Fred Silverman (born September 13, 1937 in New York City) is an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at CBS, ABC and NBC, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as the series Scooby-Doo (1969-present), All in the Family (1971-1979), The Waltons (1972-1981), and Charlie's Angels (1976-1981), as well as the miniseries Roots (1977).
Fred Silverman was born in 1937, and quickly grew up into the television business. After starting out in the mail room of ABC-TV in the late 1950s, he rose to director of program development at WGN-TV, Chicago in the early 60s. One day, he abandoned his car during a snowstorm and boarded a plane for New York, where he gained a position as head of Daytime Programming at CBS-TV. In 1970, he became the programming head of CBS, where he programmed such hits as "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970), "All in the Family" (1971), _"M*A*S*H"(1972)_, _"The Jeffersons"_, _"Kojak"_ and _"Sonny & Cher"_. In 1975 he left for ABC-TV, where he worked closely with Michael Eisner (I) and Brandon Tartikoff. He developed such new hits as "Laverne & Shirley" (1976), "Love Boat, The" (1977), _"Donnie & Marie"_ and _"Soap"_. By the end of the 1977-1978 season, ABC was number one, Daytime and Nigttime. In 1978, he joined NBC as President and CEO. His presence helped stem the audience erosion of the prior 5 years with new programs such as _"Different Strokes"_, _"Real People"_ and _"Hill St. Blues"_. During his tenure, he made program commitments that led to _"St. Elsewhere"_ and _"Cheers"_, promoted Brandon Tartikoff to President of Entertainment and laid the groundwork for NBC's turnaround in the 80s. Management changes at parent RCA led to Silverman's departure in June, 1981 and his replacement by Grant Tinker. Silverman formed "The Fred Silverman Company," and became an independent producer. Among his successes were _"Perry Mason Movies"_, _"Matlock"_, _"In the Heat of the Night"_, _"Jake and the Fatman"_ and _"Diagnosis Murder"_. Silverman remains in the independent production business and also does program consulting.
