To paraphrase the famous musical title, a funny thing happened on the way to the upfronts this year. One by one, the four major broadcast network announced their 2026-27 lineups, and each of them featured more scripted series than the current season. The turnaround was so unexpected that the trend went unnoticed by many, including likely the Netflix upfront speechwriters. “Other companies are spending the majority of their budget on sports and cutting back on scripted shows,” Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said onstage at the streamer’s presentation , which was held on Wednesday afternoon, after all broadcast networks had unveiled their 2026-27 plans. In recent years, amid sliding linear ratings, industry contraction and the impact of the pandemic and the 2023 Hollywood strikes, that statement would’ve been correct. But not this year.…