Plot summary
In 1965 at the Chateau Marmont, Rand Corporation employee Albert S. Ruddy meets and forms a bond with owner Francoise Glazer as well as encounters Sergeant Bilko actor Bernard Fein. Together, the pair successfully pitch the sitcom Hogan's Heroes to CBS, though Ruddy eventually departs the show. He convinces Robert Evans, head of production at Paramount Pictures, to take him on as a film producer. In New York City, struggling author Mario Puzo 's The Godfather becomes a best seller and is optioned for film by Paramount. It is negatively received by the Italian-American community, in particular Frank Sinatra, as it is believed the Johnny Fontane character is based on him.
Joe Colombo, one of the heads of the Five Families, begins a crusade to fight injustice towards Italian-Americans, founding the Italian-American Civil Rights League. Due to the success of the novel, rival studios such as Warner Bros. call Paramount to try and convince them to sell the film rights. Evans is able to convince Charles Bluhdorn to retain them. He tasks Ruddy to produce, who selects Puzo to adapt and Francis Ford Coppola to direct. To intimidate them into dropping the project, Colombo has Ruddy's car shot up by Mickey Cohen 's men.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The Offer. Series, exact episode number and English title matched. Paragraphs formatted; references and illustrations omitted.