Cue The Kitten Logo (Grant Tinker 1926-2016)

November 30, 2016 9:58 AM

Grant Tinker was one of the best known and most successful producers of network television shows of the 1970s and 1980s, and also the man who rescued NBC after the disastrous years of Fred Silverman's chairmanship. He founded MTM Enterprises in 1970 to create a television property for his then-wife, Mary Tyler Moore.

The success of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" led to a string of hits including "The Bob Newhart Show" and "Rhoda" and some less-successful-but-now-beloved shows like "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "The White Shadow". Tinker and MTM were also the producers behind the ground-breaking cop drama "Hill Street Blues" and medical drama "St. Elsewhere". In 1981, Tinker became the chairman of NBC, reviving the fortunes of that network with those MTM shows as well as establishing NBC's long Thursday night sitcom dominance with "The Cosby Show", "Family Ties" and "Cheers". Returning to producing after the sale of NBC to General Electric in 1986, his last great hit was "Baywatch". Tinker retired in 1992.

posted by briank (28 comments total)

I had no idea MTM stood for Mary Tyler Moore.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:04 AM on November 30, 2016

It was also a play on MGM, with the lion replaced by a kitten.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:10 AM on November 30, 2016 [12 favorites]

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Meow!
posted by octothorpe at 10:13 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

Nearly 4 minutes of MTM logos
posted by otherchaz at 10:19 AM on November 30, 2016 [4 favorites]

[NBC peacock logo in lieu of a dot]
posted by Gelatin at 10:27 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

mew.

posted by tilde at 10:36 AM on November 30, 2016 [3 favorites]

It was also a play on MGM, with the lion replaced by a kitten.

Well I knew that I'm not a total philistine.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:43 AM on November 30, 2016 [4 favorites]

My favorite "meow" was from Bob Newhart. I watched all those shows listed with the exception of The Cosby Show (although I've seen the "Night and Day" family lip-sync bit). Tinker certainly knew how to get some good storytelling on the air.


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posted by droplet at 10:48 AM on November 30, 2016 [3 favorites]

This man (and Mary Tyler Moore) made broadcast TV so much better.
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posted by Bee'sWing at 10:51 AM on November 30, 2016 [7 favorites]

what the hell 2016
posted by janey47 at 11:03 AM on November 30, 2016

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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 11:04 AM on November 30, 2016

That kitten. It even felt good at the end of particularly harrowing Hill Street Blues episodes, when the cheesy-but-still-oddly-satisfying-and-you've-never-heard-the-gratuitous-middle-eight-have-you Mike Post theme magic hasn't brought you back.
posted by Devonian at 11:07 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

For WKRP and Hill Street Blues alone I'd say thank you, Grant Tinker; but to know he also gave us the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant, Remington Steele and so much more? Accolades indeed.
posted by easily confused at 11:21 AM on November 30, 2016 [4 favorites]

I'm starting to wonder who 2016 is going to take-out as a grand finale. Damn.

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posted by Thorzdad at 11:34 AM on November 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

I really enjoyed his shows back when and sometimes still catch one on an oldies station. I miss his work. To the then-me, it was smart and funny.

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posted by Silverstone at 11:35 AM on November 30, 2016

I'm starting to wonder who 2016 is going to take-out as a grand finale. Damn.

A friend of mine on Facebook today posted an ambiguously-titled article about Elvis Costello. I asked him to please refrain from that sort of thing during the annus horribilis.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:40 AM on November 30, 2016

Meant to add this personal remembrance by legendary TV comedy writer Ken Levine (M*A*S*H*, Cheers, Frasier, etc.).

Hoping to see something later from my other favorite Hollywood blogger, Mark Evanier, when he has time to post something, as he almost always has a story or two to tell whenever someone from the Good Old Days of TV passes.
posted by briank at 12:05 PM on November 30, 2016 [4 favorites]

FFS, 2016, enough already!

One of the greatest TV execs, ever.

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posted by Frayed Knot at 12:09 PM on November 30, 2016

And while running NBC he stood by Cheers and Family Ties; put A-Team, Golden Girls, The Cosby Show, Knight Rider and Miami Vice on the air. And NBC had some of the best Saturday morning cartoons.

This man is probably the most important person in my early pop culture upbringing.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:54 PM on November 30, 2016

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posted by sammyo at 1:17 PM on November 30, 2016

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posted by allthinky at 5:17 PM on November 30, 2016

A collection of MTM logo variations, including kitten with surgical mask (St. Elsewhere), cat with basketball (The White Shadow), and cat with Bob Newhart voice.

Didn't know they also distributed Xuxa in the U.S.

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posted by jonp72 at 5:30 PM on November 30, 2016

Which show used the kitten shouting "QUIET!"?
posted by hal9k at 5:56 PM on November 30, 2016

I think that was only used following the last Newhart. It was a callback to earlier in the episode when the two Darryl brothers shouted it.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:03 PM on November 30, 2016

Nearly my whole life I wondered about this and I guess this is the right time, era, and place to ask: Was kitty in ashtray?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 6:29 PM on November 30, 2016

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posted by LeftMyHeartInSanFrancisco at 12:56 AM on December 1, 2016

According to her wikipedia article Mary Tyler Moore may not be lucid enough any more to have registered the news. :(
posted by bukvich at 7:58 AM on December 1, 2016

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posted by detachd at 3:43 PM on December 1, 2016