Thursday, May 26, 2011

T Dog's Six (Nine) Pack: Upfronts edition

It's an special edition of T Dog's Six Pack - a supersized one with nine items related to last week's upfronts in New York as advertisers, media buyers, and the networks  now have the hardest job ahead of them - negotiations. Here are the hits and misses from last week's presentations:

Epic successes:


The return of the sitcom. Just when you've written them off... they're back... with eleven comedies on the fall lineup - the most in five years -  and more on tap midseason - the sitcom is healthy as it has ever been.Show with the best buzz? CBS' 2 Broke Girls, which is sure to be a hit.

Dramas. Speaking of healthy... one-hour drams continue to be hot - fourteen new shows  coming this fall, with good buzz for Pan Am and The Playboy Club, and for Good Christian Belles for midseason. 

Steve Koonin. When Turner's upfront presentation went south due to technical glitches, Steve Koonin saved the day with his quick wit and thinking.

Adult Swim. They're here because it's less about the presentations and more about the partying! Jay-Z was at Adult Swim's upfront, where he performed a full set for an hour.

Cable. With ratings for programming that equals - and often surpasses those on the broadcast networks, Turner's TBS and TNT and Disney's ESPN have more than earned their seat at the table during upfront week.

Epic FAILS:


ABC Upfront Presentation. Lots of buyers were happy with the shows - but reportedly, not the presentation. Though Jimmy Kimmel made them laugh. Allegedly.


The Church of Tisch security woes. A reporter from Broadcasting & Cable was threatened by a security guard (who may or may not look like Katie Couric) for tweeting away at the CBS presentation at Carnegie Hall - so much so that the guard told all reporters they were not allowed to use any technology in the building whatsoever. Sorry, any 21st century innovations are not allowed at in the halls of The Church of Tisch, because management is still stuck in the 20th Century. How else you can explain the return of Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson? There were also reports that everyone inside had to make a mandatory donation going toward Les Moonves' expensive lunches.


Me-Me-Me focused reality shows. The fall lineup on the networks features just two non-scripted shows - and just one is in the vein of the celebrity/housewife/acting-like-a-jackass crap - which thank God - are regulated to cable channels that are easy to avoid. However...

H8r. One of those type of shows is premiering in September on CW where celebrities are paired up with people who hate them. How about me being paired with the moron who thought of this idea? This might be the first show to land in the T Dog Media Blog TV Hall Of Shame before it even airs. Don't be surprised if the first "celebrity" lined up on the show is Bears QB Jay Cutler.

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