New Line Television

New Line Television was the television production arm of the film studio of the same name. It was active for about 20 years from 1988 to 2008.

New Line Television
IndustryTelevision production
Founded1988 (1988) in New York City, United States
Defunct2008 (2008)
FateFolded into Warner Bros. Television
SuccessorWarner Bros. Television
Headquarters
Burbank, California
,
United States
OwnerWarnerMedia
(AT&T)
ParentNew Line Cinema
(Warner Bros.)
DivisionsNew Line Television Pay-Per-View
New Line Television Distribution

History

The company was founded in 1988 to produce Freddy's Nightmares, a television series based on the studio's Nightmare on Elm Street film series. Following the series's cancellation in 1990, New Line launched its own television unit a year later.[lower-alpha 1]

In 1990, New Line bought a majority stake in Robert Halmi, Inc. Entertainment, a production company specializing in Television films and miniseries.[1][2] RHI was sold to Hallmark Cards in 1994, shortly after New Line had been acquired by Turner Broadcasting System.[3] New Line once had a television distribution shop, New Line Television Distribution, which was previously affiliated with RHI. On October 21, 1992, New Line and RHI was in negotiations to handle management of RHI catalog product.[4]

On February 15, 1999, producer Trilogy Entertainment Group had inked an exclusive development deal with the studio to produce television projects, mostly for syndication, cable and the networks.[5] On April 28, 2000, it was announced that Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher, a program New Line is planning on to debut for syndication would debut instead on the Sci-Fi Channel, eventually making it into a made-for-TV movie.[6]

Turner merged with Time Warner in October 1996. On June 16, 2000, it signed an affiliation production contract with Warner Bros. Television to produce network series for a two-year period.[7] From October 2006, MGM Television began distributing New Line's films and television series.

In February 2008, New Line Cinema was merged with Warner Bros. and hence ceased to exist as a separate entity. In turn, New Line Television was folded into Warner Bros.'s television division.[8]

On 13 November 2017, it was announced that Amazon had acquired the global television rights to The Lord of the Rings, committing to a multi-season television series. The series will not be a direct adaptation of the books, but will instead introduce new stories that are set before The Fellowship of the Ring.[9] Amazon said the deal included potential for spin-off series as well.[10] The press release referred to "previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien's original writings". Amazon will be the producer in conjunction with the Tolkien Estate and The Tolkien Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema.[11] According to a 2018 report, it will be the most expensive TV show ever produced.[12]

Television series produced
Title Years Network Notes
Freddy's Nightmares11988–1990Syndication
Court TV: Inside America's Courts1993–1997Syndicationwith Court TV
The Mask1995–1997CBSwith Film Roman, Dark Horse Entertainment and Sunbow Entertainment
Dumb & Dumber1995ABCwith Hanna-Barbera Productions
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm1996USA Networkwith Film Roman, Threshold Entertainment/Lawrence Kasanoff; distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution and Turner Program Services
Mortal Kombat: Konquest1998–2000TNTwith Mailbu Entertainment, Inc., Threshold Entertainment/Lawrence Kasanoff; distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Breaking News2002Bravo
The Twilight Zone2002–2003UPN
Masterminds2003–2007History
Amish in the City2004UPN
Kitchen Confidential2005FOXwith 20th Century Fox Television
Blade: The Series2006Spikewith Marvel Entertainment
The Real Wedding Crashers2007NBC
Friday: The Animated Series2007MTV2with Cubevision
High School Confidential2008WE tv
Family Foreman2008TV Land

Television distribution series

Notes
  1. Freddy's Nightmares was distributed in syndication by Lorimar-Telepictures from 1988–1989. Warner Bros. purchased Lorimar-Telepictures in 1989 and assumed distribution for the remainder of the series's run.

References
  1. Citron, Alan (Jun 6, 1990). "Qintex Entertainment to Sell Virtually All of Its Assets". Los Angeles Times.
  2. "BUSINESS PEOPLE; President for TV Unit At New Line Cinema". The New York Times. November 16, 1991. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  3. Lippman, John (Apr 27, 1994). "Hallmark to Buy TV Movie Producer RHI Entertainment". Los Angeles Times.
  4. Huff, Richard (1992-10-21). "RHI talking to New Line about handling catalog". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  5. Littleton, Cynthia (1999-02-16). "Trilogy inks with New Line". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  6. Bernstein, Paula; Grego, Melissa (2000-04-28). "NL's 'Monster' out of syndie, onto Sci Fi". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  7. Adalian, Josef; Schneider, Michael (2000-06-16). "New Line, WB TV link up". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  8. "It's Official - New Line Cinema is Dead!". FirstShowing.net. February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2009.
  9. Axon, Samuel (13 November 2017). "Amazon will run a multi-season Lord of the Rings prequel TV series". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017.
  10. Gonzalez, Sandra (13 November 2017). "Amazon announces 'Lord of the Rings' TV show". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017.
  11. Koblin, John (13 November 2017). "'Lord of the Rings' Series Coming to Amazon". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  12. "Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' Will Be the Most Expensive Television Show Ever Made". Fortune. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
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