Yes, there were a lot of flops. Supertrain is probably the biggest one in terms of money. But, he came into a situation which was really not for one person to handle. It appears to me that he had put a lot of good things in place to make Grant Tinker look like a genius.

I.E. Brought back the peacock (thank heavens!), hired Brandon Tartikoff who got Warren Littlefield (later NBC Executive of Seinfeld and the 90's Thursday night lineup). Also, Silverman got an agreement for Cheers, the proper management to get the NBC news back into shape, developed Facts of Life, Different Strokes, Hill Street Blues, Gimme a Break.

Seems like Silverman was the person to put the groundwork into place for a long run of success through most of the 80s and 90s. Family Ties was also his idea (indirectly) through a friend of his at MTM from the CBS days. Can't say he had nothing to do with it.

So, why was Fred Silverman said to have "destroyed" NBC? Frankly, if he had not been there, would Tinker have been any better? I always felt like he was able to take advantage of a situation to make it look like he did all the work, when really, he didn't do much. Sort of like Joe Torre with the Yankees.

I too think Silverman put NBC on the right track. Problem was people expected him to fix NBC instantly based on his past experiences at ABC and CBS, so the criticism piled on because he couldn't fix NBC fast enough.

Your right in asking the question.
''Supertrain'' was already commissioned & going into early production,when he
took control of NBC in the summer of 1978. ''Supertrain'' is not Silverman's
folly.Silverman moved the premier of''Supertrain''up to mid-season 78-79,from
its original planned fall '79 debut, but the show was not his idea.
Diff'rent Strokes,Little House on the Prairie,&the movie of the week was NBC'S
best programing around Feb and March 1979 though.

Your right in asking the question.
''Supertrain'' was already commissioned & going into early production,when he
took control of NBC in the summer of 1978. ''Supertrain'' is not Silverman's
folly.Silverman moved the premier of''Supertrain''up to mid-season 78-79,from
its original planned fall '79 debut, but the show was not his idea.
Diff'rent Strokes,Little House on the Prairie,&the movie of the week was NBC'S
best programing around Feb and March 1979 though.

Not quite...according to his interview with Archive of American Television, the idea for the show was pitched to him and he wanted to do "Hitchcock on a train". But, according to Silverman, the guy running the show felt it was best to just throw money at it and hope for the best.

Grant Tinker got a lot of credit for Silverman's work. But, really, as Silverman said, when Tinker got in the door, the network was only 2 or 3 shows away from success and Silverman knew it. Tinker didn't feel that the network was going to make it but did it for the money, basically. He was lucky that he got there with good people and left when he figured it was best to leave when the gettin' was good. He wasn't stupid enough to go into a bad situation with no hope. Tinker said in his interview with AoAT, that it was bad when he got there but that he felt he knew the people enough beforehand to make it happen. Basically, he got lucky...Silverman was scrappy and made Tinker's life easy.

Personally, I'm glad that his tenure lasted so brief, because, IMHO, he screwed over one too many game shows during his tenures as a network executive. In fact, I place the blame squarely on his shoulders for the near extinction of daytime network game shows. If it was up to me, I'd personally see to it that he'd never work in Hollywood again, I hate him that badly.

Personally, I'm glad that his tenure lasted so brief, because, IMHO, he screwed over one too many game shows during his tenures as a network executive. In fact, I place the blame squarely on his shoulders for the near extinction of daytime network game shows. If it was up to me, I'd personally see to it that he'd never work in Hollywood again, I hate him that badly.
I find it ironic that with the reported hate for game shows Silverman had, all the networks quit wiping them during his tenure over each network.

All I know is that compared to Jeff Zucker, Fred Silverman looks like a darn genius!

I think many of the presidents of NBC that came after him didn't know how to develop long-lasting shows. I mean look at how badly NBC tanked after the 90's ended; all of those shows ended and NBC never bothered developing new hits to replace them! It took years for them to find a way out of fourth place!

The person who started this discussion should have been more specific while naming it since at least one other famous person with the name "Silverman" got a lot of criticism for his tenure at NBC (the one I was thinking of was named Ben Silverman).

When was Silverman head at NBC?

