20th Television


20th Television, Inc. is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was founded on March 15, 1949. Productions from this company are distributed on/in home media formats by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment through the 20th Century Home Entertainment banner.
20th Television was part of the majority of 21st Century Fox's assets acquired by Disney in 2019. On August 10, 2020, when Disney dropped the "Fox" word from the names of the acquired 21st Century Fox assets to avoid brand confusion with Fox Corporation, the company's current name was adopted, and subsequently started to use it for the copyright of 20th Television and 20th Television Animation productions on December 4. 20th Television has been ABC's flagship television production arm since the closure of ABC Signature on October 1, 2024.

Divisions

20th Television has divisions from before and post-Disney.
  • 20th Century Fox Television Distribution – a television distribution arm of 20th Century Fox Television for all Fox-produced and/or acquired programming. The company operated from 2011 to 2020.
  • FNM/FWP – the TV movie production arm of TCFTV. The company was known as FNM Films, which stood for "Fox Network Movies". In 1993, the company was renamed to Fox West Pictures, until it was reformed as the then-new Fox 2000 Pictures division.
  • 20th Century Fox International Television – an international television production company and a short-lived unit of TCFTV.
  • Fox Circle Productions – a division of 20th Century Fox Television that created TV movies and original programming.
  • * National Studios – a TV movie division of Fox Circle Productions.
  • Fox Square Productions – a short-lived in-house production unit of the then-new Fox Broadcasting Company.
  • 20th Century Fox Telecommunications – a television production company that only produced The Who Rocks America, a TV movie produced by The Who.
  • Fox Television Animation – an American animation company owned by Disney Television Studios. It used to be the animation division of 20th Century Fox Television and 20th Television since its launch in 1999, until in 2020, Disney announced it would be separate from 20th Television.

    History

TCF Television Productions (1949–58)

20th Century Fox Television was originally formed in 1949 by 20th Century-Fox as other studios were branching out into television production. The company was known as TCF Television Productions, Inc. from its inception until 1958. Its first television series was Crusade in Europe, which was produced for ABC.
In 1955, Fox converted the company's Western Avenue lot in Hollywood as a facility for primarily television production. Shows such as The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Perry Mason were filmed on this lot, before it was demolished in 1971.
Fox did not produce another television show until 1955, when it launched its very first series, The 20th Century-Fox Hour on CBS, after the success of ABC's hit show Disneyland. In 1956, Fox sold its second show to CBS, My Friend Flicka, which is based on the Flicka film series.
Later that year, Irving Asher, who was a very successful film producer, was made general manager of TCF Television Productions. In 1956, Fox sold the Broken Arrow television project, which is based on the 1950 film of the same name, to ABC.
In 1957, Fox cemented a pact with National Telefilm Associates to produce How to Marry a Millionaire, which was based on the 1953 film of the same name, and Man Without a Gun. NTA served as distributor of the series, which were to play on the NTA Film Network.

20th Century-Fox Television (1958–89)

