Upfront Reviews: UP's Bus Ride; FX Heads “Fargo” Way

UPAspireVenue For the third straight year UP parked a bus next to Bryant Park on W 40th St stocked with appetizers munchies and soda to demonstrate its programmingratings accomplishments The demo for the second year incorporates happenings at Aspire the Magic Johnsonowned channel UP collaborates with on advertising sales One side of the bus touts UP the other Aspire Grade 45 JacksPresentation Straight mix of info new programming announcements and videos this time offered by Lisa Fischer UP39s executive vice president of advertising sales since January UP39s family focus in programming is making headway with more than 12 million Facebook likes and one study showing the channel is now in the top 10 of engaged cable network audiences quotThere39s no downside to Up because it39s always going in the right directionquot Fischer said Viewership among specific demographics including AfricanAmericans is also on the rise As for Aspire carriage has reached about 20 million households with double that milestone projected by the end of 2015 One drawback programming executives from Up and Aspire were absent from this event geared to press so several topics raised in a closing questionandanswer session couldn39t be addressed in full Grade 4 JacksNews Four original series two scriptedtwo nonfiction will debut on UP by mid2015 with details forthcoming The channel39s lineup of original movies will increase to 30 between this summer and next including Mary Jo39s Candy August 16 winner of the channel39s annual FaithFamily screenplay contest at the American Black Film Festival taking place in New York for the first time June 1922 Mistletoe Radio and Paper Angels December two of eight new Christmas season movies Noah separate from the Russell Crowestarring film now playing nationwide in theaters and Life Of A King starring Cuba Gooding Jr At Aspire coming attractions include expanded coverage of black college football and basketball including a women39s conference championship and Closure a documentary special on transracial adoptions Series in development include Change Makers and United Negro College Fund Next Generation Grade 4 JacksHost Solid effort from Fischer Grade 4 JacksOverall Grade 4 Jacks The bus is a cozy intimate environment to show off what39s taking place at a network two networks in this case For the future programming executives should make a date to be present at least for the press showcase Separately it39s been a long time since Aspire has put on its own press debrief with the curtain rising on year three late June how about oneFX NetworksVenue Tripleheader approach this year one year after FX surprised the world by morphing into a threechannel set FXFXXFXM Part One Press came to the Avenue of the Americas headquarters of now parent 21stCenturyFox for breakfast and a progress report from FX chief executive John Landgraf Part Two Off to the School of Visual Arts theater on W 23rd St for a redcarpet Fargo showcase presenting the new limited series inspired by the Oscarwinning movie It debuts tonight Part Three The channel39s annual allstar bowling party at Lucky Strike Lanes corner of W 42nd St and West Side Highway Grade 5 JacksPresentation The ambitious strategy Landgraf and company announced last April no longer spans an extended time frame quotI look at the performance of our existing programming the new shows that are joining our lineup this year and the pilots we39re shooting and believe we39ll live up to the promises we made last yearquot he told reporters quotIn fact we39re ahead of schedulequot Between FX and FXX the number of original series will soar from 11 last year to 20 this yearamp8221 Earlier Landgraf estimated it would take at least three years to have 25 original series in play At the Fargo screening Landgraf noted that a year ago 35 celebrities and show executive producers were at the bowling party More than 100 came out this time another example of FXFXX39s growing stature Check out some of the redcarpet commentary below Fargo39s 90minute opening episode drew extended applause with Landgraf calling it a masterpiece At the bowling party there was plenty of celebritywatching plus pizza and Belgian fries for all Grade 5 Jacks for the events 10 Jacksplus for Fargo anticipate surefire Emmy nominations for Billy Bob Thornton Martin Freeman newcomer Allison Tolman writerproducer Noah Hawley and director Adam BernsteinNews Comedies Married and You39re the Worst debut in June likely as a backtoback hour followed in late summer by The Partnership the sitcom teaming Kelsey Grammer with Martin Lawrence At FXX season 10 of It39s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will debut next January paired with the launch of Tracy Morgan39s new comedy now titled Do or Die Series in development for both channels include Hoke The Bastard Executioner from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter How ampamp Why from Charlie Kaufman Man Seeking Woman and Sex ampamp Drugs ampamp Rock ampamp Roll At least two more drama pilots will be filmed for 2015 consideration There are no original seriesminiseries heading to FXM in the near futureGrade 5 JacksHost You don39t get executives more relatable to any audience or ready and comfortable addressing any subject Landgraf Grade 5 JacksOverall Grade 5 Jacks Hit every chord leaving no audience celebrities advertisers or journalists behindHere39s some of what redcarpet travelers at the Fargo screening had to sayExecutive producer Warren Littlefield quotWe39re totally trying to play in the universe of creators Joel and Ethan Coen I tried and couldn39t do it on network TV Cable gives you tremendous freedom in the narration This series is about survival the survival these characters are going through It39s their rollercoaster ride and you39re invited to go on their journeyquotCarlton Cuse Bates MotelThe Strain executive producer on making The Strain coming to FX this summer quotIt39s an opportunity to reinvent the genre by introducing a very cinematic look and having it be characteroriented horror It39s also a Tom Wolfelike examination of the social order of New York CityquotFargo costar Keith Carradine on doing this series quotThe writing It39s brilliant The tone is all on the pagequotFargo developerwriterproducer Noah Hawley quotIt39s a humbling experience The Coens read my first episode and just invited me to go and make your show Not one of the characters in this series cancomplete a sentence The aim for me is write inarticulate passages that convey meaningquotJoe Weisberg The Americans creatorexecutive producer on season two quotA dream come true this year Everything just came together Not a lot of blood spilled on my desk or in the writers39 room It39s all up on the screenquotBilly Bob Thornton Fargo costar quotI had fun with the cast and the crew Not the cold The series was filmed in Calgary Alberta Canada during some polar vortex periods Everyone across the board was terrific There wasn39t a bad apple in this barrelquot5 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Worse than badNext up CNN BBC America and ReelzChannelUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedamp160The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Upfront Reviews: UP's Bus Ride; FX Heads “Fargo” Way

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