In (Sort Of!) Defense Of Ben Silverman
Broadcasting and Cable has a good laugh at those who were shocked by the Times profile of NBC boy-honcho Ben Silverman this weekend past. It's true: any Silverman story, even one as unrevealing and friendly as Carter's, can sound shocking if you're not accustomed to The Silverman Way!
At 30 Rock two weeks ago, I watched in horror as Silverman told Donald Trump—after Trump explained that he'd received a phone call from the CEO of Chicken of the Sea thanking Trump for the product integration on "The Apprentice"—that "you exemplify what we do." He is so gag-worthy!
And who can forget this, at the Golden Globes:
"Tudors" star Jonathan Rhys Meyers shakes hands and hugs "Tudors" executive producer Ben Silverman at the bar.
Silverman: "Congratulations. I just watched the first two episodes of your show and it's … amazing. You are my prince. You are my king. Amazing."
Meyers: "Thank you. We should get together."
Silverman: "Yes, we'll play. I'll see you later. Goodbye, darling."
And he wasn't funnin'! He talks like that all the time. Really, in this perverse way, it's sort of wonderful! Recently I tried to prepare a reporter before she spoke to him on the phone for the first time. I was like, "Count how many times he says your name! You will LOL!" But there is no preparing anyone for that experience. She had to basically go lay down for half an hour after.
We live in an age where people are stomping on characters all the time. Whether it's people trashing the women of Jezebel and their lady-blog friends for being slutty and forthcoming, or people sitting on their couches and mocking the fatties and the sluts and the freaks on the reality T.V., our whole culture right now is based upon slamming down the weirdos.
Ben Silverman is also a weirdo. Yes, okay, he's a somewhat (if not totally) douchey kind of weirdo! But now, or soon enough, the time comes to pick sides in America, and you're either with us freaks or you're with the Christians in Texas who basically want the rest of us stoned to death. Yes this is a bit of a fallacy! I know! And yet, it's not so long since Lawrence v. Texas, is it now. America is a mean, nasty Republican town, to quote a famous freak. It's a schoolyard where everyone wants to be the bully.
Fair game, natch, are Silverman's good and bad choices at NBC. And making fun of him when he is freestyling in a towel with a harmonica player. Also it is a good and sort of unanswered question—at least by Bill Carter—what exactly Silverman does at the network now! You know, when he's not gliding around, being a spaz.
"gliding around, being a spaz"
The thesis here, other than that this man shouts your name into a phone a lot, is that there is a great deal of imprecision and imperfection in the Us vs. Them dichotomy.
The true conundrum, if it may be characterized as such, unironically, is when the dichotomy hegemonizes.
I propose a realty series/sitcom in which a lively family of Socialists (Democratic Congressmen), convicted of treasons against Christianity, are sentenced to Branson, where they must create a Utopian Agrarian Society in an Airstream. Pia Zadora to host.
Oh, Pia Zadora. She really peaked with Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
Pia peaked when she bulldozed Pickfair.
This should be retitled "In Defense of a Sort of Ben Silverman."
I thought the unstated point of Carter's piece was the Silverman has already been replaced on major greenlighting decisions and now has a role merely as the public face of the network for advertisers.
There was sort of an innuendo about that in the piece! Which, you know–may be true? And: isn't that actually a promotion? But talking to Angela Bromstad, you don't really get that sensation, that she's in charge. And the new English guy in charge of alternative programming, you definitely don't get the sense that he's doing anything more than auditioning for his job. I may be wrong!
There is a thin line between eccentric and asshole. That picture argues the latter, but … he renewed Chuck.
He renewed Chuck …
Destiny here leads down one path: a single-season reality show starring Ben and Jonathan Silverman, in which the life of an underappreciated NBC exec is compared to that of the post-Weekend-at-Bernie's career of a washed-up movie star.
Of course the happy ending (the one at the end of the series, not the one they get in Episode 4 at the midtown massage parlor) comes when Ben greenlights a sitcom vehicle for Jonathan (to air on USA).
False dichotomy much? But really, Silverman is amusing and definitely a tool, but he represents Difference and Hope – which is clearly anathema to the pressed suits at NBCU. NBC is most popular among the young and the ratings don't take into account folks who DVR or Hulu the shows. The ratings system is completely broken and everyone knows it! Leno in primetime is a ridiculous move likely to alienate the few sentient beings in the target demo who still accidentally tune in to live TV.
More interesting to me personally is the increasing synergies between NBC and Newscorp: Hulu? Reveille/Shine? WTF?
For a time there, I was becoming embarrassed that I had ever referred to Silverman as My TeeVee Executive Boyfriend (back when the only thing I knew about him was that he championed the American Office).
Now I feel slightly better about that whole ugly episode!
Thanks, Choire!