When was Silverman head at NBC?
'78 to '81

From the NBC schedules I have seen on Wikipedia, during Silverman tenure, I didn't see too many shows that I would watch except Little House, Facts of Life and Different Strokes.

I am sure many folks who liked the Smurfs would be glad to know that the person named Fred Silverman being discussed here had the idea to give them a TV series of their very own (they were originally supporting characters for a series of books about two characters named Johan and Peewit).

From the NBC schedules I have seen on Wikipedia, during Silverman tenure, I didn't see too many shows that I would watch except Little House, Facts of Life and Different Strokes.
It took him a while to right the ship, but he was putting NBC in the right direction.

The person who started this discussion should have been more specific while naming it since at least one other famous person with the name "Silverman" got a lot of criticism for his tenure at NBC (the one I was thinking of was named Ben Silverman).
The OP doesn't need to clarify. Most people associate the failed NBC tenure with Fred, not Ben Silverman. NBC had some issues during Ben's run, but that still doesn't compare as much to the late-70s.

Being a game show fan, I dislike what Fred did to so many daytime games, but others bring up good points about him setting the groundwork for the 80s success stories. If he stayed until about 1984, he might be more highly revered for turning around NBC.

For what its worth, Fred had a lot more success with developing the Perry Mason TV movies, Matlock and In the Heat of the Night, among other shows during the mid-80s.

he almost canceled Wheel Of Fortune: in fact it was carried through to the point of Wheel taping a series finale for August 1 and Charlie O Donnell leaving the show and them bringing in Jack Clark

Thanks to him, there was a wonderful medical documentary series called Lifeline.
Cameras would follow doctors around, talking to their patients, in the operating room, and so on. Wasn't on long (Sept. to Dec. 1978), but at least he gave it a chance.

He really gave Grant Tinker a free pass. Had Silverman stayed, he probably would have had just as much success as Tinker, if not more!! And, he needs to be given credit for resurrecting the peacock. Tinker took the logo and said, "this is great, let's use it." Otherwise, he probably would have kept that ugly "N". It looked much better with the peacock superimposed over it.

From the NBC schedules I have seen on Wikipedia, during Silverman tenure, I didn't see too many shows that I would watch except Little House, Facts of Life and Different Strokes.

As he has stated vigorously in the past, he really had to start from the ground up there at NBC. Different Strokes was his creation, as was Facts of Life. That built a ground work for later shows but it took a while for him to be able to get solid writers and producers who would trust working at NBC. During his days at CBS and ABC, there was more in place for him to work with.

Little House on the Prairie and even Quincy was there before him. But, very little to work with and I think he had to spar with Paul Klein who did not share a similar theory of programming. Klein should have probably been removed right away once Silverman came in, and there might have been a quicker turnaround.

As he has stated vigorously in the past, he really had to start from the ground up there at NBC. Different Strokes was his creation, as was Facts of Life. That built a ground work for later shows but it took a while for him to be able to get solid writers and producers who would trust working at NBC. During his days at CBS and ABC, there was more in place for him to work with.

Little House on the Prairie and even Quincy was there before him. But, very little to work with and I think he had to spar with Paul Klein who did not share a similar theory of programming. Klein should have probably been removed right away once Silverman came in, and there might have been a quicker turnaround.

Yeah, a quicker turnaround and probably the mass extinction of daytime game shows as we know it. Honestly, the network ratings struggles were practically the only thing keeping Silverman's anti game show crusade in check.

he almost canceled Wheel Of Fortune: in fact it was carried through to the point of Wheel taping a series finale for August 1 and Charlie O Donnell leaving the show and them bringing in Jack Clark

Not to mention vetoing Merv Griffin's choice to succeed Chuck Woolery as the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak. It was only because of Grant Tinker's arrival that Sajak was permitted to host. Of course, Tinker had been a close ally of the Wheel staff, and Griffin in particular, since his days as an NBC junior assistant in the mid-1960's, when he persuaded Mort Werner, NBC's senior vice president of programming and talent, to green light Griffin's other best known creation, Jeopardy!.

