Upfront News and Views: GSN’s Show and Tell

Venue: Paley Center for Media's New York branch on W. 52nd St. I can&#8217;t recall this building devoted to preserving TV's best moments ever being the venue for an event of this nature. However this rare arrangement was made, the place looked ready for action. Or as one banner headlined, "Ready for Play." The outside columns were draped with posters of GSN show personalities, while the inside main lobby was lined with pictures of hosts and tweets about its programs. Breakfast was served at one side, and a mini-red carpet on the other side included a photo booth for attendee/host pix.&#160; Grade: 4 JacksPresentation: A two-parter resembling time spent at the semiannual Television Critics Association tour in Los Angeles. Panels of celebrities and series producers sat along in a row of director chairs to talk about their work, moderated by Executive Vice President of Ad Sales John Zaccario (pictured at right)&#160;and Executive Vice President of Programming and Development Amy Introcaso-Davis. The first panel featured skill-based competitions like &#8220;Skin Wars&#8221; (with host Rebecca Romijn and judge RuPaul Andre Charles, both pictured at top), while the second highlighted game shows such as &#8220;Idiotest&#8221; (with host/producer Ben Gleib). Introcaso-Davis used some of her time on both panels to announce new shows and renewals. Zaccario kept the questions brief and let everyone get their say, in return getting a few poignant moments along with many humorous ones. Most memorable: reflections over an upcoming &#8220;Skin Wars&#8221; episode featuring models who had survived breast cancer. Grades: 4.5 Jacks for coming up with the format; 4 Jacks for the execution. Had members of the audience been allowed to ask a question or two, the latter would increase to 4.5.News: Three new series will begin this year, two of the three in the skill/design competition arena. &#8220;Fresh Paint&#8221; will extend &#8220;Skin Wars&#8221; among contestants with non-bodypainting backgrounds, while &#8220;Window Warriors&#8221; deals with retail merchandise displays. The one set game show is &#8220;Winsanity,&#8221; hosted by &#8220;Scrubs&#8221; co-star Donald Faison (pictured below with Introcaso-Davis), where contestants rank facts in numerical order to win for themselves and the studio audience. No premiere dates in place yet. Gleib will organize a &#8220;Political Idiotest&#8221; special later this spring, pitting Republican pundits against their Democratic counterparts. &#8220;Breaking App&#8221; (app invention showcase) and &#8220;The Investigation&#8221; (crime-solving game hour) will go to pilot, and the series development process now includes contenders &#8220;Divided,&#8221; &#8220;Glass Wars&#8221; and &#8220;Run &amp; Buzz.&#8221; Very notable: No word on &#8220;The Chase,&#8221; now in its fourth season. Host Brooke Burns and brainiac Mark Labbett (AKA "The Beast"), two popular participants at the last two GSN Upfronts, were absent. Grade: 3 JacksHosts: Zaccario and Introcaso-Davis were solid together. A bigger standout was GSN president/chief executive David Goldhill. He gave a deadpan recap of the network's recent fortunes that poked fun at himself and every exec in the same position. "A lot of TV networks will look at new, creative ways to crunch data that shows them in their best light," Goldhill began. "We're no different. We're No. 1 in Norfolk, Virginia with their jackpot fun people. We're No. 1 in homes with a pet named after Steve Harvey. Did double-digit increases in all key demos ... and all non-key demos." On he went. Grade: 3.5 JacksStar Turn: Every notable in the room had his or her moment. "We're literally watching paint dry every day. It's a trip," Romijn observed." Hosting (&#8220;Winsanity&#8221;) is easily one of the top five things I've done in my life," added Faison. "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat -- all on our show! It's been a joy." As for Gleib, he said, "There's an all-nude &#8216;Idiotest&#8217; episode coming up. I'm not the highlight of it, I promise you."&#160; Grade: 4 JacksCuisine: The standard breakfast buffet. Best chow-down: bite-size banana nut muffins. Worst chow-down: melon slices that had no juice to them. Grade: 2 JacksOverall Grade: 3.5 Jacks Right out of TCA playbook 101, an outstanding format with well-executed pace and self-parody. The Paley Center sparkled -- and should consider housing this type of event again. If the news came with premiere dates and the food had more flavor, the grade would have increased half a Jack.Next up: National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WildUntil the next time, stay well and stay tuned!The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage/MyersBizNet management or associated bloggers.

Upfront News and Views: GSN’s Show and Tell

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Simon Applebaum

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