Fred Silverman(1937-2020)
- Producer
- Writer
- Executive
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 erosion
of the prior 5 years with new programs such as
Diff'rent Strokes (1978),
Real People (1979) and
Hill Street Blues (1981).
During his tenure, he made program commitments that led to
St. Elsewhere (1982) and
Cheers (1982), promoted
Brandon Tartikoff to President of
Entertainment and laid the groundwork for NBC's turnaround in the 80s.
Management changes at parent RCA led to Silverman's departure in June,
1981 and his replacement by Grant Tinker.
Silverman formed "The Fred Silverman Company" and became an independent
producer. Among his successes were "Perry Mason Movies",
Matlock (1986),
In the Heat of the Night (1988),
Jake and the Fatman (1987)
and Diagnosis Murder (1993).
Silverman remains in the independent production business and also does
program consulting.