Not to mention vetoing Merv Griffin's choice to succeed Chuck Woolery as the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak. It was only because of Grant Tinker's arrival that Sajak was permitted to host. Of course, Tinker had been a close ally of the Wheel staff, and Griffin in particular, since his days as an NBC junior assistant in the mid-1960's, when he persuaded Mort Werner, NBC's senior vice president of programming and talent, to green light Griffin's other best known creation, Jeopardy!.

Tinker had it easy. Silverman set the groundwork by bringing back the Wheel of Fortune I doubt Tinker would have even thought to do that. He got much more credit than he deserved. Took advantage of a good situation. If he had been there during 78-81 (instead of Silverman), I doubt there would have even been as much "success". Probably worse...Tinker had success but he really didn't have much to do with it.

And, as we learned after he left, he didn't have much a philosophy. Bob Wright saved NBC from once again going down. Had Silverman stayed, I bet he would have been even more successful than Tinker. He just needed more time. Imagine taking over a near bankrupt company? You'd be throwing out most of the geriatric game shows too.

Yeah, a quicker turnaround and probably the mass extinction of daytime game shows as we know it. Honestly, the network ratings struggles were practically the only thing keeping Silverman's anti game show crusade in check.

Nonsense. Those shows were horrible and he had to clean house to get fresh shows in place. This whole thing about him being "Anti-game show" is a big conspiracy. NBC was near bankruptcy and he needed to save dough. It wasn't easy like he'd had it at ABC and CBS.

Nonsense. Those shows were horrible and he had to clean house to get fresh shows in place. This whole thing about him being "Anti-game show" is a big conspiracy. NBC was near bankruptcy and he needed to save dough. It wasn't easy like he'd had it at ABC and CBS.
Based on his tenures at ABC and NBC I would say the label of Silverman being anti-game show was strongly unwarranted. It should be noted that after the Daytime Letterman show flopped game shows returned to the schedule. If Silverman really hated game shows he wouldn't have brought them back. Plus, it should be noted each network's wiping of game shows stopped while they were under Silverman's tenure.

Based on his tenures at ABC and NBC I would say the label of Silverman being anti-game show was strongly unwarranted. It should be noted that after the Daytime Letterman show flopped game shows returned to the schedule. If Silverman really hated game shows he wouldn't have brought them back. Plus, it should be noted each network's wiping of game shows stopped while they were under Silverman's tenure.

Exactly, and I agree wholeheartedly. (As seen in my reply above).
Finally! Someone with some common sense and reason!!

He did a lot for NBC in terms of laying the groundwork. If he'd been there another 2 years or so, he would have been miles ahead of Tinker's "success" from 1985..much sooner than that.

Silverman's biggest contribution was probably bringing back the peacock.
He laid the foundation for:
-Hill Street Blues
-Cheers
-Got Different Strokes and Facts of Life on the air
-Real People (number 1 show in the country)
-Barbara Mandrell and her Sisters...was a big hit
-Gimme a Break..got the deal for it before Tinker came in...
-Wanted to bring General Hospital over to NBC but couldn't get it done. Imagine what that would have done?
-Laid the foundation for Family Ties

Clearly, Tinker came in and figured he had connections with all these shows and could simply just deal with it from and MTM standpoint. Tartikoff (Silverman's protege) is the one who really deserves the credit. Warren Littlefield as well..

Tinker had it easy. Silverman set the groundwork by bringing back the Wheel of Fortune I doubt Tinker would have even thought to do that. He got much more credit than he deserved. Took advantage of a good situation. If he had been there during 78-81 (instead of Silverman), I doubt there would have even been as much "success". Probably worse...Tinker had success but he really didn't have much to do with it.

And, as we learned after he left, he didn't have much a philosophy. Bob Wright saved NBC from once again going down. Had Silverman stayed, I bet he would have been even more successful than Tinker. He just needed more time. Imagine taking over a near bankrupt company? You'd be throwing out most of the geriatric game shows too.

Uh, I don't understand what you mean by geriatric game shows. Can you please explain what you mean by that?

