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Soap Opera Fans Protest At ABC’s Upfront

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 17, 2011 @ 8:22pm PDTTags: ABC Upfront, All My Children, One Life to Live
Nellie Andreeva

While inside Avery Fisher Hall the ABC brass were touting the network’s new primetime schedule, outside, fans of All My Children and One Life to Live protested the network’s new daytime lineup, which will soon have reality series The Chew and The Revolution replace the two daytime dramas. “Save our soaps,” demonstrators chanted as advertisers were filing into the Lincoln Center, although the group of a couple of dozen was far across the street, so some upfront guests confused that with “Save our shows.” (ABC recently canceled several primetime series, including Brothers and Sisters & V, so that would work, too). The brochures distributed by the protest’s organizer, SoapFansUnited.com, urged advertisers to boycott ABC and called the programs replacing the two soaps “glorified infomercials appropriate for late-night basic cable channels, not for a major broadcast network.”

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Upfronts: Live-Blogging ABC Presentation

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 17, 2011 @ 1:37pm PDTTags: 2011 Upfronts, ABC Upfront, Charlie's Angels, Jimmy Kimmel, Last Man Standing, Paul Lee, Tim Allen
Nellie Andreeva

ABC Unveils 2011-12 Schedule: New Comedy Block On Tuesday With Tim Allen

When he took the stage for his first ABC upfront presentation, the network’s new president Paul Lee was quick to bring up the event’s main attraction. “When Anne Sweeney called me about this job, I asked myself, ‘Do I really want to be humiliated by Jimmy Kimmel in front of hundreds of people?’ The answer was: ‘Absolutely’ ”

Right away, Lee, who was visibly nervous, branded the network’s new lineup “pure entertainment,” so he began presenting ABC’s fall schedule with Thursday night, showcasing new 8 PM anchor Charlie’s Angels. “I’ve wanted to remake Charlie’s Angels since I was 14,” Lee said. He explained the decision to schedule the remake Thursdays at 8 PM with the fact that it will be the only scripted drama in the slot (besides CW).

Tim Allen was on hand to promote his new ABC comedy Last Man Standing. “It’s about a man in a women’s world. Its original name was The Paul Lee Story.” That was not the only jab at his new boss. “You can dump the accent, you got the job,” he told British-born Lee.

After the clip for ABC’s new cross-dressing comedy Work It, Lee justified his decision to pick up the show with, “So sue me, I’m a Brit,” segueing to “Talking about cross-dressing, here’s Jimmy Kimmel.”

Kimmel was his usual irreverent self. Here are some of his top barbs: Read More »

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