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ABC had not been much impressed by Freddie's thesis on ABC (he had sent copies with his resume to all the networks), but Mike Dann at CBS was, and he hired Silverman, a mere 25 at the time, to run daytime programming in 1962. Says Dann: "Reading the thesis I could see the kid had instincts that were unbelievable." Some of his friends trace Freddie's strong emphasis on character over plot to that time, when he was concerned mainly with soap operas and children's shows. Kids make their minds up fast, his friends note, and they like shows with simple, vivid characters. "You can translate that knowledge of what kids watch into prime time," observes Rushnell. "The top ten shows at ABC today—including Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and The Six Million Dollar Man—are also the tops with kids, ages two to eleven."
That, of course, is precisely the point critics keep making about ABC'S programming: Silverman may know what people will watch, but he has done little to give them anything truly good. "ABC has unsophisticated viewers, kids and people who think like kids," says NBC's Klein. "I call 'em dummies. Fred is a master of light, airy, stupid shows." A more objective analyst is Norman Lear, who has sold shows to all three networks. "Silverman has flair, courage, and conviction, three of the four prerequisites of a showman," says Lear. "But the rarest of showmen is also creative. Let the world judge if he has that fourth ingredient. It is a judgment I prefer not to make."
After seven years with the kids' shows, Silverman took Dann's place as programming chief. His legacy to CBS includes, at least in part, the success of All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, as well as Cannon, Barnaby Jones and Maude. Part credit because, as he says, "at CBS there were always six people with varying degrees of voice in a decision."
With only one other voice to listen to at ABC (Pierce is the only one he must check with), Silverman is now able to take risks and gamble for high stakes. He did not think up the idea for Roots, for example, but it was his notion to present it on eight consecutive nights, one of the chief reasons for its sizzling success. Says he: "To get the greatest impact you just had to sweep people into it—and that was the way to do it."
For most of his professional life, Freddie has been buying shows—and killing them. Instead of finding power an ego booster or an exhilarating narcotic, he seems to look upon it as just another reason to worry. "He is brilliant but masochistic," says Dann, who, aside from Silverman's wife Cathy, may know him best. "He is a very, very compulsive, driven man."
When he was at CBS, says Mark Carliner, "he was always in in the morning before me, and he stayed after I left in the evening. He thought nothing of calling you up at 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning with an idea. He would drive people crazy. I love Freddie, but I would never work for him again."