Tinker had it easy. Silverman set the groundwork by bringing back the Wheel of Fortune I doubt Tinker would have even thought to do that. He got much more credit than he deserved. Took advantage of a good situation. If he had been there during 78-81 (instead of Silverman), I doubt there would have even been as much "success". Probably worse...Tinker had success but he really didn't have much to do with it.

And, as we learned after he left, he didn't have much a philosophy. Bob Wright saved NBC from once again going down. Had Silverman stayed, I bet he would have been even more successful than Tinker. He just needed more time. Imagine taking over a near bankrupt company? You'd be throwing out most of the geriatric game shows too.

He should have just left Wheel alone in the first place.

He should have just left Wheel alone in the first place.

Right...tell that to Pat Sajak and Vanna White.

But, seriously folks...

Silverman should have been given a 10 year contract for NBC.
How can you fix (not only the television) but the radio affiliates of NBC in 2 or 3 years?

Just the fact that he had to resurrect the peacock says a lot, and took a lot of heat from the old timers at NBC.

Tinker would have never done that..he would have been gone faster than Silverman. Tinker was like a baseball manager with great players. They go into a situation knowing who they have, and that they won't have to do much to make it great. That's why he left later on when he did. NBC hit a low point again, and he knew it wouldn't make him look good. Oh well...

So much for Silverman having set the table for him....
Had Silverman gotten rid of Paul Klein earlier, then NBC would have made quicker strides.

Uh, I don't understand what you mean by geriatric game shows. Can you please explain what you mean by that?

Old and out dated games...I agree with his move and sometimes, as a leader, you have to make unpopular moves in order to get ahead. Had the game shows remained, NBC would have gone bankrupt.

Old and out dated games...I agree with his move and sometimes, as a leader, you have to make unpopular moves in order to get ahead. Had the game shows remained, NBC would have gone bankrupt.

I'd hardly call the three game shows Silverman removed for The David Letterman Show to be old and out dated. The Hollywood Squares was still getting good ratings, and High Rollers and Chain Reaction were still relatively new.

I'd hardly call the three game shows Silverman removed for The David Letterman Show to be old and out dated. The Hollywood Squares was still getting good ratings, and High Rollers and Chain Reaction were still relatively new.

Not in the slightest..those were shows with potential that needed a LOT of improvement. You can't blame him for adding the comedy side of things. NBC needed to tape back into their comedy side of things such as what they had in the 50's. It hadn't been there in years, and he was right for making the move.

Most importantly, had NBC kept those shows, it would have gone bankrupt thanks to Supertrain. They needed to go el cheapo and take several years to build up their bankroll again. It wasn't until Family Ties and the A-Team came on that it began to improve. Had Silverman been there at the time, he would have probably doubled that improvement. He had much to do for setting the table for Tinker. Including hiring Brandon Tartikoff and various other people who made NBC great in the 80's, and later the 90's.

Exactly, and I agree wholeheartedly. (As seen in my reply above).
Finally! Someone with some common sense and reason!!

He did a lot for NBC in terms of laying the groundwork. If he'd been there another 2 years or so, he would have been miles ahead of Tinker's "success" from 1985..much sooner than that.

Silverman's biggest contribution was probably bringing back the peacock.
He laid the foundation for:
-Hill Street Blues
-Cheers
-Got Different Strokes and Facts of Life on the air
-Real People (number 1 show in the country)
-Barbara Mandrell and her Sisters...was a big hit
-Gimme a Break..got the deal for it before Tinker came in...
-Wanted to bring General Hospital over to NBC but couldn't get it done. Imagine what that would have done?
-Laid the foundation for Family Ties

Clearly, Tinker came in and figured he had connections with all these shows and could simply just deal with it from and MTM standpoint. Tartikoff (Silverman's protege) is the one who really deserves the credit. Warren Littlefield as well..
imagaine if NBC had not only Sale Of The Century and Wheel Of Fortune but what if Sliverman had gotten General Hospital over to NBC? they might have given ABC a big headache thats for sure!

Not in the slightest..those were shows with potential that needed a LOT of improvement. You can't blame him for adding the comedy side of things. NBC needed to tape back into their comedy side of things such as what they had in the 50's. It hadn't been there in years, and he was right for making the move.

