Outsiders say L.A. is summer all year round, but the longer you live here, the less subtle the season changes are. In fact, I don't even need to be outdoors to know that summer is coming, because I have THE UPFRONTS to remind me!
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| Ah, taking in Ron Perlman's intricate bone structure |
Sorry about the all-caps, but upfronts get me all kinds of worked up! Though I'm not in New York to see the live broadcast, where all the networks reveal their shows and drag out their talent for the upcoming season, the party gets piped in live to L.A., and there is always celebrating! While you are wined and dined by the networks, you get a sneak peak at all the new shows before the public does.
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| Fresh mini doughnuts? Yes please! |
I remember being the first to see Modern Family at ABC. They were so proud of their new gem, that we watched the entire episode, instead of just a snippet. The historic El Capitan Theatre was alight with laughter as we ate through buckets of free popcorn. Another one of my favorite things at the ABC upfronts is Jimmy Kimmel, who gets on stage and rips ABC and every other network to shreds. And we eat it all up, this abuse.
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| CBS, keepin' it real! |
Time Warner hosts their Summertime is Cabletime parties, which are boozy, in the swankiest hotels and are always a blast. With more and more quality programming going to cable stations, they have a lot of leverage and film talent.
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| Time Warner party |
But perhaps one of the most exciting upfronts is at CBS, where you wander around the set of The Price is Right, cocktails in hand. I got to spin the wheel. Does anything get better than that? Well, I suppose spinning the wheel on the live show and landing on that glittery 100 has to be pretty amazing. But would I want to be that winning contestant who still must leave all this glitz, in order to lug my new dining set back to Duluth, Minnestota?
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| "Whoa!" - it's Joey Lawrence! |
Upfronts are definitely the "love" part of my love/hate relationship with L.A..
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| No photo booth prop goes unnoticed! |
