Carsey-Werner Productions

Carsey-Werner Productions (in some incarnations, Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions) is an independent production company founded in 1981 by former ABC writer/producer duo Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner (co-owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball franchise). Caryn Mandabach was made a partner in the firm in 2001 (she joined in 1984), but left in 2004 to embark on her own production deal.

Carsey-Werner has its own production and distribution facilities (their distribution company came to fruition in the mid/late 1990's; before then, Viacom Enterprises and later Paramount Domestic Television syndicated their programming for them).

In 2002, they announced a deal with Paramount Pictures to develop films through the studio.

In 2004, they announced a deal with 20th Century Fox to distribute their catalog to DVD (the first time since they allowed a limited edition of "The Cosby Show" to be distributed by Columbia House).

Additionally, in 2004, Carsey and Werner mulled over the prospect of selling the studio (and its profitable catalog of shows), with UBS as their underwriter. Companies, most notably Viacom and Time Warner, expressed interest in buying the firm to exhibit their content on their cable networks. But the deal did not materialize and Carsey-Werner stayed independent.

In 2005/2006, Carsey-Werner was flooded with angry letters from fans of "The Cosby Show" and "Roseanne", complaining about edited episodes. Carsey-Werner Distribution eventually decided that seasons 2 on of "The Cosby Show" and "Roseanne" would be released with uncut shows. "Roseanne" was decided after John Goodman and Roseanne Barr appeared on Larry King Live and a fan called in, asking why Season 1's DVDs contained edited episodes. Barr and Goodman did not know about the editing, but Roseanne said she would talk to the producers. It has apparently worked, as there has been no evidence of editing on the Season 2, 3, and 4 sets.

In November 2006, the company released its first film for Universal Studios, a comedy film called Let's Go to Prison. A second film, The Brothers Solomon was released with Revolution Studios) on September 7, 2007.

As of February 22, 2007, Carsey-Werner has begun removing videos off YouTube regarding "That 70's Show" with the copyright claim being the only explanation; it is unknown if other Carsey-Werner series were affected. Carsey-Werner now has its own YouTube channel.

Television productions

*"Roseanne" (ABC)
*"The Cosby Show" (NBC)
*"3rd Rock from the Sun" (NBC)
*"That '70s Show" (FOX)
*"Grounded for Life" (FOX/The WB)
*"Cybill" (CBS)
*"Grace Under Fire" (ABC)
*"A Different World" (NBC)
*"God, the Devil and Bob" (NBC)
*"That '80s Show" (FOX)
*"Cosby" (CBS)
*"You Bet Your Life" (1992 Bill Cosby revival, syndicated)

Films

*"Let's Go to Prison" (2006, with Universal Pictures)
*"The Brothers Solomon" (2007, with Revolution Studios; TriStar Pictures, distributor)

External links

* [http://www.cwm.com/ Carsey-Werner, LLC official website]
* [http://www.carseywerner.net/ The Carsey-Werner Catalog]