Seth Meyers Roasts NBC's Lack of Originality: 'Same Episodes With a Different Name'

Seth Meyers isn't afraid to bite the hand that feeds him. At NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation Monday morning, the Late Night host roasted the network for its lack of originality and poked fun at executives' reboot fever.

“I don’t need to tell you that the last two years have been transformative not just for the TV business but across all industries," said Meyers, per Deadline. "We needed to be inventive, agile, forward-facing, and yet and this is still how we are doing upfronts. That’s not to say that NBC is not embracing the future — this next year promises exciting new shows and ideas like Law & Order, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Night Court, and Quantum Leap.”

Meyers added, “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.”

“I’m pretty confident I’m going to be here in two years announcing a This Is Us reboot, That Was Them," he joked. "The same episodes with a different name. ‘I think I’ve seen this. Yeah, but it’s still better than all the new stuff.'”

In one last dig at the company's obsession with reboots, Meyers said, “I’m all for reboots. Just know that every time NBC reboots a show, somewhere, someplace Cosby is thinking, ‘Maybe, maybe…’ I made that Cosby joke four years ago. You can say it’s lazy I did it again or you can say I rebooted it.”

As the monologue continued, Meyers criticized NBC for its lack of diversity, specifically calling out the Golden Globes. He also joked about the awkwardness of having the presentation in person in the crowded Radio City Music Hall in the midst of a pandemic, telling the audience, “How great it is to be at Radio City, what a historical room… to be able to tell people you caught Covid in.”

Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.