Kline and Friends, Inc.

Credits

Descriptions by
Michael Bass and gshowguy

Captures by
Eric S., megamanj2004 and Others

Video captures courtesy of
Broken Saw

Background

Kline and Friends, Inc., also known as Kline & Friends, was a production company formed in 1984 that primarily produced game shows. It was formed by producer/director Richard S. Kline, who had left his longtime job at Barry & Enright Productions after Jack Barry's death in 1984, as he and several other B&E staffers felt that partner Dan Enright had not respected Barry's wishes regarding The Joker's Wild (Barry had wanted frequent sub-host Jim Peck to succeed him as permanent host; Enright instead picked veteran host Bill Cullen) and quit as a show of protest. Joining Kline at his new company were composer Hal Hidey, art director John C. Mula, several of Kline's children, and Barry's son Jonathan. The company's first two productions, Break the Bank and Strike it Rich (neither to be confused with several other series using those respective names) were flops; the former because of issues Kline had with original host Gene Rayburn, the latter because of a glut in syndicated game shows at the time. They found success with Win, Lose or Draw (co-produced with Burt & Bert Productions and Buena Vista Television), but they did not have much success after that and closed by 1998; the company's last production was an adaptation of Pictionary (the second of three such adaptations) in 1997.

1st Logo (September 16, 1985-April 28, 1989)

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Visuals: The logo consists of the curved serif text "Kline" and "Friends", both with underlines under the middle portions of them and are stacked on top of each other. Joining them is a treble clef-like ampersand with "Inc." in a bold font, centered inside it. "(C) Copyright (year)" can be seen under "Friends".

Variants:

• On Break the Bank, the logo zooms in from an orange circle that emits sunbursts before it zooms in to engulf the background.
• The logo's size and colors may vary.

Technique: A superimposed graphic. Scanimate for the variant.

Audio: The end theme of the show, as well as one of the following announcer spiels:

• Break the Bank: "Break the Bank is a Kline & Friends production, in association with Blair Entertainment, Storer Communications, and Hubbard Broadcasting, Incorporated." (v/o: Michael Hanks)
• Strike it Rich: "Strike it Rich is a Kline & Friends production in association with Blair Entertainment." (v/o: Bob Hilton. Two more credits for Bruce M. Sterten Productions and Ladd/Framer Productions would be seen, despite Hilton not mentioning their names.)
• Win, Lose or Draw: "Win, Lose, or Draw is a Burt & Bert Production in association with Kline and Friends." (v/o: either Bob Hilton or Gene Wood)

Availability: The in-credit version can be found on early episodes of Win, Lose, or Draw, while the variant can be found on the 1985 version of Break the Bank (at least on early episodes with Gene Rayburn as host), with Blair Entertainment's logo coming after. There is a white in-credit variant that can be found on the 1985 version of Break the Bank, from later Rayburn episodes and Joe Farago's entire run, as well as the 1986 version of Strike it Rich with Joe Garagiola, though the latter show has a much smaller version of the logo.

2nd Logo (September 11, 1989-March 8, 1991)

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Visuals: The gold serif text "KLINE" is seen in a arch, along with "and" in a cursive font, and "FRIENDS" in the same serif font but without a arch shape to it. There's also "inc." below "FRIENDS" and 2 dots beside each side of "KLINE".

Technique: A superimposed graphic.

Audio: The closing theme, as well as one of the following announcer spiels:

• Win, Lose or Draw is the same as before. (v/o: either Bob Hilton or Gene Wood)
• The Joker's Wild:"The Joker's Wild is a Kline & Friends production in association with Jack Barry Productions." (v/o: Ed MacKay)
• 3rd Degree!: "3rd Degree! is a Kline and Friends Production in association with Burt & Bert Production and Lorimar Television. Distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution." (v/o: Bob Hilton mostly)

Availability: It was last seen on later episodes of Win, Lose or Draw, which last reran in 2002 on GSN. Also spotted on the 1990 Joker's Wild revival with Pat Finn, when it was last seen on the USA Network in the 1990s, 3rd Degree!, and NBC's The Marsha Warfield Show from 1990-1991.

3rd Logo (August 29, 1994-June 12, 1998)

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Visuals: On a black background, the 2nd logo is seen on a golden signboard, hanging from a bar. It swings a bit back and forth, but the right chain snaps, and the logo tilts on its side.

Variant: A still version can be found on season 2 of Masters of the Maze.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A "squeak" sound when the logo comes apart or the closing theme.

Availability: It's only known to be on Masters of the Maze and Pictionary, although it made an early appearance on a few 1989 NBC daytime episodes of Win, Lose or Draw with Vicki Lawrence.