“Many in Hollywood, including ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson, a close friend, says Reilly was unfairly fired. ‘The treatment he has gotten has been disgusting,’ McPherson says of Reilly's time at NBC(-Universal), a period that produced such hits as ‘Heroes’ and ‘The Office.’ ‘He brought back quality, class and success over there and put his balls on the line better than anyone in the business, myself included. I don't know what more you can ask for.’”

As the piece notes, Reilly and McPherson are good pals, but that’s nonetheless a strong statement. (Plus, McPherson gets to take a solid shot at a competitor without hurting a buddy.)

More intriguingly, the New York Post examines Silverman becoming the first network executive with a background predominantly given over to the production of reality TV. (To be fair, Silverman has been associated with “The Office” – which Reilly stuck by when it had low ratings – as well as ABC’s “Ugly Betty” and Showtime’s “The Tudors;” then again, he also led the disastrous courtship between NBC and “Coupling.”)

Here are some of the shows on Silverman’s resume: “The Biggest Loser” (returning despite anemic ratings), “The Restaurant” (worm meat), “30 Days” (a critical success on FX), “Blow Out” (a ratings, if not critical, success on Bravo), “The $25 Million Hoax,” “The Club,” “Bitch House,” “Bound for Glory,” Celebrity Cooking Showdown” and “Parental Control” (if you’ve heard of any of these, you’re a better – or worse? – person than me), “Identity” (more worm meat), “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” (a hit – God help the Republic) and some sundry failed sitcom pilots.

The point: He understands cheap programming more than most executives would probably want to. The question: How will that background remake the network?

Finally, perhaps most tellingly, Mediaweek describes Silverman as an advertiser-friendly guy who just loves to incorporate product placement into his programming.

An advertiser quote: “Ben is an advertiser-friendly guy. He wants to make money. He’s my kind of guy.” A Silverman quote: “Advertisers are looking for solutions for reaching more customers, just as media companies are looking to reach a bigger audience. And both are looking for ways to monetize their businesses. We need to work together to come up with ways to break through all the media noise.”

So: Good for the industry; probably not so good for viewers. Here are some possible ways Silverman will make NBC shows more advertiser-friendly:

* “Corporate Heroes:” In tonight’s episode: Hiro (Masi Oka) upgrades his samurai sword through Cutco®. Niki (Ali Larter) can only see her alter-ego through mirrors from Restoration Hardware®. Mr. Bennet (Jack Coleman) gets new horn-rimmed glasses at LensCrafters®. Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) upgrades the memory for the MacBook® containing his list of all gifted individuals at an Apple® Store. The Haitian (Jimmy Jean-Louis) dines at Cheesecake Factory®.

* “The OfficeMax®:” When Dunder Mifflin goes under, cast members are hired by OfficeMax, and suddenly become utterly competent and patron-friendly employees, offering office supplies at reasonable prices and nonpareil customer service.

* “Deal or No Deal for a Pontiac Solstice®:” Inside one of the Samsonite® briefcases held by the models in Gap® summer dresses sits the keys to one of GM’s® luxury roadster convertibles.

* “Law & Order the BK Value Meal® at One of Our Many Convenient Drive-Thrus:” Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) embarks on a crusade to punish as many people as possible who criminally under-patronize the nation’s many Burger King® franchises.

* “Friday Night GE Light Bulbs®:” The Dillon Panthers football team boycott their own games when they discover their stadium’s light banks are filled with inferior light bulbs from manufacturers other than GE®.

* “Scrubs-ing Bubbles®:” The high-paid cast of “Scrubs” is replaced by computer-animated Scrubbing Bubbles® from the family-friendly Johnson and Johnson® conglomerate; their duties include quipping cleverly while sterilizing the hospital O.R.

* “Medium/Well-Done: Ruth’s Chris Steak House®:” Alison Dubois (Patricia Arquette) takes a job at a steakhouse, where she divines from each cut of beef just how it should be prepared for optimal mouth-watering deliciousness.

* My Name is Earl Corp.:” Earl (Jason Lee) becomes the spokesman for Earl Corp®, which specializes in commercial and industrial real estate brokerage services.