The Tube : TV’s Masters of Nostalgia

“Having watched a lot of television while you grew up looks good on a resume around here,” says George Zaloom. No kidding. Zaloom and partner Les Mayfield have built their ZM Productions, located in a cluster of trailers on Universal’s back lot, into one of Hollywood’s hottest mini-studios by watching lots of television. Classic TV shows, to be exact, which they cut and squeeze into network retrospectives. “We’re the ‘Clip Job Kings,’ “jokes Mayfield.

ZM’s clip jobs include retros of “All in the Family,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Cheers,” “Bonanza,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Taxi,” “Star Trek” and “The Wonderful World of Disney.” Assembling each required viewing hundreds of episode-hours to find the perfect slice of dialogue or favorite scene to tickle the collective memory of millions of fans.

Zaloom, 34, and Mayfield, 35, didn’t aim to become the regents of retro. Eleven years ago, the USC Film School students were tapped by Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall to shoot behind-the-scenes material on “Poltergeist.” “We were just a couple of guys from New Jersey, and a friend of ours introduced us to Steven and Frank,” says Zaloom. “After we finished our first job, we wouldn’t let them alone,” says Mayfield. “It was like, ‘We’re baaack!’ ”

After “Poltergeist,” ZM quickly began to produce clip-oriented “electronic press kits” for new releases, as well as TV documentaries on the making of such films as “Roger Rabbit” and “Back to the Future.” The “making-of” films were put together with another Spielberg protege, “Forrest Gump” director Bob Zemeckis. “It was like a director’s workshop,” says Zaloom.

Then in 1990, CBS asked ZM to produce “The Honeymooners Anniversary Special.” Explains Mayfield: “They came to us and said, ‘We have this never-before-seen episode of “The Honeymooners.” Could you build a retrospective around it?’ ” “That show sort of made us trendsetters,” says Zaloom.

ZM’s efforts, overseen by head of production Jean-Michel Michenaud, haven’t been limited to retros. “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse,” the Showtime documentary they produced on the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” was a 1992 Emmy winner. They have a multi-picture deal with Disney’s Hollywood Pictures, and Mayfield’s big screen directorial credits include “Encino Man” and “Miracle on 34th Street.” Another project in the ZM pipeline is a documentary on Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters. “It’s our dream retro,” says Zaloom. “Kesey has 35 hours of footage that was shot on the bus.”

Still, the siren call of the clip job beckons. “We get approached a lot,” says Zaloom. “But we want to do the important shows, the ones that were worthwhile.”

So you’ll have to relive the best moments of “Gilligan’s Island” on your own.