RIP Fred Silverman.

Fred Silverman, who was a top TV exec for CBS, ABC, and NBC, has died at age 82.

In the 1960's, Silverman was the man who put a number of superhero cartoons on CBS. However, all these cartoons, including Space Ghost And Dino Boy, Frankenstein Jr And The Impossibles, Shazzan, The Herculoids, and Moby Dick And The Mighty Mightor, got backlash from watchdog groups who considered them too violent. They were replaced by toned down cartoons like The Wacky Races, Dastardly And Muttley In Their Flying Machines, The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop, and last, but not least, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? In fact, the latter show's Fred Jones was named after Mr. Silverman.

Silverman moved on to ABC in 1976, and took Scooby with him for The Scooby-Doo/Dynoutt Hour. Other Hanna-Barbera shows that aired during his ABC tenure were Scooby's All-Star Laffalympics, The All-New Superfriends Hour, and other shows starring the Superfriends and Scooby, as well as Jabberjaw, and Mumbly, whose crimebusting adventures were part of The Tom And Jerry/Grape Ape Show.

Finally, in 1981, Silverman was head of programming at NBC, where he decided the Smurfs would be perfect for Saturday morning, after seeing his daughter playing with Smurf toys a couple of years earlier. His decision was wise, for the little blue people ruled Saturday mornings for nine seasons!


RIP, Mr. Silverman. We'll miss you, but your legacy will endure for years to come.

I always thought Fred Silverman did harm to the big three networks during his tenures, with many failed sitcoms, dramas, and even game shows. However, he did have a few successes, such as the Saturday morning cartoons he gave us at all of the big three networks, and even the hit game show Sale of the Century on NBC which launched in 1983 during his tenure, and ran for six years. However, I am not sure if Silverman was the head of NBC when The Cosby Show debuted in 1984.

I learned that Silverman may have been considering a revival of Our Gang in 1977 for ABC in primetime, but that never came to fruition. However, Our Gang did get revived on ABC five years later with the launch of the animated spinoff of The Little Rascals, which didn't do well in the ratings, but did manage to last two seasons.

Regarding Saturday mornings, I think Silverman helped NBC become the highest-rated network on Saturday mornings during the 1983-84 season, thanks to Alvin and the Chipmunks and Mister T (the latter profiting off The A-Team).

Silverman, you will be missed by many for sure.

I do have one question: Was Fred Silverman the head of ABC when Richie Rich debuted?