In addition to a large short-subjects program of its own, MGM also released the shorts and features produced by Hal Roach Studios, including comedy shorts starring Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang and Charley Chase. MGM's distribution deal with Roach lasted from 1927 to 1938, and MGM benefited in particular from the success of the popular Laurel and Hardy films. In 1938, MGM purchased the rights to the Our Gang series and moved the production in-house, continuing production of the successful series of children's comedies until 1944. From 1929 to 1931, MGM produced a series of comedy shorts called "All Barkie Dogville Comedies", in which trained dogs were dressed up to parody contemporary films and were voiced by actors. One of the shorts, "The Dogway Melody" (1930), spoofed MGM's hit 1929 musical "The Broadway Melody".