5 things we learned at Disney's Upfront – Variety

The newly merged Disney Networking Suite held its first ever "Disney Upfront Experience" on Tuesday, with segments dedicated to ESPN, FX, Freeform, ABC News and ABC. Highlights include comic songs by ESPN's Kenny Mayne and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, while singer John Mayer closed the series with two numbers. Here are some small things gleaned from the festivities:

FX reveals the name of Chris Rock's "Fargo" character: The long-awaited fourth season of Noah Hawley's "Fargo" is still secret, but we now know the name of the character Rock will play: Loy Cannon. Cannon headed a criminal syndicate in Kansas City in the 1950s. According to FX Networks Managing Director John Landgraf, the production of the new Fargo begins this fall with a first in early 2020.

In a pre-recorded video, Rock stated that he had long been a fan of the TV show "Fargo" and that even his children thought it was "cool" when they discovered, via Google, that their father had joined the last edition. "It's organically funny," said Rock about the series. "Even though I was not there, [I would have] the same level of excitement. "

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Legendary record producer Clive Davis has joined Genius: Aretha as Executive Producer: Davis joined other executive producers Brian Grazer and Suzan-Lori Parks on the Disney stage to tell of his 40-year friendship with the Queen of the Soul. "After our meeting in 1979, she was already the Queen of the Soul," he said. "We talked about working together to reinvigorate his career." This led to more Grammy and No.1 discs in the 1980s and 1990s, he noted, "inspiring musicians around the world, over the span of a career." Aretha was truly a gift, a gift for countless generations.I have always known that it would always be part of the story.

In addition to Davis, the Aretha Franklin Estate, managed by his niece Sabrina Owens, is also on board. "With Aretha, I wanted to understand, that" the queen of the soul "really means?" Said Grazer. "Since then, we have learned a lot about her … [she] changed the whole definition of the soul. "

"Modern Family" was a resounding success by declaring his ovation: Co-creator Steve Levitan and long-time sitcom celebrities went to the Lincoln Center stage one last time to remember the decade of the series – and ABC's 2009 presentation of ABC 2009, when the network has projected the entire driver instead of the advertisers. Levitan joked that it was "there are four network presidents" and that "Modern Family" has survived Steve McPherson, Paul Lee, Channing Dungey and now Karey Burke. In addition, 10 years ago, "Streaming was something you did in the bathroom."

This decision to view the entire upstream pilot was a gamble. Other networks had already done similar stunts in the past, only to see these emissions falter. But this paved the way for the rapid rise of "modern family" status. "To our greatest relief, this piece has laughed in the right places," Levitan said. "Twenty-two minutes and all our lives have changed forever. We all consider it to be one of the best days of our lives. "

The daily allowance for ESPN overtime is $ 58: At least, that's what Scott Van Pelt, the former "Sportscenter" says, who starred the ESPN part of Disney's parades. Van Pelt noted that after 4 pm the event he was returning to the studio, where he will present his usual midnight episode – after coverage by the network of the first game of the NBA Western Conference finals. Noting his long day at work, he joked that, with Disney CEO Bob Iger and ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro both in the audience, he would be asking for his daily allowance to be approved over- field. "$ 58! I'll take what I can get, "he said.

It will take time to get used to the Disney / FX juxtaposition: Outside the Lincoln Center, posters promoted the wide variety of Disney network programs such as ABC, Freeform, ESPN, as well as new FX and National Geographic siblings. But the Disney logo was also featured on the posters – and it was a bit shocking to see the logo of this iconic company alongside decidedly non-Disney series, such as "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" by FX. There was then the poster for "Mr Inbetween," which featured a gun – certainly something you do not usually see next to the word "Disney":