Mar 31 2008
Does Ben Silverman want you to tune out mentally?
From today’s Variety:
“As for the tone of NBC’s programming, Graboff said blue-sky fare makes sense right now.
“People need to escape. Ben’s programming strategy is to find some shows where people can tune in and then mentally tune out. That’s his directive, and I think you’ll see that reflected in the programs.”…”
So NBC entertainment prez Ben Silverman–at least as interpreted by his employee quoted above–wants you to “tune out mentally” when you watch NBC. This is doubtless why he’s green-lit that horrible remake of the dreadful show “Knight Rider” as a regular series. And, for that matter, why NBC airs “Deal or No Deal” whenever it possibly can.
This does not bode well for NBC shows that require mental tune-in, such as “30 Rock” and “Friday Night Lights,” but the same Variety report also said that “FNL” has a good shot at renewal.
Me, I think Silverman may be underrated thus far. Sure, he programs some crap, who doesn’t? But he’s also the man whose production company brought us the American version of “The Office.” Like every network exec, he’s in it for both the bucks and the glory, and it’s that mixture of both (never underestimate how much public praise, even from the journalists many of his breed profess to ignore or despise, means to these folks) that will likely prevent NBC from becoming the No-brain Broadcasting Company. Silverman seems savvy. If by “tuning out” he also means “passing on pretentious ‘dark’ projects from writers who wish they could make edgy-cable-shows for network-salaries,” and as long as some of that “blue-sky fare” is as bright as, say, NBC’s own “Life,” I say, let’s see what Silverman has up his crisp white-shirt sleeve.