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The Man Who Ruined - And Saved - Network TV Dies At 82
I have very mixed feelings about Fred Silverman. The only man who was the chief programmer at CBS, ABC and NBC both ruined television and saved it. It just depended on what network you were watching.
Silverman was the guy who changed TV forever by cancelling country corn like "Beverly Hillbillies" and "Petticoat Junction" but greelighted All In The Family at CBS. And The Mary Tyler Moore Show. And M*A*S*H. And The Bob Newhart Show. And The Waltons. The list goes on and on.
He then left for ABC, where he forced drek - albeit popular drek - like The Love Boat, Charlie's Angels, Three's Company and Laverne & Shirley on viewers. They were big hits but they created a series of mindless "jiggle" shows that poisoned TV for years. Yet he also ordered "Roots," one of the greatest miniseries of all time.
He made up for it at NBC, where he shepherded Cheers, Hill St. Blues, St. Elsewhere and other quality classics that turned into Must See TV for a generation.
Silverman died Thursday. He was 82. He's one of the few you can say really did change the face of TV as we know it today. For better. And for worse.
Fred Silverman, Legendary Television Programmer, Dies at 82
One last side note that could only be appreciated by a Toronto audience. When Peter Silverman was working as the ombudsman at City TV, he frequently received a ton of letters from viewers asking for his help. Some were addressed to Syd Silverman (a combination of the tuxedo rental guy.) But others bore the name Fred Silverman. That's how famous he was - how many other programmer's names do ordinary people know?
- Jody Thornton
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Re: The Man Who Ruined - And Saved - Network TV Dies At 82
So let's see - never cared for Beverly Hillbillies. LOVED All in the Family. Didn't mind those sappy 70s shows on ABC, and loved the NBC stuff. I say he did fine. 
Cheers,
Jody Thornton
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Re: The Man Who Ruined - And Saved - Network TV Dies At 82
RadioActive wrote:
He then left for ABC, where he forced drek - albeit popular drek - like The Love Boat, Charlie's Angels, Three's Company and Laverne & Shirley on viewers. They were big hits but they created a series of mindless "jiggle" shows that poisoned TV for years. Yet he also ordered "Roots," one of the greatest miniseries of all time.
that turned into Must See TV for a generation.He made up for it at NBC, where he shepherded Cheers, Hill St. Blues, St. Elsewhere and other quality classics
Drek?
One man's (and I don't disagree when it comes to much of his work) drek is another's "must see " TV. The beauty of a free society however, is that ultimatly the consumer has a voice in the decision to continue or cancel any particular broadcast product.
As you yourself have historically and continue to advocate, (personally I am strongly with you on this) on other posts: "let the market decide".
We will always continue to be exposed to a mixture of hits and "drek"; however we can take comfort knowing that in a free society, for the most part it will not be the result of any government mandates.
Last edited by Media Observer (January 30, 2020 10:57 pm)
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Re: The Man Who Ruined - And Saved - Network TV Dies At 82
Drek?
In the eye of the beholder and as you yourself have historically and currently advocated (personally I am with you on this) on other posts: "let the market decide".
A mixture of hits and "drek", however non of it the result of any government mandates.
Yeah, I figured someone would take issue with that. Especially if they liked any of those shows. And yes, the audience decided, although I'll never figure out why they liked those lowbrow-type comedies. Still, there's little doubt that MASH and Laverne & Shirley are very different kinds of TV. My problem with "jiggle" television isn't that it existed but it spread like the coronavirus.
Once ABC got great ratings (the first time that network, always an also-ran, ever went to #1 in the ratings was when Silverman was there) from the lowbrow stuff, it was on all the other networks, shoving aside what critics generally call "quality TV" for sexual innuendo and huge breasts. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it became too much. And that's what I blamed him for. It took years to get rid of it, and frankly, we're still not entirely without it.
As the late radio comedian Fred Allen once noted, "Imitation is the sincerest form of television."
And besides, I thought "Drek" was that guy who follows Charles Adler overnight on Corus...
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Re: The Man Who Ruined - And Saved - Network TV Dies At 82
To be clear RA.... I am not a fan of much of what he signed off on; including many of Aaron Spelling's shows which accounted for a significant portion of his (Silverman's) reputation in the industry.
That said, as "small c" conservative I defer to the viewing public and the shareholders who invested their personal earnings in his products.
- Glen Warren
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NBC "We're Loud" spoof promo from 79/80...
"a 14 rating, an 18 share..."
Last edited by Glen Warren (January 31, 2020 8:06 am)