Who would have thought the star of the 2026 upfronts would be the star of The Rural Juror?
Jane Krakowski has spent as much time thus far at the 2026 upfronts as the media buyers from Toyota. On Monday morning, Krakowski delighted the NBCUniversal upfront’s audience with a song-and-dance number celebrating selling NBC‘s 100th anniversary. Krakowski was in-character as 30 Rock‘s Jenna Maroney and flanked by co-stars Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan. She was also fully in her performative element at Radio City Music Hall. (30 Rock is celebrating its own 20th anniversary this year.)
After lunch and hopefully some vocal rest, Krakowski opened Fox‘s upfront alongside her fellow Jane, Jane Lynch. Krakowski hosts Fox’s Name That Tune; Lynch hosts its reboot of The Weakest Link. The moment called for more of what the Broadway star Krakowski (Oh, Mary!) does best, but she was seemingly let down by technology and (probably) a lack of rehearsal time.
With the exception of their backup dancers, everything about the Janes’ Fox performance fell flat. Something was up with their microphones, and the speakers were no better. It was hard to tell if they knew who was to sing which lyrics and what the next movement was. It was … not ready for Radio City, so it’s a good thing Fox’s 2026 upfront took place at New York City Center — known in the TV-advertising industry as the place The CW used to have its upfront.
Let me be clear, I do not blame the Janes for the Fox performance. I think the lyrics written for them probably stunk, but I couldn’t hear enough of them to be sure. The stage in New York City Center is also only big enough for one Jane at a time when there are so many sidekicks side-kicking.
The craziest part is, we may not have seen the last of Krakowski this week — or really, today. Krakowski’s Christmas movie The Man with the Bag (Amazon MGM Studios), also starring Alan Ritchson (Amazon’s Reacher), Awkwafina, Ken Jeong and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Santa, is coming this holiday season to Prime Video.
Amazon’s upfront is set to start at 6:30 p.m. ET from the Beacon Theatre, the place Fox used to host its event. We’ll see what, if anything, Krakowski has in store for us there — and perhaps, beyond? It’s not too late for a network to pick up MILF Island to series.
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