Ben Silverman, We Will Miss You
That NBC chair Ben Silverman is flying/being pushed out of the peacock coop isn’t really all that surprising. He’s always been kind of a disaster. A blowhard (in more ways than one) party boy with streaks of ego and irresponsibility.
Other than his professional failures—taking big, sloppy risks and never learning from his mistakes—there were myriad personality “quirks” that just didn’t bode well for a long network career in these depressed, skittish times.
First off, he was always saying dumb things. Like the time he called striking writers who refused to participate in the meaningless Golden Globes ugly nerds who were trying to ruin the cool kids’ prom. Or when he basically admitted that he thinks he’s the funnest guy he knows. Or hows about that time he called a bunch of his colleagues “D-Girls”, the Hollywood equivalent of calling them ineffectual pussies. And who can forget when he declared himself “the perfect storm for making a television executive.” (Very destructive storm being an unwittingly apt metaphor, Ben!) That he said whatever he wanted was brave! But it was also dumb.
There was also the youthfully irksome “rockstar” shtick. Silverman’s partying has been called “voracious.” Because, you know, he came to NBC from the relatively devil-may-care enclaves of producerdom. Those stuffy NBC suits just couldn’t handle his wildin’! Wildin’ like rescheduling morning meetings to the more hangover-friendly afternoon and hugging executives and signing emails, drunkenly probably, “Love U!” Or maybe they couldn’t handle his gangsta freestyle? Likely, though, it was that Ben never showed up for work. He was too busy yachting and yukking it up (flirting?) with Ryan Seacrest.
Basically if you’re curious about what it takes to rise from nothing, find fleeting fame and fortune, then collapse and vanish under the weight of your own expectations, just start here and keep on reading. It reads like pretty much any overly-cocky post-college narrative, only with a bunch more money involved.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@SpyMagician: Nailed it!
@britneyspearstears: Ben & Charney’s!
@ambitious The Ryan Howard reference is perfect. Silverman is the douchiest looking exec there is.
Look, I think it's hard to quantify Silverman's successes because I think it will take a long time to see if his decisions make good. The truth is that he did manage to align a few stars properly, but it hasn't paid off....yet.
In 2 years, no one can save a failing network in an industry that is crumbling anyway. But he sure as hell was a fun punching bag, no?
Anyway, I apprise the NBC situation over here from a viewers perspective though. No varietyspeakin snark if that's your bag:
http://bit.ly/2Rdbqk
@SpyMagician: I might option the rights to that story!
Maybe he and Dov Charney can open up an old timey soda/ice-cream shoppe?
Seacrest in!
GORDONGARTRELLE
@CherHorrorwitz: *cries*
eleusiswalks
Uh, guys? can't you tell that this is Sasha Baron Cohen and this is all just part of his next film, TV Jew? You are all going to be made to look like anti-Semitic hate mongers. Sounds hilarious!
LeeMarvinsPants
@ambitious: He's the leadoff hitter in Philly tonight?
Maybe now they'll bring back Earl. I still can't believe such a funny show was cancelled.
@CherHorrorwitz: Seconded!
pmarble
Maybe Spike TV will hire him?
Can someone splice clips of him in that Diana Ross "Missing You" video? Tell me why the road turns?
@City_Dater: Yeah, because Conan's doing great in the ratings department.
Can this truly be a farewell without the famous Silverman-peackock-hawk we all know and love?
o-line
Too bad Lorne Michaels no longer had the balls to let SNL rip Silverman, Ben a new one like they did to Silverman, Fred in the old days. It would’ve made frat boy’s idiotic tenure much more fun.
NorthernLite
From sweeping Isaiah Washington off his feet (resulting in a coma that has apparently prevented him from being on TV) to making Fridays sexy with Rosie O's Variety Hour, Ben Silverman has left an indelible mark on our television underwear.
Dear HBO, please make this into a mini-series. Please.
lionboy
His next gig sounds like complete horseshit - they didn't even try to make it sound like a real job. He should just become a funemployed rockstar instead.
Not as much as we'll miss YOU, Richard Lawson. Silverman, feh.
CherHorrorwitz
Now if only someone at NBC could also tell Jay Leno to go home for good, they might have a small, slight chance of people watching them. Maybe.
City_Dater
A blowhard indeed. The thought bubble for that picture would be "How would a straight dude look excited for this corporate kayak race?"
I was hoping for a more Ryan Howard-esque conclusion to his assy tenure. But this will do.
ambitious
Ah hubris. Let's call him Ick-arus from now on?
pmarble