'Weakest Link' Almost Disaster for NBC

Julie Harmon, a documentary producer and winner of the second largest prize in the history of 'The Weakest Link', is also the former wife of the president of NBC studios, Ted Harbert. Unfortunately for NBC, no one knew until hours before the Julie Harmon episode was set to air on Monday evening. Was it not for e-mail sent to one of the executive producers at NBC, the show would have aired as scheduled and the rumors of impropriety would have surely been rampant.

Some credit, however, should be given to NBC. They did pull the show from the air, thoroughly researched the application process of Julie Harmon, and determined that neither NBC nor Julie Harmon violated the rules of the game. Although NBC prohibits friends and family members of network employees to participate in its game shows, the network determined that Julie Harmon qualified as neither to Ted Harbert. The couple divorced nearly 15 years ago and rarely have any contact with one another.

Executives at NBC decided to run the program on Tuesday instead, and are now confident that all of their bases have been covered in verifying that Harmon is not an illegal contestant and that the integrity of the game was never compromised. The only thing that NBC plans to change about its screening process for future players is the wording of the application form. Probably a good idea.