The TV Zone

If ... in the amazing off-chance you awoke this morning with a hankering for a story about NBCU entertainment boy-king, Ben Silverman, who parties by night, sleeps by day, and works at turning around NBC's besotted prime-time schedule between the hours of 2:45 and 4:45 p.m. (at which point he has to leave those nice tony NBCU offices to get to another party), then have I got the one for you.

It's by Meg James of the LA Times, who does in fact get to NBCU man-king Jeff Zucker, who in fact does NOT party by night because he has to keep an eye on the store while his appointed boy-king is out chasing a leggy blonde.

(And you're asking yourself by now, How do I get a gig like Ben's?)

Anyway, it's a good piece and seems to indicate that Silverman isn't totally to blame for NBC's impending collapse in prime-time because he was told to make these deals for international productions ("Crusoe") that'll probably score very well in Croatia but perhaps a little less well in the United States. It also mentions a development deal for a show called "Zip," about a down--on-his-luck con artist that Silverman greenlit because it was brought to him by the boyfriend of his prime-time overseer, Teri Weinberg. How will that one do in Croatia?

And you're still asking yourself, How do I get a gig like this?