Primetime Propaganda

by Ben Shapiro

  Restoring Hollywood

  One of my goals in this book was to help television save itself. That’s a pretty big job for anyone. In truth, only Hollywood can save television. And Hollywood can only save television if they give up their liberal agenda and focus on what they should have been focusing on all along: pleasing the American people, regardless of political viewpoint.

  We’re the market. All we demand is the drama, the comedy, the pure joy of watching great stories told before our eyes.

  Hollywood can do it. I believe in them. But they can only do it with conservative help. They can only do it if they open their minds and their doors. They can only do it if they remember what the founders of television knew in their bones: in the entertainment kingdom, the viewer is king.

  Acknowledgments

  If Primetime Propaganda was a long and enjoyable process, it was only because the gracious, kind, and intelligent people who granted me interviews in Hollywood made it so. Many of them were a window into the history of the industry, and so are not only important for their own career achievements, but as witnesses to a cultural transformation. This is hardly a full list of those with whom I spoke: some wished to remain anonymous, and others provided useful background not directly related to the book itself. Nonetheless, here is a selected list of those who granted full on-the-record interviews.

  Thanks to Abby Singer (Columbo, Remington Steele, Hill Street Blues, Gunsmoke, among many others); Adam Baldwin (Chuck); Allan Burns (Get Smart, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Room 222, Lou Grant); Andy Hayward (Captain Planet, Inspector Gadget); Barbara Fisher (Lifetime Channel executive, Hallmark Channel Sr. VP of Programming); Bert Prelutsky (M*A*S*H, Diagnosis Murder); Bill Bickley (Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, Happy Days); Bob Papazian (The Day After, Rome); Brandon Stoddard (former president of ABC); Carlton Cuse (LOST, Nash Bridges); Chris Chulack (ER, Southland); David Shore (House, Law & Order, Family Law); Don Bellisario (NCIS, JAG); Doug Herzog (President of MTV Networks); Dwight Schulz (The A-Team); Earl Hamner (The Waltons); Fred Pierce (former president of ABC); Fred Silverman (former VP of programs at CBS, president of ABC and NBC); Gary David Goldberg (Family Ties, Spin City); Gene Reynolds (M*A*S*H, Room 222, Lou Grant); George Schlatter (Laugh-In); Herman Rush (The Montel Williams Show); John Langley (COPS); Josh Brand (St. Elsewhere, Northern Exposure); Lionel Chetwynd (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, The Hanoi Hilton); Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives); Marcy Carsey (The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Third Rock from the Sun, That ’70s Show); Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice); Marta Kauffman (Friends); Martin Ransohoff (The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, The Addams Family); Michael Brandman (Jesse Stone); Michael Moriarty (Law & Order); Michele Ganeless (president of Comedy Central); Mike Dann (former president of programming at CBS); Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II, Star Trek IV, Star Trek VI, The Day After); Paul Bogart (All in the Family); Peter Mehlman (Seinfeld); Robert Davi (Profiler); Robert Guza (General Hospital); Sandy Grushow (former chairman, Fox Entertainment Group); Susan Harris (Soap, Golden Girls); Tom Fontana (Oz, You Don’t Know Jack, St. Elsewhere); Shelley Reid (Fox Television Studios); Dave Bell (Unsolved Mysteries); and Vin DiBona (America’s Funniest Home Videos, MacGyver). Special thanks to the late Larry Gelbart (M*A*S*H), an icon who will be sorely missed, and who was generous enough to grant me not only my first interview for the book, but as far as I know, the last interview before his death. Special thanks as well to Leonard Goldberg (Charlie’s Angels, Blue Bloods), a class act who took the time to teach TV writing to a nonfiction author with a list of dramatic credits restricted to one play penned during high school. Thanks to the assistants for all these folks, who are generally underpaid, overworked, and incredibly kind.

  Thanks to Adam Bellow, an editor par excellence whose guidance throughout this process has deepened and broadened the book significantly. Plus, we always have a fantastic time talking about the global political ramifications of Star Trek. Thanks as well to the marketing folks at HarperCollins, whose collaborative efforts make the process pleasurable and blessedly comfortable.

  Thanks to Andrew Breitbart, whose contacts in Hollywood would shock Hollywood—if they knew about them. Without his help and guidance, I might still be writing for the UCLA Daily Bruin. Thanks to David Limbaugh, one of the few true mensches left on planet Earth. And thanks to the Newcombes and Creators Syndicate, who gave an unknown columnist a shot.

