ABC at TCA: The Best Broadcast Presentation at the Summer Press Tour - Ed Martin

ABC late last week put on a highly productive twoday event here at the Summer 2012 Television Critics Association tour that had veteran members recalling the grand network presentations of years gone by when the broadcasters each had two or three days at TCA gatherings and used them to maximum advantage to promote all areas of their schedulesNot to suggest that this is a competition but ABC39s was the best broadcast presentation of the tour Fox may have thrown the most impressive party at the swanky membersonly Soho House and NBC may have delivered the biggest celebrity in Gov Sarah Palin who attended the Peacock39s rather modest poolside party here at the Beverly Hilton with husband Todd one of the stars of the upcoming NBC reality competition series quotStars Earn Stripesquot But ABC most successfully created a fully immersive twoday tour experience that fully supported all of its new primetime series for the fall season along with significant new and returning shows from other daypartsLike CBS NBC and Fox ABC is allotted two days at each TCA tour with which to promote its programming In recent years all four have ceded large segments of one of their days if not an entire day to their parent companies39 basic cable or pay networks It39s all done in the name of corporate synergy and cost cutting But ABC at this tour decided to put all of its focus on itself and the result was a total tour presentation that many critics felt was one of its best in years The network included cast members and showrunners from many series on cable sibling ABC Family in its lavish closing night party Otherwise it was all ABC all the timeThe network even included a major news announcement on its second day The roster of celebrities from past seasons of quotDancing with the Starsquot that are returning this fall for the franchise39s allstar edition which was revealed during a session with ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee Nothing generates excitement at TCA tours like major news announcements that are timed for executive sessions Earlier last week Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly set the room afire when he confirmed that Mariah Carey would be joining quotAmerican Idolquot as a judgeIn this instance ABC took the announcement several steps further offering a full panel for the upcoming season of quotDancingquot immediately following the session with Lee Next to sessions that offer major news announcements there is nothing critics appreciate more than panels with personalities from popular established shows The lineup on stage included season one winner Kelly Monaco of quotGeneral Hospitalquot season two winner Drew Lachey season five winner Helio Castroneves season eight competitors Gilles Marini and Melissa Rycroft season ten competitor Pamela Anderson and season eleven competitor and media magnet Bristol PalinFollowing the appearances of Todd and Sarah at NBC39s party Bristol39s inclusion in the quotDancingquot panel ensured that this particular TCA gathering will be forever known as The Palin Tour It also ensured that the quotDancingquot session would generate more coverage than it might have without her because even though she has made no secret of her distress with the media young Bristol nevertheless knows how to feed the machine in such a way as to grab and hold the spotlightFor example when one critic asked why she would want to appear again on quotDancingquot given that she has to run a media gauntlet after every episode Bristol replied quotI just think that God provides opportunities like this and you can either go out and do them or not do them I figure that the press is going to be talking about me no matter what so I might as well be having funquotquotI assume you mean the press amp8230 would be following you no matter whatquot another critic asserted quotBut is that really true If you had decided after the 2008 election to simply go home and raise your child and find work or education in Alaska would you have been able to sort of live peacefully there Is there anything wrong with admitting that maybe this is a good gig Is there any shame in just saying 39I like being a reality star39 as opposed to saying 39Well I39ve got to do this because the media won39t leave me alone39quotquotI couldn39t tell you what would have happened if I would have just gone homequot Bristol asserted quotI like my little life in Alaska with my son I39m not whining I39m not complaining about anything The media is going to talk about me if I39m in my little life in Alaska or if I39m in LA so I might as well just have fun with itquotABC39s days also included a visit to the set of quotRevengequot arguably the most buzzed about new broadcast series of the 201112 season a special evening event catered by several Los Angeles area food trucks for quotDon39t Trust the B in Apt 23quot and quotHappy Endingsquot the two ABC sitcoms that seem to have captivated the media if not the audience a panel with ABC39s latenight star and upcoming Emmy host Jimmy Kimmel executive producer Don Mischer and Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences Chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum for the network39s presentation of the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards and a session with eight cast members from quotGeneral Hospitalquot that was one of the biggest and most wellattended sessions for a soap opera that I can recall in more than twenty years of TCA tourgoingABC News was also represented with appearances by division president Ben Sherwood and via satellite the stars of the suddenly hotagain quotGood Morning AmericaquotCertainly the primary reason for TCA tours is the promotion of new primetime programming coming to the network in the following months There was much excitement in the room during panels for the network39s three new fall dramas quotNashvillequot a particular favorite here at TCA quotLast Resortquot and quot666 Park Avenuequot There was much less enthusiasm for the network39s new fall comedies quotThe Neighborsquot and quotMalibu Countryquot though the latter will undoubtedly benefit from the seemingly unstoppable appeal of its two leads Reba McIntyre and Lily Tomlin

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ABC at TCA: The Best Broadcast Presentation at the Summer Press Tour - Ed Martin

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