramount Television. Paramount then retired from production back and sold the share rights to the first season of ball that years later turn sold the syndication rights to Telepictures; the latter company is since 1989 part of Warner Bros. Television.
Film library and whereabouts of rights
The titles produced by Desilu were divided until 1994 into two main groups, each with different rights holders. The division was made by selling the rights to the pre- 1960 titles by Desi Arnaz in 1960 was the decisive factor in each first year of production of a series according to the following breakdown. :
As Viacom in 1994, Paramount Communications bought out and the following year re- affiliated television production and distribution under Paramount Television, Desilu - all titles were practically back under a single owner.
CBS was in 1995 bought by the conglomerate Westinghouse, who sold his old core businesses within a short time to get renamed CBS Corporation in 1997 and was acquired by Viacom in 1999. This process was made in late 2005 largely reversed, the reincarnation of CBS Corporation united since the Network CBS CBS Paramount Television - the business unit for the television production, television distribution and management of television-related film libraries - under one roof.
Studio Land
Referred to as Desilu Gower Studio lot is since 1967 part of the Paramount Studios, the common area of Paramount Pictures and Paramount Television (now CBS Paramount Television) and can be visited as part of the Studio Tour. You can see inter alia Lucy's wardrobe that she used to Desilu - times, and the fish pond had she and Desi junior for her two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz created.
Desilus Backlot in Culver was sold in 1968 and still standing until 1976 on hire available for recording, before the area was cleared for redevelopment; Today, the property is part of the southern extension of the Hayden Industrial Tract.
The Desilu studio in Culver City was sold in 1968 and also went through a rental studio changing owners. Mid-1980 the now heavily aged studio was renewed; Sony Pictures Entertainment purchased the studio in 1991 and invested in analogy to the nearby former MGM studio lot, again in its renewal. Was sold by Sony to today's operating company PCCP Studio City Los Angeles studio in 2004; since it operates as a pure rental studio under the name of The Culver Studios again.
For the differentiation in later years as Desilu Cahuenga - - Your first location was at first owned by Paramount and was released in 1974 as Ren-Mar Studios in Independence.
General Service Studios, which first occupied by Desilu studio for rent, the owners changed several times; Francis Ford Coppola acquired the studio in 1980, which should allow his production company American Zoetrope, the rise of an integrated Hollywood studio. Financial problems led again in 1984 to sell the studios - since then it is known as Hollywood Center Studios again worked as a rental studio.
Pop Culture References
- The name appears in the television series The Simpsons parodied as " Krustylu Studios ", the production studio of Krusty the Clown.