2011-12 pilot buzz thread

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

NBC has picked up four more half-hour shows:

Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Free Agents
Bent
Untitled Parham/St. Clair series

The producers of 17th Precinct and Reconstruction on the drama side, and Lovelives, Brave New World, My Life as an Experiment and the untitled Kari Lizer show on the comedy side, have been informed they're definitely not being picked up.

Edit to add: Chuck has been officially renewed with a 13-episode order.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

RE: Poe, looks like the underlings (or maybe the focus groups) are countermanding the big boss. Pet show or no pet show, it sounds like a potentially cool idea that has been frakked up by taking the wrong (ie, obvious, typical-Hollywood) approach. If Poe gets rejected, there's another pilot I want to see when/if it gets leaked.

Overall, this pilot season is shaping up pretty well. Some of the early anti-genre-show buzz was just wrong, hurray! There are more imaginative, intriguing ideas making it through this year than average, certainly more than last year.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

As expected, Law & Order: LA has been officially cancelled.

 

[Jetfire]

I hope POE makes it...but I am not going to get my hopes up.

 

[startrekwatcher]

NBC looks to have just as much crap as this year.

Bent and Free Agents--more inane romantic comedies--I guess there can never be enough of those. Chelsea Handler comedy--Ugh. Harry's Law wasn't very good and I'm a big Bates and Kelly fan. Chuck shouldn't have been renewed--it was on its last legs creatively this season. Biggest Loser, Dateline--snooooze. I don't watch L&O SVU but my friends that still do say it is a shadow of its former self. Smash sounds like a pretentious upgrade of Glee--not my thing.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I keep reading that the Poe pilot was bad, a mess, etc. Just because it sounds like a cool idea (and I though the basic idea was very cool) doesn't mean they didn't make a train wreck out of it. Some of the rejected pilots are no doubt mercy killings, though I can't see how 17th Precinct wouldn't have at least been worth looking at, even if it were a rambling, incoherent mess.

Pilots I Want To See:

17th Precinct
Poe
Wonder Woman
Locke & Key
Reconstruction

ABC: The River would probably be better off as a miniseries.

CBS: Glad to hear Person of Interest is still the frontrunner. That's the only drama on CBS I'm interested in, current or pilot. I hope the description of being "dark for CBS" turns out to be accurate. For comedies, I'm rooting for How to Be a Gentleman. If they both go, that means I'll actually be watching two shows on CBS at once, which would be a record for me.

Speaking of mercy killings that should have happened a year ago... NBC cancels The Event.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

For the 2010/2011 season NBC picked up eight one-hour scripted shows and four half-hour scripted shows. For the 2011/2012 season they've picked up five one-hour scripted shows and six half-hour scripted shows. If Outsourced is cancelled, as looks likely, then Harry's Law will be their only freshman scripted show of the current season to get a second season renewal - a 91.7% cancellation rate for this season's freshman scripted shows.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Ah-HAH! My suspicions about NBC are confirmed. Their pickups and rejects are part of a larger, long-term re-branding strategy to try to re-capture the young, upscale audience they used to have, but have largely migrated to cable, by giving them the same general sorts of shows they might find on the classier cable stations.

And that's what killed Wonder Woman. It wasn't the costume, not directly anyway. She just didn't fit the up-market profile as well as other pilots did. NBC is trotting out a lot of classy broads on Monday for advertisers to take a look at, and the girl dressed like a Hollywood hooker falling out of her garish brassiere would be an embarrassment.

http://[URLLA Times article on NBC.

The brand that dominated TV for 20 years starting in the mid-1980s with smash hits such as "The Cosby Show," then "Friends" and "Seinfeld" has spent the last six years stuck in last place as its managers pursued what they believed was a forward-looking strategy aimed at cutting costs. Now the network has a new owner — cable giant Comcast — and a much-admired new programmer — Bob Greenblatt, formerly of Showtime — who are bent on restoring the luster of a network that once set standards for both quality and ratings in prime time.

...

With Greenblatt at the helm, the network is trying to lure the same upscale, educated young audience it once had a lock on.

...

Now analysts and talent representatives are hailing NBC — which will be the first network to greet advertisers Monday morning — for a return to form.

...

NBC has not delivered a flat-out hit in scripted programming in years, probably since the first season of "Heroes" nearly five years ago — an eternity by prime-time standards.

