Arthur L. Annecharico

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arthur L. Annecharico is a producer, director and writer, whose involvement in the entertainment industry has spanned more than 32 years. His own company The Arthur Company, had a multi-million dollar partnership with MCA Television for development of new productions across the board in film and television, with more than $40,000,000 in on-the-air commitments in the late 80's and early 90's.

[edit] Career

The Arthur Company finished a £28,000,000 order for 271 half-hour sitcoms for Turner Broadcasting Systems, and also a $10,000,000 order for 24 episodes of the hour-long action adventure series, Airwolf.

Annecharico's syndicated sitcom, The Munsters Today (aka The New Munsters) after its initial pilot enjoyed three successful seasons from 1988 - 1991. The pilot episode bridged the gap between the original 1966 The Munsters series and the new Today show.

The show's second series was met with some criticism from Munster fans as Annecharico changed the format of the show's first season and the original series to bring the Munster family into the 1990s. While the show continued to base its original premise on the fact that the Munster family are unlike other people yet living a perfectly "normal" life, there were notable changes made.

"The old Munsters were not really aware of how society reacted to their physical looks," commented Arthur in an interview in 1989, "however, that era has passed: this season (second season) the Munsters explore their differences rather that ignore them." The most visual change to the show was Eddie, portrayed by Jason Marsden who "came of age" and started listening to rock music and watching MTV. The rest of the cast adopted costume changes aside from Grandpa portrayed by Howard Morton.

Annecharico also produced 26 half-hour episodes of Dragnet, and Adam-12. He also produced the syndicated sitcom What a Dummy, which he co-created for Fox Television.

Among Annecharico's other credits are the theatrical features, Run For Blue, The Eagle and Grains of Sand. In network television, he is credited with The Deepest Dive, and The Huddle to name a few. His writing credits include the features Camp Bow Wow, Father Forgive Me and the television special Tanya.

[edit] Awards

In addition to three Emmys, Annecharico holds six Laurel Awards from the Association of New York Advertisers, several Gray Awards of Excellence, the Gold Medal of the Virgin Islands Film Festival and an Award Of Excellence of the Hollywood Film Advisory Board. The recipient of the prestigious 1988 Salvation Army Evangeline Booth Award, Annecharico currently serves on the California Salvation Army Board of Directors. He also is the recipient of awards of recognition from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers for the donated production of 16 different public service announcements and has been recognized by both the City and Country of Los Angeles for his contribution in the fight against drunk drivers.

This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.