One of the more memorable moments from NBC upfront presentations of yesteryear was when the cast members of The West Wing took the stage at Radio City Music Hall after their first season. The reception was huge: The cast received a well-deserved standing ovation.
No such moment for the cast of This is Us, which has its series finale on May 24. The actors who made up one of the few bright spots on broadcast television were nowhere to be found in Radio City Music Hall, having scattered after production wrapped on the drama earlier this month. They were definitely invited, Deadline was told, but many were already committed to other projects and simply couldn’t attend. Bummer; they deserved their own standing ovation.
NBC did pay tribute to the hit show by sharing a pre-taped package featuring Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan and Jon Huertas reflecting on their memorable time together.
The show also made it into Seth Meyers‘ monologue toward the end of the presentation. “NBC is giving a full-series order to Quantum Leap in which the hero will travel through time to stop the This Is Us family from buying that Crockpot,” Meyers said, before correcting himself with a joke referencing NBCU’s head of sales Linda Yaccarino. “Slow cooker, not a great tie-in for Crockpot, can’t believe you let Yaccarino talk you into that.”
Myers then added, “I’m pretty confident I’m going to be here in two years announcing a This Is Us reboot, That Was Them. The same episodes with a different name. ‘I think I’ve seen this. Yeah, but it’s still better than all the new stuff.’”
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