ABC Offers Another Lean Upfront Presentation

For the second year in a row I watched streaming coverage of ABC39s Upfront presentation in the comfort of my home office via ABC MediaNet and once again I don39t feel that I missed much by not being at Lincoln Center39s Avery Fisher Hall in person It saddens me that the company doesn39t do more on one of its most important days of the year to support the work of Steve McPherson President ABC Entertainment Group and his programming teamABC continued to take a lowkey approach to its Upfront event even as the other broadcast networks this year are stepping up their game and doing everything they can to get their messages out and champion their new and returning shows At least this year39s presentation produced a handful of ABC stars Matthew Fox of Lost and cast members from Modern Family as compared to last year39s roster which began and ended with perennial performer Jimmy Kimmel ABC did try something new having Fox and the Family folks introduce clips from upcoming freshman series But there was otherwise very little to get excited about It39s almost as if the end goal at Disney is to make its Upfront presentation a virtual event with Anne Sweeney CoChairman Disney Media Networks and President DisneyABC Television Group and Steve McPherson live on camera from an ABC office somewhere giving their speeches and rolling their clipsRead Jack Myers Media Business Report exclusive Upfront Coverage by Ed Martin and Simon Applebaum available to corporate subscribersamp160Redistribution in any form except among approved individuals within your company is prohibitedI could have done without the video of Geri Wang ABC39s new President Sales and Marketing suffering the muddy indignities of the obstacle course on the network39s silly summer series Wipeout It was a onejoke offering that could have been thoughtfully expanded by having Wang visit the locales of other ABC series And speaking of things that weren39t funny I didn39t think Kimmel kicked ass as much as usual especially when he took shots at the Upfront presentations at NBC and Fox which were both more ambitious than ABC39s event Still he managed to make me laugh a couple of times especially at the start when he faced the audience of advertisers and warned quotWe know you have money this year so don39t try to act all poorquot And then there was his observation about everyone39s favorite island adventure quotWatching Lost is what I imagine it must be like to be trapped in the brain of Paula AbdulquotIn general there is no comparing the effectiveness of footage from a brand new series when it is viewed on a computer monitor instead of a deluxe high definition screen in a room full of thousands of people who are interested and invested in television programming The big display option can work wonders for even the most unremarkable show For example everything NBC showed its audience on Monday at the Hilton Hotel looked pretty darn good even though some of it will undoubtedly fail Conversely the computer viewing option can compromise even the strongest new series Perhaps that39s why I had a neutral reaction to most of what I saw from ABC I39m told that had I been on site this year at Avery Fisher Hall I would have observed that ABC39s drama clips met with polite applause at best and that the clips from new comedies Mr Sunshine Happy Endings and Better Together drew a stronger positive responseThe show that came over best from where I sat was Body of Proof about a crime solving medical examiner played by Dana Delany It looks to be the only new drama on ABC or any other network with a central character that viewers will want to watch every week even if the stories being told aren39t always riveting much like Brenda Leigh Johnson the disarming but surprisingly tough Deputy Police Chief played by Kyra Sedgwick on TNT39s The Closer I wish this show wasn39t scheduled for 9 pm on Friday the time period that destroyed Ugly Betty last fallBased on their concepts rather than their clips I39m most intrigued by No Ordinary Family about a family suddenly given superhuman powers and My Generation a documentary style drama about nine young adults in 2010 who were high school students back in 2000 and the impact that decade had on themLastly it doesn39t help that ABC has discontinued its postevent party Yes parties are a lot of fun but there is great professional value for journalists and advertising executives in having the opportunity to discuss new series with their creators producers and stars as well as network executives before sharing their impressions with the industry and the publicClick for ABC39s Fall Schedule

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ABC Offers Another Lean Upfront Presentation

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Ed Martin

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ABC Offers Another Lean Upfront Presentation

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