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For those unfamiliar with the entertainment-industry curiosity known as "the upfronts," picture the Emmys—minus the glamour, plus a strong vibe of desperate salesmanship. Basically, TV execs from major networks give advertisers a sneak peek at their planned programming for the upcoming season, hoping to secure advertising "up front" (hence, "upfronts.") Anxiety, money, lavish parties, drunk advertising execs; the upfronts have it all. Read on for our main takeaways so far from the 2017 upfronts, which started last week in New York.
Seth Meyers gives precisely zero f***s. While Twitter was, well, atwitter with news of Trump's latest Russia scandal, Seth Meyers took the opportunity to remind us about the President's many, many instances of alleged sexual misconduct, joking: "Law & Order: SVU had a really big year. It got elected President.”
NBC's "Must-See TV" is back, baby. Or, at least, that's what NBC is aiming for with its new Thursday-night lineup of the Will & Grace reboot, Tina Fey protegee Tracey Wigfield's Great News, and tearjerker drama This is Us moving to Thursday nights at 9. It'll be just like the days of yore, when people actually watched TV... on TV!
FOX thinks "Rent" will make a good live musical. And hey, maybe it will. No airdate yet, but the estate of playwright Jonathan Larson is set to exec produce; plus, La La Land and Grease: Live producer Marc Platt is on board, and he certainly knows how to put on a show.
Ryan Murphy is adding yet another show to his resume. Angela Bassett will star in the new FOX procedural drama 911 from Murphy and his longtime collaborator Brad Falchuk. Murphy is already juggling American Horror Story, American Crime Story, Scream Queens and FX's Feud, which begs the question: does the man ever sleep?
ABC will air a new "Bachelor"-spinoff this season. Bachelors and Bachelorettes past will reunite over winter-themed athletic challenges for The Bachelor Winter Games, taking the series to what ABC promises will be "“a chilling new level.” (Because winter! Cold! Brr!) The series will premiere in February 2018, timed to coincide with the Winter Olympics.
People like sports. Who knew? Fox dedicated a large portion of its pitch to its sports properties, promising to "own the fall" with programming like Fox Sports' new morning show First Things First. It was somewhat unorthodox for Fox to promote sports over its primetime programming, but they know where the money is; sports make up the bulk of Fox's ratings points, according to AdAge.
Megyn Kelly works for NBC News now, ICYMI. Former Fox News correspondent Megyn Kelly made her debut appearance with her NBC News colleagues at the Upfronts. Kelly's morning program will premiere this fall, taking over the weekday 9 a.m. time slot formerly held by Billy Bush.
"The Mick" is getting a second chance. It's Always Sunny star Kaitlin Olson's FOX comedy debuted to disappointing ratings, but Fox has shown faith, renewing the series for a second season in 2017-2018 (even though Fox's own prodigal son Seth McFarlane poked fun at The Mick's low ratings in his opening song at the network's Upfronts presentation.)
Military dramas are so hot right now. Last year's TV trend was time travel (think NBC’s Timeless, and ABC’s Time After Time). This year, it's military drama; three military dramas were ordered to series, Deadline reports, including NBC’s The Brave, CBS’ SEAL Team and the CW’s Valor.
Dancing with the Stars, Junior is going to be a thing, thanks to ABC. As if celebrity kids didn't have weird enough lives already.
