Pasadena, CA -- NBC had a great day at the Winter 2020 Television Critics Association tour, beginning with the kind of small but impactful surprise for which these tours used to be known; an unscheduled appearance by Amy Poehler, pretending to be executive vice president of publicity Chip Sullivan, welcoming everyone to the network’s presentation. The day included a spirited session with NBC entertainment chairman Paul Telegdy; panels for the upcoming sitcoms Indebted (starring Fran Drescher, who also knows how to light up a press event) and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist; new dramas Council of Dads and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, and return sci-fi thriller Manifest. There were also panels for Syfy’s upcoming Resident Alien and USA Network’s new drama Briarpatch and rebooted reality series The Biggest Loser. (The latter caused a bit of a dust up, as you'll see below.) But the biggest draw of the day, as has been the case for three years, was a panel for the acclaimed drama This Is Us, which tends to overshadow everything else because if its sustained quality and popularity. That’s a good problem to have. And the fact that NBC continues to include panels for the show in TCA tours speaks to its understanding of what journalists and critics want from these twice-yearly events.
NBC at TCA -- “This Is Us,” “Biggest Loser” and Special Guest Star Amy Poehler as “Chip”
