Bickley-Warren Productions
Bickley-Warren Productions was a production company established in 1991, that was started and run by William S. Bickley, Jr. and Michael Warren. It first started to produce Family Matters and Step by Step, which were both created by Bickley and Warren. It was originally aimed at Lorimar Television until 1993 when Warner Bros. Television took over Lorimar. By 1997, Bickley-Warren ceased to exist when Michael Warren joined Miller-Boyett Productions, rebranding it Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions.
| Type | Production company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television production |
| Fate | Disbanded |
| Founded | September 20, 1991 (Original) September 4, 2003 (Relaunch) |
| Defunct | July 17, 1998 (Original) July 20, 2006 (Relaunch) |
Key people | William Bickley Michael Warren (founders) |
| Products | Television programs |
History
Before Bickley-Warren was ever established, founders/producers William Bickley and Michael Warren (who later joined Miller-Boyett) were writers and supervising producers for the Miller-Boyett produced Perfect Strangers, before becoming co-executive producers in the show's 1989-1990 season and executive producers/showrunners from the 1990-91 season until the 1993 series finale. At this time, Bickley and Warren went on to create shows for Miller-Boyett, starting with the Perfect Strangers spinoff Family Matters in 1989, which joined its parent show on ABC's TGIF lineup, and The Family Man in 1990, which aired for one season on CBS. Two years into the run of Family Matters, they formed a company that would be known as Bickley-Warren Productions, after they became the show's executive producers.
The company lasted for seven years, during which Warren joined Miller and Boyett to form Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions in 1997, and began his process of winding down his partnership with Bickley. The new Miller-Boyett-Warren team initially produced the CBS sitcom Meego. The separate Bickley-Warren and Miller-Boyett nameplates remained in existence for one more year (1997–98) to produce the final season of Family Matters and Step By Step, both of which moved to CBS in the fall of 1997 and ended their runs in 1998. After the dissolution of Bickley-Warren, the recently renamed Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions would produce one more sitcom, ABC's Two of a Kind.
While Family Matters, Step By Step and Getting By were produced by the Bickley-Warren and Miller-Boyett production companies jointly, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Kirk were not produced in association with Miller-Boyett Productions, and Perfect Strangers was not produced by Bickley-Warren Productions (even though Bickley and Warren executive produced the series for the show's final three seasons, even after the formation of their production company), though all of their series under the Bickley-Warren banner were produced by Lorimar/Warner Bros. Television.
List of shows produced by Bickley-Warren Productions
Production team members
- William S. Bickley Jr. (born 28 February 1947) – Bickley began his writing career on the TV series Barefoot in the Park, later working as a writer and producer on Room 222, The Partridge Family and, then as producer on the first two seasons of Happy Days. After teaming with Michael Warren, he was an executive script consultant on the series. The two men produced Out of the Blue in 1979. Warren and Bickley later wrote for Happy Days and served as supervising producers, then by its sixth season, executive producers of Perfect Strangers, before creating Family Matters, The Family Man, Step By Step and Getting By between 1989 and 1993. Starting in 1993, Bickley also directed several episodes of Step By Step and Kirk. After the dissolution of Bickley-Warren in 1998, he wrote and produced the 2002 made-for-TV movie Anna's Dream.
- Michael Warren – Warren began his career as an associate producer of The Partridge Family and later Happy Days starting with the second season, later an executive story consultant with William Bickley, then an executive script consultant. The two men produced Out of the Blue in 1979. Warren and Bickley later wrote for Happy Days and Perfect Strangers, before creating Family Matters, The Family Man, Step By Step and Getting By between 1989 and 1993. At that point, Bickley and Warren became squarely producers instead of producer/writers, before officially ending their partnership around the time of the cancellation of Family Matters and Step by Step and joining the Miller-Boyett team.