In 1958, the company was renamed to 20th Century-Fox Television. Around the same time, Martin Manulis, producer of CBS' Playhouse 90, joined 20th Century-Fox as head of television. Under Manulis' watch, the company developed Adventures in Paradise for ABC, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis for CBS and Five Fingers for NBC. In the following year, Fox also sold the drama Hong Kong to ABC.
By 1960, Roy Huggins, who was lured from Warner Bros. Television, was tapped to join 20th Century-Fox Television as vice president in charge of production. During Huggins' watch, he refreshed the Hong Kong show. He also oversaw the development of the three programs for ABC, which were the comedy Margie and dramas Follow the Sun and Bus Stop. In 1961, William Self was appointed to replace Huggins.
In 1962, the company decreased its output to one show, then produced none the following year. Roy Huggins departed to join Revue Studios. During the short-lived dark period in 1963, the company had signed Hal Kanter and Paul Monash to production deals. Later that year, highly successful feature film producer Irwin Allen was moved from its feature film unit to its television unit to serve as producer for the studio.
The company had returned to producing prime-time programs by 1964. The first shows were the ABC sitcom Valentine's Day, the ABC dramas Peyton Place, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and 12 O'Clock High; and the NBC drama Daniel Boone. Later that year, William Dozier and his Greenway Productions studio signed a deal with 20th Century-Fox to develop television shows. By 1965, Fox was producing several new shows for primetime, such as The Legend of Jesse James, The Long, Hot Summer, The Loner and Irwin Allen's science-fiction drama Lost in Space, to be followed by Batman, which is based on the comic book series, and Blue Light.
The 1966–67 season proved to be a difficult year for Fox's television unit, which was producing the ABC sitcom The Tammy Grimes Show and the ABC dramas The Man Who Never Was, The Felony Squad, The Green Hornet and Irwin Allen's science-fiction show The Time Tunnel. Although most of the new shows in the season did not last long, Felony Squad turned out to be a hit. The 1967–68 season was similarly poor for Fox, as it only had two new shows, Custer and Judd, for the Defense, both for ABC. Although Custer bombed, Judd, for the Defense was initially popular, but was later cancelled after only two seasons. Fox also expanded its output to commission a Saturday morning show in collaboration with Filmation, Journey to the Center of the Earth.
The 1968–69 season was also difficult for 20th Century-Fox Television, which saw the British co-production Journey to the Unknown and Irwin Allen's final science-fiction drama to be produced, Land of the Giants, for ABC; the CBS drama Lancer; and the NBC sitcoms The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and Julia. Although Julia was deemed a hit, most of the shows in the season crumbled. Fox did have one additional Saturday morning cartoon for Filmation, Fantastic Voyage. In 1969, Fox entered the game show fray by signing a deal to distribute Beat the Clock, a revival of the popular 1950s game show. The decade closed out with the 1969-70 television season and two new programs, Room 222 for ABC and Bracken's World for NBC. Also that year, Grant Tinker was hired to join the studio, but he would quit two years later due to conflicts with running MTM Enterprises.
While the 1970s were difficult for Fox's television unit, the studio initially started off the decade with the shows Nanny and the Professor on ABC and Arnie for CBS, which proved to be modest successes. The studio would then produce M*A*S*H in 1972 for CBS, which would go on to be incredibly successful, lasting eleven seasons. Later on, in 1979, the studio produced Trapper John, M.D., which was popular throughout the 1980s. Other Fox shows for the 1970s, such as Cade's County, The New Perry Mason, Irwin Allen's The Swiss Family Robinson, Young Dan'l Boone, W.E.B., The Paper Chase, Loves Me, Loves Me Not, and Billy all bombed, although The Paper Chase became a cult classic and gave Showtime additional seasons.
Fox also distributed the game show Masquerade Party, produced by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions, which aired during the 1974–75 season. From 1976 to 1978, Fox distributed Liar's Club, as well as Celebrity Sweepstakes, both of which were produced by Ralph Andrews Productions. In 1973, Fox distributed the syndicated Canadian videotape production The Starlost, produced by Glen-Warren Productions.
In 1980, television producer Glen A. Larson quit Universal and joined 20th Century-Fox Television. The first show was The Fall Guy, which was successful, though it would end up being the only Fox/Larson show to become so. The other collaborations, Trauma Center, Manimal, Automan, Masquerade, Cover Up and Half Nelson did not fare well due to poor ratings. By August 1980, other producers and agencies, like Clyde Phillips, former employee of Bob Banner Associates and Marc Merson, former employee of Lorimar Productions had struck a deal with the studio.
Other series of the early 1980s, like Hagen, Breaking Away, Ladies' Man, Jessica Novak, 9 to 5, It's Not Easy, Emerald Point N.A.S. and AfterMASH did not fare well in the ratings, although AfterMASH was initially a minor hit, especially in its first season, and 9 to 5 did well in syndication after being a minor network hit in its original ABC run. In 1984, James L. Brooks and his Gracie Films company was moved to 20th Century-Fox for a film and television partnership, creating a long relationship that lasted until the early 1990s when he moved to Sony.