It’s become an upfronts tradition for networks to mock their competitors. But during NBCUniversal’s upfronts, “Ted” and “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane took the ribbing a step further, singing an elaborate song complete with smiling backup dancers and several cocktail breaks that took shots at all the major TV players.
First up was Netflix. “You can give all your money to Netflix just to have your commercials autoplay,” MacFarlane sang. “But I got news, buddy, all your views are Tinder dates just busy getting laid.”
He had kinder words for Netflix’s streaming rival Hulu, singing, “I can vouch that they’re mostly decent folks,” a nod to the fact that “Family Guy,” “American Dad,” “The Cleveland Show” and “The Orville” are currently available to watch on the streamer. But that still doesn’t mean he’s going to watch “The Bear.” “It’s a comedy with everything but jokes,” MacFarlane warned.
The showrunner then noted that advertisers can go to Disney, but they may “feel fright when you see ‘Snow White’ because the dwarves look really f–king weird.” But the most cutting jokes were saved for Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount.
“Who’s in charge of the business at Max now? Well, whoever it is, they gotta go. It’s awful sad. But it all went bad when they changed their stupid name from HBO,” MacFarlane sang. “All their series are stories of incest. What the hell are we supposed to take away? And holy, geez, will somebody please check on Zaslav’s brother right away.”
As for Paramount, MacFarlane joked that “it seems they no longer even try” and that its future looks bleak “cause me and you haven’t got a clue who their CEO will be this week.”
Naturally, all of this buildup was to declare that NBC is the best place for advertisers to spend their money. “The rest all fail, and by any scale, NBC has got the biggest c–k,” MacFarlane concluded his song.
NBCUniversal kicked off the advertiser upfronts week on Monday. In the days to come, TheWrap will continue to cover this vital television event.
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