Carsey-Werner Productions

Categories: Television production companies

Carsey-Werner Productions (in some incarnations, Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions) is an independent production company founded in 1981 by former ABC writer/producer duo Marcey 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.

CW Productions has produced many notable television shows, including The Cosby Show (for NBC), That 70's Show (for Fox), Roseanne (for ABC), A Different World [for NBC] (a spin-off of The Cosby Show), Grace Under Fire (for ABC), Cybill (for CBS), Cosby (for CBS), Grounded for Life (for Fox), and 3rd Rock from the Sun (for NBC).

CW Productions has its own production and distribution facilities (their distribution company came to fruition in the mid/late 1990's; before then, Viacom 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 Twentieth 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 CW Productions stayed independent.

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Notable productions


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External references