(This is the eighth chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For previous chapters, scroll down under “stories.”)
For TV people, some lessons are learned, unlearned and learned anew.
Flash back to Pat Weaver, who ran NBC from 1953-55.
“Once you’ve chosen the creative people and put them to work, you leave them alone,” he wrote later. “You wouldn’t tell Milton Berle what jokes to use. You wouldn’t tell a producer like Fred Coe how to climax a dramatic story for ‘Television Playhouse.’ At least I never did.”
That’s the same notion Grant Tinker had during his two turns at NBC – first (1961-67) as West Coast programming chief, later (1981-86) as network president, propelling an era of “Cheers” (shown here), “L.A. Law” and more. “The mission,” Tinker wrote later, “was to get good producers and let them produce.”
In the in-between years, that mission vanished. Networks swarmed with bureaucracy, Tinker wrote, little of it helpful. “Heaven only knows how many potentially successful television shows have gone down the tubes because their producers were obliged to act on bad network advice.”
He had used his formula – hire clever people and leave them alone – to spark the first comedy gold. His MTM company produced “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and its spin-offs, plus the Bob Newhart and Tony Randall shows and “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Then came two changes:
— MTM showed it could also do great drama – first with “Lou Grant,” then with “Hill Street Blues.”
— At the same time, NBC was crumbling.
In the second half of the ‘70s, “Little House on the Prairie” was often the only NBC show (movies excluded) in the Nielsen top-30. In ‘78, the network hired Fred Silverman to fix things.
Silverman had already been dubbed by Time magazine as “the man with the golden gut.” As CBS’ programming chief (1970-75) he brought in the golden-age comedies – “All In the Family,” “Mary Tyler Moore,” “MASH,” more. At ABC (‘75 to ‘78), he led a youth makeover; by the time he left, the network had the four most-watched shows – “Laverne & Shirley,” “Three’s Company,” “Mork & Mindy” and “Happy Days.”
Then he went from the top to the bottom.
In the next three years, some of NBC’s shows were bland (“Shirley,” “Hello, Larry”) or just bad. The network did succeed with “Real People” and “Diff’rent Strokes,” but few people were impressed by “Games People Play” or “BJ and the Bear” (the bear, of course, being a chimp) or its “Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” spin-off
“Fred Silverman was justly renowned for the programming wonders he had previously performed at both CBS and ABC,” Tinker wrote. “But as president of NBC, … he was in a frantic, almost manic, period …. Everything he tried went wrong and NBC was sinking fast.”
Brandon Tartikoff had a close-up view of that. He worked at NBC and, at 31, was promoted by Silverman to be the programming chief.
“Failure hung over him like a fog,” Tartikoff wrote of Silverman in “The Last Great Ride” (Random House, 1992). “Fred’s style in those days was to scream a lot, pound his fist on his desk – and constantly take his programming off in different directions.”
Maybe the low point came with:
— “Pink Lady and Jeff,” linking comedian Jeff Altman with a Japanese pop-star duo that looked and sounded great. Tartikoff recalled meeting them:
“They look at me with frozen smiles, then run to get their manager, who says, ‘Brandon, you’ll have to excuse us., but the girls don’t speak English yet.’”
— Or “Speak Up America,” an attempt to discuss serious issues via comments onstage and from the studio audience. One hour involved Madelyn Murray O’Hair, an outspoken atheist. When it was the audience’s turn, a folksy old Irish sea captain said it’s hard to be an atheist amid a raging sea storm.
The audience applauded, of course. Later, people may have wondered how a folksy old Irish sea captain happened to wander into a Hollywood studio.
— Or, perhaps, “Supertrain.”
Desperate for a hit, Silverman ordered a show about a luxury train and its passengers. That concept has worked for ABC, with “The Love Boat, “Hotel” and “Doctor Odyssey” – but this one was being done quickly.
“It managed to look cheap, despite costing over one million dollars an episode – twice what a normal show was costing at the time,” Tartikoff wrote. “The acting was some of the worst I’ve ever witnessed outside of ‘Divorce Court.’”
