Continuing my celebration of my 100th blog by
looking at famous production companies.
Carsey-Werner (sometimes Carsey-Warner-Mandbach) Productions
was founded in 1981 by former ABC writer/producer duo Marcy Carsey and Tom
Werner. Producer Caryn Mandabach was also an integral part of this company,
acting as supervising producer for many of these shows. The company produced
many ground breaking programs. Their first was a little program called:
The Cosby Show
It’s hard for people today to realize it, but this show
saved sitcoms and revolutionized the way families were portrayed. This was one
of the first time we got a show where the adults got the last word, not some
wisecracking kid. Bill Cosby was Cliff Huxtable and Phylicia Rashad was his
wife. We all know how the show worked, and I will have lots more to say about
it in a future article. This show led to a spin-off show, which wasn’t too bad.
What can I possibly say about this show that hasn’t been said a hundred times?
I adored it from the moment I saw the pilot episode back in 1984. I literally
grew up with this show, when it first came on I was in 4th grade and the year it
ended was also the year I graduated from high school.
A Different World
This show was supposed to be the star vehicle for Lisa
Bonet. It didn’t work out that way. This show was only ok in season 1, but the
next year when Lisa Bonet left and Debbie Allen came in (as producer), the show
finally found its identity. As I talked about before the big drive with this
show is the whole Dwayne and Whitley romance which carried through the series.
This was more edgier, as Bill Cosby used the show to deal very honestly with
issues including race and even AIDS.
Roseanne
When you think about it, if you combined Cosby and A
Different World and shook them up, you’d get Roseanne. Maybe not. Roseanne took
The Cosby Show and went the other way. Rather than a successful, wealthy family
we have a poor, struggling family. This family may have been one of the most
realistic on TV at the time. They worked, struggled, lived in a sloppy house,
and so on. This was a great show for most of its run, dealing with problems
more realistically than Cosby did. Roseanne Arnold was the star of course, and
the show included John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf. It was funny for awhile, but
as the years went on the show got depressing. Then there was that last season….I’m
not talking about that again.
In the last 80’s CW programs held the top
3 slots in annual program rankings—an unprecedented feat—with The Cosby Show, Roseanne and A Different World.
Cybil
Cybil Shepherd got her own show, and it wasn’t too bad. She
plays a twice-divorced single mother of two and struggling actress in her 40s,
who has never gotten her big show business break. However, the claim to fame
for this series was Christine Baranski who appeared as Cybil’s hard-drinking
friend Maryann.
Davis Rules
Randy Quaid had his own comedy series. Really. He played an elementary
school teacher raising three kids. What else? Add Jonathan Winters as the wacky
father! This show tried to be a basic family comedy, but it just didn’t work.
Grace Under Fire
Brett Butler is a train wreck, but I give her credit for
trying. This show was pretty good, for a little while. Take Roseanne and make
her single mother than you have this show. Grace was kind of funny, as she she
was a divorced single mother and recovering alcoholic struggling to raise her
two kids by herself because her deadbeat husband was out of the picture. The
first few seasons were pretty good, but as Brett Butler’s problems got worst,
and more publicized, the show deteriorated along with her.
3rd Rock From The Sun
Finally, lighthearted comedy with no social commentary! Kind
of funny that the same company which gave us Cosby and Roseanne also gave us
this. This may have been the only thing John Lithgow did that I liked, his over
the top acting worked so well here. The premise was simple; four aliens come to
Earth in human form. That’s it, we watch as they try to figure out how humans
work much like Alf, Mork & Mindy, and My Favorite Martian had done before.
Lots of great moments in this series and the actors were funny too. Yeah, it
may have been a year to long, but that’s ok. Dick was the high commander, Tommy
the information officer, Sally was head of security, and Harry was….weird. Add
in Jane Curtin as Mary and an assortment of quirky characters and you get a
real funny show. By the way, yes I know Harry was the transmitter. It was
through him they communicated with their boss, the Big Giant Head. I loved the
final episode of this show; it’s one of my favorites.
That 70’s Show
Well, here is the one show that they produced that I did not
like. I just never got into it. Yes, I have seen one or two episodes. I just
don’t get it. It did have a decent cast, including Ashton Kutcher and Kurtwood
Smith. I really don’t have much to say about this show, except that it was on for
quite awhile.
Cosby
Bill Cosby starred in this show with Phylicia Rashad as his
wife…..wait, didn’t we just talk about this show? No, of course this was the
show he had on CBS in the 90’s. It was darker and grittier, and that is
probably why I hated it. It wasn’t a bad show, just not for me. I do appreciate
this show for being the final thing the amazing Madeline Khan was in.
Carsey-Werner also did a number of not-so great shows such
as Chicken Soup, Grand, That 80’s Show, Grounded For Life, Whoopi, The Tracy
Morgan Show, Normal Ohio, and its final project was The Scholar.
They also did the animated God, the Devil, and Bob
which is
not something I can fully explain here.
Come back tomorrow as we conclude out look at production companies.
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