Seth MacFarlane may have made network upfront history on Monday, opening the NBCUniversal presentation with a song-and-dance routine boasting the chorus, “NBCU has the shit you’re after!”
That was likely the first time any network boasted that they’re “the shit” in their message to advertisers — but it was very on brand, of course, for MacFarlane, whose overall deal with the company has so far generated a live-action Peacock series based on his “Ted” film franchise, and now an animated take on it as well.
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Among MacFarlane’s competitive barbs in his number, which kicked off the two-hour NBCU upfront: “You can give all your money to Netflix/ just to have your commercials on auto play/ But I got news, buddy, all your views are the Tinder Dates just busy getting laid.
On Disney and Hulu, where MacFarlane still has a ton of business via his animated series “Family Guy” and “American Dad”: “You can take all your dollars to Hulu/ I can vouch that they’re mostly decent folks/ But I don’t care. I won’t watch The Bear. It’s a comedy with everything but jokes/ You might be enchanted by Disney for the magic that they imagineer/ But you’ll feel fright when you see Snow White/ because the dwarves look really fucking weird.”
A bit of a dig at Max: “Who’s in charge of the business at Max now?/ Well, whoever it is, they gotta go./ It’s awful sad, but it all went bad when they changed their stupid name from HBO./ All their shows have stories of incest. What the hell are we supposed to take away?/ And holy jeez, will somebody please check on Zaslav’s brother right away!
And some timely Paramount Global references: “You can gamble on Paramount + folks/ though it seems they no longer even try/ But you can go to their upfront show/ You can find it in the basement of the Y./ They’re still in the game now, but tomorrow is looking kind of bleak/ Because me and you haven’t got a clue/ of who their CEO will be this week.”
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Two hours later, the NBCU upfront ended with Snoop Dogg — now a corporate staple, promoting his “Snoop Dogg’s New Year’s Eve” special by performing some of his biggest hits (and adding “NBC” to some of his lyrics).
Earlier in the day, NBC revealed a fall schedule heavy on live sports — including its new NBA package, which will take the Tuesday slot starting in November. The network also has its long-running Sunday Night Football package and its Saturday night suite of college football games.
As part of its return to the NBA, NBC is reviving John Tesh’s signature “Roundball Rock” theme that used to air during the previous “NBA on NBC” coverage in the 1990s. Tesh was on hand at Radio City to perform his tune. Michael Jordan taped a piece expressing his “excitement” that he would be a “special contributor” to NBC’s NBA coverage.
Beyond its returning crop of series, NBC has so far picked up two new shows for next season: The comedy “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” starring Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe, as well as the unscripted series “On Brand With Jimmy Fallon,” which will air twice a week in September (on Tuesdays and Fridays) until basketball arrives.
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey hit the stage to share news that NBC would celebrate its 100th anniversary with an “NBC100″ special modeled after this past year’s ‘SNL50” celebration; Fey also introduced Morgan and Radcliffe to discuss “Reggie Dinkins,” which she’s producing.
Speaking of comedy, Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore and Oscar Nuñez, the stars of Peacock’s upcoming show from “The Office” universe, “The Paper,” shared a first look from the upcoming series.
Others hitting the stage included “SNL” star Marcello Hernandez, who performed a bit of standup while also touting the Spanish-speaking audience — an important part of NBCU’s strategy via Telemundo.
“Maybe we can talk about how despite representing only 19.5% of the U.S. population, Latinos are responsible for 30% of the growth of the national GDP since 2019,” he noted. “In last year’s reports, the U.S. Latino GDP hit $4.1 trillion… It equates to the fifth largest GDP in the world. We are a huge part of the portfolio’s overall viewership, with extraordinary cultural influence and buying power.”
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To promote NBC’s primetime, “St. Denis Medical” stars Wendi McLendon-Covey and David Alan Grier, “Happy’s Place” star Reba McEntire and “Chicago Med” star S. Epatha Merkerson were on hand. For Peacock, stars included Dakota Fanning (“All Her Fault”), Elizabeth Banks (“The Miniature Wife”) and Keke Palmer (“The Burbs”).
“Late Night” host Seth Meyers threw some barbs at NBCU and in particular the recent unveiling of the “Versant” brand for its SpinCo cable networks; go here for a separate story on his choice gags.
And “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon came out to tout “On Brand” and its relationship with advertisers. “I love reality shows. I love marketing shows. Business shows,” he said. “‘On Brand’ is like a cross between ‘The Apprentice,’ ‘Shark Tank’ and ‘Project Runway.’ I wanted to take people behind the curtain to see how advertising campaigns get made.”
Andy Cohen announced this year’s BravoCon, ripping off his shirt sleeves in the process: “One weekend to spill tea, throw shade and give the people exactly what they want,” he said. “This is our Olympics, our Super Bowl, our BravoCon.” Cohen and a cast of hundreds then did a dance to a remix of “Physical,” complete with confetti cannon. It was a sight.
New NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas introduced a segment on the NBC News franchise, while “Today” anchors Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin discussed the company’s slate of major events, including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and various red carpet events.
NBCU continues to lean into the success of “Wicked,” as director John M. Chu came out to promote the pay 1 movie window for films like his on Peacock. He said he is currently working on finishing touches on “Wicked For Good,” and announced that stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will perform in a “Wicked Event Special” on NBC in November, from the Peacock Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Chu also shared a first look at the trailer for “Wicked For Good.”
“It’s something that’s never been done in the 22 year history of ‘Wicked,’” he said. “They will perform live, many of the songs from the first movie and maybe a little bit from the second one as well for a night of entertainment that we think will be, as they say in Oz, ‘thrillifying.’”
At the very beginning of the production, Mark Marshall, the chairman of global advertising & partnerships, came down from the rafters in Radio City Music Hall in the Glinda bubble to the tune of “Popular.” (Marshall also was game enough to appear in a pre-taped package showcasing various NBCU programming — including, most notably, in a shirtless, muscle-bound costume for “Love Island.”)
Marshall touted the fact that NBC will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026, just as the network offers a February slate that includes the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star weekend.
“We will have a year-long celebration that all are invited to,” he said, while also touting that 70% of NBC content is live — and live is driving engagement.
“Ads are God’s gift to the world,” Marshall said.
NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios chairman Donna Langley noted that audiences’ “attention is being pulled in multiple directions, our ability to collaborate across the company and work together towards a common goal is our superpower, and that starts with our franchise first strategy, investing in durable stories and brands that inspire fans everywhere in multitude of ways.”
The NBCU upfront opened with a 55-piece symphony orchestra performing a medley of familiar advertising jingles, including:
“Like A Good Neighbor” – State Farm
“Pepsi Generation” – Pepsi
“Stuck on You” Band Aids
“Longer with Big Red” – Big Red
“Have It Your Way” – Burger King
“I’m a Big Kid Now” – Huggies
“Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz, Oh What a Relief It Is” – Alka Seltzer
“The Best Part of Waking Up” – Folgers Coffee
“I Wish I Were and Oscar Meyer Weiner” – Oscar Mayer
“I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke / Always Coca Cola” – Coca-Cola
“I’m a Toys R Us Kid” – Toys R Us
“Gimme a Break” – Kit Kat
“Be All That You Can Be” – US Army
“See the USA, In Your Chevrolet” – Chevrolet
Prior to the show’s open, an NBCU DJ played a mix of current hit songs including, notably, Doechii’s “Anxiety” — which perhaps is the perfect theme song for the network upfronts in this age of so much industry angst and uncertainty.
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