The Peacock network opened its 2026 upfront presentation to advertisers Monday at Radio City MusicaHall with a laser light show that included all the colors of NBC‘s logo rainbow, followed by a monologue and musical number from “Las Culturistas” hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers.
Set to the tune of Bruno Mars and Rosé’s “APT,” Rogers and Yang sang about the virtue of “Ads on NBC, ads on NBC,” while surrounded by dancers sporting peacock feathers in front of a big pink background cover in NBCUniversal and Comcast signage.
When Rogers and “Saturday Night Live” vet Yang exited the stage, a digital short starring NBCU ad chief Mark Marshall began to roll. In the clip, Marshall is going to get a new tattoo to show his love for NBC on its upcoming 100th birthday. And while he doesn’t have much space left — he’s devoted most of his body to the logos of NBC advertisers — he’s saved the spot right by his heart for NBC.
When the clip ended, Marshall took the stage behind a body-building cutout covered in tattoos (his own abs were not approved by the network for “brand safety” use) and began to boast about NBC’s “legacy media” label not being a mark of old age, but a lasting brand. Marshall made a point of how relevant NBCU’s programming remains by rolling a brief clip from the highly anticipated upcoming reunion show for Bravo’s “Summer House,” which has been at the center of pop culture discourse for weeks amid leaks and relationship drama between the stars.
Then “Law & Order SVU” star Mariska Hargitay took the stage to promote the current NBCU lineup, with a few moments where Hargitay was cut off by loud audio tracks during her monologue. Then a recorded video from Hugh Laurie and Amy Poehler teed up a first look at their new Peacock show “Dig,” followed by promotions for the animated “Ted” TV series and the Linda Cardellini-led “Friday the 13th” prequel series, “Crystal Lake,” and “The Good Daughter” starring Meghann Fahy and Rose Byrne, and “The Five Star Weekend,” starring Jennifer Garner, D’Arcy Carden, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall and Chloë Sevigny.
Turning from streaming to linear, first looks were shown for NBC’s “Rockford Files” reboot, starring David Boreanaez, as well as the broadcaster’s “Newlyweds” (Téa Leoni and Tim Daly star as the main couple, with Jamie Lee Curtis as guest star and producer), “Line of Fire” (Peter Krause and Hope Davis) and “Sunset P.I.” (Jake Johnson, Jane Levy, Keith David), followed by a tease for USA network’s new drama “Anna Pigeon.”
“SNL” and “30 Rock” alum Tina Fey welcomed everyone to “the most glamorous midmorning of the year” and hyped up NBC’s plans for a 100th birthday tribute show Dec. 10. On her way out, she kicked it to Jane Krakowski as her “30 Rock” persona, Jenna, singing happy 1-0-0 to NBC.
Lance Bass and Joey Fatone showed up for their new mixology competition series, “Cocktail Wars,” and Ariana Madix arrived to remind everyone “Love Island USA” will be back next month.
Then it was Bravo’s time to shine, and Andy Cohen used the “Bravo Lab” time machine to send him back to 2006 to meet with some of the OG “Real Housewives” stars for the upcoming 20th-anniversary road trip special.
After a quick sizzle touting upcoming Universal Films (which will eventually make their way to Peacock), “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon brought out a big Universal star: Vin Diesel. Diesel wasn’t just there to promote the upcoming “Fast & Furious” movie, but to announce that the franchise is coming to the small screen with a TV series in development at Peacock.
Universal Studio Group chairwoman Pearlena Igbokwe wrapped up the studio-focused portion of the upfront before Telemundo, NBC News, spinoff Versant and NBC Sports had their turns.
The whole thing ended with some jokes from “Late Night” host Seth Meyers and, hopefully for NBC, some wow’d advertisers.
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