The Upfronts: How TV’s Big Week Evolved From Chess Match to WWE Free For All

The TV upfronts have a long and colorful history, rooted in grainy images of network executives strategically moving shows around an oversized scheduling board, trying to parry moves by other programmers in the equivalent of a high-stakes chess match.

Today, the strategy is less a cerebral cat-and-mouse game of positioning those pieces than a WWE-style free for all, where programmers try to assemble cohesive lineups but can’t begin to plan how to counter competition that’s coming at them on a multitude of fronts.