Grub Street Productions
{{Short description|Former American television production company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Grub Street Productions
| logo =
| logo_size =
| logo_caption =
| fate = Dissolved
| founded = {{start date and age|1989}}
| founders = {{Plainlist|
}}
| defunct = {{end date and age|2004|5|13}}
| industry = Television production
| hq_location_city =
| hq_location_country = United States
}}
Grub Street Productions{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/sep/14/guardianobituaries.media|title=David Angell|date=September 13, 2001|website=the Guardian}}{{Cite web|url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no00096128/|title=Grub Street Productions [WorldCat Identities]}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3JuDwAAQBAJ&dq=grub+street+productions+wings&pg=PA151|title=Single Season Sitcoms of the 1990s: A Complete Guide|first=Bob|last=Leszczak|date=August 31, 2018|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476670775 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite web |last=television |first=paramount |title=Film, Video, 2000 to 2099, Paramount Television |url=https://www.loc.gov/film-and-videos/?all=true&dates=2000-2099&fa=contributor:paramount+television&st=list |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}{{Cite web |title=Major production companies |url=https://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer/wright/prodcos.html |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=www.ibiblio.org}} was an American production company founded in 1989{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/20/arts/signoff-rising-star-as-a-tenor-with-woes.html|title=SIGNOFF; Rising Star As a Tenor With Woes.|first=Matthew|last=Phenix|newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 20, 1998}} by three writers and producers: David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee - who met while working on Cheers and left that show to form it. It was affiliated with Paramount Television (now CBS Television Studios).
The company is most notable for creating the television sitcom Frasier, which aired on NBC for eleven seasons from 1993 to 2004, totaling 264 episodes and the recipient and winner of many Emmy awards,{{Cite web |last=CARMAN |first=JOHN |date=1999-09-10 |title=A Mob Mentality Rules Ahead of Sunday's Emmys |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/A-Mob-Mentality-Rules-Ahead-of-Sunday-s-Emmys-2908059.php |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}} and the series Wings, which likewise aired on NBC, running for eight seasons and 172 episodes from 1990 to 1997.{{Cite news |last=O'Connor |first=John J. |date=May 3, 1990 |title=Review/Television; Brotherly Competition At a Fledgling Airline |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/03/arts/review-television-brotherly-competition-at-a-fledgling-airline.html}}{{Cite book |last=Gitlin |first=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWQYAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22grub+street+productions%22+new+york+times&pg=PA67 |title=The Greatest Sitcoms of All Time |date=November 7, 2013 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810887251 |via=Google Books}} Additionally, the sitcoms The Pursuit of Happiness and Encore! Encore! were also produced by the company.
Formation
David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee met on Cheers and left that series during its seventh season, in March 1989, to form the upcoming production company, which became Grub Street Productions.{{Cite web |title=The Press-Courier - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dC5LAAAAIBAJ&dq=shelley-long%20cheers&pg=6758,452197 |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=news.google.com}}{{Cite web |title=David Angell |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1340342/David-Angell.html |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=13 September 2001 }}{{Cite web |last= |last2= |last3= |first3= |last4= |last5= |last6= |last7= |last8= |first8= |last9= |date=1999-11-14 |title=From the Back Lot to Backstage |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-14-ca-33230-story.html |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} While they were writing for Cheers, they knew they would want to continue working together once it ended.{{Cite book |last1=Darowski |first1=Joseph J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQglDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Grub+Street+Productions%22+angell+lee+-wikipedia&pg=PA16 |title=Frasier: A Cultural History |last2=Darowski |first2=Kate |date=2017-08-07 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-7797-7 |language=en}} Casey won an Emmy in 1989, which helped when it came time to form his own production company with his writing partners.{{Cite web |title=Peter Casey - Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/peter_carey_2 |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}} It was named after a famous street in London, Grub Street, which became a metaphor for the commercial production of printed matter, and a world or class of impoverished journalists and writers or literary hacks.{{Cite web |title=GRUB STREET {{!}} Meaning & Definition for UK English {{!}} Lexico.com |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/grub_street |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English |language=en}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite web |title=Definition of GRUB STREET |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Grub+Street |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}
Production
The Advocate called the production company "hugely successful"{{Cite book |last=Publishing |first=Here |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H2MEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Grub+Street+Productions%22+wings+-wikipedia&pg=PA43 |title=The Advocate |date=1994-09-20 |publisher=Here Publishing |language=en}} and the LA Times described them as a "sitcom factory".{{Cite web |last= |last2= |last3= |first3= |last4= |last5= |last6= |last7= |last8= |first8= |last9= |date=1995-10-22 |title=Post-'Frasier' Cheers : The Emmy-winning brains behind Kelsey Grammer, et al., are focused on their newest show, 'Pursuit of Happiness.' But are they the Three Graces or the Three Stooges? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-22-ca-59830-story.html |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} Warren Littlefield, president of NBC Entertainment, was quoted as saying: “If they come to us with a show, we want it. When you have people with their track record, you have to believe in them and let them take chances.” At one point, NBC had three Grub Street shows on the air at the same time.
