RIP Fred Silverman

The first TV programmer who actually made magazine covers. You may know him for "killing everything with a tree in it" at CBS in favor of All in The Family, Mary Tyler Moore, MASH, The Waltons, and their various spin-offs (which he gets a lot of credit for pushing) Or Scooby Doo (Freddy was named after him) or The Price is Right and Match Game. You may know him for "jiggle TV" with Charlies Angels, Three's Company and The Love Boat as well as Good Morning America, Roots etc. He "saved" Happy Days by pushing Fonzie to the forefront.
Of course, he apparently lost his touch at NBC and was gone within three years at the age of 45.

Fred Silverman Dead: Legendary TV Executive & Producer Was 82 – Deadline

 

ya think?

 

I would submit The Waltons had lots of trees in it.

But I'll grant you it was a rural drama that sort of bridged the gap between the "Beverly Hillbillies" and the more thoughtful Norman Lear sitcoms that followed closely.

 

That there are four of us (at this posting) who admit to remembering Pink Lady and Jeff is distributing

 

Five.

I liked Altman.

"Super Train" has be in the conversation as well.

 

What? He wasn’t gone by 1982. Right from the article:
He also produced two other dramas that starred former Eye Network series frontmen: the Carroll O’Connor-ledIn the Heat of the Night and Cannon star William Conrad’s Jake and the Fatman, from which Diagnosis Murder was spun off. Silverman also revived CBS’ Perry Mason as a TV movie series that again starred Raymond Burr. Paul Sorvino and later Hal Holbrook stepped into the lead of those telepics after Burr’s 1993 death.

not gonna lie, never heard of him. Slightly before my time of caring about such things as TV gurus, though I watched all his shows and enjoyed his jiggle efforts. Jaclyn Smith...god is definitely a man.

 

He was out at NBC in 1981 - replaced by Brandon Tartikoff.

 

Yeah but he wasn’t done. And damn it, use the reply button

 

Done being a programming exec. Sorry about the reply. I'm working on it. Honestly - part of it is not wanting to feel like I'm directing/targeting criticism at any particular member, but rather just wanting to add another ingredient into the convo.

 

Six.