[1] It is probably best remembered as the production company of CBS's "rural comedies" of the 1960s, including Mister Ed, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres, as well as the comedy-drama The Trials of O'Brien, the western Dundee and the Culhane, the adventure show Bearcats!, the police drama Cagney & Lacey, and The Addams Family.

Notable films the company produced include The Sandpiper, The Cincinnati Kid, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Ice Station Zebra, Summer Lovers, The Burning, King, Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, and Death Wish II.

From 1962 until 1971, Filmways produced its biggest hit, The Beverly Hillbillies for CBS, created by Paul Henning, another former McCadden executive.

[2] Two years later, in 1969, the company acquired Heatter-Quigley Productions, the game show producer known for their biggest hit, Hollywood Squares.

[3] Also that year, the company bought Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma County, California,[4] and Wally Heider's recording studios in Hollywood and San Francisco.

[5] Filmways was also listed as a co-developer of the Ontario Motor Speedway in San Bernardino County, California, which opened in 1970.

Later that year, Rhodes Productions was spun off into an independent corporation, and launched its syndication unit Filmways Enterprises, headed by Jamie Kellner.

In February 1982, Filmways was acquired by Orion Pictures (with E. M. Warburg Pincus & Company and Home Box Office (HBO) for its pay and cable television rights).

For some shows, the voice-over was made by a cast member: Today, most of the Filmways library, including Green Acres, The Addams Family, Cagney & Lacey (continued by Orion), Death Wish II (a Cannon film), The Hollywood Squares, and Mister Ed is now owned by Amazon MGM Studios (via Orion Television).

Filmways co-produced Eye Guess, The Face Is Familiar, Personality, and You're Putting Me On with Bob Stewart Productions.