Twelve months ago, Disney, fighting for space at the TV Upfronts against both Netflix and Amazon for the first time, flexed its muscles with over 150 stars including Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds.
The Mouse House also had CEO Bob Iger, appearing for the first time in 30 years, highlighting the “radical changes that have transformed the business over the last three decades”.
Iger evidently enjoyed himself last year as he was back on stage with an introduction from Super Bowl winners Patrick Mahomes and Saquon Barkley. “I’ve not seen you since you won the Super Bowl,” he said to the Eagles running back.
Iger kept things brief, pointing out that it had been a “whirlwind few days for our company” with the launch of a theme park in Abu Dhabi – its seventh theme park around the world, as well as news about the new ESPN streaming service.
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“I’m happy to be here with you today to open this show, which will once again highlight creativity from an array of our brands and businesses. And while they all have their distinct characteristics and strategies, they all come together on our streaming platforms, offering people tremendous choice, convenience, and quality,” he added.
All of this came hours after ABC unveiled its fall schedule, a schedule with two 9-1-1 shows, new slots for reality shows like The Golden Bachelor and Shark Tank or as Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich called it “about maintaining stability”.
He was joined at the event by over 100 stars from Disney. Yes, they were TV stars but these days with the likes of Glen Powell, in town to promote Hulu comedy Chad Powers, and All’s Fair’s Glenn Close, it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes.
The stars of The Bear – Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and The Boss Jeremy Allen White – cooked up a new trailer for Season 4 of the FX series, while Shifting Gears’s Tim Allen, Alien: Earth’s Timothy Olyphant, Daredevil: Born Again’s Charlie Cox and Chris O’Donnell and Jessica Capshaw from 9-1-1: Nashville, the only new drama on ABC’s fall lineup, were all in the building.
Rita Ferro, President of Global Advertising Sales, gave the requisite ad chat, in person, as opposed to appearing as a member of the Family Guy cast, as she did last year.
Ferro said Disney has the “largest portfolio of live sports rights you will find anywhere”. As you’d expect, there was a LOT of sports chat.
In addition to Barkley and and Mahomes, First Take’s Stephen A. Smith talked up the new bundle, Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, and Chiney Ogwumike appeared to reveal they would be starring in a new all-female-led sports-focused studio show – Vibe Check – launching on Disney+ in June,
“ESPN is true to women’s sports, not new to women’s sports,” said Duncan. “Our commitment is fueling the growth of ESPN. Last year, fans spent 54% more time watching and that includes the WNBA, college basketball, gymnastics, volleyball and tennis.”
After having brought a former New York Giant who moved to Philadelphia last season in Barkley, Disney appeased the NYC crowd with three Knicks legends in Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston and John Starks.
It wasn’t ALL sports, though. Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez did their usual Only Murders In The Building schtick. Martin joked that the Disney Upfronts were the “only place where you can see Disney executives on Signal drunk texting classified Disney ratings”. Short added, “As we walked on stage they told us white smoke if your show is picked up, black smoke if it’s cancelled.”
Moana’s Aulii Cravalho and Zootopia’s Ginnifer Goodwin appeared, followed by a sneak peek at the Andor finale with Diego Luna, who plays Cassian Andor, and Hayden Christensen, who plays Anakin Skywalker. “The series comes to its epic finale tonight. I think it will make audiences understand Cassian a little better and will make rewatching Rogue One even more powerful,” said Luna.
There was a trailer for Ryan Murphy’s FX series The Beauty, which looks like Disney’s version of The Substance, with a few more helicopters, yachts and swimming pools.
“Imagine a world where a lab-born virus has the unique transformative power to make you drop dead gorgeous… but the new beautiful you, as enticing as it sounds, comes with a deadly catch,” said Peters.
Kutcher added, “We should mention evil billionaires, dangerous criminals, sex, murder, stunning locations – and endless opportunities for advertiser sponsorships.”
After a brief introduction from Kim Kardashian, Glenn Close, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash and Teyana Taylor introduced All’s Fair, another Ryan Murphy show, this one a legal drama for Hulu. Close called it “juicy” and “iconic”.
Glen Powell made his introduction by playing cowbell with the band on stage, obviously. “I’m Glen Powell,” said Powell, here to promote Hulu comedy Chad Powers. “It stars me, Glen Powell.”
“Calm down, pretty boy,” added exec producer Peyton Manning.
There was a little bit of Daredevil: Born Again news with the return of Jessica Jones, also known as Krysten Ritter, while Ben Kingsley was schilling for Marvel’s Wonder Man.
The room then descended into an Alien: Earth invasion with a creature appearing on stage. Timothy Olyphant said, “It has been an honor for us to expand the franchise with this new, hair-raising chapter of the Alien Universe.”
There were also plenty of others stars in the building but not on stage from shows including 9-1-1, Deli Boys, Grey’s Anatomy, Reasonable Doubt, The Rookie and Will Trent. YA was represented in the form of Tell Me Lies’ Grace Van Patten, and the stars of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place and Zombies as was reality with Dancing with the Stars duo Alfonso Ribiero and Bruno Tonioli, the new Golden Bachelor Mel Owens, Jessi Ngatikaura and Layla Taylor from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and Nina Garcia, Law Roach and Christian Siriano from Freeform’s Project Runway reboot.
And don’t forget Jimmy Kimmel’s annual roast. In addition to his usual jibes, Kimmel took a money to call advertisers to continue supporting CBS’ 60 Minutes. “I know it’s not part of our multi-platform, but support 60 Minutes, they deserve it. You have the power because you have the money. Support journalism. It’s important and it doesn’t work without you.”
