Networks face complex decisions with pilots
- From: David <dimlan17@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 09:22:05 -0400
from the hollywood reporter
2006-07 pilots
Complete survey of network pilot orders for the 2006-07 television
season, analysis and dialogues with the network entertainment chiefs.
By Andrew Wallenstein
If the 2006-07 primetime schedule is a puzzle, consider the pilots as
the missing pieces.
Nearly 100 comedies and dramas are in contention next month for a
dwindling number of time slots on five networks (bye-bye, WB Network
and UPN; hello, CW).
But as broadcast execs begin scrutinizing tapes of each project,
here's something to keep in mind: Pilots don't get series orders on
creative merit alone. A complex web of factors dictate their
desirability, and none of them is more important than the scheduling
needs of each network for the fall and beyond.
Perhaps the biggest question mark hovering over the 2006-07 schedule
is whether ABC will break up its Sunday lineup to help patch potholes
on other nights. The network is said to be weighing moving either
"Desperate Housewives" or "Grey's Anatomy," which could very well
leave the most desirable piece of primetime real estate for a pilot in
the Sunday 10 p.m. slot.
"We have three big shows on Sunday, so there will be pressure to
spread the wealth," ABC executive vp entertainment Jeff Bader said,
noting "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" at 8 p.m.
Because ABC's Sunday series presently have broad appeal, a distinct
female skew and touches of comedy and soap opera, the network will
likely tap a series with those same qualities.
There are more than a few options, including Warner Bros. Television's
"Men in Trees," with Anne Heche playing a psychologist looking for
love in Alaska; Touchstone Television's "Brothers & Sisters," a family
drama with Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths, or Sony Pictures
Television's "Women in Law," a workplace dramedy with Regina King and
Kelli Williams.
The failure of comedy pair "Jake in Progress" and "Emily's Reasons Why
Not" leaves a vacuum at 9 p.m. Monday. With the pressure on to measure
up to the absent "Monday Night Football" and ABC's strong female skew
on the night with "Wife Swap" at 8 p.m. and "The Bachelor" at 10 p.m.,
"Housewives" or "Anatomy" could end up there as well. That would leave
room for another launch spot at 10 p.m. because "Bachelor" isn't
likely to run more than one cycle per season.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are other nights where ABC might seek to
shore up crumbling comedy lineups with new product. Leading the list
of likely candidates for an open slot is "In Case of Emergency," a
Touchstone project that already has a six-episode commitment.
Fox will come into the fall largely at the mercy of its postseason
baseball coverage, which weighed down its fourth-quarter ratings. All
the network can do is repeat the strategy it employed in 2005-06:
establish its entertainment programs as early in the season as it can
and use baseball as a promotional base for male-friendly fare.
That strategy helped first-year standouts "Prison Break" and "Bones,"
which gives the network more strength to build around. "We plan to
stick with our fourth-quarter strategy again this year, but now we
have a bigger stable of shows," said Preston Beckman, executive vp
strategic program planning at Fox.
That likely will mean new dramas come in as companions for established
hours Monday-Wednesday. 20th Century Fox TV probably had the sexual
tension between the protagonists in "Bones" in mind when developing
"Primary," which features romantically entangled hostage negotiators;
the serialized suspense of "Vanished" seems in the mold of "Break."
"Because we have 'Break,' 'House' and 'Bones,' we have clear targets
for our dramas," Beckman said. "Our development was informed by those
shows."
A bigger challenge awaits on Thursday and Friday, when Fox will lose
some of the few remaining programs it has in "That '70s Show" and
"Malcolm in the Middle," which end their runs this season. With Fox
struggling on an important night like Thursday, the network might have
to make a big move, maybe with its most anticipated comedy pilot:
"Raymond" co-star Brad Garrett in Sony's " 'Til Death." If Fox doesn't
get a foothold on Thursday in the fall, the long-rumored switch of
"American Idol" just might be in the offing.
"Idol" has been a midseason boon to Fox, but CBS also has made some
fortuitous gains in 2006 that will help come fall. Early indications
are that new additions "The Unit" and "The New Adventures of Old
Christine" have the ratings power to stay on the schedule next season,
which means CBS may need few pilots to bolster its stable schedule.
