Prep for this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC had already been basting for months when the Covid-19 pandemic forced organizers to cook up a new way to pull it off.
“We have to plan this thing about 18 months out, because we do things like select the bands, we design and build our floats, our balloons and everything,” said executive producer Susan Tercero. “As you can imagine, when we got to March of this past year, we’d already had a parade plan.”
Many of those ingredients still remain: Musical performances, balloons, floats and a Santa Claus finale. But as the months went on and it became apparent that the world still wouldn’t be back to normal in the fall, producers came up with a new recipe for this year’s event.
The biggest change: This year’s 94th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be for television audiences only.
“We have to plan this thing about 18 months out, because we do things like select the bands, we design and build our floats, our balloons and everything,” said executive producer Susan Tercero. “As you can imagine, when we got to March of this past year, we’d already had a parade plan.”
Many of those ingredients still remain: Musical performances, balloons, floats and a Santa Claus finale. But as the months went on and it became apparent that the world still wouldn’t be back to normal in the fall, producers came up with a new recipe for this year’s event.
The biggest change: This year’s 94th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be for television audiences only.
- 11/24/2020
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Kids, cover your ears, Macy’s has some bad news: Santa Claus won’t be visiting any of the retailer’s stores in 2020, ending a 159-year holiday-season tradition.
In a move stolen from the plot of every Santa Claus movie ever made, wherein Santa faces obstacles on Christmas plans, the jolly red and white bearer of gifts will be consigned to Internet-only appearances on behalf of the chain. That ends the store’s long association with in-store appearances by St. Nick, which date to 1861.
Macy’s and Santa are forever tied together as a part of the 1947 Academy Award-winning film Miracle on 34th Street, where the real Kris Kringle is hired at Macy’s flagship New York City store. Later in the film — spoiler alert! — he is declared the real Santa Claus by a court ruling.
Macy’s tried to put a happy face on the humbug news.
“To replicate the...
In a move stolen from the plot of every Santa Claus movie ever made, wherein Santa faces obstacles on Christmas plans, the jolly red and white bearer of gifts will be consigned to Internet-only appearances on behalf of the chain. That ends the store’s long association with in-store appearances by St. Nick, which date to 1861.
Macy’s and Santa are forever tied together as a part of the 1947 Academy Award-winning film Miracle on 34th Street, where the real Kris Kringle is hired at Macy’s flagship New York City store. Later in the film — spoiler alert! — he is declared the real Santa Claus by a court ruling.
Macy’s tried to put a happy face on the humbug news.
“To replicate the...
- 10/23/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Update, with additional details A signature kick-off for the holiday season – the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – will go virtual this year, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today, with the department store company confirming that the event will be drastically reduced in size, abandon the traditional 2.5-mile route and employ five specialty vehicles to anchor the signature giant character balloons.
The event billed as The 94th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will air nationwide on NBC-tv, Thursday, November 26 from 9 a.m. to noon, in all time zones.
“This year the celebration will shift to a television only special presentation,” Macy’s said in a statement, “showcasing the Macy’s Parade’s signature mix of giant character helium balloons, fantastic floats, street performers, clowns and heralding the arrival of the holiday season with the one-and-only Santa Claus.
Following the general announcement this morning by de Blasio, Macy’s released...
The event billed as The 94th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will air nationwide on NBC-tv, Thursday, November 26 from 9 a.m. to noon, in all time zones.
“This year the celebration will shift to a television only special presentation,” Macy’s said in a statement, “showcasing the Macy’s Parade’s signature mix of giant character helium balloons, fantastic floats, street performers, clowns and heralding the arrival of the holiday season with the one-and-only Santa Claus.
Following the general announcement this morning by de Blasio, Macy’s released...
- 9/14/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Al Roker usually takes to the streets of Manhattan to help viewers see what’s going on during NBC’s annual broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year, he will take to a motorcycle.
“It will have more energy and also give viewers at home a little bit more insight into that parade,” says Doug Vaughan, executive vice president of special programs for NBC Entertainment, who supervises the network’s telecast. The “Today” fixture typically interviews celebrities on the parade’s sidelines, but in 2018, NBC wants him to “be motorized for the entire route” with a rig that will allow for 360-degree views, says Vaughan. “We hope he will be stopping along the way and talk to people watching along the sidelines, and handlers who are getting the balloons down and the bands marching down the street. He will be very mobile.”
You’d think NBC would...
“It will have more energy and also give viewers at home a little bit more insight into that parade,” says Doug Vaughan, executive vice president of special programs for NBC Entertainment, who supervises the network’s telecast. The “Today” fixture typically interviews celebrities on the parade’s sidelines, but in 2018, NBC wants him to “be motorized for the entire route” with a rig that will allow for 360-degree views, says Vaughan. “We hope he will be stopping along the way and talk to people watching along the sidelines, and handlers who are getting the balloons down and the bands marching down the street. He will be very mobile.”
You’d think NBC would...
- 11/19/2018
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
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