Word: silverman
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...reasons for the last-minute shuffle are not hard to guess. Stuck with weak programs chosen by the previous NBC regime, Silverman was headed for a third-place finish in September. Replacement series now in production will not be ready until January, when Silverman will have new-and no doubt better-material to choose from. He has ordered up roughly 40 pilots since taking over the network in June. In the meantime, explains Dancer Fitzgerald Sample's senior vice president Lou Dor kin, "Silverman has to work with what he's got. He has to stunt like crazy...
...fall series, by popping in and out of the schedule throughout September, will escape conclusive Nielsen verdicts for many weeks. This novel stalling tactic typifies Silverman's bold programming...
Though many of Silverman's interim shows sound tired (a two-part Rescue from Gilligan's Island), they may fare better than the lameduck series that they will preempt. Among them are such rock-bottom offerings as Sword of Justice (Sept. 10, 8 p.m. E.D.T.), a contemporary rehash of Zorro, and The Eddie Capra Mysteries (Sept. 8, 9 p.m.), yet another rip-off of Perry Mason. Though Grandpa Goes to Washington (Sept. 7, 9 p.m.) has Jack Albertson playing a U.S. Senator, it seems as old-hat as The Farmer's Daughter. NBC's principal...
...patients. Though marred by heavy-breathing narration and a worshipful view of American medicine, the first episode does present an affecting portrait of a surgeon at work. The show's closeup depiction of operations and lack of continuing characters ensure bad ratings, yet that didn't bother Silverman when he announced Lifeline last spring. "You've got to take chances," he told NBC's skeptical affiliates. "Lifeline could be the single show on any network this fall that changes the face of prime-time television...
Maybe so, but last week Silverman announced that this series too would do a vanishing act for a whole month after its premiere. If it returns, it will be in a new and tougher time slot (Sundays at 10 p.m.), when it will be opposite Kaz and ABC movies. Says one NBC insider: "Silverman has little hope for Lifeline; he's taking the coward's way of introducing a show." So much for taking chances...