Upfront Update: AMC's Multi-Room Showcase; BBC America Goes Bar & Bordello - Simon Applebaum

After avoiding the parade of NY Upfront events for years AMC finally plunged in last week After giving one of the most gaudy bawdy spectacles in Upfront history a year ago BBC America was on the spot to give another unforgettable event last week How did each channel doAMCVenue No small safe space for AMC here The extremely spacious Lexington Ave Armory one whole block long between E 25th and 26th St site of the firstever NY Tech Day last April and a disastrous Upfront for Fox a few years back served as home base Adopting a multiroom approach separated by black curtains visitors stepped from a gallery of show posters into appropriate settings highlighting individual shows a zombieinfested forest for The Walking Dead Breaking Bad39s meth lab freak displays touting Freakshow The passageways led into a big center room with food stations all around bar in the middle and big stage to one side One station with Chinese dumplings had crowds all night long Grade 5 JacksPresentation Short and sweet under 10 minutes promise delivered by AMC president Charlie Collier quotWe just have two goals in mindcelebrate our brand and thanking you with a feel AMC experiencequot he said A pair of compilation clips highlighted current and future programs one scriptedone unscripted followed by a brief introduction of stars or personalities in attendance Mad Men star Jon Hamm and threetime Breaking Bad Emmywinner Bryan Cranston couldn39t make it production commitments but each contributed a short congratulations clip Collier also introduced scenes from Low Winter Sun his channel39s next new scripted series debuts Aug 11 quotThis is not a cop dramaquot he explained quotThis is a drama about second chances for the characters and for the city where this happensDetroitquot Grade 45 JacksNews Showville coming May 13 may be a genrebusting program blending the variety and reality show together The program39s crew visits a small town in each episode and using local talent out to be discovered for stardom organizes a variety show in four days For the final set of Breaking Bad episodes this August and September AMC will present a live companion Talking Bad halfhour Sunday nights at 11 Seven more hourlong dramas are on the development slate including Ballistic City from Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski White City set in Afghanistan and King developed by Morning Joe cohosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Still in play Turn and Halt ampamp Catch Fire production underway in Atlanta Boardwalk Empire writer Robin Jones has a deal to executive produce andor write other AMC programs Unscripted possibilities include Cancelled AllStar Celebrity Bowling and Majority Rules Grade 5 JacksHost Collier is one easygoing likeable executive master of ceremonies Grade 45 JacksOverall Grade 45 Jacks Inventive and engaging environment supplemented by engaging AMC onair talent all over the place Nominee for best upfront event debut of 20145 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Worse than badBBC AmericaVenue The network had a tough act to follow a year after offering the incredible event it did last spring Who could forget the decadent atmosphere women upside down on the trapeze or holding snakes and a large python around the room the incredible food displays or that petite ballet dancer prancing from corner to corner To BBC America39s credit they didn39t play the game of can you top the same setting Instead they recreated Eva39s Paradise the NY combo bar and bordello created for Copper Attendees found a new set of memorable images to savora wall of hands holding beer and wine glasses a salesman peddling homegrown medicines two men engaged in a semiaerial brawl wellstaged and The Fighting Jansens rocking the house with Irish tune after tune joined by a group of dancing women Great food for all including pulled pork sliders roasted potatoes and shredded Caesar39s salad Unfortunately all this happened inside a place way too small to take all this and the crowd in Liberty Theater on W 42nd St next door to the AMC Empire 25 multiplex soon became a very tough place for both the crowd to enjoy the sights and the fooddrink handlers to do their jobs Grade 25 Jacks Special note if a larger venue was used the grade would improve to 45 JacksPresentation That semiaerial brawl was followed by brief remarks from The Nerdist creatorhost Chris Hardwick his second upfront event appearance last week after checking AMC on behalf of Talking Dead Hardwick on a floor above the performance area thanked the crowd for coming invited them to keep watching the network and introduced cast members from Copper Orphan Black Doctor Who and the channel39s nonfiction series Grade 35 JacksNews BBC America executives are up front in disclosing their upfront events are not news breakers Well and good However the crowd did get an announcement that Twitter has agreed to provide quotintweet branded video synched to entertainment TV seriesquot Waitwhat For both Twitter and BBC America may we suggest A giving this news in understandable language and B offering a press release immediately after the announcement which explains how this agreement works Grade 15 JacksHost Hardwick comes to the table with energy directness and offthecuff wit You can tell he39s having a ball Love to see him do more upfront duty He39s moderating a Tribeca Film Festival lunch event this week Grade 45 JacksOverall Grade 35 Jacks Wonderful setting music and food done in by small surroundings A facility Lexington Ave Armory size or close would have done the trick Oh and bring back The Fighting Jansens5 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Worse than badUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedSimon Applebaum is producerhost of Tomorrow Will Be Televised the radio program all about TV Tomorrow runs live Mondays and Fridays at 3 pm Eastern time noon Pacific Time on wwwblogtalkradiocom with replays available at wwwblogtalkradiocomsimonapple04 A weekly TV series edition will soon premiere on the new UBCTV network Have a question or reaction Email it to simonapple04yahoocom or tweet UBCSimonTWBTRead all Simonamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Tomorrow Will Be TelevisedCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe 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 Update: AMC's Multi-Room Showcase; BBC America Goes Bar & Bordello - Simon Applebaum

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