Most importantly, had NBC kept those shows, it would have gone bankrupt thanks to Supertrain. They needed to go el cheapo and take several years to build up their bankroll again. It wasn't until Family Ties and the A-Team came on that it began to improve. Had Silverman been there at the time, he would have probably doubled that improvement. He had much to do for setting the table for Tinker. Including hiring Brandon Tartikoff and various other people who made NBC great in the 80's, and later the 90's.

Oh, please. Everybody knows that game shows are always much cheaper to make than scripted shows.

Oh, please. Everybody knows that game shows are always much cheaper to make than scripted shows.

And your point is??

And your point is??

That he should have left them alone instead of screwing them over, if he really wanted to save the network.

Barbra Mandrell was a fun show.

Barbra Mandrell was a fun show.

Yes, it was, as was "Real People" and "Gimme a Break". Those shows were the beginning of a renaissance for NBC. Once Family Ties came around, it all starting coming together with the foundation that Silverman laid down...not sure why he is seen as having done nothing. It's simply not true!!

And, I'm not even touching the last response about the game shows.
Very ignorant response as NBC was in a heap of trouble.
Seriously, get your facts straight....

Not to mention vetoing Merv Griffin's choice to succeed Chuck Woolery as the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak. It was only because of Grant Tinker's arrival that Sajak was permitted to host. Of course, Tinker had been a close ally of the Wheel staff, and Griffin in particular, since his days as an NBC junior assistant in the mid-1960's, when he persuaded Mort Werner, NBC's senior vice president of programming and talent, to green light Griffin's other best known creation, Jeopardy!.

If Gen. David Sarnoff was around then, he'd likely object to Sliverman's decision to veto Merv Griffin's choice to succeed Chuck Woolery as the host of Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak. in fact, he'd likely go against Fred Sliverman, meaning that Letterman would have been in late night to begin with. Would he have canceled The Doctors, given that most stations were airing local news at noon?

I may not understand completely, but I think Silverman inherited a mess at NBC, and NBC was a real low rated network back in the 1970's, NBC was a joke, and even Johnny Carson would make fun of NBC all the time. So probably Silverman took over a complete mess and he did what he did which thought would work, and as the OP stated, Silverman seemed to lay the groundwork for NBC getting back to Number One in the 1980's and 1990's. There were a lot of good NBC shows then. Real People comes to mind. Then the wonderful Hill Street Blues and St Elsewhere.

I think most of the negativity to Silverman was the show Supertrain, which is probably the worst TV show ever made, which cost the network a huge bundle. This show was so bad that again, Carson would make fun of it.

Probably Silverman was like the college football coach that takes a 0-11 team and makes then a 5-6 team but still gets fired for not producing a winning record, and the next guy comes in and the team goes 9-2 and then 11-0 and takes all the glory. Happens a lot.

He really gave Grant Tinker a free pass. Had Silverman stayed, he probably would have had just as much success as Tinker, if not more!! And, he needs to be given credit for resurrecting the peacock. Tinker took the logo and said, "this is great, let's use it." Otherwise, he probably would have kept that ugly "N". It looked much better with the peacock superimposed over it.

It certainly did, especially for NBC Sports (like with this example from 1984, stadium banner on a broadcast of the Bengals against the 49ers from Candlestick Park in San Francisco [captured from YouTube clip of that broadcast; clip may no longer exist]):

Tinker had it easy. Silverman set the groundwork by bringing back the Wheel of Fortune I doubt Tinker would have even thought to do that. He got much more credit than he deserved. Took advantage of a good situation. If he had been there during 78-81 (instead of Silverman), I doubt there would have even been as much "success". Probably worse...Tinker had success but he really didn't have much to do with it.

And, as we learned after he left, he didn't have much a philosophy. Bob Wright saved NBC from once again going down. Had Silverman stayed, I bet he would have been even more successful than Tinker. He just needed more time. Imagine taking over a near bankrupt company? You'd be throwing out most of the geriatric game shows too.

It was when Sliverman(and the affiliates) found out quickly that Letterman ddin't fit the morning schedule, he very quickly kept Wheel, and to get the affiliates back, he got Blockbusters with Bill Cullen into production.

