Nina Tassler, Ben Silverman
CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler has outlasted NBC's Ben Silverman at the top of a network — and she isn't above a little gloating.
Silverman, the departing co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, once said that other network executives were "basically D-girls" — industry slang for young, attractive female development executives with little pull.
Give us your TCA questions
Tassler was asked during a panel at the Television Critics Association's fall press tour Monday what she thought about Silverman's departure, and quipped, "I'm really just a D-girl, so I wouldn't comment."
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Ben Silverman
Ben Silverman is vacating his position as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, after two-plus years on the job.
Silverman will remain on board for several weeks to assist in the launch of fourth-place NBC's fall schedule, the network said in a news release. Jeff Gaspin, president and CEO of the NBC Universal Television Entertainment, has been promoted to chairman (where he will report to NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker), effective immediately.
In the news: Ben Silverman celebrates NBC's 67 Emmy nods
As a founder of the Reveille production house, Silverman executive-produced such hits as The Office, Ugly Betty and The Biggest Loser. He also is credited with helping save the critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights ...
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NBC's 30 Rock collected 22 Emmy nominations, the most of any series.
A funny thing happened when the nominations were announced for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards: NBC came away as the most recognized of the broadcast networks, with 67 total nods.
Yes, NBC — the subject of so much ribbing about waning ratings, omnipresent reality programming and Leno-verdosing.
"It's exciting to get so many nominations and be so recognized," Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, tells TVGuide.com. "Across the board, it was a great day." Silverman himself even scored a nod, as an executive producer of The Office.
See the full list of Emmy nominees
Surveying NBC's embarrassment of Emmy riches, Silverman lauds 30 Rock's 22 nominations ...
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Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski
NBC's entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman left the options wide open for Chuck's future during the network's presentation of its fall lineup — indicating that...
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MacGruber/Pepsi Ad
NBC entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman is pursuing other partnerships like the one that turned a recurring Saturday Night Live character into a Super Bowl pitchman for Pepsi.
Of detractors who claim the Peacock blurred the line between programming and advertising with such a deal, Silverman contends, "Those are the same people who will be out of business" if they do not adapt during this difficult economy. He also tells TVGuide.com that NBC is in talks with other potential partners about "finding [similar] ways to use our entertainment vehicles to help their brands."
The spots, which premiered on the eve of the Super Bowl (during SNL commercial breaks), show Will Forte's MacGruber ...
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Question: I am tired of the networks saying they are revolutionizing the way they schedule programming, only to present a conventional fall/midseason schedule. The latest culprit was NBC, home of all things 1980s. After pledging year-round launches of shows, the network outlined a schedule that includes a traditional fall start, a midseason slate and a schedule for Summer 2009. Forgetting the fact that projecting a summer schedule for next summer is most likely a joke at this point, doesn't this just seem like a huge waste of time? I understand they want to connect with advertisers, hence the abandonment of the traditional upfront, but I just wish they wouldn't insult our collective intelligence by promising groundbreaking new schedules when all they offer is one exactly like they did last fall.
Answer: I agree it did all seem a bit of a smokescreen to hide the fact that NBC's programming itself isn't giving us much to be excited about. This year-round model isn't all tha ...
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Friday Night Lights by Bill Records/NBC Photo
Grain-(or pillar)-of-salt time. NBC has decided to do what they call an “in-front” presentation, a way-earlier-than-upfront-week announcement of next season’s year-round strategy, which includes lineups for fall, winter and as far ahead as next summer. (As one reporter on a conference call pointed out, those with not-so-long memories can remember how well this strategy worked out for Fox a few years back.) Still, even if we can be reasonably certain that the best-laid plans of mice and Ben (Silverman) will undergo significant adjustments along the way, there’s quite a bit to chew on here. For a full rundown of NBC’s 2008-09 game plan, start here.First off, glee all around that Friday Night Lights lives on, with a 13-episode third season to premiere on NBC next winter (back on Fridays), following an exclusive run on DirectTV that begins in October. Ben Silverman says only about 10-15 percent of NBC’s audience subscribes to the service, as opposed to the ...
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Question: In regard to DJ's recent question: I am not against retooling old shows and trying to make them new again, but shouldn't Bionic Woman have made NBC want to shy away from this concept rather than embrace it so wholeheartedly? It seems like Ben Silverman doesn't support any show that is unique or different but wants to go back to the yesteryear of television. But then I also wonder why he's picking such average shows to retool — why not show support for the original programming already on his network (of course I am referring to Friday Night Lights) or take a cue from NBC's sister networks? I've often noticed how similar Monk and Psych are, including similar storylines (actor killed with real knife they thought was a prop knife, for example), but each show has such a unique and interesting voice that it make both of them big successes and draws people in. I worry that by taking shows that have already been done, he's trying to capture a voice that no longer resonates with ...
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Question: I see the latest report that a Robinson Crusoe TV series is in the works at NBC after Ben Silverman (grr) had a "brainstorming session" asking for the greatest stories of all time and now they've ordered 13 episodes. This is why NBC got rid of pilots? So Silverman can continue ripping off other people's ideas? And the trades are reporting that series versions of David and Goliath and Jekyll and Hyde are also under consideration at the network. So my question is: Does NBC have any original programming coming up? Because the only shows I know of are the Kath & Kim remake, the Knight Rider remake, these retreads of the most overtold stories ever told and a second season of American Gladiators. Now that Silverman has been around for almost a year, I have to wonder, how long can this go on?
Answer: Now now. I've done my share of NBC bashing in recent times, and a network that celebrates the hollow ratings victories of junk like Knight Rider and camp like American Gladiators tends
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Question: I don't get why people like Mark are begrudging Isaiah Washington getting work. I am one of the gayest gay men you'll ever meet, and though I was really unhappy with the reports of what he said, I've also seen him apologize and do volunteer work in pro-gay PSAs. He seems sincere in his attempt at redemption, which is more than you can say for most celebrities involved in scandals of this sort. I have a big problem with him being let go from Grey's Anatomy. If they had fired him immediately, that would have made sense to me. But to fire him at the end of the season, after the effort he put into apologizing and making things right? That was nuts. Am I naive to think that Isaiah is getting another chance because Ben Silverman is listening to Washington's claims that his gay cast mate is fudging accounts of what happened? Help me understand: Why do so many folks not want to see him on TV anymore?
Answer: To be honest, I think what rattled so many cages was the speed with which
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