It's All Down at the Upfronts

Actress Holly Hunter of TNT's Saving Grace rehearses her portion of the Turner Entertainment Upfront presentation in New York on Wednesday.

Richard Drew/AP

It's Upfront season! That wonderful, magical time of year when the television broadcasters show their wares for next fall to all the Madison Avenue advertisers, set their ad rates and rake in their billions. A little more than $9 billion by the collective networks last year.

The Upfronts are kinda an entertainment-centric affair, but like Fashion Week and Internet hoaxes over the years, they've taken on a life of their own: big parties, paparazzi, live blogging from bloggheads ...

But all that sybaritism is in the past.

This year, the Upfronts are a very subdued affair. It reflects the rather somber state of post-writers' strike Hollywood, which — much like post-war Europe — is struggling back to some kind of normality. Because of the strike, few pilot episodes of new shows were filmed, so there's little to "dog and pony" for the advertisers. In place of lavish, star-studded presentations held at SRO venues like Radio City Music Hall, there are smallish events one observer compared to a trade show-like expo. One network's presentation consisted of the titles — just the titles — of potential — yes, potential — new shows flashed on a movie screen with slight descriptions of what the show may or may not be if it's ever filmed.

Imagine trying to figure what cut of your ad budget you're going to allocate to a network based on that.

The ABC network's basically not even bothering with new shows this fall. It's only premiering two shows: one an Americanized version of the Brit dramedy Life on Mars; the other a reality/game show.

And if you're thinking things in TV Land can't get much worse, they're about to. While real Hollywood — the "working stiffs" rather than the high-paid celebs — are still trying to dig out from under the writers' strike, the community is staring down a June 30 work stoppage by the guild representing the actors.

Tokyo, say hello to Godzilla.

What does this mean for you? Maybe no new fall TV season at all. At least not with scripted shows starring professional talent. So, all those reality shows, YouTube clips and oldies you were digging on iTunes? Bookmark 'em, 'cause you may be getting re-familiar with them come September.

5:38 PM ET | 05-14-2008 | permalink