Desilu Productions OR MTM Enterprises: Which Production Company Was Better? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 02-18-2012, 11:30 AM

* I Love Lucy
* Star Trek
* The Andy Griffith Show
* Mission Impossible
* The Dick Van Dyke Show
* My Three Sons
* Family Affair
* Make Room for Daddy
* The Untouchables
* I Spy
* Whirlybirds
* Harrigan and Son
* Mannix
* The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
* Our Miss Brooks
* The Real McCoys
* Gomer Pyle, USMC
* That Girl
* The Jack Benny Program
* Meet McGraw
* Hogan's Heroes

* The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977)
* The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978)
* Paul Sand in Friends & Lovers (1974–1975)
* The Texas Wheelers (1974-1975)
* Rhoda (1974-1978)
* Doc (1975-1976)
* Three for the Road (1975)
* Phyllis (1975-1977)
* The Tony Randall Show (1976-1978)
* Lou Grant (1977-1982)
* The Betty White Show (1977-1978)
* The White Shadow (1978-1981)
* WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982)
* Paris (1979-1980)
* The Last Resort (1979)
* Hill Street Blues (1981-1987)
* Remington Steele (1982-1987)
* St. Elsewhere (1982-1988)
* Newhart (1982-1990)
* Bay City Blues (1983)
* The Duck Factory (1984)
* Beverly Hills Buntz (1987-1988)
* Capital News (1990)
* The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991-1993)
* The Pretender (1996-2000) (Note: Only the first season was produced by MTM, with 20th Century Fox Television assuming the series thereafter.)
* Sparks (1996-1998)
* Good News (1997-1998)

Regulus · 02-18-2012, 12:52 PM

Desilu, Hands Down!

LUNCH · 02-18-2012, 12:57 PM

Desilu,almost all the shows they made are either good,very good or excellent.MTM did produce a couple of excellent shows though.

MRPITT · 02-18-2012, 01:18 PM

I like them both but I like MTM a little more.

broadmoor · 02-18-2012, 02:00 PM

Well, Desilu has a pretty impressive track-record, with a nice variety of above-par shows, so I'll go with them. However, some of the series listed aren't technically Desilu productions, but rather, just happened to be filmed at the Desilu (ex-RKO) studios.

70s show watcher · 02-18-2012, 04:35 PM

i liked some of the desilu shows but i liked the mtm shows better

old grouch · 02-19-2012, 11:52 AM

As far as producing classic shows, I would say they were neck and neck. Both came into existance for the same reason: a producer wanted to make a vehicle for his talented wife.

ComedyGuy · 02-19-2012, 12:03 PM

Desilu for sure but MTM did have a few good shows though.

comedyfreak · 02-21-2012, 04:55 AM

Desilu

TV_on_the_Porch · 02-21-2012, 05:16 AM

Desilu was actually really really terribly bad at developing its own properties. Many shows on that list had little more connection to Desilu than tenant space. Other than the shows Lucy starred in, Whirlybirds and Those Whiting Girls were typical of the success of Desilu show development until almost the very end when they had sense enough to say yes to Star Trek and Mission: Impossible.

megamanj2004 · 02-22-2012, 01:41 AM

Desilu Productions seemed to fare better w/ the dramas than w/ the sitcoms that were produced by their production, save for I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show, which starred and was produced by Lucille Ball herself and a handful of sitcoms were produced at Desliu Studios than produced by Desilu itself.

MTM had more variety to them and much more success w/ sitcoms. They also even branched into the game show a bit too since MTM did have some involvement w/ 3 game shows from The former Family Channel (now ABC Family) such as Shopping Spree, Wait Til' You Have Kids and the 1997 revival of It Takes Two, w/ the former-most lasting more than a half to 1 full season and also syndicated a few off-network shows such as America's Funniest Home Videos and Rescue 911, I think?

icecream · 02-22-2012, 02:54 AM

They both have good shows but MTM gets the edge because of the cat.

bencasey · 02-23-2012, 10:19 PM

MTM was the studio for high quality shows for over 2 decades. Even their bomb shows were above average. Desilu had some successful shows but not necessarily quality shows. MTM by far the better of the two. By the way, how many of those shows listed did Desilu actually produce?

1960'sTVfan · 02-23-2012, 10:39 PM

Desilu gets my vote, shows from the 50's & 60's are better than shows from the 70's & 80's. The only MTM shows I enjoy are Lou Grant and The White Shadow.

KurtfromPitts · 02-25-2012, 11:46 AM

Desilu gets my vote.

