Lorimar Productions
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Lorimar Productions was an American television production company, active from 1968-1993. It was founded by Merv Adelson, Irwin Molasky and Lee Rich, who named the company after Adelson's ex-wife Lori, and their last initials (M for Molasky, A for Adelson, R for Rich).
Lorimar's first major hit production was The Waltons, which premiered in 1972 following a one-off TV movie in 1971. Throughout the 1970s, Lorimar produced several other shows as well; of these, the most popular by far was Dallas. In 1980, Lorimar Productions purchased the bankrupt Allied Artists Pictures Corporation.
In the 1980s, Lorimar's output swung toward family-friendly sitcoms; among these were Perfect Strangers and Full House. In 1985, Lorimar merged with television syndication firm Telepictures, becoming Lorimar-Telepictures; later that year, they purchased the MGM lot from Ted Turner.
In 1988, Lorimar-Telepictures was purchased by Warner Communications. Telepictures' distribution business was folded into Warner Bros. Television; since then, the Telepictures name has been resurrected as both a production company (circa 1990), and once again as a syndication company (1996, after the Turner merger). The former MGM studio lot was sold to Sony to house Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Sony's other film operations (interestingly, a group led by Sony would eventually acquire MGM itself). Lorimar continued as a production company until 1993, when it was absorbed into Warner Bros. The last series to premiere under the Lorimar name was Time Trax.
Additionally, Lorimar has owned key components of the film library of the defunct Allied Artists film studio (originally Monogram Pictures), which includes Cabaret and Papillon; these too are now owned by Warners.
[edit] TV productions
- The Waltons (1971-1981)
- Sybil (TV movie) (1976)
- Helter Skelter (TV mini-series) (1976)
- Eight Is Enough (1977-1981)
- Dallas (1978-1991)
- Knots Landing (1979-1993)
- Flamingo Road (1980-1982)
- The Big Red One (1980)
- The People's Court (1981-1993)
- Falcon Crest (1981-1990)
- King's Crossing (1982)
- Love Connection (1983-1994, 1994-1999)
- Hunter (1984-1991)
- Mama's Family (1986-1990 version, distribution only)
- The Hogan Family (1986-1991)
- Perfect Strangers (1986-1993)
- Max Headroom (1987)
- Full House (1987-1995)
- Family Matters (1989-1998)
- Homefront (1991-1993)
- Sisters (1991-1996)
- Step by Step (1991-1998)
- Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992-1997)
[edit] Theatrical Films
Lorimar produced a number of motion pictures sporadically, most of which were originally distributed by other studios as noted. In the late 1980s they had a film production and distribution unit known as Lorimar Motion Pictures. The rights to most of the films noted here have been retained by their original distributors (as noted with an * asterisk), while others are now in the hands of Warner Bros. The television rights to The Last Starfighter are owned by Warners, while Universal holds theatrical and home video rights.
- Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978, distributed by Warner Bros.)
- The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979, distributed by United Artists)
- Being There (1979, distributed by United Artists)
- Cruising (1980, distributed by United Artists)
- The Big Red One (1980, distributed by United Artists)
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981, distributed by Paramount)
- S.O.B. (1981, distributed by Paramount)
- Victory (1981, distributed by Paramount)
- An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) (Lorimar/Paramount co-production)*
- The Last Starfighter (1984, distributed and co-produced by Universal)*
- The Morning After (1986, distributed by 20th Century Fox)
- The Boy Who Could Fly (1986, distributed by 20th Century Fox)
- Big Shots (1987, distributed by 20th Century Fox)
- Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)
- Action Jackson (1988)
- Running On Empty (1988, distributed by Warner Bros.)*
- Dangerous Liaisons (1988, distributed by Warner Bros.)*
- Bert Rigby, You're a Fool (1989, distributed by Warner Bros.)*
- Dead Bang (1989, distributed by Warner Bros.)*
- See You in the Morning (1989, distributed by Warner Bros.)*
