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Upfronts without Higgins
May. 17th, 2007 08:40 pmLike most TV critics, this week Aaron Barnhart, of the Kansas City Star, proprietor of TV Barn, is covering "the upfronts." These are the annual presentations where TV networks attempt to dazzle advertisers and tell them how great the fall season is gonna be.
I checked to see what Aaron might have to say about new shows, and found to my surprise that he incorporated a reminiscence about my brother into his account. Aaron misses John all the time, but this week he was particularly reminded of hanging out in upfronts gone by.
In fact, the first time we met he gave me a scoop. In 1994 I started writing a newsletter about late night television, pretty much on a lark. No business plan, no VC, just a desire to write and the revelation that I did a pretty good job working this little corner of the popular culture. Higgins found me. He prided himself on making new discoveries, whether it was an up-and-coming punk band or hip-hop artist or a restaurant that hadn't gotten written up yet in New York magazine or a website of interest. That was me (well, back then it was a mailing list of interest; same difference). He was in Chicago for a trade show and called me up. We had drinks downtown, and he told me Greg Kinnear wasn't coming back to the NBC "Later" show, having a movie career to tend to full-time. I didn't bother with a second source. After all, here was this pro telling me plausible truth, and he spoke with such casual authority, nonchalance even, how could he making this up?
I also liked his gallery of photos from the memorial service for John last December in the MTV Lodge. It doesn't look like much-- a bunch of people in dark suits mingling-- and you probably won't recognize many people, but you can tell they're not just mourning, but also laughing. Thanks, Aaron.
John's cubicle, "tidier than it's been for years."
I checked to see what Aaron might have to say about new shows, and found to my surprise that he incorporated a reminiscence about my brother into his account. Aaron misses John all the time, but this week he was particularly reminded of hanging out in upfronts gone by.
In fact, the first time we met he gave me a scoop. In 1994 I started writing a newsletter about late night television, pretty much on a lark. No business plan, no VC, just a desire to write and the revelation that I did a pretty good job working this little corner of the popular culture. Higgins found me. He prided himself on making new discoveries, whether it was an up-and-coming punk band or hip-hop artist or a restaurant that hadn't gotten written up yet in New York magazine or a website of interest. That was me (well, back then it was a mailing list of interest; same difference). He was in Chicago for a trade show and called me up. We had drinks downtown, and he told me Greg Kinnear wasn't coming back to the NBC "Later" show, having a movie career to tend to full-time. I didn't bother with a second source. After all, here was this pro telling me plausible truth, and he spoke with such casual authority, nonchalance even, how could he making this up?
I also liked his gallery of photos from the memorial service for John last December in the MTV Lodge. It doesn't look like much-- a bunch of people in dark suits mingling-- and you probably won't recognize many people, but you can tell they're not just mourning, but also laughing. Thanks, Aaron.
John's cubicle, "tidier than it's been for years."