= ''Wings'' =
Wings became their first produced show, first hitting the air in 1990. It would run for eight seasons up to 1997 and was considered a success, though never quite as high-profile as Cheers or Frasier.{{Citation |title=Producer David Lee on creating "Wings" - TelevisionAcademy.com/Interviews |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSTwaV4bpmM |language=en |access-date=2022-07-11}}
= ''Frasier'' =
Kelsey Grammer guest-starred on an episode of Wings in 1992 (for which he was nominated for an Emmy) and he enjoyed his week working on the show with the trio so much that he asked them to create a new show for him as he knew Cheers was coming to an end (its final season would air in 1993).{{Citation |title=Producer David Lee on creating "Frasier" - TelevisionAcademy.com/Interviews |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65AT3csERw |language=en |access-date=2022-07-11}} They obliged, first pitching a completely unrelated show for the star with plans for Grammer to play a paraplegic millionaire resembling Malcolm Forbes, "a magazine mogul [and] a motorcycle enthusiast". The idea was deemed unsuitable and scrapped.{{cite web |url=http://www.equities.com/editors-desk/stocks/consumer-discretionary/the-spin-off-series-that-actually-found-success |title=The Spin-Off Series that (Actually) Found Success |first=Jacob |last=Harper |date=September 26, 2013 |work=Equities.com }} At the time they weren't interested in doing a Frasier Crane spin-off as they didn't want to become known as the "spin-off guys". However, the pitch was not what NBC and Paramount were looking for - and instead they firmly suggested Grub Street focus on continuing the storyline of the Frasier character, thus Frasier become the second major show produced by the company and arguably its most successful, winning many awards and garnering much critical praise. They decided to move Frasier Crane out of Boston to avoid any resemblance to Cheers. The spinoff idea would have focused primarily on "his work at a radio station", but they found that idea was too similar to an older sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati. Therefore, they decided to add in his private life, such as his father Martin and brother Niles. In his titular spin-off, Frasier becomes "haughty, disdainful, and exceedingly uptight."{{Cite web |title=USATODAY.com - So how did 'Frasier' come about? |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-05-12-frasier-origins_x.htm |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=usatoday30.usatoday.com}}
= Other shows =
Other series produced by Grub Street include The Pursuit of Happiness in 1995 and Encore! Encore! in the 1998–1999 season. Both of those short-lived series also aired on NBC.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/22/arts/television-review-new-season-one-family-s-regal-airs-another-s-upward-mobility.html|title=TELEVISION REVIEW/NEW SEASON; One Family's Regal Airs, Another's Upward Mobility|first=Caryn|last=James|newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 22, 1998}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/24/arts/roseanne-leaving-tuesday-for-wednesday.html|title='Roseanne' Leaving Tuesday for Wednesday|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 24, 1994}}
Dissolution and possible revival
After Encore! Encore!, which David Lee said "proved to be a disaster", he began to rethink his career, deciding to work in the theatre, and started to dissolve Grub Street Productions. "My partners and I still work together and it’s very amiable, but the partnership only exists as long as Frasier exists," he said.
The company has not been active since the series finale of Frasier in 2004. A reboot of said show has happened from Paramount+, but this did not reactivate it.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/frasier-goodnight-seattle-finale-watch-1133267/|title=Flashback: Frasier Says 'Goodnight, Seattle' in Series Finale|first1=Andy|last1=Greene|magazine=Rolling Stone |date=February 25, 2021}}{{Cite web |last1=White |first1=Peter |date=2021-02-24 |title=Kelsey Grammer Back As Dr. Frasier Crane As Paramount+ Confirms 'Frasier' Reboot |url=https://deadline.com/2021/02/dr-frasier-crane-kelsey-grammer-reboot-paramount-plus-1234699954/ |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}
References
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