The networks had to go with Plan B, and perhaps even Plan C, for Upfront Week in New York, with the striking writers protesting outside the ballrooms where the networks showed off their new shows and strategies. That meant executives, not star producers and performers, were talking up the scripted programming news from the stage. And the scripted shows — the main focus of upfront presentations for as long as they’ve gone on — were largely pushed to the end of the presentations.
NBCUniversal presented at Radio City Music Hall May 15, and NBC News talent introduced scripted programming, such as Willie Geist, host of Sunday Today, talking up the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special. Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour even took a stab at likening scripted dramas to news, noting how a good drama “raises the curtain on the inner workings of other worlds.”
