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Author Topic: Fred Silverman  (Read 6672 times)

kurtinrod62

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Fred Silverman
« on: January 26, 2005, 03:06:23 PM »
Based on a lot of what I've read about Silverman and his axing of game shows during his stints at all three traditional networks, he must have had a dislike or aversion to the genre. Did he ever hate the genre?
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chris319

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2005, 05:18:02 PM »
When he came to NBC he started ordering game shows left and right after an aborted attempt to do away with game shows that revolved around a show called America Alive. NBC then became Goodson-Todman's best client.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2005, 05:21:12 PM by chris319 »
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The Ol' Guy

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2005, 05:24:18 PM »
For all the flack he gets for his ABC decisions, wasn't it the case that Fred had a lot to do with the CBS return to morning games in the 70s? His run there from 1963 to around 1975 included daytime projects.
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mystery7

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2005, 06:06:56 PM »
[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Jan 26 2005, 05:24 PM\']For all the flack he gets for his ABC decisions, wasn't it the case that Fred had a lot to do with the CBS return to morning games in the 70s? His run there from 1963 to around 1975 included daytime projects.
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But he was also the guy who killed Password while he was at CBS. He wanted desperately to do a soap called "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing". In order to get his wish for the show's success, he chose to put "Thing" on in Password's time slot.
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uncamark

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2005, 06:46:58 PM »
[quote name=\'mystery7\' date=\'Jan 26 2005, 06:06 PM\'][quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Jan 26 2005, 05:24 PM\']For all the flack he gets for his ABC decisions, wasn't it the case that Fred had a lot to do with the CBS return to morning games in the 70s? His run there from 1963 to around 1975 included daytime projects.
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But he was also the guy who killed Password while he was at CBS. He wanted desperately to do a soap called "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing". In order to get his wish for the show's success, he chose to put "Thing" on in Password's time slot.
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I don't have the ratings with me, but wasn't "Password" showing its age by then and getting killed by "TNG" over on ABC?
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zachhoran

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2005, 07:28:27 PM »
[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Jan 26 2005, 06:46 PM\']I don't have the ratings with me, but wasn't "Password" showing its age by then and getting killed by "TNG" over on ABC?
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Assuming the story from a few TV books is true, Bob McNamara's news conference's preemption of Password caused people to turn from CBS to ABC on the day the Newlywed Game premiered. That probably was the beginning of the end for Password.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2005, 08:39:31 PM by zachhoran »
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Robair

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2005, 07:38:56 PM »
[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Jan 26 2005, 05:24 PM\']For all the flack he gets for his ABC decisions, wasn't it the case that Fred had a lot to do with the CBS return to morning games in the 70s? His run there from 1963 to around 1975 included daytime projects.
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And while he was at CBS he had a killer Saturday Morning lineup, and he sure knew what he was doing there. He festooned his lineup with space shoot-em-ups like "Space Ghost and Dino Boy" and "The Herculoids", and when he caught some crap from pressure groups for those shows in 1968, he unleashed Scooby Doo and the Archies on the world, and those were even bigger hits.
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--Robair

tyshaun1

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2005, 07:39:59 PM »
[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Jan 26 2005, 07:28 PM\'][quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Jan 26 2005, 06:46 PM\']
I don't have the ratings with me, but wasn't "Password" showing its age by then and getting killed by "TNG" over on ABC?
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Bob McNamara's news conference's preemption of Password caused people to turn from CBS to ABC on the day the Newlywed Game premiered. That probably was the beginning of the end for Password.
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Right, and then I heard some guy on a NBC game show left the program a few years later.

Tyshaun
« Last Edit: January 26, 2005, 07:41:32 PM by tyshaun1 »
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thgames65

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2005, 07:57:10 PM »
Silverman was a co-executive producer of NBC's "Twenty-One" back in 2000.

Tim H.
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chris319

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2005, 01:26:25 AM »
Wasn't Silverman at ABC when they bought Family Feud?
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zachhoran

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2005, 08:11:59 AM »
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 27 2005, 01:26 AM\']Wasn't Silverman at ABC when they bought Family Feud?
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I believe so.
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14gameshows

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #11 on: January 27, 2005, 08:20:09 AM »
if possible, can someone retrace Mr. Silverman's steps when it comes to game shows in chronological order from when he was at ABC, CBS, and NBC.  I've always wanted to know about his love/hate for the genre.
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Ian Wallis

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2005, 08:54:09 AM »
Quote
For all the flack he gets for his ABC decisions, wasn't it the case that Fred had a lot to do with the CBS return to morning games in the 70s? His run there from 1963 to around 1975 included daytime projects.


Wasn't it a fellow named Bud Grant who was in charge of CBS daytime when the "Big 3" debuted in 1972?  I read that CBS was really losing ratings with the continuous sitcom reruns and needed to freshen up the schedule to remain competitive, and that's why they got back into games.
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Ian Wallis

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #13 on: January 27, 2005, 08:58:05 AM »
Quote
When he came to NBC he started ordering game shows left and right after an aborted attempt to do away with game shows that revolved around a show called America Alive.


"America Alive" was a live hour-long show that aired at noon in the summer of 1978.  It was partly responsible for the cancellation of "The Gong Show".  "AA" had a kick-ass theme song written by Don Costa, that I'd love to get a full copy of one day...(but that's another story).  When the show failed by January 1979, "Password Plus" and "All-Star Secrets" debuted on the NBC schedule.
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tyshaun1

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Fred Silverman
« Reply #14 on: January 27, 2005, 09:31:22 AM »
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 27 2005, 01:26 AM\']Wasn't Silverman at ABC when they bought Family Feud?
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Somewhere I remember hearing that Silverman said, "Family Feud was/is the greatest game show pilot that I have ever witnessed." So, I'd say yes.

Tyshaun
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