To correct that will take patience and many more at-bats. The numbers tell the story: NBC ordered 22 scripted pilots this year, compared with 20 last year and just 12 in 2009, when it embarked on an ill-fated experiment to bring Jay Leno to prime time. One talent representative who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing relationships with network executives said it could take NBC three to five years to become competitive again.

Here's my favorite part of the story:

Like many creative people in Hollywood, Brill was especially dismissive of the strategy under previous NBC boss Jeff Zucker of "managing for margins, not ratings" — that is, making programming decisions based on profitability, with little regard for a show's popularity. "That's not how you run a network," Brill said. "You might want to do that when you're ordering office supplies."

YOUCH!

 

[wamdue]

just read on Deadline that LOLA is not offically axed, can someone remind me why NBC axed Law & Order last season, I cant remeber a good reason ever being given.

I assume SVU is going to get the pick up, as with CI on cable, NBC appear to be trying to kill the franchise.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

ABC may free up another timeslot by cancelling Brothers & Sisters.

Do they really need another free timeslot? Seems like they're generous enough in their rumored pickups as it is. Maybe this is what saves Poe?

 

[Jax]

^ Talk about a turn about from last week though I still would expect a 10-13 pickup as cover or to just burn off in the spring. If not I bet fans will be pissed since the season is written to have a cliffhanger I think.

 

[startrekwatcher]

I used to enjoy Brothers & Sisters but the last few seasons the show lost its charm, started recyclng the same stories every year and got rid of some of its more enjoyable characters i.e. Holly. Good riddance. They could take DEsperate Housewives with it--I know this won't happen--but its run out of steam too and is just a mess.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

^ Talk about a turn about from last week though I still would expect a 10-13 pickup as cover or to just burn off in the spring. If not I bet fans will be pissed since the season is written to have a cliffhanger I think.

From what I hear it didn't end on a cliffhanger. It was a season finale that can serve as a satisfying series finale.

Edit to add: ABC has officially cancelled Brothers & Sisters and V and picked up Apartment 23 and the untitled Tim Allen comedy.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Every cancellation on ABC opens a slot Halleluljah could fill. Cancel away!

ABC news coming in.

Pickups for Tim Allen, and the two shows that will end up without "Bitches" in their name.

EDIT: Pickups are now...

Good Christian Belles, and Charlie's Angels, as well as Once Upon A Time, Pan Am, Revenge, Scandal and The River. Some are for midseason.

"Belles"? Lame! Still holding out hope for Halleluljah, but happy about OUAT and curious about Pan Am and The River.

EDITx2: V and Brothers & Sisters are both outta here!

 

[Jax]

^ Talk about a turn about from last week though I still would expect a 10-13 pickup as cover or to just burn off in the spring. If not I bet fans will be pissed since the season is written to have a cliffhanger I think.

From what I hear it didn't end on a cliffhanger. It was a season finale that can serve as a satisfying series finale.

Edit to add: ABC has officially cancelled Brothers & Sisters and V and picked up Apartment 23 and the untitled Tim Allen comedy.

Just read on TVLine that the actors/producers weren't happy with the deal ABC wanted to do for a short season 6. Feel sorry for the fans, I had planned to watch the show one day but might not bother now I like actual series finales.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

ABC has picked up Good Christian Belles (new title), Charlie's Angels, The River, Once Upon a Time, Pan Am, Revenge and Scandal.

Just read on TVLine that the actors/producers weren't happy with the deal ABC wanted to do for a short season 6. Feel sorry for the fans, I had planned to watch the show one day but might not bother now I like actual series finales.

It's my sister's favorite show. She was disappointed to hear it's ending, but was satisfied with the finale as an ending for the series.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

ABC's had a strong pilot season apparently:

But the indications are, with so many drama pilots scoring high in testings and screenings this year, ABC is ready to say good-bye to the Walker clan.

Any hope still for Hallelujah? Or is this the whole shebang and they're getting it out of the way early so they can beat Friday traffic?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Any hope still for Hallelujah? Or is this the whole shebang and they're getting it out of the way early so they can beat Friday traffic?

That's probably it on the drama side since they've cancelled seven shows (presuming that Detroit 1-8-7 is cancelled) and announced seven pick-ups.

 

[Jetfire]

No POE?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

No to Poe.

ABC has picked up another half-hour comedy - Man Up - and renewed Happy Endings.

Edit to add: Detroit 1-8-7, Off the Map, No Ordinary Family, and Mr. Sunshine have been officially cancelled.