Tinker/Tartikoff spurred an NBC renaissance
(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.” Read more…
