Upfront Update: Bring on the Series at Nick and Hallmark - Simon Applebaum

Upfront event season 2012 in Manhattan is now in first geara quartet of events to catch last week We batted 500 on event catching More about why laterNickelodeonVenue It doesn39t get any better than Jazz at Lincoln Center39s Rose Hall Every seat gives you a good view the production values are beyond peer and no matter the network on display the stage matches the network39s tone Bright orange in Nick39s case welcoming visitors with an animated display of shapes forming the channel39s logo in the center A twolevel background with stairways on either side gave performers more space to move around There39s plenty of space for food and networking postpresentation as well Grade 5 JacksPresentation More on the musical side than previous Nick upfronts in part to showcase a new emphasis on series and projects in that vein Fastrising boy band Big Time Rush about to start year three of their Nick comedy opened things up with their latest hit quotIt Feels Like Everything39s Better With Youquot Best of the bunch 14yearold X Factor contestant Rachel Crow whose version of Cee Lo Green39s quotForget Youquot knocked the place out Crow has voice and stage presence way beyond her years She just signed a series development deal with Nick and off this performance here39s what Nick should put together a musical variety series where Crow hosts and sings alongside the likes of Katy Perry and Adele Trust me she has the props for this On the other hand could have done without British boy band One Direction taking way too much time to thank fans following their number Also where were Miranda Cosgrove Victorious39 crew and some other Nick faves Grade 4 JacksNews Where do you start Offering 650plus new episodes of new and current programs next season not counting NickNick at Nite pilots with Scott Baio iCarly costars Jeanette McCurdy and Jerry Trainor and seven animated pilots four from FairlyOdd Parents mastermind Butch Hartman YouTube superstar Fred Lucas Cruikshank graduating from 11minute shorts to the halfhour series Marvin Marvin Unveiling Hollywood Heights formerly Reach For A Star the nightly telenovelaformat hour coming this fall under a Televisa joint venture and perhaps more in the offing You get the drift Grade 5 JacksHost Nick group president Cyma Zarghami did the honors staying on point and playing good traffic cop Extra credit for addressing the current Nielsen ratings controversy between her service and Disney Channel quotWe39re number one for 17 years and we39re not planning to give that upquot Zarghami declared quotWe have no intention of letting recent issues impact our creative effortsquot Made her point and moved on Grade 4 JacksOverall Grade 45 Jacks Great venue lots of news and performances to take inCrown Media Family Networks Hallmark ChannelHallmark Movie ChannelVenue Eleven Madison Park is a stately place one of several banks at the south end of Madison Avenue reconstituted into restaurants years ago to hold a press lunch The decor of its upstairs rooms have served Crown Media and reporters well over the years keeping that streak going last week As for the food count me a new fan of amberjack snapperlike fish after one dish of it served with small mushrooms and a pair of brown sauces Grade 4 JacksPresentation Staying on the food theme meatandpotatoes delivered swiftly so reporters get maximum face time with Hallmark executives at their tables Offer an overall view then dig right into content specifics Predicting quota banner year aheadquot Family Networks CEO Bill Abbott let Michelle Vicary his programming executive vicepresident Michelle Vicary do most of the talking Before that Abbott did something new crystallizing Hallmark Channel as the celebration point for life39s special occasions and Hallmark Movie Channel as the movie theater for families all genres welcome Grade 4 JacksNews For years when reporters asked Crown Media whether scripted series had a Hallmark home or ever would the response was no Say goodbye to that era next year when Hallmark Channel sets sail with one possibly two series with twohour pilots Cedar Cove and When Comes The Heart running this fall or early next year Both come from authors involved in previous Hallmark original madefor films As for original movies both Hallmark and Hallmark Movie Channel will serve up the most ever in a single season 28 on the mothership nine on Hallmark Movie As for daytime Martha Stewart39s out Marie Osmond39s new talklifestyle hour and a revival of Home ampamp Family the twohour series running in the mid1980s on The Family Channel are in Another tidbit The Spirit Table the Maya Angelouhosted primetime series announced at last year39s upfront may still surface sometime in 201213 Grade 5 JacksHost All three Crown execsAbbott Vicary and ad sales executive vice president Ed Georgerheld up their ends of the presentation well Grade 4 JacksOverall Grade 45 JacksHallmark Channel breaking into the scripted series world keynoted a lot of news to munch over Especially over amberjackA good Hard Rock Cafe crowd of kids and their advertising biz parents were psyched about attending last Tuesday39s upfront event for Disney Channel Disney XD and the new Disney Junior channel launching at the end of this week Unfortunately due to the combination of my RSVP misplaced somewhere in transit and Hard Rock39s security people maintaining an apparent policy of not allowing press guests missing from a press list I was not allowed past the checkin tables and told I could not attend As a result no review for this columnFour extra points 1 The kids were wellbehaved outside Hard Rock at W 43rd St no ropes or barricades necessary Many were there to see the cast of Shake It Up and wore fashions similar to what the cast wears and ANT Farm especially breakout star China Anne McClain whose performance at last year39s upfront was sensational 2 Totally understand this was a Hard Rock not Disney call not to be allowed in and understand Hard Rock39s position here 3 My guess is that Hard Rock did not alert Disney39s PR people in attendance that I showed up even though a request to see two reps who were onsite was made 4 Disney39s PR people were extremely apologetic the day afterMSNBC had its upfront lunch presentation Thursday afternoon Small press crowd at a small fullybooked location Therefore no review here Finally ABC Family39s upfront happening this Monday night turns out to be advertiseronly with their key new programming news announced a few weeks ago5 Jacks amp8211 Excellent4 Jacks amp8211 Very Good3 Jacks amp8211 Good2 Jacks amp8211 Fair1 Jack amp8211 Poor0 Jacks amp8211 Worse than badUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedSimon Applebaum is producerhost of Tomorrow Will Be Televised the weekly Internetdistributed radio program covering the TV scene Simon cal be reached at simonapple04yahoocomRead 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: Bring on the Series at Nick and Hallmark - Simon Applebaum

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