NBCU Kicks Off Upfronts Week With ‘Bravoholics,’ Inadvertent Twitter Jokes and a Fake Colin Jost
variety.comMichael Schneider Variety Editor at Large From the moment an animated “Ted” opened the NBCUniversal upfront, voiced by Seth MacFarlane prior to the writers strike, it was clear this was going to be an abbreviated event.
For starters, until a week ago, this was still going to be Linda Yaccarino’s Radio City Music Hall show. But with Yaccarino off running Twitter (“Ted” making a crack about the crazies now at Twitter earned the biggest inadvertent laugh of the morning), it was up to Mark Marshall, NBCU interim chairman, global advertising & partnerships, to make the pitch to advertisers. “In all of our conversations leading up today, regardless of client or category, there has been one constant…this is going to be a very important year for your businesses,” Marshall said, counting 32 pharma launches, 60 auto releases (including 46 electric vehicles) and over 100 movie releases (“which puts us back to pre-pandemic levels”) this year. “We know this is a competitive year.
And here at NBCUniversal, we are built for these moments.” But it was also a most unusual upfront for what wasn’t present: Acting talent.
Normally an NBCU upfront would feature segments with late night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, or bits from “Saturday Night Live” castmembers.
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