LOS ANGELES, July 16 — To mark his first official appearance as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, Ben Silverman opened a news conference here on Monday with announcements intended to inject a blast of energy into that network’s struggling prime-time performance.
Mr. Silverman released a revamped fall lineup of NBC shows, adding the summer reality series “The Singing Bee,” even though it has been on the air only once. He confirmed widespread speculation that he was bringing back Donald Trump’s reality series, “The Apprentice,” once on the brink of cancellation, in an edition built around a celebrity competition. (He even suggested that he would invite Mr. Trump’s most public celebrity enemy, Rosie O’Donnell, to join the cast, to which Mr. Trump said in a telephone interview, “I wouldn’t rule it out.”)
Mr. Silverman also announced that he had recruited one of NBC’s most celebrated performers, Jerry Seinfeld, to be a guest star in the season-opening episode of the highly regarded but low-rated comedy series “30 Rock.”
In addition, he said he had pursued the actor Isaiah Washington, recently dropped from the hit ABC series “Grey’s Anatomy” after making remarks about a gay co-star, and signed him to appear in five episodes of “Bionic Woman,” a new drama series for this fall.
In other deals, Mr. Silverman said he had secured an agreement with the writer and producer Norman Lear to supervise a comedy-drama being developed by another writer; and he announced that NBC had bought the rights to what he called “the next great reality format”: a series from Israel in the “American Idol” mold that searches for what Mr. Silverman called “the next great mentalist.” One host of the show is Uri Geller, the magician and mentalist who has been the target of skeptics.
In May NBC appointed Mr. Silverman to his new job, with a title that he shares with Marc Graboff, who appeared with him on Monday. Mr. Silverman was named only shortly after NBC announced a fall schedule that had been assembled by Kevin Reilly, who had been the president of NBC Entertainment. Mr. Reilly left the network at that time, and has since been hired by Fox as its chief programmer.
Mr. Graboff said of Mr. Reilly, “He wasn’t fired.” Instead, he said, NBC leaped at the chance to bring in Mr. Silverman, whose company, Reveille, had produced hits like “The Office” for NBC and “Ugly Betty” for ABC. “Kevin determined there was no longer a role for him and he decided to move on,” Mr. Graboff said.
But the new fall shows that NBC and Mr. Silverman will promote were all developed under Mr. Reilly, and there had been some expectation that Mr. Silverman might want to put his own stamp on the schedule before it starts in September.
He said on Monday that he believed in those new shows, but he decided to change three nights of the schedule NBC had announced in May. The big changes involve adding “The Singing Bee,” which in its premiere last week became the highest-rated show of the summer, and the switch of one new series, “Chuck,” from Tuesday to Monday.
“Chuck,” about a loveless computer nerd whose brain is sought by nefarious government groups, has been moved to lead off Monday nights at 8, creating a lineup of fantasy shows with the hit “Heroes” at 9 and another new entry about time travel, “Journeyman,” at 10. Mr. Silverman said he believed this was a better way to take advantage of the promotional opportunities in NBC’s package of N.F.L. football games on Sunday nights.
NBC will shift another reality series, “The Biggest Loser” (which Mr. Silverman’s former company still produces), to a 90-minute format, which will run from 8 to 9:30 on Tuesday nights, followed by “The Singing Bee.” NBC will shift “Deal or No Deal” to Fridays at 8 p.m., replacing another game show, “1 vs. 100.”
Mr. Graboff said that Mr. Silverman pursued Mr. Seinfeld to be a guest star on “30 Rock” to jump-start the second season of what NBC considers a promising comedy. “That was all Ben,” Mr. Graboff said. “He made the call to Jerry and it’s happening.” Mr. Seinfeld will play himself in the episode, which he always did in his NBC series, “Seinfeld.”
Mr. Silverman said he hoped the celebrity edition of “The Apprentice” would breathe new life into the format, which has been the most successful reality series ever on NBC. The show will put celebrities, ones Mr. Silverman said “had other businesses they are passionate about,” into the usual competition in business tasks, judged by Mr. Trump.
But they will compete for cash for a favorite charity, not for a job in Mr. Trump’s organization. They will, however, live together for the duration of the shooting, Mr. Trump said.
As for Ms. O’Donnell, who has feuded publicly and at high volume with Mr. Trump, Mr. Silverman said, “I think people would love to see her on the show,” although he admitted that he had yet to invite her. “I’m sort of doing that today in this press conference,” he said.
Mr. Trump said he would have no problem with the idea. “I would treat Rosie fairly,” he said, adding that he too expected that such a pairing would generate interest. “I noticed that when we were in the news feuding, the ratings for her on ‘The View’ were the best ever.”
Mr. Silverman also announced that all of NBC’s prime-time shows would participate in a companywide pro-environmental project called “Green Is Universal” for a week in November. Every show on NBC would have a story line with an environmental theme, Mr. Silverman said.
All of NBC Universal’s channels would be involved, said Lauren Zalaznick, president of the Bravo channel, who is leading the effort. She said the purpose was “to try to change the way we think and hopefully the way we and other people think — and act.”
Another network made news on Monday, and it seemed much more of a surprise. CBS is losing a star from one of its signature series: Mandy Patinkin has decided to quit the hit crime drama “Criminal Minds.”
CBS and the studios that produce the series, CBS Paramount and ABC, issued statements saying that Mr. Patinkin had asked to be released from the show and that he was citing “creative differences.” CBS said the decision had nothing to do with a demand for a new contract.
It is not unprecedented for Mr. Patinkin to walk away from a hit show. He did the same thing — also over what were described as creative differences — on an earlier CBS series, “Chicago Hope.”
No replacement for Mr. Patinkin has been named, underscoring how his departure caught CBS and producers off guard.
