Show Freddie booted out By TONY SCHWARTZ NY Time News Service was sitting in his F reddie Silverman not office at Rockefeller Plaza one sixth-floo- 30 day r long ago talking animatedly on the phone to a Hollywood producer while two of his executives stood by patiently Finally one of the executives turned to the other “I don’t believe this” he said “Here is the president of one of the most important companies in the world and he’s on the phone arguing about where to schedule a Daffy Duck cartoon” The scene replayed in dozens of variations during Silverman’s television career helps explain both why he was so successful as a programming and ABC-Tand why he executive at CBS-Tencountered difficulties during his three years as chief executive at NBC As long as he focused on his first love — programming — Silverman prospered The problems arose when he was promoted to chief executive given broader managerial responsibilities and permitted the last word on all decisions — “an accelerator without a brake” as one NBC executive put it Silverman resigned his NBC post June 30 but the move was long expected During his frustrating tenure he had failed to lift the network out of last place in the audience-popularit- y ratings and its profits had declined each year Silverman’s success as head programmer for CBS and ABC has often been misunderstood For him the role did not so much mean conceiving ideas as enhancing refining and executing those presented to him He was gifted at selecting the most advantageous time slot for a given show He tinkered with the mix of characters on a series — it was his idea to give Henry Winkler prominence on “Happy Days” He orchestrated stunts and designed dramatic promotional spots that might encouarge viewers to sample a show But as chief executive at NBC Silverman faced a dilemma He could no longer devote his sole attention to programming but he was reluctant to delegate the authority Thus he sometimes made decisions with limited input V V After coming across a singing duo named Pink Lady — two young Japanese women — he decided to make them the stars of a series What he did not know is that the neither of the women spoke a word of English The show' was not a hit Nonetheless Silverman continued to insist on making major scheduling decisions At one point Brandon Tartikoff head of programming for NBC was asked whether it was true he lacked the authority to make certain programming commitments without Silverman’s approval “Can I get back to you on that? ” Tartikoff cracked Silverman’s impatience for success at NBC led him to rush series on the air — and then off again at the first hint of ratings failure The biggest fiasco wras “Supertrain” Put on the air six months before its producers felt it was ready and then extravagantly promoted the show was a failure It cost NBC $5 million and Silverman a lot of credibility In an interview last July Silverman acknowledged that perhaps his enormous succcess at CBS and part of his downfall at NBC “I think I started to believe my own press the idea that I could do it all” he said “There are no heroes or superstars Turning a network around ABC was takes time” But Silverman never managed to create the sort of genuine blockbuster hit around which a good programmer could build a schedule Silverman did that at ABC with shows like “La verne & Shirley” and “Happy Days” and CBS did so more recently with “Dallas” At NBC Silverman seemed caught between the desire to prove he had an interest in quality prog- rams and hs instinctive competitive drive for the largest possible audience no matter what it took He attempted a number of inventive shows without ratings success including Larry Gelbart’s “United States” an intensely serious drama about a marriage “Skag” written by Abby Mann and starring Karl Malden as a steelworker and “Hill Street Blues” a gritty police show that has been renewed for the fall despite poor ratings much-praise- d But most of Silverman’s efforts were considerably less exalted This season’s programs included United Press International Fred Silverman “Speak Up America” a bizarre mix of news entertainment and evangelism that infuriated even his own new’s department and “No 96” a series that was criticized not just for its gratuitous sex but also for the relentless exploitiveness of its promotion In his interview last July Silverman conceded that he felt compelled to turn away from any search for quality television “We want some hits” he said “‘Sheriff Lobo’ will be a successful show this season It’s gonna be like ‘Three’s Company’ It’s still despised in the press but the people love it” As it turned out Silverman could not rekindle his earlier success traveling the low road “Lobo” fizzled and has not been renewed for the fall After nearly two decades in broadcasting neither has Silvermanil Tinker stepping in Silverman’s taste was suspect giving the world such offal as “Supertrain” “BJ & The Bear” “The Brady Girls” and “Lobo” Tinker as an independent producer with his MTM Productions established a reputation for quality with “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” “The Bob Newhart Show” “Lou Grant” “The White Shadow” and “Hill Street Blues” Tinker’s shows have collected some 25 Emmy Awards along the way He’s had other successes of lesser quality for example “WKRP In Cincinnati” and some outright flops among them “The Last Resort” and many pilot films that never made the air A good key to Tinker’s character is his reaction to the failure of “The Last Resort” a situation comedy involving a bunch of waiters at a posh eastern mountain resort clashing with guests Tinker along with Bob Daly — then programming chief at CBS — were guests at a party at the home of Carol Burnett last year Daly was informed that Tinker was displeased with “The Last Resort’s” timeslot “They’re not giving it a fair chance” Tinker said United Press International “What’s he complaining about?” Daly asked “I’ve given ‘Lou Grant’ the best timeslot in TV” Grant Tinker To which Tinker replied “That answer doesn’t make sense One show has nothing to do with the By VERNON SCOTT UPI Hollywood Reporter other I w'ant the best possible slot for ‘The Last Resort’ It deserves to have a chance” A Dartmouth graduate Tinker is the quintessenHOLLYWOOD (UPI) — Grant Tinker 55 has become an important man in the lives of confirmed tial Ivy Leaguer in dress and manner He is slender athletic and televiewers Tinker is candid to As the new chief executive officer of NBC Tinker a fault and given to making tough decisions quickly will determine what sort of programs viewers will and objectively He is commanding rather than imposing During see on one of the nation’s three mammoth nethis years of marriage to Mary Tyler Moore he was works never Mr Mary Tyler Moore He replaces Fred Silverman a veteran programUnlike so many other husbands of celebrated mer at CBS and ABC in past years who fell on his third-place women Tinker never blended into the background face after three seasons of trying to bolster NBC in the ratings Nor did he trade on his wife’s name Rather most well-heele- d tough-minde- d m 12 Close-u- p Sunday July 12 1981 of Mary’s successes can be traced to Tinker’s and judgment guidance As NBC’s new chief Tinker faces an overwhelming dilemma: He must make some choices between quality show's which may not garner respectable ratings and schlock programs that can compete with “Dallas” “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Three’s Com- pany” In a UPI interview’ last May Tinker in defense of the low ratings of “Hill Street Blues” said “Perhaps it demands too much of the audience “Viewers don’t want to work too hard This series involves several stories rolling at one time and on into subsequent episodes It requires more wrork and attention from the viewer than he is willing to give I suppose “It’s very rare that a producer can get quality on the tube and even rarer when such a show’ succeeds The fault lies on the dual doorstep of the audience and the networks “You can’t place all the blame on the networks because their buying patterns on new show’s are based on what viewers have w’atched in the past The audience makes its own bed and gets what it deserves most of the time” Tinker made it clear that he is convinced American television viewing patterns have changed during the past decade He thinks the qualitative level of most w’eekly show’s has never been low’er Asked what constitutes a superior show such as “Hill Street Blues” Tinker didn’t hesitate a moment “Superior writing to begin with” Tinker said “And first-rat- e direction” He indicted television in general and the ratings in particular with the observation “People don’t watch the tube anymore They just turn it on like Muzak or radio It’s just on “People 30 years old and younger have never been without television It’s a companion in the house” 0 |