If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time as a TV critic and editor, it’s that networks aren’t shy about recycling ideas. They just call them their own.
That’s the theme present again this year during TV’s inevitably boring pilot season, a spring cleaning of sorts when networks commission pilots of episodes they may or may not be interested in for the upcoming fall season.
This fall marks a return to traditional TV development after several chaotic years thanks to a poor economy, the writers’ strike and a tattered Olympic-schedule this past February. There are currently over 90 pilots being shot for network and cable selection, and of those only a handful will make it on-air. Of those, an even smaller amount will receive full season orders.
If an idea works on one network, we often see a trend emerge the next season. ABC beat the odds last fall with its Wednesday night family comedy block, so it should be no surprise the network wants to test out a drama about a family that discovers it has superpowers, or an additional comedy featuring three kids coping with their parents’ divorce.
Of course, no pilot season would be complete without the usual suspects; the cop-dramas and lawyer procedurals that seem to get made year after year without ever growing stale to viewers. This season features several of those, replete with gimmicks and stars like Bill Pullman, Katee Sackhoff and Forest Whitaker to draw more eyeballs.
Spinoffs and remakes are ever-present this year as well, with CBS losing major creativity points by expanding their Criminal Minds franchise and commissioning a Hawaii Five-O remake.
One network everyone will be curious about come May (when the fall pickups are announced) is NBC. After falling year after year, the once golden network has thrown a substantial number of pilots into development in an obvious acknowledgement to the fact that their vain programming is no longer working.
Comedies could be considered a Peacock strong suit, but as far as dramas go, the network has hired Doctor Who star David Tennant as a lawyer, and House creator David Shore to helm a remake of the 1970s Rockford Files.
Conversely, Fox is content with the dramas it has on the air and has only ordered three potential additions, relinquishing in the comfort of House, Fringe and perhaps even Lie to Me — if the series is renewed.
Essentially, there are no surprises here.
What do you think of our pilot watch? amber@tvguide.ca, or sound off below.
CANADIAN NETWORKS:
AMERICAN NETWORKS:
FOR CABLE, PLEASE CLICK HERE
Follow TV Guide Canada on Facebook