Wednesday’s Good Morning America was a shameless display of collective and personal embarrassment for all involved with the ABC News program as they spent nearly 14 minutes (13:40) swooning at parent company Disney’s Upfront — an annual, day-long, fancy showcase of a network’s upcoming projects and past accomplishments to sell advertising — but have yet to offer a word on the damaging arrests of possibly ten Disney Cruise workers on child pornography charges.
“Oh yeah. You better believe a lot of Disney excitement as we head into Wednesday,” co-host Robin Roberts beamed right off the top of the show, reacting to the loaded opening tease (not included in our time count) that promised to take viewers “up front and center to all the Disney magic with some really big announcements.”
Roberts even did the same after seeing the teases in the second hour, boasting GMA would be “celebrating all of the exciting shows and movies coming to ABC and Disney” and she spoke about them “with Disney’s president and chief creative officer, Dana Walden, to hear her thoughts on why these stories are so incredibly special.”
The first full segment consisted of almost six minutes from said interview between Roberts and Walden. Roberts swooned it was Wednesday’s ‘GMA Cover Story’ with “Disney revealing its star-studded lineup of hit shows, movies, live events, gearing up to bring magic to our screens” and Walden telling her “what makes these stories and storytellers so great.”
How is this news? Where is Neil Postman? This is certainly some of what he was talking about in Amusing Ourselves to Death.
“From the emotionally gripping series Love Story....to the animated blockbuster film Zootopia 2 and the fan-favorite TV show Paradise — with 51 billion hours watched across Disney’s linear and streaming platforms, at the heart, it’s all about a great story,” she bragged.
NEW from me: ABC's 'Good Morning America' spent almost 14 minutes (13mins, 40 secs) yesterday -- such as here with Disney's lead content executive -- debasing itself with syrupy stupidity and corporate-speak about Disney's Upfronts, but have yet to say a word about the Disney… pic.twitter.com/z56Gv0CeVp
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 14, 2026
Roberts’s interview was Barack Obama-and-Steve Kroft-esque in its corporate fraudulence and syrupy stupidity.
From asking her “how do you break through with what the consumer, you feel, wants right now” to whether “anything...surprises you that folks are watching” to “where does [Bluey] all fit into the [Disney] portfolio,” it was a crock.
Roberts had more foaming praise afterward: “All of television films, streaming, and gaming falls under her. You know, we've all been to the Upfronts over the years. And boy — it really was [great]. And Josh D’Amaro, the new CEO, he was front and center. He kicked everything off. And I know, in the post-party, you were speaking a lot to — to — to [Ginger Zee].”
Less than five minutes later, there was another three and a half minutes touting the presence of Dancing with the Stars at the Disney Upfront and the latest announced contestant, Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson.
And not even 15 minutes following that was a third and final segment, tallying almost four minutes as correspondent Will Ganz giddily promoted the “blue carpet” and his celebrity interviews.
Another one of their segments was vapid PR dressed up as news from the "blue carpet" of Disney Upfronts pic.twitter.com/MLa8mj3FBI
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 14, 2026
“And holy headlines Batman. Paul Anthony Kelly joining American Horror Story. Jackson Olsen joining Dancing With the Stars. Conan O’Brien returning as host for an Academy Awards three peat. All those stars can only align in one spot. The blue carpet at the Disney upfronts. This year, we're kicking it up a notch…The surprises are huge…as Disney unveils its most a-peeling line-up yet,” Ganz swooned.
Ganz even marveled alongside Brie Larson that “Air Bud” went running across their shot, but didn’t have enough brainpower to wonder who (and whose dog) it actually was. In fact, it was Peter Herbstreit, who belongs to ESPN’s lead college football analyst, Kirk Herbstreit.
Ganz played his role, interviewing everyone from returning scripted shows on ABC, FX, and Hulu to reality shows, new adaptations, and sporting events on ABC and ESPN.
Like much of Good Morning America whoring itself to any new Disney project, CBS promoting Paramount Skydance movies or sports such as the UFC, or NBC hawking anything Universal Studios, news has increasingly been one of the last things on the mind of morning television in legacy media. Just don’t expect them to always be transparent in keeping their own houses in order.
