Fontana, Silverman Differ on Philanthropist
Creator of new NBC drama: Series not quite what he envisioned.
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/22/2008 7:40:00 AM
Speaking at last week's New York Television Festival, NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman boasted that The Philanthropist, a new NBC drama set for the spring, "will redefine the closed-ended procedural with a new kind of hero: a businessman who wants to save the world, a James Bond model."
That's not quite what the show's creator, Tom Fontana, had in mind when he pitched it to Silverman, however. The Emmy Award-winning producer of St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Streets and Oz, Fontana envisioned more of a morality play about a billionaire whose grief over his young son's death leads him to use his wealth to right wrongs, punish the guilty and restore justice to an unjust world.
Instead, he told B&C, it became "some kind of A-Team, Fantasy Island thing."
"This is not to be critical of [Silverman]," Fontana added, "but either he wasn't listening to what I was saying ... When he finally saw what I wanted to do, he just didn't want any part of it."
The two also disagreed on casting. Silverman wanted a British actor for the lead. (James Purefoy, who is indeed British, is likely to star, although NBC would not confirm.)
"We assume every Brit can do a good American accent," Fontana said with a laugh. "I mean, for every Hugh Laurie who does a brilliant one, there are 16 guys who sound like they were raised on some island between Briton and America."
Ultimately, NBC replaced Fontana with David Eick, a producer on Battlestar Galactica and the short-lived Bionic Woman remake.
Silverman could not be reached for comment.
But there were no hard feelings from Fontana, who joked about having seen a major reworking of his pilot script. "It's hard for me to make a judgment whether it's good or bad," he said. "It's like somebody coming in and sleeping with your wife. You go, 'How was he, honey? Anything I could learn from that?'"
"It's not like I'm sitting here cursing the darkness," he added. "Ben Silverman believes he knows what the American public wants to watch. Listen, I hope he's right."
After all, despite the show's title, this wasn't exactly an act of charity for Fontana.
"I had a pay-or-play contract, so they have to pay me," he said. "If it runs for 100 episodes, they have to pay me. I want this show to run for 100 years. I am, like, the biggest fan of this show ever. I could retire on a show that I have nothing to do with -- that would be perfect."
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Good luck with 100 plus episodes, Tom! It worked for your friend John Masius and Touched by An Angel.
Kambiz - 9/23/2008 5:45:00 PM EDT -
It is truly amazing to say the least how Ben Silverman is still holding a job at NBC. How is this man even remotely qualified to run this network, but he's sure as hell doing a fine job of running it right into the ground and a possible 5th place finish. Look no further than this past Friday and Saturday's ratings and you'll know what I mean. Zucker is a fool for even letting this clown still run NBC's entertainment programming, which is going to be well short of expectations and early cancellations, such as Lipstick Jungle, Knight Rider and kath and Kim with many more to follow. This is the same guy who CXLed Las Vegas for no reason and left it on a cliffhanger. Bottom line...NBC needs new and fresh blood there NOW!!!!
Richard - 9/22/2008 6:34:00 PM EDT
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