Tandem Productions


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Tandem Productions, Inc. (a.k.a. Tandem Enterprises, Inc.) was a film and television production company that started in 1963 by Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear. The name Tandem Productions was chosen because when launching their company, Yorkin and Lear were said to feel like two men riding uphill on a tandem bicycle.

Contents

Overview

In the early years, Yorkin and Lear originally produced theatrical films by Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures and United Artists. In 1971, Yorkin and Lear decided to take on television.

The first sitcom was All in the Family and it was based on a British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part. Some episodes were originally taped in 1970. More successful shows were also produced by Tandem; they were Maude (1972-1978), Good Times (1974-1979), and finally Sanford and Son (1972-1977). All four of those shows had the in-credit notice displayed at the end A Bud Yorkin-Norman Lear Tandem Production.

In 1976, Viacom Enterprises assumed television syndication for All in the Family until 1982 when Embassy took over distribution. In 1978, Tandem produced Diff'rent Strokes, which was the only show not to be produced by Yorkin nor Lear.

In 1980, Sanford was the final series to be produced by Tandem since not many more shows were produced under that name, but many other shows were being produced under TAT Communications Company during the early 1980s.

The company

  • 1970: Norbud Productions, Inc. is a crediting company name for Tandem Productions by the first names of Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear (this name lasted until 1973 on Sanford and Son);
  • 1975: TAT Communications Co. (also spelled T.A.T.) was formed when Norman Lear joined up with Jerry Perenchio after Lear's split with Yorkin. T.A.T. stood for a Yiddish phrase pronounced "Tuchus Affen Tisch", which meant "Putting one's butt on the line" (ass on the table). The first sitcom to be produced by TAT Communications was The Jeffersons, that was spun off from the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family;
  • 1975: After Yorkin ended his partnership with Lear, he joined forces with writers and producers Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein (who wrote some episodes and produced Sanford and Son from 1974 to 1977) and established Bud Yorkin Productions, Inc. (he still remained as the executive producer of the series). The first sitcom was Grady and it was spun-off from Sanford and Son starring Whitman Mayo - the series was cancelled because of bad ratings for three months.
  • 1978: P*I*T*S (an acronym which stands for Pie In The Sky) Films was the television distribution arm of Tandem Productions launched to distribute their parent company's programs (the only exception was All in the Family, which at the time was distributed by Viacom Enterprises).
  • 1982: P*I*T*S Films was reincorporated as Embassy Telecommunications. TOY Productions ended in 1982 after the final episode of the sitcom One of the Boys was produced (the company had an early connection with Columbia Pictures Television when the company co-produced the sitcom One in a Million).
  • 1982: Norman Lear bought Avco Embassy Pictures. He dropped the name "Avco" and reincorporated TAT Communications to Embassy Television. All series that were still produced by TAT Communications and Tandem Productions (such as The Facts of Life, The Jeffersons, Gloria, and One Day at a Time) were produced under the Embassy name (all shows by Tandem Productions that were off the air including by Bud Yorkin Productions and TOY Productions were distributed by Embassy Telecommunications);
  • 1983: Ken Stump, the former associate producer for Tandem Productions and TAT Communications was made in charge of production for Tandem Productions and Embassy Television;
  • 1985: Norman Lear split Embassy Pictures Corporation into three parts: Embassy Pictures, Embassy Television and Tandem Productions to Columbia Pictures Television (under Coca-Cola). Lear sold Embassy Pictures to Dino De Laurentiis since De Laurentiis didn't want to release his movies through a major studio anymore;
  • 1985: Diff'rent Strokes was moved to ABC from NBC. The company was by then reduced down to an in-name-only division of Embassy Television;
  • 1986: Diff'rent Strokes was cancelled from ABC and Tandem Productions was abandoned. Embassy Television merged with Embassy Telecommunications and Tandem Productions to form Embassy Communications (or Columbia/Embassy Television). However, Tandem still remained as an in-name-only division of Embassy. CPT also has the television rights to those Embassy movies by Joseph E. Levine, Avco Embassy Pictures, and Norman Lear's Embassy Pictures;

Theatrical movies produced by companies

Motion pictures produced by Tandem Productions, Inc. and other companies.

About the theme songs

Norman Lear wanted his theme songs to be sung by a choir. But for All in the Family, Carrol O'Connor and Jean Stapleton decided to sing the theme. Until 1972, the theme song for Maude was sung by the choir. As years passed, the remaining series by Lear were led by choirs. They were Good Times, The Jeffersons, and One Day At a Time.

Notable actors and actresses

Tandem, TOY, and ELP Communications used the same actors and actresses to appear on different television programs.

Notable TV programs

Note: from 1971-1975, all of the series by Tandem and T.A.T. were taped at CBS Television City, 1975-1982 at Metromedia Square, and Diff'rent Strokes including those remaining TAT series, (which became Embassy Television) at Universal City by Compact Video from 1982-1985.

Tandem Productions:

  • All in the Family (1971-1979)/Archie Bunker's Place (1979-1983)
  • Maude (1972-1978)
  • Sanford and Son (1972-1977)
  • Good Times (1974-1979)
  • Sanford Arms (1977)
  • Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986) (Embassy TV logo appeared on final season)
  • Sanford (1980-1981)

TOY Productions:

  • Grady (1975)
  • What's Happening!! (1976-1979)
  • Carter Country (1977-1979)
  • One in a Million (1980)
  • One of The Boys (1982) (television film)

TAT Communications: Some by TAT Communications were later produced by Embassy Television from 1982-1986, Embassy Communications from 1986-1988 and ELP in 1988.

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