MTM Enterprises
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MTM Enterprises was an independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show for CBS. It was sold in 1990 to TVS Entertainment plc, which was in turn acquired by Pat Robertson's International Family Entertainment in late 1992. IFE along with MTM was sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 1996. MTM ceased operations and was folded into 20th Century Fox Television in 1998.
For many years, MTM, with CBS, co-owned the CBS Studio Center in Studio City, California, where a majority of their programs were filmed and videotaped.
The company is mostly remembered for its mascot, Mimsie the Cat, who was an obvious parody of MGM's Leo the Lion. In each MTM production, Mimsie (also known as "Dick Turpin" and "Dick Marino") would arrive in a different disguise at its closing logo, corresponding to the style and theme of a certain show. Mimsie always says "Meow," but there were also different variations, where Mimsie would say something different, and others where Mimsie is replaced by something different. (Mary Tyler Moore herself arrives on one bit at the end of episode 71 of her show, saying "That's all Folks!")
MTM programs appeared almost exclusively on CBS until the early 1980s, when Grant Tinker assumed the additional role of president of NBC. Soon, NBC picked up a number of MTM shows, and Tinker stepped down as head of MTM to avoid a conflict of interest. His intention was to leave NBC after 5 years (in 1986) and return to MTM, taking over the reins from interim MTM president Arthur Price. However, Price fired many of the key players in the company's ranks, and by 1986 they had few shows left on the schedules (Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere and Remington Steele were all nearing the ends of their runs, leaving Newhart as the sole entrant on the schedule).
Programs
Among its various productions included:
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77), CBS
- The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78), CBS
- Rhoda (1974-78), CBS
- Phyllis (1975-77), CBS
- Lou Grant (1977-82), CBS
- The Betty White Show (1977-78), CBS
- The White Shadow (1978-81), CBS
- WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-82), CBS
- Paris (1979-80), CBS
- Hill Street Blues (1981-87), NBC
- Remington Steele (1982-87), NBC
- St. Elsewhere (1982-88), NBC
- Newhart (1982-90), CBS
- The Duck Factory (1984), NBC
- Beverly Hills Buntz (1987-88), NBC
- The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991-93), Syndicated
External links
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