  Thanks to all the Hollywood conservatives I’ve met who labor underground to provide us great entertainment, biting their tongues all the while to maintain their employment. Thanks to my liberal Hollywood friends, who shall remain unnamed to protect their careers. Thanks to my parents, who brought me up to recognize the value of both great entertainment and moral righteousness—and who would walk on burning coals to help any of their children chase their dreams—and to my sisters, whose warmth and hilarity are a constant source of fun.

  A special thank-you to Abe Greenwald, who came up with a better title for this book in five minutes than I could in almost two years.

  Thanks above all to my wife, who pushes me to follow my dreams, even though she’s the true dream I’ve already achieved.

  Notes

  PROLOGUE

  1. James Hibberd, “The Reign of Right-Wing Primetime,” Hollywood Reporter, Nov. 10, 2010, www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/live-feed/right-wing-tv-43558.

  INTRODUCTION

  1. Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, “Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor,” ScientificAmerican.com, Feb. 23, 2002.

  2. David Brooks, Bobos in Paradise (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 67.

  3. Ibid., 10–11.

  4. Theodor W. Adorno, “How to Look at Television,” Quarterly of Film, Radio and Television 8, no. 3 (Spring 1954): 213–35.

  5. Paul F. Lazarsfeld, “A Researcher Looks at Television,” Public Opinion Quarterly 24, no. 1 (Spring 1960): 24–31.

  6. Newton N. Minow, “Television and the Public Interest,” National Association of Broadcasters, May 9, 1961.

  7. Interview with Sandy Grushow, Dec. 9, 2009.

  8. Interview with Marta Kauffman, June 23, 2009.

  9. Interview with Michelle Ganeless, July 6, 2009.

  10. Robert B. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 231.

  11. Interview with Barbara Fisher, July 6, 2009.

  THE SECRET POLITICAL HISTORY OF TELEVISION

  1. “David Sarnoff: US Media Executive,” Museum of Broadcast Communications, www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=sarnoffdavi (accessed Feb. 7, 2010).

  2. David Sarnoff, “Turn the Cold War Tide in America’s Favor,” Life, June 6, 1960, 108–18.

  3. David Sarnoff, The Fabulous Future: America in 1980 (New York: Dutton, 1971), 23–25.

  4. Mike Brewster, “Bill Paley: Molder of Modern Media,” BusinessWeek.com, June 1, 2004.

  5. Jeremy Gerard, “William S. Paley, Builder of CBS, Dies at 89,” New York Times, October 27, 1990.

  6. Sally Bedell Smith, In All His Glory (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990).

  7. Lee Eisenberg, Fifty Who Made the Difference (New York: Esquire, 1984), 222.

  8. Smith, In All His Glory.

  9. Leonard H. Goldenson, Beating the Odds (New York: Scribner’s, 1991), 177.

  10. Ibid., 272–73.

  11. Ibid., 398.

  12. Ibid., 165–66.

  13. James L. Baughman, Same Time, Same Station (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), 106.

  14. Sylvester L. (Pat) Weaver, “Minute Inspection of Our World Via Science Wonders Lies Ahead for TV,” Billboard, Dec. 1, 1951.

  15. Ibid., 85, 87, 98.

  16. Holcomb B. Noble, “Frank Stanton, Broadcasting Pioneer, Dies at 98,” New York Times, Dec. 25, 2006.

  17. Noralee Frankel, Stripping Gypsy: The Life
of Gypsy Rose Lee (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 176.

  18. “Television: The Many-Splendored Thing,” Time, May 25, 1962.

  19. Goldenson, Beating the Odds, 149.

  20. Baughman, Same Time, Same Station, 52.

  21. Ibid., 1.

  22. Ibid., 2.

  23. Larry Gelbart, Laughing Matters (New York: Random House, 1998), 182–83.

  24. “Ollie Treyz Due for ABC’s Presidency,” Billboard, Oct. 28, 1957.

  25. Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (New York: Ballantine, 2007), 1458.

  26. Huntington Williams, Beyond Control: ABC and the Fate of the Networks (New York: Atheneum, 1989), 48.

  27. Allan Neuwirth, They’ll Never Put That on the Air (New York: Allworth Press, 2006), 128.

  28. Interview with Leonard Goldberg, May 20, 2009.

  29. Richard Oulahan and William Lambert, “The Tyrant’s Fall That Rocked the TV World,” Life, Sept. 10, 1965.

  30. “The Defenders,” Museum of Broadcast Communications, www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=defendersth.

