Word: silvermans
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...become the dominant force in program selection and the largest segment of the audience-60%. How it is that in all the years this pattern has persisted no one thought to angle a few of these shoot-up shows toward women is one of TV's mysteries. But Silverman, who was placed in charge of daytime programming at CBS when he was just 25, learned at an impressionable age to cater to the ladies. Typically, each Angels episode makes sure at least one co-star strips down to a bikini in the first ten minutes, the better to keep...
...first was not very much, with the network rejecting the producers' first proposal (titled The Alley Cats). Later, they got a go-ahead on a revised proposal for a pilot from then ABC Vice President Michael Eisner. Still, the notion languished on the back burner until Fred Silverman (see box page 70) took over last year as president of ABC Entertainment. He was immediately attracted to the show and ordered Spelling-Goldberg to get cracking. They made a slick pilot, which won a place for the series on the fall schedule...
...Silverman had apparently divined a rising public interest in seeing women more prominently featured on TV. To be sure, NBC had spun Angie Dickinson's Police Woman out of its Police Story series two years ago and had done reasonably well with a show that portrayed a woman as brave and self-reliant. Then, of course, there was The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner. Silverman ordered her resurrected after she was erroneously bumped off at the end of a special appearance on The Six Million Dollar Man; a heart and a rather engaging spirit coexist with the electronic circuitry...
...Silverman likes to claim that during his five years as head of programming at CBS, he pioneered in giving women more starring roles in variety and dramatic shows. (They have always been prominent in sitcoms. Mary Tyler Moore is a realistic girl next door. Maude a tough neurotic, Laverne and Shirley cheerful bumblers.) But there is nothing altruistic about this; what interests Silverman is the "heavy viewer" of the medium. According to Ed Bleier, executive vice president for television at Warner Communications, such people are the ones "you have to reach out for if you want the ratings." He explains...
...starts a programming trend, as most industry sources think it will, very few imitators can expect to gain the same instant acceptance. Much of that was obtained by close attention to programming-sensible scheduling against the competition and sharp promotion. In these areas even his competitors agree that Fred Silverman is a master. Says Mike Dann, former CBS program chief: "He is compulsive about spots and ads. You can add 15 to 20 share points to a show by good promotion." Silverman is no less punctilious about the refinements of scheduling. Says Dann: "Before I saw Charlie's Angels...