There were more troubles – and then the turnaround in 1981. First, NBC launched Tinker’s “Hill Street Blues,” and stuck with it amid high praise and (at first) low ratings. Then it put Tinker in charge, ending Silverman’s three-year run.
From the moment he arrived, Tartikoff wrote “Grant Tinker had been gracious and generous in the way he handled power .”
They were a one-two punch – Tinker in New York, keeping the meddlers away, Tartikoff in Los Angeles, stirring the programs.
The tone was obvious at the semi-annual Television Critics Association sessions. Other network people had a dark suit-and-tie look and a stern manner; Tinker was tan sportcoats, no ties and straightforward. Others sometimes had prepared remarks; Tinker and Tartikoff would wing it.
Tartikoff was frank with reporters. He was quick to admit that:
— “Highway to Heaven,” with Michael Landon as a tanned and well-coiffed angel, was dubbed by NBC executives as “Jesus of Malibu.”
— He had one dreadful season, when all nine new shows failed.
— He had opposed the casting of Michael J. Fox on “Family Ties” (arguing that was not someone you would see on a lunchbox) and Don Johnson in “Miami Vice.”
Both got the roles and became stars; their shows sparked an NBC revival.
All of this was hit-or-miss. Tartikoff premiered “The A-Team” after the 1983 Super Bowl and got huge ratings; it spent the next three years in the top-10. The next year, he proclaimed that “Mr. Smith” – a talking-chimp show – would be “the ‘A-Team’ of comedy.” It flopped … as talking-chimp shows are prone to do.
Tartikoff scored with one fantasy adventure – “Knight Rider” – but failed with “The Powers of Matthew Star,” “Manimal” (a guy turns into animals), “Jennifer Slept Here” (a glamorous ghost) and “Misfits of Science.”
That last one included a telekinetic teenager, a rock star who transmitted electric jolts through his fingers and a giant who could shrink to six inches. (Since TV often lies about things, the show cast a 7-foot-2 actor and said he was 7-4.) Tartikoff also suggested, futily, there be a flying robot dog.
There were other failures, but NBC also had an eye for quality.
Dramas? Tartikoff moved “Hill Street Blues” to Thursdays and kept it there. It won four straight Emmys for best drama.
The next year, he added “St. Elsewhere,” which Tinker dubbed “Hill Street in a Hospital.” Others included such sleek, smart shows as “Remington Steele,” “Miami Vice” and “LA Law.”
And comedies? “Cheers” and “Family Ties” arrived in 1982 – good shows, waiting to catch on. Two years latter, “The Cosby” show arrived.
(ABC briefly had a chance to land Cosby, but hesitated. Later, the situation reversed; Tartikoff passed on “Roseanne,” which became a huge ABC hit.)
“The Cosby Show” debuted in 1984 and ignited other NBC comedies. For the season, it was No. 3 in the Nielsen ratings; “Family Ties” was No, 5; “Cheers,” No. 12; “Night Court,” No. 20.
The next year, “Cosby” was dominant. It had one-third more viewers than any non-NBC show. And that was the year (1985) when “Golden Girls” took over, ruling Saturdays.
By ‘86, the Tinker/Tartikoff team was in full control: “Cosby,” “Family Ties” and “Cheers” were 1-2-3, with “Golden Girls” at 5 and “Night Court” at 7. (The only shows in-between were CBS’ “Murder, She Wrote” and “60 Minutes.) “L.A. Law” and “Miami Vice” were 21 and 26.
Even some merely adequate shows – “Amen,” “227,” “Matlock” – were in the top-15. NBC was in its can’t-miss phase.
Tinker left then, completing his plan to stay five years. Tartikoff stayed five more. He had ups and downs, but shortly before he left in 1991, he reverted to his usual joy, introducing Will Smith and “Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”
That same year, he scheduled a modest show originally called “The Seinfeld Chronicles.” Three years later, it would be the core of TV’s second golden age of comedy.