• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, 11 hours ago

Fox positions its new “Baywatch” as a drama, but it drew some scattered laughs around the audience at the Fox Upfront Monday in New York.

That was one of the notable phenomena from Monday’s Upfronts in New York -- Fox’s presentation in the afternoon and NBCUniversal’s in the morning.

Throughout the two events, Upfront hallmarks such as shows, celebrities and performances were the order of the day. 

One person’s reactions -- mine -- were recorded dutifully in a traditional reporter’s pad. Please allow me to share.

I admit I was one of the laughers when Fox showed a promo video for the new “Baywatch,” while the cast presented themselves on stage (photo above). But my reaction was not based on any overt comedy. 

Instead, it stemmed from admiration -- if not straight-up awe -- at the audacity of the thing.

I remember thinking: Are we really doing this again? Costuming buff, beautiful men and women in red bathing suits to run toward the sites of emergencies in the surf, and when they are not doing that, hooking up with each other?

In a clip shown at the Fox Upfront at the ornate City Center theater in Manhattan, the lifeguards faced a catastrophe that was over the top (although, for all I know, the original “Baywatch” lifeguards may have experienced similar extreme emergencies).

In this incident, a multi-passenger plane towing one of those banner ads that are common at beaches suddenly crash-lands in the water, but not before taking down a group of parasailers whose tow ropes became entangled in the aircraft.

The sight of a bunch of lifeguards running toward this aviation disaster was audacious in the sense that it felt implausible that this group would have the training to deal with this.

But the show’s audacity just might be its secret sauce. It starts in January.

Elsewhere at the Upfronts, attendees were surprised to see the relentless Jane Krakowski leading elaborate, unrelated song-and-dance performances at both the NBCU Upfront in the morning at Radio City Music Hall and the Fox Upfront in the afternoon.

With all due respect to her formidable singing and dancing talent, wasn’t anyone else available in New York City to take up one of these?

Plus, in both performances, the lyrics were acoustically inaudible and incomprehensible. Oh, well, better luck next time.

The TV Blog was struck by how many new shows were adapted from novels. These included “The Good Daughter,” adapted from a novel by Karin Slaughter; and “The Five Star Weekend,” adapted from a novel by Elin Hilderbrand -- both on Peacock. 

USA Network’s drama about a National Park ranger-sleuth, “Anna Pigeon,” is based on a series of novels by Nevada Barr. IP from the world of book publishing appears to be hot this spring.

Vin Diesel’s appearance on stage with Jimmy Fallon at Radio City was billed as a “surprise appearance.” 

Maybe it was, or maybe it wasn’t, but the star of the “Fast & Furious” movie series was on-hand to make a few “F&F”-related announcements, including the upcoming opening of a new “Fast &. Furious” rollercoaster at NBCU-owned Universal Studios Hollywood, and four “F&F” TV series coming to Peacock.

At one point, I could have sworn that Diesel addressed Jimmy Fallon as “Alan.” Did that really happen?

Also noticed by the TV Blog: Two shows with dead husbands. In “Anna Pigeon,” the lead character takes up a career in a vast, remote National Parks to somehow get over the murder of her husband. 

In “The Five Star Weekend,” the lead character played by Jennifer Garner throws a party for old girlfriends to move past the death of her husband in an accident.

No visible reaction swept through the audience in Radio City Music Hall when Savannah Guthrie appeared onstage with Al Roker and co-anchor Craig Melvin to promote “The Today Show” in a segment of the NBCU Upfront devoted to NBC News.

It was easy to feel emotional at the sight of Guthrie bravely and professionally promoting “The Today Show” literally the day after Mother’s Day, which must have been tough for her.

At the Fox Upfront, the prevalent theme or buzzword was “passion,” a word that some may consider overused today.

The most visible stars of the Fox Upfront were from Fox Sports -- namely former Patriots teammates Tom Brady and Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski, both of whom made multiple appearances throughout the one-hour Fox Upfront.

Michael Strahan -- also a Fox NFL personality -- tried to arouse the New York-based crowd by predicting great things for his former team, the New York Giants, in the upcoming season.

It was difficult to share Strahan’s optimism for a team that won only four games last season and lost 13.

The Fox Upfront devoted a significant chunk of time to Fox News Channel with onstage appearances by the likes of news anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, and talk show host Greg Gutfeld.

They and others hammered home the point that audiences for Fox News programs represent some of the highest live viewership in all of television, including all cable and all broadcast.

Meanwhile, a small group of protesters picketed outside the City Center with signs denouncing the company and its founder Rupert Murdoch.

Every year, throughout all the Upfronts during Upfront Week, the most overused three words of all are “I’m so excited.”

Sales executives say it, stars of new shows say it, news personalities say it, and former athletes-turned color commentators use it.

It is great that all these people at the NBCU and Fox Upfronts were so excited, but whether or not their ad-industry audiences feel the same way. could not be determined.