Ugly Betty
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Thursday 22 May 2008 on ABC

Betty finds herself in a dilemma between Henry and Gio when each makes a romantic offer to her. Meanwhile, a softball game between ELLE and Mode has rivals Wilhelmina and Naomi Campbell facing off in the field. Finally, Hilda makes quite a discovery about Coach Diaz, and a surprise visit from an...

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  external: Ben Silverman Shakes up NBC Jul 30, 2008 (Score: 3)
  
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  external: Silverman Channeling Jack Welch Jul 23, 2008 (Score: 1)
  
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  external: Breaking all the Rules Jul 29, 2008 (Score: 1)
  
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  external: Exclusive Q&A: NBC's Ben... Jul 15, 2007 (Score: 1)
  
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  external: NY Times Article 9/17/06 Oct 24, 2006 (Score: 1)
  

Silverman describes himself as "totally liberal", and is not afraid to admit that he uses his programming to try to influence viewers' attitudes. He does not see his activism as a conflict of interest in his role at NBC. (edit) Silverman is known in Hollywood for his charisma and charm as well as hard partying lifestyle. He sometimes double or triple books dinner meetings and is proud to be out holding business meetings in bars and nightclubs around the clock. He even co-owns Socialista, a club in Manhattan. (edit) Silverman cites shows such as St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, and The Cosby Show not only as his childhood favorites, but also as having an influence on his identity. These all aired on NBC in the 80's. (edit) Silverman claims his role models are Norman Lear and Brandon Tartikoff. (edit) Silverman retains a financial stake in shows developed at Reveille (his production company) before the date he took over at NBC, but cannot gain from those going forward. G.E. (NBC parent company) has designated a conflict of interest policy and procedure specifically to evaluate Silverman's dealings with Reveille in the future. This does allow him the ability to green light shows from which he may financially gain. (edit)

Silverman: I want to be aspirational. I want to be positive. I think people are so busy and overwhelmed in their lives and have so much choice, but also a cacophony exploding in their brain, and they look to television to disengage from that. I want to create environments that are warm and places they want to be-whether funny places or happy places or aspirational places. I want to lighten up the air.

I also want to be pro-social and conscious and deliver through humor, character and narrative strong emotional connection. I want to find quality that has inherent touchpoints that could make it mass. I wouldn't make shows about Hollywood. There's just certain things I wouldn't do based on my knowledge of them being too coastal. (edit) Silverman: All my life I've wanted to be running a studio, but in an independent, out-of-the-box way. I've built up enough of a track record with broadcasters that they're willing to take a gamble.
(edit) Silverman: I wanted to run NBC. I didn't want to run CBS or ABC -- I wanted something specific. And if you have that goal from age ten, you probably have a good chance to get there if you're continuously thinking about it. (edit) Silverman: The industry hasn't seen an executive like me in a long time. Traditionally, development executives rise through a specific subsection of the TV business -- prime time, network, scripted programming. They're basically D-girls. That's what [ABC Entertainment president] Steve McPherson is, that's what [Fox Entertainment president] Kevin Reilly is. That's bad vernacular, but they're all D-girls. (edit)

Guest Star
Imagine ... A Funny Business Himself

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