Fred silverman nbc biography

Fred Silverman was born in 1937, and quickly grew up into the television business. After starting out in the mail-room of ABC-TV in the late 1950s, he rose to director of program development at WGN-TV, Chicago in the early '60s. One day, he abandoned his car during a snowstorm and boarded a plane for New York, where he gained a position as head of Daytime Programming at CBS-TV. In 1970, he became the programming head of CBS, where he programmed such hits as The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), All in the Family (1971), M*A*S*H (1972), The Jeffersons (1975), Kojak (1973) and The Sonny and Cher Show (1976). In 1975, he left for ABC-TV, where he worked closely with Michael Eisner and Brandon Tartikoff. He developed such new hits as Laverne & Shirley (1976), The Love Boat (1977), Donny and Marie (1975) and Soap (1977). By the end of the 1977-8 season, ABC was number one, Daytime and Nigttime. In 1978, he joined NBC as President and CEO. His presence helped stem the audience er

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Silverman, Fred

BORN: September 13, 1937 • New York, New York

American television producer

Television executive Fred Silverman is the only person ever to have held top programming positions at all three major American television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). His prominent role in developing prime-time TV content made him a very influential figure in the broadcast industry. Among his many innovations, Silverman is known for introducing the program format known as jiggle TV during the 1970s, when he produced a number of shows that featured beautiful women in skimpy clothing. Although many of these shows enjoyed great popularity, they also generated controversy among critics, who complained that the shows exploited women and promoted immoral behavior. In his later career, Silverman became an independent television producer and served as a programming consultant for ABC.

"I think that the most distinguished series programming has been in the hour form … I just don't think tha

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Fred Silverman

American television executive (1937–2020)

Fred Silverman (September 13, 1937 – January 30, 2020) was an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at all of the Big Three television networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (the original incarnation of the Scooby-Doo franchise, 1969–1970), All in the Family (1971–1979), The Waltons (1972–1981), and Charlie's Angels (1976–1981), as well as the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), Roots (1977), and Shōgun (1980). For his success in programming such successful shows, Time magazine declared him "The Man with the Golden Gut" in 1977.^[1]

Biography

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Early life and career

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Silverman was born in New York City, the son of Mildred, a homemaker, and William Silverman, a radio and television service repairman.^[2] His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic.^[3] He grew u