  31. Oulahan and Lambert, “Tyrant’s Fall.”

  32. Interview with Martin Ransohoff, May 19, 2009.

  33. Ibid.

  34. Interview with Mike Dann, May 21, 2009.

  35. Michael Dann, As I Saw It: The Inside Story of the Golden Years of Television (El Prado, NM: Levine Mesa Press, 2009), 77.

  36. Larry Gelbart, Laughing Matters (New York: Random House, 1998), 114, 119.

  37. David Halberstam, The Powers That Be (New York: Knopf, 1975), 252.

  38. Grant Tinker, Tinker in Television (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 71–72.

  39. “Robert Kintner,” Museum of Broadcast Communications, www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=kintnerrobe.

  40. Jack Gould, “Robert Edmonds Kintner: The Man From NBC,” New York Times, Oct 24, 1965.

  41. “Robert Kintner,” Museum of Broadcast Communications.

  42. “Iraq Versus Vietnam: A Comparison of Public Opinion,” Gallup.com, Aug. 24, 2005, www.gallup.com/poll/18097/Iraq-Versus-Vietnam-Comparison-Public-Opinion.aspx.

  43. Interview with Fred Pierce, May 11, 2009.

  44. Goldenson, Beating the Odds, 330.

  45. Interview with Leonard Goldberg, May 20, 2009.

  46. Charles Isherwood, “Changing Channels,” Advocate, Feb. 18, 1997.

  47. Todd Gitlin, Inside Prime Time (New York: Pantheon, 1983), 43–44.

  48. Dann, As I Saw It, 148.

  49. Ibid., 149.

  50. Smith, In All His Glory, 494.

  51. Ibid.

  52. Interview with Fred Silverman, May 11, 2009.

  53. Neuwirth, They’ll Never Put That On The Air, 133–34.

  54. Herbert S. Schlosser, “Speech: Responsibility and Freedom in Television,” speech to the Association of National Advertisers, Oct. 29, 1974.

  55. Interview with Allan Burns, May 26, 2009.

  56. Ibid.

  57. Interview with Gene Reynolds, May 7, 2009.

  58. Interview with Fred Silverman, May 11, 2009.

  59. Elana Levine, Wallowing in Sex (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007), 54.

  60. Interview with Marcy Carsey, July 1, 2009.

  61. “Behind the Purge at CBS,” Time, Oct. 25, 1976.

  62. “Television: NBC: Headdie for Freddie,” Time, Jan. 30, 1978.

  63. Ibid.

  64. Interview with Fred Silverman, May 11, 2009.

  65. Interview with Michael Brandman, June 8, 2009.

  66. Ibid.

  67. Alan Axelrod, Profiles in Audacity: Great Decisions and How They Were Made (New York: Sterling, 2006), 120–24.

  68. Robert Pittman, “The Man Behind the Monster,” Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1991.

  69. Ibid.

  70. Ibid., 51.

  71. Interview with Doug Herzog, June 22, 2009.

  72. Ibid.

  73. Interview with Don Bellisario, June 10, 2009.

  74. Interview with Brandon Stoddard, May 28, 2009.

  75. Interview with Joshua Brand, May 11, 2009.

  76. Grant Tinker, Tinker in Television (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994).

  77. Robert Kubey, Television and the Quality of Life (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1990), 187.

  78. Ibid., 103.

  79. Brandon Tartikoff with Charles Leerhsen, The Last Great Ride (New York: Turtle Bay Books, 1992), 164–65, 170.

  80. Ibid., 183.

  81. Andrew Walker, “Rupert Murdoch: Bigger Than Kane,” BBC News, July 31, 2001, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2162658.stm.

  82. “Fox Broadcasting Company,” Museum of Broadcast Communications, www .museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=foxbroadcast.

  83. Interview with Sandy Grushow, Dec. 9, 2009.

  84. “Storm on Temptation Island,” BBC.co.uk, Jan. 10, 2001.

  85. “The Financial Interest and Syndication Rules,” Museum of Broadcast Communications, www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=financialint.

  86. Michael Moore and Kathleen Glynn, Adventures in a TV Nation (New York: HarperCollins, 1998), 4–5.

  87. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c103:H.J.RES.365.

