\n<\/p>\n
Martin Starger, who as a senior executive at ABC in the 1970s helped bring \u201cHappy Days,\u201d \u201cRoots,\u201d \u201cRich Man, Poor Man\u201d and other shows to the small screen \u2014 and the network nearly to the brink of No. 1 in prime time \u2014 before turning to producing movies, most notably Robert Altman\u2019s \u201cNashville,\u201d died on May 31 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 92.<\/p>\n
His death was confirmed by his niece, Ilene Starger, a casting director.<\/p>\n
Mr. Starger joined ABC in the mid-1960s and rose to positions of increasing importance, culminating in his promotion to president of ABC Entertainment in 1972. <\/p>\n
The entertainment mogul Barry Diller, who was one of his prot\u00e9g\u00e9s at ABC, described Mr. Starger in an email as \u201cthe quintessential television executive of the 1970s.\u201d He was, Mr. Diller said, the \u201cessence of N.Y. smarts: suave, sophisticated and funny. He was culturally ahead of his audience but was pragmatic in his programming choices, but ever striving for better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Starger\u2019s time at ABC was characterized by the network\u2019s long struggle to break out of last place in prime time, behind CBS and NBC, in what was then a three-network universe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Starger and other executives balanced middlebrow programs, including \u201cMarcus Welby, M.D.\u201d and \u201cThe Six Million Dollar Man,\u201d with TV movies like \u201cThe Missiles of October\u201d (1974), which dramatized the Cuban missile crisis, and prestigious mini-series like \u201cRoots,\u201d based on Alex Haley\u2019s book about his family history.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoots\u201d \u2014 which ran for eight consecutive nights in 1977, although it did not air until after Mr. Starger had left ABC \u2014 was a colossal ratings smash and won nine Emmys. It was part of Mr. Starger\u2019s strategy to adapt best-selling books like Leon Uris\u2019s novel \u201cQB VII\u201d (1974), which was developed into a two-night, six-hour event, and Irwin Shaw\u2019s novel \u201cRich Man, Poor Man\u201d (1976), the basis of a nine-part mini-series.<\/p>\n
Mr. Starger\u2019s penchant for putting brainier-than-usual programs on ABC\u2019s schedule prompted John Carmody, a television reporter for The Washington Post, to describe Mr. Starger in 1973 as \u201cthe intellectual of the three network programming chiefs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Mr. Starger had to find a way to beat NBC and CBS. In 1974, he added 12 new series to ABC\u2019s schedule to replace unsuccessful ones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He said that in the battle to gain ground against ABC\u2019s rivals, he had three rules of engagement: Each night had to have at least one returning show; returning shows had to be strong enough to help new ones; and the network had to counterprogram CBS and NBC with appealing alternatives.<\/p>\n
The plan did not work. ABC finished far behind its rivals.<\/p>\n
After three years as the president of ABC Entertainment, Mr. Starger left in 1975 to start his own production company, with a deal to create programs exclusively for the network.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, some of the programming he left behind for his successor, Fred Silverman, was responsible for ABC\u2019s rise to the top spot in prime time for the 1976-77 season. Seven of the 10 top-rated shows that season were on ABC, including \u201cHappy Days,\u201d \u201cThe Six Million Dollar Man\u201d and \u201cBaretta,\u201d holdovers from Mr. Starger\u2019s time there.<\/p>\n
John J. O\u2019Connor, a TV critic for The New York Times, took note. \u201cIronically,\u201d he wrote in 1977, \u201cthe foundation for ABC\u2019s current programming pattern had been laid by Martin Starger, who was dismissed shortly before the ratings began to climb.\u201d (Some reports said he was pushed out, others that he resigned to take on a new challenge.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Martin Starger was born on May 8, 1932, in the Bronx. His father, Isidore, was a factory leather worker who made handbags (which were purchased by, among others, Eleanor Roosevelt). His mother, Rose (Stamler) Starger, managed the household.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
After graduating from the City College of New York in 1953 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in motion picture techniques, Mr. Starger was drafted into the Army. He served for two years in the motion picture division of the Signal Corps; for some of that time he was based in Honolulu, where he wrote, directed and edited films.<\/p>\n
After his discharge, he joined the advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (now known as BBDO) as an assistant projectionist, at a time when agencies produced television shows. He was later an account executive and vice president.<\/p>\n
He was recruited to ABC and held vice-presidential positions at the network before becoming the president of ABC Entertainment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
When he left ABC, he had a major project in hand. While at the network, he had agreed to have ABC finance \u201cNashville\u201d (1975), Robert Altman\u2019s multilayered drama set against the background of the country music industry. Mr. Starger and Jerry Weintraub were the film\u2019s executive producers. It was nominated for five Oscars and won for the best original song, \u201cI\u2019m Easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
A series Mr. Starger created for ABC, \u201cWestside Medical,\u201d about a clinic in Southern California, had a brief run in 1977.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
For the next two decades, Mr. Starger produced theatrical and television films,<\/a> some in partnership with the British entertainment mogul Lew Grade and some for his own company, Marstar Productions. The numerous films on which he was a producer or executive producer included two Muppet movies, \u201cSophie\u2019s Choice\u201d (1982), \u201cMask\u201d (1985), \u201cEscape From Sobibor\u201d (1987) and \u201cLove Letters\u201d (1999).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Starger was the executive producer of \u201cFriendly Fire,\u201d a 1979 TV movie based on the true story of a couple (played by Carol Burnett and Ned Beatty) who fought the government to learn the truth about the killing of their son, a soldier during the Vietnam War. It won the Emmy Award for outstanding drama or comedy special, which Mr. Starger shared with his co-producers Fay Kanin, who also wrote the script, and Philip Barry Jr.<\/p>\n