| Family Classics | |
|---|---|
The set of Family Classics and host Frazier Thomas.
| |
| Genre | Classic Films |
| Created by | Fred Silverman Frazier Thomas |
| Presented by | Frazier Thomas Roy Leonard Dean Richards Steve Sanders |
| Theme music composer | Dennis Berry |
| Opening theme | "Moviescope" |
| Ending theme | "Moviescope" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 40 |
| No. of episodes | 1001[1] |
| Original release | |
| Network | WGN-TV |
| Release | September 14, 1962 (1962-09-14)[2] – December 25, 2000 (2000-12-25)[2] |
| Release | December 8, 2017 (2017-12-08) – January 5, 2020 (2020-01-05) |
Family Classics is a Chicago television series which began in 1962 when Frazier Thomas was added to another program at WGN-TV. Thomas not only hosted classic films, but also selected the titles and personally edited them to remove those scenes which he thought were not fit for family viewing.[3] After Thomas' death in 1985, Roy Leonard took over the program.[4] The series continued sporadically until its initial cancellation in 2000.[4][5]
On November 10, 2017, WGN announced that Family Classics would be returning after a 17-year hiatus with a presentation of the 1951 version of Scrooge to air on Friday, December 8, 2017, and announced that its longtime entertainment reporter, Dean Richards, would be the new host.[6] Since then, it would continue to air each holiday season.
In 1962, Fred Silverman, then a WGN-TV executive, conceived the idea of the show by scheduling classic family films at a prime time Friday night position rather than a late show slot where children wouldn't see them. The show was a huge ratings success and inspired the networks to schedule recently released films in prime time. When the networks began showing first-run films in prime time, the show was rescheduled to Sunday afternoons.[3][7]
For the series' December 2019 airing of the 1942 film Holiday Inn, and New Year's Eve airings of the Marx Brothers' Monkey Business & Animal Crackers, WGN veteran anchor, Steve Sanders, filled in as host as current host Dean Richards was recovering from a fractured wrist and facial abrasions before the episode's taping.[8]
The theme music was a piece of library music recorded on the Berry/Conroy label, entitled Moviescope, and was written by Dennis Berry. The camera would slowly zoom in on the set designed by Thomas that resembled a study with a painting on the wall of Garfield Goose done by Roy Brown, a model sailing ship sitting on top of a shelf of books with the titles of the films to be shown that were repainted encyclopedias and dictionaries also done by Anthony M Sulla as credited in the final credits, that Frazier would introduce.[4][9][10][11]
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