Upfront News and Views: GSN’s Show and Tell

Venue Paley Center for Media39s New York branch on W 52nd St I canamp8217t recall this building devoted to preserving TV39s 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 quotReady for Playquot 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 minired carpet on the other side included a photo booth for attendeehost pixamp160 Grade 4 JacksPresentation A twoparter 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 rightamp160and Executive Vice President of Programming and Development Amy IntrocasoDavis The first panel featured skillbased competitions like amp8220Skin Warsamp8221 with host Rebecca Romijn and judge RuPaul Andre Charles both pictured at top while the second highlighted game shows such as amp8220Idiotestamp8221 with hostproducer Ben Gleib IntrocasoDavis 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 amp8220Skin Warsamp8221 episode featuring models who had survived breast cancer Grades 45 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 45News Three new series will begin this year two of the three in the skilldesign competition arena amp8220Fresh Paintamp8221 will extend amp8220Skin Warsamp8221 among contestants with nonbodypainting backgrounds while amp8220Window Warriorsamp8221 deals with retail merchandise displays The one set game show is amp8220Winsanityamp8221 hosted by amp8220Scrubsamp8221 costar Donald Faison pictured below with IntrocasoDavis 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 amp8220Political Idiotestamp8221 special later this spring pitting Republican pundits against their Democratic counterparts amp8220Breaking Appamp8221 app invention showcase and amp8220The Investigationamp8221 crimesolving game hour will go to pilot and the series development process now includes contenders amp8220Dividedamp8221 amp8220Glass Warsamp8221 and amp8220Run ampamp Buzzamp8221 Very notable No word on amp8220The Chaseamp8221 now in its fourth season Host Brooke Burns and brainiac Mark Labbett AKA quotThe Beastquot two popular participants at the last two GSN Upfronts were absent Grade 3 JacksHosts Zaccario and IntrocasoDavis were solid together A bigger standout was GSN presidentchief executive David Goldhill He gave a deadpan recap of the network39s recent fortunes that poked fun at himself and every exec in the same position quotA lot of TV networks will look at new creative ways to crunch data that shows them in their best lightquot Goldhill began quotWe39re no different We39re No 1 in Norfolk Virginia with their jackpot fun people We39re No 1 in homes with a pet named after Steve Harvey Did doubledigit increases in all key demos and all nonkey demosquot On he went Grade 35 JacksStar Turn Every notable in the room had his or her moment quotWe39re literally watching paint dry every day It39s a tripquot Romijn observedquot Hosting amp8220Winsanityamp8221 is easily one of the top five things I39ve done in my lifequot added Faison quotThe thrill of victory and the agony of defeat all on our show It39s been a joyquot As for Gleib he said quotThere39s an allnude amp8216Idiotestamp8217 episode coming up I39m not the highlight of it I promise youquotamp160 Grade 4 JacksCuisine The standard breakfast buffet Best chowdown bitesize banana nut muffins Worst chowdown melon slices that had no juice to them Grade 2 JacksOverall Grade 35 Jacks Right out of TCA playbook 101 an outstanding format with wellexecuted pace and selfparody 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 JackNext up National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WildUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Upfront News and Views: GSN’s Show and Tell

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Upfront News and Views: GSN’s Show and Tell

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