executive producer

Ben Silverman, the executive producer of Ugly Betty and The Office, has more than sitcoms up his sleeve. Silverman and friends are introducing a game show called Identity to television before the end of the year. Taking the Deal or No Deal approach to scheduling, NBC has decided to fast-track the show and air it every night over an eight night stretch between December 18th and December 22nd. Penn Jillette, one half of magic duo Penn & Teller and co-host of Showtime's Bullshit, will host.

Dick Wolf, who has brought NBC success with various versions of the Law & Order franchise, has two comedy scripts lined up for NBC. One is a single-camera comedy about a fumbling U.S. Congressman and the staff that try to handle him. The other is a medical sitcom about ER docs and paramedics. I think I've seen both of these shows before, they were called Spin City and Scrubs. Right now, neither show has a title.

I'd be interested to see what Dick Wolf's sense of humor is like. The man's entire resume is made up of crime dramas.

This seems to still be under the category of "rumor" for the time being, but a couple news outlets are reporting that Madeleine Smithberg, who co-created The Daily Show along with Lizz Winstead, has been hired as an executive producer for Al Gore's not very successful Current TV. If this turns out to be true, it will be interesting to find out just why Smithberg was chosen for this position. I admit I know very little about her outside of The Daily Show, and if IMDb is to be trusted, she hasn't done much else except work on The Daily Show. Maybe Al Gore wants to turn Current TV into a comedy channel. You know, a channel people laugh with instead of at. Okay, probably not.

It's a rough spring for the cast and crew of Desperate Housewives. Last week, Teri Hatcher suffered an eye injury when a light bulb burst. And now, word that one of the show's top producers walked off the set. The Hollywood Reporter (via Reuters) says that Tom Spezialy, executive producer and show runner, left the show on Friday following "an unspecified falling out." Spezialy didn't quit but THR says he may be replaced next season.

If you've shut off your TV for TV Turnoff Week -- and really, why would you? -- you're missing a lot, especially if you're a Gilmore Girls fan. Why? Because the show's going to give its loyal fans a "sneak preview" this week, one that they didn't even know they were going to get after watching the last episode.

What do I mean by that? Well, Tuesday's episode, named "Super Cool Party People", was written by Dave Rosenthal, who just happened to be named the new executive producer of the show, effective next season. It also, if the TV listing for it on the WB's website is any indication, will advance one of the more annoying storylines of the season in a way that the fans may actually enjoy.

So if you want to get an idea of what GG is going to be like without the Palladinos, pay close attention to tomorrow's episode. Even though it'll still have AS-P's fingerprints all over it (she and her husband rewrtie scripts they don't write themselves), it might still provide some clues.

Kiefer Sutherland and 20th Century FOX reached a deal for three more seasons of 24. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sutherland will make at least $40 million for playing Jack Bauer for three more seasons, making him the highest-paid actor in a drama series. Sutherland's title improves from co-executive producer to executive producer, which will undoubtedly rake in some more cash for him. And, the deal also includes a development fund for Sutherland to develop and produce projects for television and the internet (what? FOX has heard about the internet?).

This gives new meaning to that old advice that you should never talk politics at the office. It also gives fuel to the fire that the mass media is full of liberal, left-wingers. The executive producer for Good Morning America Weekend is serving a one-month suspension for writing nasty things about President Bush in a company e-mail. The e-mail was written back on September 30, 2004 by producer John Green to a colleague about a Bush-Kerry debate. It said, "Are you watching this? Bush makes me sick. If he uses the 'mixed messages' line one more time I think I'm going to puke."

The e-mail turned up two weeks ago on Matt Drudge's website. Green has since apologized. He's been the executive producer of GMA Weekend since it launched in 2004.