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The Jeff Zucker Era at NBC: Super-sizing, 'Fear Factor' and 'The Office'
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Jeff Zucker's announcement that he's leaving NBC Universal when the company's merger with Comcast is finished brought some pangs of nostalgia. Because we won't have Zucker to kick around anymore.Zucker was the president of NBC Entertainment from 2001-04 -- he had been the executive producer of "Today" prior to that -- then moved up the executive ladder from there before becoming CEO of NBC Universal in late 2007. Since then, he hasn't had as much of a hand in the day-to-day running of NBC, so most of his programming legacy comes from before then. But he left a lot of things to remember him by -- here are a few mementos from the Zucker Era.
"Fear Factor." In 2001, reality was still a relatively new concept for the broadcast networks. "Survivor" was only a year old, "American Idol" and "The Bachelor" didn't yet exist. NBC's first big entry into the genre was "Fear Factor," which every week had six people go through a series of willies-inducing stunts that almost always included ingesting offal or squirmy creatures or squirmy offal. (Zucker himself downed a fake eyeball at a TCA session in 2003.) It was a top-25 show for its first three seasons but didn't do much for NBC's "the quality shows" image.
Super-sizing. Early in Zucker's time as NBC Entertainment president, he tried out a sweeps stunt that stretched NBC's Thursday comedies ("Friends," "Will & Grace" and a rotating cast of others) beyond their normal half-hour running time. The thinking was that it would keep people from switching over to "Survivor" or "CSI" at the half-hour mark while simultaneously giving advertisers a few more commercial spots. The audience got a minute or two more of story out of the deal, which became a semi-regular sweeps occurrence.
"The Office." The adaptation of the British show was Kevin Reilly's baby -- he replaced Zucker as NBC Entertainment president in 2004 -- but if we're going to make fun of Zucker for stuff like super-sizing, we should at least acknowledge that he let Reilly and exec producer Greg Daniels keep going after a brief and low-rated first season. The Emmy winner is now one of NBC's longest-running current shows.
Ben Silverman. After Reilly unexpectedly got the boot in May 2007, Zucker brought in Silverman, a former agent and executive producer of "The Office" and "Ugly Betty," to run NBC. While Silverman's brief tenure made for good copy -- what with the rumors of his party-boy lifestyle, the media feuds with Reilly and ABC boss Steve McPherson, the disparaging remarks about striking writers -- the programming most decidedly did not.
The "Tonight Show" succession plan. You may have read a couple things about this last season. Back in 2004, Zucker engineered a deal whereby Jay Leno would hand over "The Tonight Show" to Conan O'Brien in five years' time. Five years came and went, Leno was still the ratings leader, NBC got panicky and tried to have things both ways while saving some money on development, and you know the rest. Conan's TBS show debuts in November.
"Emeril," "Coupling" et al. Zucker took some heat in 2003 for saying "Some of our programs just sucked" when asked about various programming failures. He was mostly talking about the American remake of "Coupling" (and its creators weren't too happy with him either), but we also remember "Emeril," "In-Laws," "Inside Schwartz" and "Good Morning, Miami." We wish we didn't, but we do.
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It is a wonder how this man kept a job at NBC for so long. All you have to do is look at what he did toNBC
Jeff Zucker's era really sucked...if it weren't for Brandon Tartikoff. leaving him Friends, Cheers etc. he would never had anything to work with...Just cause your good in the morning doesn't make you a genius at programing night.NBC really sucks now a days....
How did he NOT get fired during his time?? Look at what NBC was before
he took over, and look at it now.
It'll take years and a lot of luck
for NBC to crawl out of the hole Zucker dug for the network.
Good riddance and good luck to NBC,
they need it.
Wow!
Jeff Zucker, after taking-over a still-thriving network and crashing it to the ground, will still NEVER have to work another day in his life (because that's how exec severance packages work).
What has happened to NBC is obscene. Who else in the real world would have still had a job after the NBC late night media **** storm and then the follou-up 10pm Hail Mary Jay Leno Pass other than Jeff Zucker?
It's amazing how ridiculous and insanely unsound executive decisions go forward, crash & burn, then have almost no measurable repercussions to the decision makers.
Jeff Zucker, in two years from now, will most likely be hired as the CEO of both Google and Microsoft Entertainment branches. Prior to his ascenction to that throne, his negotiated severance package will be in the 100s of millions. So regardless of what he really does, he's gonna be paid big time! And that's how it happens in the corporate world, time and time again.
My question is why aren't any of the shareholders questioning these tactics?
The moral of the story? We get the kind of corporate excutive world BS that we allow to happen.
Zucker's time at NBC may be the best thing that ever happened to "FOX". Next job for Jeff, running CNN?
COINCIDENCE? ALL THESE MAJOR NETWORKS ARE RUN OR OWNED BY JEWISH EXECUTIVES
Anyone else think that fox, nbc & cw should fold to merge a new combo network?
It would be a good chance for NBC to reinvent itself.
Jeff Zucker will always be the guy that eneded Conan O'Brien's run as host of The Tonight Show. I will not miss him. Good riddance!
Zucker first hit my radar screen when he cancelled one of our favorite shows "Providence" in it's prime. He's had a slash and burn policy his entire tenure at NBC. Cancelling shows without resolution, i.e. Las Vegas and others, without any regard to the impact on a loyal fanbase. Would it have killed him to spend a couple of extra bucks to wrap up the many series he cancelled, and leave people with a good feeling, like they did with Prison Break and others? No. He had no regard for the fact that millions of people had a vested interest in the shows... just like a good book. You expect a final chapter...not have the last 3 chapters torn out. So many of the network executives have no regard for the emotional and personal fallout that follows. I can understand pulling the plug on a show that hasn't established itself yet...but not one that's been around for years and deserves a proper ending. They think it's trivial and of no consequence. Not to me. No love lost here with his departure. Hope I never hear his name again....