Actually before that, he had issues with the 10am timeslot, because that slot was frequently pre-empted in medium-large markets for "Donahue" and since Phil was still pretty big at the time. But Fred should have kept both Card Sharks and Hollywood Squares in place, and to allow those stations to air "Donahue" maybe change the Today Show feeds to where the Midwest and West stations could take Today live at 6am, then Phil Donahue at 8am.(that would have solved the problem.)

The issues with Card Sharks and Hollywood Squares wasn't that they weren't ratings winners(against sitcom reruns on CBS and local programming (a movie, I think) on ABC.) Fred could have, based on the competition decided the best way would be to keep both. Meanwhile, CBS which is eager to get into the late night game, signs Letterman, and he begins to cut into Carson's audience and NBC likely regrets letting him go.

The issues with Card Sharks and Hollywood Squares wasn't that they weren't ratings winners(against sitcom reruns on CBS and local programming (a movie, I think) on ABC.) Fred could have, based on the competition decided the best way would be to keep both. Meanwhile, ABC which is eager to get into the late night game, signs Letterman, and he begins to cut into Carson's audience and NBC likely regrets letting him go.

(wonders whether "CBS" was intended for the part of the message I had embolden rather than "ABC" or not)

I may not understand completely, but I think Silverman inherited a mess at NBC, and NBC was a real low rated network back in the 1970's, NBC was a joke, and even Johnny Carson would make fun of NBC all the time. So probably Silverman took over a complete mess and he did what he did which thought would work, and as the OP stated, Silverman seemed to lay the groundwork for NBC getting back to Number One in the 1980's and 1990's. There were a lot of good NBC shows then. Real People comes to mind. Then the wonderful Hill Street Blues and St Elsewhere.

I think most of the negativity to Silverman was the show Supertrain, which is probably the worst TV show ever made, which cost the network a huge bundle. This show was so bad that again, Carson would make fun of it.

Probably Silverman was like the college football coach that takes a 0-11 team and makes then a 5-6 team but still gets fired for not producing a winning record, and the next guy comes in and the team goes 9-2 and then 11-0 and takes all the glory. Happens a lot.

I wonder if their situation played the part in trying to keep Sanford & Son on when Foxx & Wilson left calling it "Sanford Arms?"

Let’s not forget the huge amount of money NBC spent getting the rights to broadcast the 1980 Summer Olympics, only for it to be flushed down the toilet when President Carter decided to boycott the games. That wasn’t Silverman’s fault.

Who said it was?

Tinker had it easy. Silverman set the groundwork by bringing back the Wheel of Fortune I doubt Tinker would have even thought to do that. He got much more credit than he deserved. Took advantage of a good situation. If he had been there during 78-81 (instead of Silverman), I doubt there would have even been as much "success". Probably worse...Tinker had success but he really didn't have much to do with it.

And, as we learned after he left, he didn't have much a philosophy. Bob Wright saved NBC from once again going down. Had Silverman stayed, I bet he would have been even more successful than Tinker. He just needed more time. Imagine taking over a near bankrupt company? You'd be throwing out most of the geriatric game shows too.

NBC needed to refresh their daytime schedule. Silverman's biggest problem wasn't Letterman, it was the overlong Another World (which was 90
minutes at the time:crazy:, because NBC couldn't find anything better to put on -- by their own admission!:o). Fred realized that having a soap for 90 minutes a day was a bad idea.

I remember watching the David Letterman morning show on NBC and absolutely hating it. One of the first things he mentioned after appearing on the screen for the first time was how happy he was that NBC had to cancel 3 game shows to put him on the air. (They were great game shows, too! Card Sharks, High Rollers, and Hollywood Squares!) I have refused to watch him on TV ever since, preferring Jay Leno instead, and making no apologies for it! Even Conan can't compare to Leno and he wasn't even half as good as Letterman.


