Press Tour Preview of Cable and Streaming’s New Shows Destined to be Binges
It’s not often when someone gets a warm round of sustained applause at the Television Critics Association press tour, but that’s what happened when HBO’s Quentin Schaffer took the stage at the Beverly Hilton last week. The week before, he had announced his exit after 39 years as communications chief at the network and he told the assembled audience of journalists that he wanted to do one last TCA. He said it was his 100th, because he...
Highlights of TV’s Annual Upfront Programming Presentations
The dust is still settling from last week’s series of major network presentations for the 2018 TV upfronts. Despite the uncertainty in the air about potential mergers between CBS and Viacom, AT&T and Time Warner and even Disney and Fox with a rival Comcast bid coming into play, top executives across the board espoused an attitude of optimism about the future. Here’s a chronological snapshot of what went down during the whirlwind...
Comedy and Comebacks as Networks Woo Advertisers with New TV Shows
Despite the intense focus on new ways of doing business in the digital era, the broadcast networks clearly have a case of Everything Old Is New Again. From reboots of “Roseanne” to “Dynasty,” “Will & Grace” to “S.W.A.T.,” and of course, “American Idol,” that was the key takeaway from the week of television upfronts held at venues across New York City. Historically, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, Univision and the CW showcase...
From ‘Divorce’ to ‘Berlin Station’ to ‘Mars,’ A Preview of Cable’s Most Buzzworthy Shows
It’s inevitable that there will be some verbal fireworks mixed in with the vast slate of programming presented at the cable portion of the TCA summer press tour held at the Beverly Hilton. Last year, there was a media-manufactured showdown between Michael Lombardo and Chris Albrecht over the similarities of HBO’s “Ballers” and Starz’ “Survivor’s Remorse,” with Albrecht conclusively admonishing the assembled television journalists to...
Upfronts, Center and Sideways, All Over the Map for TV Hopefuls
Attending upfronts is a bit like partaking in an all-you-can-eat buffet: something you do once a year–in which some of the offerings are pretty tasty, some inedible, several of which that are incredibly delicious and leave you hungering for more, others that can best be classified as comfort food, plus some new offerings sprinkled here and there throughout the line. It all amounts to the net effect of leaving you sated, if...
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