The Observer Dispatch Sun Jan 18 1981.
King of Sudsers Builds Own Fantasy Islands By JERRY BUCK
LOS ANGELES - Michael Filerman spent five years presiding over CBS' daytime soap operas. Now he is the man responsible for the explosion of nighttime suds. Filerman developed" Dallas" with creator David Jacobs, and at Lorimar Productions he is the co-executive producer of "Knots Landing" and "Secrets of Midland Heights" on CBS and "Flamingo Road'' on NBC.
"When the networks saw that this form was successful they began coming to us and saying, "We need to get on the bandwagon too,'" says Filerman. The only prime-time soap opera that has escaped Filerman's personal touch is ABC"s"Dynasty "
BEFORE the success of 'Dallas." the networks had made several attempts at nighttime soap opera. CBS tried with "Sons and Daughters" in 1974 and failed. The most successful of these was ABC's "Peyton Place," a sudser that ran for five years in the 1960s, up to three times a week "I think part the success of Dallas is that it's larger than life," says Filer man "Sons and Daughters' was a very middle class show and you couldn't take as much license with the stories you were telling. You couldn't have archvillain as with J.R
"And I think part of the success of 'Dallas' is not only that larger than life actuality but the glamor. You've got the beautiful clothes, beautiful home, and all the toys that go with it. 1 think that's very much why, and it came along at a good time". Times are tough. You can't afford to go out and see a $5 movie every week. So people kind of liked looking at the glamor and the wealth of the Ewings. And the knowledge that for all their monev and power there's not a lot of happiness in that household.
According to Filerman, the public finallv grew tired of the cop shows "I thank thev're tired of knowing how it s going to end. Seeing ear chases, helicopter chases. Supposedly cute repartee .between two good looking leads. He says: "The audience is interested in character relationship:. What goes on between people and among people, and not worrying how it;s going to end or how it's going to grow. People on serialized dramas change, their attitudes change, their characters change, their relationships change. And I think people are finding that's a little more interesting. l'm not saying that it mirrors life. No, it's drama and drama's not real life. It's "fantasy" ,and I think in these times we need a little fantasy in our lives. 1 think that has a lot to do with the appeal."
"DALLAS" has come under attack from some for its sexual content, but Filerman says such shows simply reflect contemporary sexual attitudes between men and women "We're living in a more permissive society." he says Filerman insists, however, that the shows are net so much permissive as they are romantic. "I think there's a lot of romance in "Dallas " says Filerman. "Certainly there's infidelity, but there's fidelity in a lot of other areas. I mean Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, all these wonderful stars of the '30s and '40s, they made their reputations in movies about just the kinds of things we're talking about now "Yes, we deal with the "seven deadly sins, but I think we deal with greed as well as lust, power, all the things that we sitting at home like to fantasize about." He adds, "And when people take them too seriously, I've got to say it's their problem We feel we're providing the audience with a little hit of escapist entertainment. You can't take these shows seriously. I mean, if you do. then you're in bigger trouble than we are "
FILERMAN grew up in Chicago and got his degree in communications from the University of Illinois. He was working at the Commercial Clearing House briefing law cases. His life changed when he joined the Army Reserve and was assigned to the psychological warfare unit 'I had my degree and I wanted to get into television," he recalls. "I didn't want to go to some small town, I wanted to work in rny hometown and I got lucky. I met this guy in the Army Reserve named Fred Silverman, and he had a job at WGN-TV. He got Filerman a job at the station and when he went to New York for CBS, Filerman took over his job.
After a few years Silverman asked him to come to New York. Filerman said no. He said no a second time. The truth was he was afraid to leave Chicago. The third time Silverman called and told him,'lf you don't accept this time you should see a psychiatrist." So he rnoved to NewYork and eventually became head of daytime programming for CBS. There's where he spent all that time studying soap operas. Filerman worked for several other production companies in Hollv wood before ending up at Lorimar in 1976. One of the first things he did was develop "Dallas " Filerman agrees that the development of the prime-time soap opera has about reached its limits. The next step is parody, and Filerman already has himself covered on that. He has a series in development that pokes fun at the night time shows the way "Soap" does at the daytime serials. Filerman. a bachelor, is asked if he watches TV' when he goes home at night. He sighs and says, "I read scripts. That's what I do."
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Paul Raven ·
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