Upfront’s Nostalgic Look Back

Yesterday’s Upfront presentation by NBC held all the the usual appeal for the 26-year-old agency employee (Watch Jerome Bettis throw a football into the balcony! Watch Regis Philbin catch another one! Watch Matthew Perry take on a serious role! Watch Jeff Zucker be self-deprecating! And, in the afterparty, get your picture taken touching the Stanley Cup while wolfing down as much in the way of free eats as you possibly can!). But beyond that, something else was happpening: the emergence of convergence, as evidenced by the importance Jeff Zucker placed on the network’s online offerings. While the presentation (subscription required) was a welcome acknowledgement of reality, I couldn’t help but find a weird irony in the programming schedule itself. Just as everyone concedes that the salad days of network television are finally over, the networks presents not one, but two shows based on life at.. a major network TV show! Is this wishful thinking, or denial?