• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, February 6, 2007

Some TV producers just want to be hugged and told that everything will be all right.

That's standard in the business. TV producers like to be seen and heard. But rare is the TV producer who wants to see and hear everything -- the good and the bad -- from network executives.

Ben Silverman, the executive producer of shows such as NBC's "The Office and "The Biggest Loser," as well as ABC's new hit this year, "Ugly Betty," likes the "transparency" of NBC's Jeff Zucker, who is expected to be named chairman of NBC Universal today, succeeding the two-decades-long reign of veteran Bob Wright.

In some ways this is refreshing, because network executives typically aren't always direct with TV producers. Maybe their shows really just suck sometimes -- that kind of frankness. Silverman told The New York Times that Zucker's sometimes-blunt style "ruffles feathers in an industry that likes to be coddled."

That would mean Zucker's management style seems a throwback of sorts -- as opposed to other senior network executives looking murky, clouding up those less-than- transparent motives.

But the question isn't about Silverman, however. It's about Zucker's relationships with the rest of the Hollywood producing community -- especially in light of the coming of NBC 2.0, that nasty little GE-inspired financial plan which is looking to cut NBC Universal's costs by some $700 million.

Some producers weren't too comfortable with Zucker's style when he was president of NBC Entertainment just a couple of years ago. Some wonder whether that contributed to the network's failure to launch new programs as NBC's reign as the No. 1 network started to slip.

Whatever you might think of Zucker, and his prime-time failings, he did save NBC from falling out of the top spot two years earlier than it did. Zucker was instrumental in encouraging "Friends" producers and talent to stick around for two additional seasons.

Yesterday Zucker, in one of his last acts as NBC's chief TV executive, extended Ben Silverman's Reveille Productions' deal, as a signal to the production community that Zucker recognizes and rewards producing talent. 

Perhaps it's that kind of revealing transparency NBC will need for the future.