  88. Edwin Diamond, “The Tisch Touch,” New York, May 26, 1986.

  89. Edwin Diamond, “Television’s New Fall Lineup,” New York, Aug. 22, 1988.

  90. Thomas C. Reeves, The Empty Church: Does Organized Religion Matter Anymore (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), 48.

  91. Richard Zoglin, Jordan Bonfante, and Martha Smilgis, “Sitcom Politics,” Time, Sept. 21, 1992.

  92. James P. Steyer, The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media’s Effect on Our Children (New York: Atria Books, 2002), 80.

  93. Mark Hertsgaard, The Eagle’s Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World (New York: St. Martin’s, 2002), 93.

  94. “ABC says Ellen Cancelled Because Weekly Focus on Homosexuality Led to ‘Sameness,’ ” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 6, 1998.

  95. Statement of Robert A. Iger, In the Matter of the Evaluation of the Syndication and Financial Interest Rules, MM Docket No. 90-162, En Banc Hearing, Dec. 14, 1990, 3–4.

  96. Horace Newcomb, ed., Encyclopedia of Television (New York: Taylor & Francis, 2004), 1166.

  97. “The Ratings Game,” NewsHour with Jim Lehrer transcript, July 29, 1999, www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/july-dec99/ratings_7-29.html.

  98. Interview with Mark Burnett, May 11, 2009.

  99. Interview with Marc Cherry, August 9, 2009.

  100. Bill Carter, Desperate Networks (New York: Doubleday, 2006), 145, 150.

  THE CLIQUE

  1. Anna Deavere Smith, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2003), 78–79.

  2. Todd Gitlin, Inside Prime Time (New York: Pantheon, 1983), 115.

  3. Interview with Larry Gelbart, Apr. 20, 2009.

  4. Interview with Susan Harris, May 4, 2009.

  5. Interview with Abby Singer, Apr. 28, 2009.

  6. Interview with Andy Heyward, June 12, 2009.

  7. Interview with Chris Chulack, May 21, 2009.

  8. Interview with Michael Brandman, June 8, 2009.

  9. Interview with Carlton Cuse, May 12, 2009.

  10. Interview with Michael Nankin, June 3, 2009.

  11. Gitlin, Inside Prime Time, 135.

  12. “Writers Guild of America,” New York Times, Nov. 5, 2007, http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/writers_guild_of_america/index.html.

  13. Shirley Brady, “How Ben Silverman Got Started,” Cable360.net, May 30, 2007.

 
14. Ibid.

  15. Nikki Finke, “Ben Silverman Is Breaking All the Rules,” DeadlineHollywood.com, June 15, 2007.

  16. “NBC’s 2007–2008 Primetime Schedule Heavy on Sci-Fi,” TVJots.com, May 14, 2007, http://tvjots.com/nbcs-2007-2008-primetime-schedule-heavy.

  17. Josef Adalian, “Full NBC Schedule Takes Shape,” Variety.com, Apr. 2, 2008.

  18. Erica Orden, “Just Hired!” New York, Aug 23, 2009.

  19. Interview with Peter Mehlman, May 12, 2009.

  20. Belinda Luscombe, “Ben Silverman Leaves NBC: Exit the No-Hit Hitmaker,” Time.com, July 28, 2009.

  21. Tanny Stransky, “Ben Silverman Exit: New NBC Honcho Jeff Gaspin Says No Big Changes Afoot,” EW.com, July 28, 2009.

  22. Bill Carter, Desperate Networks (New York: Doubleday, 2006), 260–61, 324.

  23. Nellie Andreeva, “ABC Greenlights Family, Freshman,” HollywoodReporter.com, Jan. 25, 2010.

  24. Interview with Fred Silverman, May 11, 2009.

  25. Interview with Vin DiBona, June 11, 2009.

  26. Interview with Nicholas Meyer, June 17, 2010.

  27. Paul Bond, “Republicans in Biz Feel Stifled, Bullied,” HollywoodReporter.com, Oct. 20, 2008.

  28. Interview with Fred Pierce, May 11, 2009.

  29. Interview with Leonard Goldberg, May 20, 2009.

  30. Interview with David Shore, June 24, 2009.

  31. Interview with Barbara Fisher, July 6, 2009.

  32. Interview with Tom Fontana, Aug. 6, 2009.

  33. Interview with Marcy Carsey, July 1, 2009.

  34. Interview with Michelle Ganeless, July 6, 2009.

  35. Interview with Michael Brandman, June 8, 2009.