Here's a good example of Hollywood power. Just as we were getting ready to chat with reality TV super-producer Mark Burnett about the ratings woes for recent efforts such as "Pirate Master" and "On the Lot," the phone rang with an unexpected call. It was Ben Silverman, the newly tapped co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, who wanted to make sure we knew that he thinks Burnett is a "phenomenal" producer.

In fact, Silverman added, he's even made it a priority to revive Burnett's "The Apprentice," the once-phenomenal Donald Trump show that as recently as last month looked destined to bite the dust at NBC.

Don't you wish your friends had your back like this?

That Burnett is still a major force cannot be denied. "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" his goofy Fox game show with Jeff Foxworthy, was one of the very few successful new series introduced last season and has already spawned multiple overseas incarnations. Burnett's minions are toiling away on the 15th edition of his signature "Survivor" franchise, which will bow this fall with claims to be the first American TV series shot entirely in China. Ratings for this month's MTV Movie Awards, which he produced, climbed 12 percent, to 3.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, and Burnett said he'll "probably" do the awards telecast again next year.

Even detractors give Burnett props for production values that have made his shows the gold standard of network TV reality. "I've never delivered anything that doesn't look good; that's important," he said.

Still, the past few weeks have brought grim tidings, notwithstanding the fact that summer, when networks generally refrain from airing original episodes of their most popular scripted shows, is often Burnett's time to shine.

"On the Lot," a heavily publicized contest for aspiring filmmakers that Burnett produced in collaboration with Steven Spielberg, yielded such anemic ratings that Fox scaled back the twice-weekly airings. Viewers have likewise shunned CBS's "Pirate Master," a kitschy adventure based on a fictional pirate tale in which nonactors (i.e., allegedly ordinary folk) play the roles.

A cocky former British paratrooper, Burnett is an energetic and extraordinarily shrewd salesman for himself and his shows. But he's trying to take a more philosophical view in these chastening times.

"Nobody is 100 percent on success," he said. "If you look at my success rate, it's probably higher than most."

Because he's played such a central role in popularizing the circus that is unscripted entertainment, Burnett and the vicissitudes of his career are of more than passing interest. Do his current difficulties signal the beginning of the end for the broadcast reality craze that he nearly single-handedly launched seven summers ago with the first "Survivor"?

Mike Darnell, who has overseen Fox's reality offerings for years, insists that the genre is just as popular as ever — after all, Fox's "American Idol" was once again the No. 1 show of last season. He adds, though, that the ground is shifting and hits are harder to come by.

"Even I can't keep track of how many reality shows there are these days," said Darnell, whose experience includes "On the Lot" as well as such classic unscripted gems as "Celebrity Boxing" and "When Animals Attack." "The world has become extraordinarily competitive in the last three years."