02-18-2012, 11:30 AM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Desilu Productions OR MTM Enterprises: Which Production Company Was Better? * I Love Lucy * Star Trek * The Andy Griffith Show * Mission Impossible * The Dick Van Dyke Show * My Three Sons * Family Affair * Make Room for Daddy * The Untouchables * I Spy * Whirlybirds * Harrigan and Son * Mannix * The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp * Our Miss Brooks * The Real McCoys * Gomer Pyle, USMC * That Girl * The Jack Benny Program * Meet McGraw * Hogan's Heroes * The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) * The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978) * Paul Sand in Friends & Lovers (1974–1975) * The Texas Wheelers (1974-1975) * Rhoda (1974-1978) * Doc (1975-1976) * Three for the Road (1975) * Phyllis (1975-1977) * The Tony Randall Show (1976-1978) * Lou Grant (1977-1982) * The Betty White Show (1977-1978) * The White Shadow (1978-1981) * WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982) * Paris (1979-1980) * The Last Resort (1979) * Hill Street Blues (1981-1987) * Remington Steele (1982-1987) * St. Elsewhere (1982-1988) * Newhart (1982-1990) * Bay City Blues (1983) * The Duck Factory (1984) * Beverly Hills Buntz (1987-1988) * Capital News (1990) * The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991-1993) * The Pretender (1996-2000) (Note: Only the first season was produced by MTM, with 20th Century Fox Television assuming the series thereafter.) * Sparks (1996-1998) * Good News (1997-1998)
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02-18-2012, 12:52 PM	#2
Regulus Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 07, 2011 Location: Port Orange, Florida Avatar - Poiuyt Posts: 3,374	Desilu, Hands Down!
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02-18-2012, 12:57 PM	#3
LUNCH Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 23, 2010 Location: New York State Posts: 1,304	Desilu,almost all the shows they made are either good,very good or excellent.MTM did produce a couple of excellent shows though.
	Last edited by LUNCH; 02-18-2012 at 01:15 PM.

02-19-2012, 12:03 PM	#8
ComedyGuy King Of TV Trivia Senior Member Join Date: Sep 17, 2007 Location: Eastlake Ohio Posts: 1,255	Desilu for sure but MTM did have a few good shows though.
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02-21-2012, 04:55 AM	#9
comedyfreak Cheers! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 14, 2005 Location: Sunny California Posts: 11,060	Desilu
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02-18-2012, 01:18 PM	#4
MRPITT Member Senior Member Join Date: May 14, 2011 Posts: 1,678	I like them both but I like MTM a little more.

02-18-2012, 02:00 PM	#5
broadmoor Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 10, 2010 Location: texas Posts: 489	Well, Desilu has a pretty impressive track-record, with a nice variety of above-par shows, so I'll go with them. However, some of the series listed aren't technically Desilu productions, but rather, just happened to be filmed at the Desilu (ex-RKO) studios.

02-18-2012, 04:35 PM	#6
70s show watcher Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: May 20, 2008 Location: between point place and studio 8 h Posts: 4,549	i liked some of the desilu shows but i liked the mtm shows better

02-19-2012, 11:52 AM	#7
old grouch Member Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2010 Location: montana Posts: 1,877	As far as producing classic shows, I would say they were neck and neck. Both came into existance for the same reason: a producer wanted to make a vehicle for his talented wife.

02-21-2012, 05:16 AM	#10
TV_on_the_Porch anything good on? Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Posts: 879	Desilu was actually really really terribly bad at developing its own properties. Many shows on that list had little more connection to Desilu than tenant space. Other than the shows Lucy starred in, Whirlybirds and Those Whiting Girls were typical of the success of Desilu show development until almost the very end when they had sense enough to say yes to Star Trek and Mission: Impossible.

02-22-2012, 01:41 AM	#11
megamanj2004 Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 21, 2004 Posts: 2,359	Desilu Productions seemed to fare better w/ the dramas than w/ the sitcoms that were produced by their production, save for I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show, which starred and was produced by Lucille Ball herself and a handful of sitcoms were produced at Desliu Studios than produced by Desilu itself. MTM had more variety to them and much more success w/ sitcoms. They also even branched into the game show a bit too since MTM did have some involvement w/ 3 game shows from The former Family Channel (now ABC Family) such as Shopping Spree, Wait Til' You Have Kids and the 1997 revival of It Takes Two, w/ the former-most lasting more than a half to 1 full season and also syndicated a few off-network shows such as America's Funniest Home Videos and Rescue 911, I think?
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02-22-2012, 02:54 AM	#12
icecream Cat-tastic and Whiskerlicious Forum Celebrity Join Date: Sep 01, 2006 Location: The Catacombs Posts: 20,795	They both have good shows but MTM gets the edge because of the cat.
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02-23-2012, 10:19 PM	#13
bencasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: Long Beach Posts: 1,692	MTM was the studio for high quality shows for over 2 decades. Even their bomb shows were above average. Desilu had some successful shows but not necessarily quality shows. MTM by far the better of the two. By the way, how many of those shows listed did Desilu actually produce?

02-23-2012, 10:39 PM	#14
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,111	Desilu gets my vote, shows from the 50's & 60's are better than shows from the 70's & 80's. The only MTM shows I enjoy are Lou Grant and The White Shadow.

02-25-2012, 11:46 AM	#15
KurtfromPitts Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 10, 2006 Location: Carnegie PA Posts: 1,535	Desilu gets my vote.