While it's true that "Supertrain" was also an awful show and is seen as one of the biggest bombs of all time, it wasn't the only huge mistake that Silverman made that brought about his downfall. At the same time, NBC also had a variety show called "Pink Lady and Jeff" which he hoped would become a hit like "Donny & Marie" was for ABC when he was there. It turned out to be anything but. It starred comic Jeff Altman, who later found steady work as a director for shows like "Night Court". His two co-stars were the real problem. They were 2 Asian-American girls who called themselves "Pink Lady" and spoke almost no English. Their singing was laughable at best and largely forgettable (like about 90% of what you hear today). From the beginning, the show was a disaster and lasted only 5 episodes. Taken on its own, you can dismiss it as a fluke and an unfortunate mistake. But when you have 2 nuclear failures on the same network in the same year, that reflects badly on the network as a whole and more specifically on the man running it at the top who happened to be Fred Silverman. That's what did him in more than anything. You can commend him and applaud him for bringing "Family Ties" and "Cheers" to NBC, but those 2 great shows weren't enough to save his reputation which by this time had been horribly damaged by both of his "Super" bombs!

One argument that I heard after Silverman passed away, was that by the time that he got to NBC in 1978, he was basically competing with himself and the shows that he greenlight over at ABC. Plus, CBS arguably figured out how to do lowest-common-denominator type of TV (Dallas, Dukes of Hazzard, Incredible Hulk, etc.) even better than he did. He had no where to go but down.

One argument that I heard after Silverman passed away, was that by the time that he got to NBC in 1978, he was basically competing with himself and the shows that he greenlight over at ABC. Plus, CBS arguably figured out how to do lowest-common-denominator type of TV (Dallas, Dukes of Hazzard, Incredible Hulk, etc.) even better than he did. He had no where to go but down.

Then ABC came along with TGIF and took lowest-common-denominator TV as low as it can get and all of the networks have struggled to raise the bar higher ever since. So that's another thing you can blame him for.

Then ABC came along with TGIF and took lowest-common-denominator TV as low as it can get and all of the networks have struggled to raise the bar higher ever since. So that's another thing you can blame him for.TGIF had good shows: Mr. Belvedere, Sister Sister, and the early seasons of Boy Meets World and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Family Matters started out good but got too focused on Urkel. What is lowest common denominator TV is all the reality garbage that became popular after Survivor hit. Survivor is to blame for reality going from occasional filler to a disease that will never go away now. Comedies started going down on the family comedy side when Home Improvement ended, and overall comedy went down when high class shows like Frasier ended, with garbage like Two and a Half Men becoming popular instead.

Tinker had it easy. Silverman set the groundwork by bringing back the Wheel of Fortune I doubt Tinker would have even thought to do that. He got much more credit than he deserved. Took advantage of a good situation. If he had been there during 78-81 (instead of Silverman), I doubt there would have even been as much "success". Probably worse...Tinker had success but he really didn't have much to do with it.

And, as we learned after he left, he didn't have much a philosophy. Bob Wright saved NBC from once again going down. Had Silverman stayed, I bet he would have been even more successful than Tinker. He just needed more time. Imagine taking over a near bankrupt company? You'd be throwing out most of the geriatric game shows too.

One of three things happens....
1. Carson leaves the Tonight Show, NBC keeps The Hollywood Squares, Chain Reaction and High Rollers, and Letterman takes over The Tonight Show.

2. Letterman gets the 90 minute show, NBC keeps Chain Reaction(but moves it away from the noon timeslot because many NBC stations in recent years had taken to sacrificing the network show in that slot in favor of a local newscast) and cancels Hollywood Squares and The Doctors(soap opera).

3. Letterman agrees to do just a 60 minute show, NBC cancels The Doctors(soap) and moves Chain Reaction to that slot.

But would he be that stupid to put a game show on before Another World? That breaks up the soap lineup.

The result though is, Letterman has a long run hosting The Tonight Show, the three game shows last a little longer, and NBC doesn't need to make too many changes to their daytime schedule.

The result though is, Letterman has a long run hosting The Tonight Show, the three game shows last a little longer, and NBC doesn't need to make too many changes to their daytime schedule.I am glad Letterman didn't get the Tonight Show. Jay rules, Dave drools. Dave isn't worthy of licking Jay's boots.

