Rysher Entertainment, Inc. was an American film and television production company and distributor. It has the roots dating back to 1949 as Bing Crosby Productions, founded by Bing Crosby, and was best known for producing the sitcomHogan's Heroes and the medical dramaBen Casey – in succeeding years, BCP was acquired by Cox Enterprises. Keith Samples established Rysher Entertainment in April 1991, as an independent company, whose sole product had been the distribution of the series Saved By The Bell. In 1993, and later distribution to another series California Dreams in 1994, Rysher merged with Al Masini's Television Program Enterprises to form Rysher TPE, its alternate name used from 1993 to 1994. Through it, they produced and distributed shows, such as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Star Search. Later, they produced and distributed George & Alana, which ran for one season in 1995. The company branched out into feature films, and in the span of three years had produced over two dozen feature films. In May 1995, Rysher entered into a five-film domestic distribution arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company closed the theatrical film unit in July 1997, due to under-performing box office sales. In 1998, Rysher collaborated with HBO to distribute some of the series outside of the United States, including Arli$$, Oz and Sex and the City. The company was shut downin 1999 after Viacom entered an agreement with Cox Enterprises, allowing Paramount Pictures and its television unit to handle distribution rights. The company's library is incorporated into the one for CBS Television Distribution and Paramount Pictures. The company's films and series included Hogan's Heroes, Ben Casey, Walking Tall, Nash Bridges, , Kingpin, and Big Night. The company's assets were acquired by 2929 Entertainmentin 2001. They were bought by Qualia Capital, LLC. in 2006, and were merged with Gaylord Films and Pandora Entertainment. The combined entity became known as Qualia Libraries Co. and the Rysher name now serves as a limited partnership. In 2011, Qualia Libraries Co. was acquired by affiliates of Vine Alternative Investments which were integrated into Lakeshore Entertainment in 2015. Vine acquired Lakeshore's library and international sales operations in 2019. Later that year, Viacom merged with CBS, under the name ViacomCBS, as a single distribution company in December.
