CBS Upfront: meat and potatoes

ABC took plenty of shots at competitors during its upfront presentation. But it was CBS, while barely mentioning its rivals, who made other nets look asleep at the switch.

CBS' fall schedule is remarkable because it's the first that ad buyers saw that bears no obvious scars from the strike. Three new dramas and two new comedies, and none of them feel as if they were snatched up in desperation. There were even video clips, a rarity this year. One of the previews, for the single-camera comedy “Worst Week,” struck the room as very funny and deserving of its spot on the network’s Monday night block. 

Much has been made of the headline that CBS is opening up a second night, but let's temper that a little. CBS isn’t risking any of its big guns on Wednesday. “The New Adventures of Old Christine” was barely renewed, yet will open the hour. The second show, “Project Gary,” seems fine and traditional, and perhaps has a good shot of hooking CBS viewers. But “Worst” is a funnier show based on the brief network presentation. So another night of comedy, yes, but CBS isn’t wading too far from shore to do it.

The upfront presentation: Very grown up, as you’d expect. An appearance by talk show host Craig Ferguson demonstrated his likability, but he lacked Jimmy Kimmel’s lol punch. Plus, Kimmel functions as a perfect attack dog for ABC. Nearly every Kimmel joke had a purpose -- to score a point for his network (God help the competition should Fox ever get a hold of Kimmel).

Ferguson was actually under orders to play nice (aside from one joke about meeting a homeless person who owns NBC).  But taking repeated shots at advertisers (“You create problems that don’t exist then solve them for people and take their money”) was probably not the brightest substitute target.

The lengthy tour of CBS assets –- Radio! Billboards! Syndication! –- struck some in the room as a bit of a “duh.” If you’re an ad buyer, went the refrain, you already know this stuff. Plus it opened up CBS for a well-played joked during Fox’s upfront, where, after touting Fox’s ratings, an executive quipped, “Although we can’t help you with billboards in South America -- you’ll have to go back to CBS for those.”

Overall, CBS had a meat-and-potatoes upfront. But in a year of exotic plates of foam mushrooms, a home-cooked meal went down fine.