Who Would Have Thought The USA Network Would Be Big?

Here’s some pics from the USA Network’s upfronts. That’s when all the stars come out to look pretty and shill their shows. Debra Messing stars in the next installment of The Starter Wife this fall, by the way. USA used to be known for movie re-runs, and Up All Night with Rhonda Shear. Remember her? USA is now at the top of the heap, with hugely popular original programming like Monk, Psych and Burn Notice. Admittedly, I sorta watched The 4400 even though it was terrible. I’m a geek.

USA’s recent success is being attributed to boss lady Bonnie Hammer. She’s being credited with USA bringing in 700 million in profits last year. NBC brought in only 300, and they own USA.

“It’s probably become the single most important entity within the entire portfolio” of NBC Universal, says Jeff Zucker, NBC’s chief executive.

This is all fine, but can they bring back USA Up All Night? When I was a kid, it was what you watched during sleepovers and prayed for some kind of nudity.

Photos: Getty Images

20 more photos from the USA Network upfronts featuring Debra Messing, Jeffrey Donovan, Bruce Campbell, Julianne Nicholoson, Chris Noth, Vincent D’Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Lesley Ann Warren, James Roday, Gabrielle Anwar, Mary McCormack, Dule Hill and Corbin Bernsen are after the jump.