We’ve just come out of Upfronts season, a dog and pony show where the networks fly their top stars to New York City to mingle with advertisers in an attempt to convince sponsors to commit advertising dollars “upfront,” ahead of the fall season. Sponsors are wined and dined and given a preview of what’s coming in the fall, but the news for families isn’t good.
Advertising Age provided a run-down of the worst new shows offered by the networks during the Upfronts:
(1) The Millers (CBS) Of a piece with CBS' lowestcommondenominator yuks, the sizzle reel was basically 3 minutes of masturbation and fart jokes. Dreck.
(2) Dads (Fox) Seth MacFarlane’s first liveaction TV comedy is an ugly stew of racist and sexist shtick. Makes The Cleveland Show look like Cheers.
(3) Undateable (NBC) Unwatchable.
(4) The Crazy Ones (CBS) Mork and Buffy run an ad agency. Sufferers of Robin Williams Intolerance, steer clear.
(5) Intelligence (CBS) The Six Million Dollar Sawyer meets Google Glass: The Procedural.
How many times have you heard classic TV sitcoms from yesteryear dismissed as too unsophisticated for today’s TV viewers? As beneath the intelligence of adult viewers in this day and age? And yet CBS and Fox are offering us the television equivalent of a junior high school locker room. Also keep in mind these shows were developed before outgoing FCC Chairman proposed the rules change that would loosen indecency restrictions. If this is what the networks try to get with under existing standards, can you imagine what the networks will be offering if the rules change goes into effect?
