Word: upfronts
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...selling business. In 1999 and 2000 - those halcyon, bounteous days when dot-com pioneers bestrode the land like giants, tossing multi-million-dollar ad buys to networks like parade marshals tossing penny candy to children - NBC was strong and rich and could laugh at itself. Its upfront presentations were like Friars roasts, with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (of Conan O'Brien fame) ripping mercilessly on the network's programming mistakes. ("'Stark Raving Mad' was a great show - for me to poop on!") The implicit message: a healthy network can afford self-deprecation...
...Times have changed. NBC's upfront presentation this year was almost entirely irony-free. Beginning with a cornball montage of classic moments in the network's history, NBC kept a relentlessly upbeat message (remember: "Survivor" did no harm on Thursday night! None!) that bespoke the nervousness throughout the industry about the soft ad market. Execs invoked the golden days of big-network television, reaching a ludicrous apex when West Coast president Scott Sassa likened "Weakest Link" host Anne Robinson to Groucho Marx. At times, NBC's pageant of self-butt-kissing even contradicted itself, as when Zucker's old "Today...
Ancient History’s greatest strength is the upfront manner with which it addresses religious beliefs and their compatibility in marriage, commitment to another person and, of course, sex. Some of the early scenes are a bit shocking (e.g. the extensive discussion of crabs (as in the STD) and the use of ethnic/religious slurs), but the frankness established early on lends itself to the discussions of touchy issues that come later in the play. The humor is another asset, for the serious issues are balanced by the comedy that pervades the show. Ruth and Jack are masters of biting...
...Bush was totally upfront and honest as soon as the arrest came out," McCabe said. "Clinton was unwilling to admit to what...
...They were upfront," he says. "They told you what it was about...