"It's been a nice shot in the arm," Kelly Kahl, senior executive vp
programming operations, said of the eye network's midseason successes.
"As we continue to build this wall, it's (potentially) two more
pieces."
But the wall could require some work. On Monday, a slot could open up
in CBS' healthy comedy lineup if the network doesn't come to terms
with Sony on a ninth season of 8 p.m. entry "The King of Queens." That
would likely mean "How I Met Your Mother" would move back 30 minutes
to provide lead-in support for a new comedy.
The eye also might try again to reload the genre into the difficult
Wednesday 8-9 p.m. berth, where "Out of Practice" and "Courting Alex"
tanked late in the season. "We'd like to see comedy viable somewhere
else on the schedule" besides Monday, Kahl noted.
The surest bet to join CBS next season on the comedy front is WBTV's
"The Class," which got a 13-episode order last year. CBS likely will
also go in-house for another comedy or two, perhaps "Play Nice" from
"Everybody Loves Raymond" executive producer Phil Rosenthal.
CBS is as solid as they come on the drama front, but there are gaps
that could see new hours installed Tuesday at 10 p.m. or Friday at 9
p.m. The perennial speculation that CBS will scrap its two-hour Sunday
movie persists as well, which could leave room to launch a pair of
dramas on the back of "Cold Case." It's an audacious gambit, but with
NBC out of the drama business in the fourth quarter because of
football, there might be no better time to try.
The big question for CBS drama is whether it can resist piling yet
another procedural drama onto a schedule teeming with successes in
that genre. The network has a few to choose from including a project
from "CSI" executive producer Carol Mendelsohn. There also are some
hours with high-profile names attached, including James Woods in
Imagine Entertainment's "Shark," Ray Liotta in WBTV's "Smith" and John
Leguizamo in CBS Paramount Network TV's "Edison."
Trailing its competitors in the ratings, NBC may be the most in need
of new blood but will likely make the fewest additions come fall. It
already has committed to two new dramas for next season, "The Black
Donnellys" and "Kidnapped," and a third, "Studio 60 on the Sunset
Strip," is virtually assured a spot on the schedule.
"There's a very good chance all three can be used in the fall, but one
could be reserved for midseason," said Mitch Metcalf, executive vp
program planning and scheduling at NBC.
The midseason emergence of "Deal or No Deal" was a godsend for NBC,
which was weak at 8 p.m. every night of the week. The game show likely
will be pressed into anchor duty on at least two nights -- Monday and
Friday are good bets -- but Metcalfe could see a pilot stepping in on
Tuesday or Wednesday at 8 p.m.
"We're going to rely on new scripted development in combination with
reality at 8," Metcalfe said.
That means a broad-appeal project like "Heroes," NBC Universal TV
Studio's take on superheroes, could get the nod. That likely won't
mean stacking comedies from 8-9 p.m.; don't be surprised to see NBC
take all its viable comedies -- "The Office," "My Name Is Earl" and,
to some extent, "Scrubs" -- and use their collective strength to block
out Thursday from 8-10 p.m., leaving room for just one comedy to join
them. Perhaps NBC Uni/Sony's "Community Service," with Jay Mohr as a
big-city jerk seeking redemption in a small town, may be in keeping
with the tone of "Earl."
NBC will get some breathing room when the NFL kicks off a new Sunday
night game on its air. It also will be a good promotional base for
male-skewing programming to launch when the season ends, the most
obvious candidate being the football-themed NBC Uni/Imagine TV drama
"Friday Night Lights."
"When we launch Sunday in January, we will launch midseason product
not just for Sunday but for other nights of the week," Metcalfe said.
That leaves the CW, whose schedule will take shape in the combined
form of the best assets drawn from the WB and UPN. That will likely
leave just one or two projects to be drafted from a field of just
seven pilot orders. Strong consideration has to go to WBTV's untitled
Aquaman project that could be just the companion it needs to keep its
momentum going on Thursdays.
And if the CW keeps its urban-skewing comedies together, don't count
out "The Game," CBS Paramount TV/Grammnet Prods.' "Girlfriends"
spinoff.
.
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