• by Wayne Friedman , July 17, 2007

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. -- One month into his new job, Ben Silverman, the new programming chief of NBC, is looking for new heroes--and bringing back some old ones.

"We are coming up with a network branding [campaign]," Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, said here during his first appearance in front of the Television Critics Association meeting. "We have all these great shows. We want to unify this. I want to try to draw on the halo of these shows."

Silverman did not go into detail about what the campaign would look like. The last time any network tried to launch an overall network-wide campaign was the famed yellow-colored "I like TV" campaign of ABC in the 1990s.

Silverman and Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, also announced some major changes in its fall schedule--one that was announced by Silverman's predecessor, Kevin Reilly, during NBC's upfront presentation in May.

The network will shift its highly touted "Chuck" to 8 p.m. on Monday (it was originally scheduled for Tuesday) as a lead-in to NBC's last season hit "Heroes" at 9 p.m. At 10 p.m., NBC will run "Journeyman," its new fantasy drama.

Most important, says Silverman, is that NBC's "Sunday Night Football" will be a marketing platform for Monday--getting young men to sample the Monday night shows--an all-fantasy block of programming that appeals to male viewers.

Silverman announced that Donald Trump and "The Apprentice" will return mid-season with a new all-celebrity version of the show. Originally, the show wasn't on the schedule during the upfront presentation.

"We think we have a hook that is going to draw an audience," says Silverman. "The entire show will be for charity." Later on, he added: "I think it would be great to have Rosie [O'Donnell] on "The Apprentice." Celebrities have businesses that they are passionate about."

Building on its sudden success, reality show "The Singing Bee" lands on the fall schedule Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m., after 90 minutes of "The Biggest Loser." "Law & Order:SVU" runs at 10 p.m.

Other high-profile NBC adjustments adding the ex-"Grey's Anatomy" and controversial star Isaiah Washington to NBC's new highly touted "Bionic Woman." He'll star in the first five of six episodes of the show.

Silverman also announced that Jerry Seinfeld is coming back to NBC on Thursday night--for a little while, anyway. He'll star as himself during the premiere of "30 Rock."

NBC also announced that it has hired TV producing/writing legend Norman Lear to work with writer/producer Nina Coleman on an hour-long comedy about the battle of the sexes. The net is also working on developing a new reality show from Israel, which will be called "Phenomenon," that works with mentalists/magicians Uri Geller and Criss Angel.

Although Jay Leno will give up the reins of "The Tonight Show" in 2009 to Conan O'Brien, NBC isn't giving up on Leno. "We love Jay Leno and want him to stay at NBC for life," said Silverman. "Prime time is definitely an alternative [for Leno]," said Graboff.

Silverman also says the network is looking at bringing a marketing partner--perhaps a soft-drink company--to help push its critical favorite, but low-rated, 9 p.m. drama "Friday Night Lights." He says the network will do everything it can to help move the needle of "Lights"' low ratings, including a solid "Deal or No Deal" move to 8 p.m. as "Lights" lead-in.