John Koblin, Michael M. Grynbaum and Edmund Lee

JOHN: It was the worst day on Wall Street in four months, the coldest May afternoon in New York in nine years. Who’s ready for a Fox party! And not just any Fox upfront — new Fox. The Fox that’s a slimmer, scrappier version of the old Fox. I think the network’s new entertainment chief executive, Charlie Collier, described Fox as a “startup” at least a half-dozen times?

EDMUND: This was a more intimate, off-the-cuff affair than NBC’s glitzy presentation earlier today. It felt closer to Fox’s early days, when Rupert Murdoch took on the big three. Speaking of which, Rupert was in the audience, orchestra center — a rare public sighting. I happened to bump into him on the way out of the theater. He looked his usual self, in sneakers and a blazer, with a bodyguard in tow.

MICHAEL: Did the bodyguard give you guff?

EDMUND: He gave me a look, which was enough.

JOHN: Was Rupert the one screaming for “90210”? Yes, there’s a “Beverly Hills: 90210” reboot coming this summer. (Hopefully with better luck than CBS’ just-canceled revival of “Murphy Brown.”) The announcement struck a nerve with the Gen X advertiser crowd, who let loose the loudest ovation we’ve heard in some time when Jennie Garth, Gabrielle Carteris, Ian Ziering and Co. took the stage. Shannen Doherty did not show. Keeping on brand.

EDMUND: Sports was big, no surprise. It’s the costliest part of Fox’s lineup and draws the most viewers, so it’s an easy pitch. Terry Bradshaw, the NFL mainstay, was in rare form, ad-libbing about his appearance on another Fox series, “The Masked Singer.” Apparently, it’s a game show that involves costumes and singing?

JOHN: Yes, that’s it, with the hippo, the poodle and the rabbit masks. It’s also tied for first place with “This is Us” and “The Big Bang Theory” for top-rated entertainment shows.

MICHAEL: In an unfortunate moment, Bradshaw lamented that he was kicked off “The Masked Singer” by — his words — “Alan Thicke and the little short guy from Japan.” Alan Thicke ... is dead. Bradshaw was thinking of his son, Robin Thicke.

EDMUND: And the “short guy from Japan” was likely comedian Ken Jeong, who is Korean-American.

JOHN: The sports portion of these proceedings are always a source of embarrassment to the entertainment folks. And because Fox no longer has a TV studio — that now belongs to The Walt Disney Company — it is very excited to do business with other studios like Warner Bros. And television’s most prolific producer, Greg Berlanti!

EDMUND: It’s a gritty drama lineup. “Prodigal Son,” Berlanti’s show about a serial killer and his son, looked dark. “Deputy,” a modern-day cop drama in the vein of an old Western, came across a little too serious for its own good, but it does star Stephen Dorff, who was outstanding in the latest season of HBO’s “True Detective.”

MICHAEL: “Not Just Me” stars Timothy Hutton as the Bernie Madoff of fertility: a fraudulent doctor who “solves” his patients’ fertility problems by replacing the fathers’ sperm with his own. Then it unravels and his daughter meets a bunch of half-siblings she didn’t know she had. I mean, who among us?

EDMUND: The one I couldn’t quite get was “neXt,” about an out-of-control AI program that takes the form of a disembodied Alexa-like home speaker. You can bet Amazon won’t be advertising there anytime soon.

MICHAEL: I have to admit to a weakness for the “evil-robot-takes-its-sweet-revenge” genre. “neXt” stars John Slattery, who is never not charming. He is also pals with Collier from the days when they were at AMC.

JOHN: They had nice chemistry on stage. It was much better than the awkward exchange between Collier and Justin Timberlake (who is producing a game show on Fox), who “jokingly” suggested that Collier should be fired for missing a cue.

MICHAEL: I was waiting for Timberlake to lambaste Rupert from the stage, but it didn’t happen. As for “neXt,” I like that the Alexa-like evil robot — “Iliza,” har har — has a sinister HAL thing going on. I assume my own Alexa resents a lot of my banal requests for weather updates and would not hesitate to wreak havoc on my life.

JOHN: Michael, you burst into laughter in the middle of the evil Alexa trailer (I did, too), and a few advertisers gave us the stink eye.

MICHAEL: Maybe they were Amazon execs?

JOHN: Fox executives were highest on a soapy Southern drama, “Filthy Rich,” starring the “Sex and the City” alum Kim Cattrall, and “Bless the Harts,” an animated show with voice work from Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph. We also had our second Amy Poehler sighting of the day — she jogged over from the NBC event to promote another Fox animated show.

EDMUND: Can we discuss the rain? I overheard several advertisers deciding to bail on the after-party in Central Park. We almost did, too.

JOHN: It was harder than usual to get a read on the room, and whether Fox’s new campaign — advertiser-friendly, outside-producer-friendly — was viewed as a triumph. Everyone was so angry about the rain. And the frigid and soaked trek to Central Park.

EDMUND: But the tents at Wollman Rink were waterproof. Collier looked like a Hollywood pro, holding court as people lined up to pay their respects.

JOHN: For his first network rodeo, the career cable man definitely seemed in his element.

This article originally appeared in <a id="72ab05f9-e312-3518-af3b-ca7176f10264" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/business/media/fox-tv-upfronts-lineup.html">The New York Times</a>.

A slimmed-down Fox Network touts 'Beverly Hills 90210' reboot

NEW YORK — The TV industry is unveiling its coming season to advertisers in Manhattan this week at a series of events known as the upfronts. Three New York Times media reporters — John Koblin, Michael M. Grynbaum and Edmund Lee — assess the Fox presentation at the Beacon Theater on Monday<em xmlns="http://www.w3...

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John Koblin, Michael M. Grynbaum and Edmund Lee

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A slimmed-down Fox Network touts 'Beverly Hills 90210' reboot