... is Ben Silverman.
(Yeah, I love dissin' on Ben.)
Nikki Finke's DHD on Wednesday:
For months now, I've been asking my sources when is NBC going to give more power to real
programmers since salesman Ben Silverman isn't one. So this
morning Paul Telegdy suddenly and unexpectedly resigned from BBC
Worldwide America. Now I'm told NBC is in negotiations with him
about overseeing unscripted entertainment and possibly scripted as
well. And my sources inform that it would be Telegdy's decision whether
to fire or keep NBC's current reality czar Craig Plestis who only has
months left on his contract. Now get this: the negotiations call for
Telegdy to be given a bigger job (like NBC Entertainment President
which is still a vacant title) in a year or to get paid off. This could
solve NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker's primary problem right now: how not to look like he made a mistake hiring Ben Silverman and still
get the programming that the network needs to start succeeding. So
Zucker could re-up Silverman and at the same time hire programmers
in subordinate roles.
Well, somebody's gotta do something. And it's just not programming, it's development, too. For example, how long is the network gonna let Kath & Kim stay on the air? It's ripping to shreds the reputations of its leads.
And tonight will be the first test of Lipstick Jungle on Fridays. As far as I can tell it's a pretty pricey show to be airing on a night with such low viewership.
Merlin continues to underperform on BBC One in advance of it's US premiere date in early 2009.
My Own Worst Enemy? Four words -- I hate Christian Slater.
Knight Rider? Hour long car commercial.
And whatever happened to all that talk about the show that would bring down American Idol, the English version of the Colombian telenovela Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso?
Translated, that means, "Without Tits, There is No Paradise."
They haven't seen my middle-aged manbreasts, evidently.
You can look at the Merlin trailer from BBC after the jump.