Not quite...according to his interview with Archive of American Television, the idea for the show was pitched to him and he wanted to do "Hitchcock on a train". But, according to Silverman, the guy running the show felt it was best to just throw money at it and hope for the best.

Grant Tinker got a lot of credit for Silverman's work. But, really, as Silverman said, when Tinker got in the door, the network was only 2 or 3 shows away from success and Silverman knew it. Tinker didn't feel that the network was going to make it but did it for the money, basically. He was lucky that he got there with good people and left when he figured it was best to leave when the gettin' was good. He wasn't stupid enough to go into a bad situation with no hope. Tinker said in his interview with AoAT, that it was bad when he got there but that he felt he knew the people enough beforehand to make it happen. Basically, he got lucky...Silverman was scrappy and made Tinker's life easy.


Actually, Tinker was reluctant to take the job at first. If you read his memoirs. When the head of RCA asked him to be chairman he was reluctant to at first. He did not want to move to New York because he hated it and Bradshaw offered to move the company out west to accommodate him and Tinker informed him that was inpossible.

One of three things happens....
1. Carson leaves the Tonight Show, NBC keeps The Hollywood Squares, Chain Reaction and High Rollers, and Letterman takes over The Tonight Show.

2. Letterman gets the 90 minute show, NBC keeps Chain Reaction(but moves it away from the noon timeslot because many NBC stations in recent years had taken to sacrificing the network show in that slot in favor of a local newscast) and cancels Hollywood Squares and The Doctors(soap opera).

3. Letterman agrees to do just a 60 minute show, NBC cancels The Doctors(soap) and moves Chain Reaction to that slot.

But would he be that stupid to put a game show on before Another World? That breaks up the soap lineup.

Carson was in talks to.move to ABC during that time and I think Fred was grooming Dave as a successor for Johnny.

Carson was in talks to.move to ABC during that time and I think Fred was grooming Dave as a successor for Johnny.

Didn't know that. If that happens it makes NBC's daytime and late night schedules look different.

It certainly did, especially for NBC Sports (like with this example from 1984, stadium banner on a broadcast of the Bengals against the 49ers from Candlestick Park in San Francisco [captured from YouTube clip of that broadcast; clip may no longer exist]):



Now I like that logo better than I do the current 6-feather one

Now I like that logo better than I do the current 6-feather one

Didn't know the feeling was mutual on that score! Why do you feel that way?

Didn't know the feeling was mutual on that score! Why do you feel that way?


I am a sucker for anything 80s

I am a sucker for anything 80s

You and I both (and 70s and 60s, and some 50s).

Carson was in talks to.move to ABC during that time and I think Fred was grooming Dave as a successor for Johnny.

I'd agree here if Johnny bolted to ABC, Dave would be his replacement.

The other thing is would be Dave's announcer-sidekick? Would they ask Doc to stay and be Dave's sidekick while also leading the band?

I am a sucker for anything 80s

Me too.

Now in the 2020’s, we live in a new reality of television with so many networks, many of them subscription style networks like Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Apple, Paramount, and many others. The networks have had to up their game to compete with everyone. More or less now is a Golden Age of television. So many original scripts, so many choices, watch what you want to watch when you want to. I don’t think anyone can really argue this is a dream decades in the making.

But back to the dinosaur age between 1950-2000. CBS was the best network. I say this because it just completely dominated the ratings really this whole span of time above with some exceptions. Look at the Neilson ratings in the 1960’s. CBS ruled the 1960’s. We can say that this was 55 to 60 years ago but CBS was so dominant, and made so much money in that decade and even into the 1970’s that it was all bank and the other networks could barely compete. It was almost all CBS. Even into the 1970’s, CBS. CBS like all companies would have downturns and ABC or NBC would take over for a bit but CBS was always the network to beat. NBC had a great run in the 1980’s for a bit and was the number one network. ABC was number one in the 1970’s and I think early 00’s. But it was because they beat CBS.

Even now, while no longer King, CBS is still a strong force. I don’t know but why hasn’t CBS (unless they have) have their own version of Peacock? But I have read and maybe wrongly that Peacock isn’t a bonanza that NBC thought it would be. Dunno. Hell, just have CBS come out with a mobile application just for their 1960’s collection.