Lee Rich
Executive / Producer
About This Interview
In his Archive interview, television executive and producer Lee Rich (1927-2012) talks about starting out in television at the advertising agency Benton & Bowles, where he worked to package and sell The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Danny Thomas Show. Largely serving as an additional producer on the shows during those early days of television, when advertising agencies enjoyed almost total control over programming, Mr. Rich recounts how he left the agency in 1965 to form his own production company, Mirisch-Rich Productions. The company produced such television programs as The Rat Patrol and one of the first Garry Marshall/Jerry Belson shows, Hey, Landlord. Mr. Rich discusses in detail the formation of the hugely successful production company Lorimar in 1969, which generated television hits The Waltons, Dallas, Eight is Enough, Knots Landing, and numerous television movies including Sybil and Helter Skelter. The interview was conducted by Jeffrey Glaser on April 12, 1999 in Los Angeles, CA.
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Highlights
On working in the brand new medium of television
Clip begins at: 17:25, Duration: 00m 24s
On feeling that a night time serial like Dallas could work
Clip begins at: 11:18, Duration: 00m 18s
On his role as Executive Producer at Lorimar
Clip begins at: 20:15, Duration: 01m 59s- On the "House Divided" episode of Dallas which generated the question, "Who Shot J.R.?"
Clip begins at: 18:00, Duration: 01m 50s - On Patrick Ewing leaving and returning to Dallas - the previous season was all a dream
Clip begins at: 22:17, Duration: 01m 30s 
Lee Rich on Fred Silverman's plan for airing Roots
Clip begins at: 07:48, Duration: 00m 42s- On his career highlight - starting Lorimar
Clip begins at: 04:57, Duration: 00m 43s
Interview
- Part 1
- On his childhood and early influences
Clip begins at: 0:36 - On his first jobs after college; on his time in the Navy; on getting into the advertising business
Clip begins at: 04:24 - On his impressions of television; on heading the media department of advertising agency, Benton & Bowles
Clip begins at: 13:26 - On the involvement of advertising agencies in early television programming and shows that he packaged
Clip begins at: 14:44 - Part 2
- On working with Grant Tinker at Benton & Bowles
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On his involvement with The Dick Van Dyke Show
Clip begins at: 01:38 - On leaving Benton & Bowles to create production company, Mirisch-Rich Productions; on the Hollywood Blacklist
Clip begins at: 11:04 - On joining the Leo Burnett agency; on his involvement with the shows The Rat Patrol and Hogan's Heroes
Clip begins at: 18:20 - Part 3
- On his involvement with the shows The Rat Patrol, Hey Landlord, and Sheriff Who?; On returning to the advertising world for one year
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On forming the production company Lorimar and on early Lorimar productions
Clip begins at: 07:18 - On movies of the week; on movie of the week, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, which inspired the series The Waltons
Clip begins at: 11:50 - Part 4
- On The Waltons and the series' subsequent TV movies
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On Lorimar's television movies and miniseries (The Blue Knight, Sybil, Helter Skelter) and on films
Clip begins at: 05:53 - On being an executive producer at Lorimar; on working with the networks
Clip begins at: 20:15 - Part 5
- On departments and procedures at Lorimar; on Eight is Enough
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On Lorimar's hit show Dallas
Clip begins at: 04:18 - On the Lorimar show Knot's Landing and its comparisons to Dallas
Clip begins at: 25:22 - Part 6
- On Lorimar getting into first run syndication and partnering with Telepictures; on leaving Lorimar for MGM-UA
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On selling Lorimar to Warner Brothers; on his time at MGM-UA
Clip begins at: 10:20 - On forming his own company, Lee Rich Productions; on movies he's produced
Clip begins at: 16:58 - On some of his television favorites; on his respect for writers
Clip begins at: 20:29 - Part 7
- On the impact of cable television; on how audiences have changed
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On his regrets and his legacy; on people he's worked with
Clip begins at: 05:41
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I love the archive of american televsion. I hope that the archive will interview michelle lee, joan van ark, barry williams, gerry van dyke, barry van dyke, tracy scoogins, gil gerard, erin gray, morgan brittany, linda gray, katey sagal, ted mcginley, ted lange, kim fields, todd bridges, conrad bain, martin landau, frank lupo, casey kasem, jayne pauley, erin moran, scott baio, ted shackelford, kevin dobson.maureen mccormick, eve plumb, stephanie zimbalist, michael lembeck. antonio fargas, susan saint james, clarence gilyard jr. jimmie walker, janet dubois, tom selleck, james whitmore jr. michael ansara. joe santos. erik estrada, stephanie kramer fred dryer, douglas barr, heather thomas, joann pflugg, douglas barr, kene holliday, jaleel white wayne rogers. lee majors. tom bergeron don messick. peter cullen, jack angel tim matheson, joanna kerns. kenneth johnson , paul michael glaser.
"I always thought Lee Rich, Merv Adelson and Irwin Molasky gave their last initials to the "mar" part of the Lorimar name - until I watched this."
They did. Lorimar results from Adelson's ex-wife Lori, and the initials M for Molasky, A for Adelson and R for Rich.
Mr. Rich is wrong, the first three t.v movies that were done in 1982 were
done for NBC.
I always thought Lee Rich, Merv Adelson and Irwin Molasky gave their last initials to the "mar" part of the Lorimar name - until I watched this.
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