2011-12 pilot buzz thread

[Temis the Vorta]

And I didn't even notice the gunfire in my neighborhood.

I'll tell yall if I see Jorge Garcia...I figure I have the best shot of noticing him in a crowd.

 

[Professor Zoom]

The ONLY chance SFF has on network is if they don't expect 7 million people to watch. If they aimed at 3 million then it just MIGHT stay on the air longer.

SFF shows can draw a lot more than 3 million viewers - and sometimes more than 7 million viewers - on broadcast television with the right time slot, premise and cast.

Name 3 other shows besides Lost and Heroes in the last 20 years. Or 30... That consistently brought in 6-7 million viewers.

X-files?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Exit Strategy and Locke & Key - still in play!

Might as well pop the popcorn, I'm not going to bed yet...

Word is Exit Strategy may be held for retooling. I hear Fox brass felt the pilot had a lot of action and not too much character in it, so they had been looking to shift the focus on the show. As for Locke & Key, there is a rumor that Fox wants to make it into a big-event limited series/miniseries, but it is unclear if that would be financially feasible.

"Too much action"??? What's happened to FOX, they're a bunch of inty-lectuals now.

I'll take a Locke & Key limited series. That will give a good indication whether there's an audience to extend the story.

Edit: tvbythenumbers is feeling spunky enough to try to scoop Deadline by announcing Wonder Woman's pickup at NBC. Considering how useless the buzz has been at FOX, I wouldn't assume that show or any of the front-runners are a shoo-in.

 

[bigdaddy]

tvbythenumbers.com is an attention whore, so keep that in mind.

Name 3 other shows besides Lost and Heroes in the last 20 years. Or 30... That consistently brought in 6-7 million viewers.

X-files?

Invasion.

Fox cancels everything.

http://www.tvline.com/2011/05/breaking-fox-cancels-human-target-breaking-in/

I was really thinking / hoping that Chicago Code and Lie to Me would live because Fox might need filler for shorter seasons of House and Bones. As it stands they canceled all the "back up" shows.

 

[Jax]

More news coming in...

CW has renewed One Tree Hill for 9th season of 13 episodes, expected to be the final call for the show.

13 episodes means CW will make room for another pilot pickup and leaves Nikita the only show waiting to be renewed for Axed, I guess the season finale numbers + how stong the CW pilots are will determine its fate.

Harry’s Law has been renewed for a second season by NBC.

Law & Order: LA has been cancelled by NBC.

Wonder Woman has been picked up to series by NBC, but no information yet on its scheduling.

Why didn't NBC let L&O play out a 13 episode run originally and then retool it over the spring for a 2nd season run in the fall Idiots. Also they should of brought it back in Law & Order SVU slot in the spring anyway using TBL to boost it. NBC come on your acting like a total rookie even bu your standards.

The Finder gets 13 episode pickup virtually confirming it as a midseason show with Breaking In AXED giving life too The New Girl and I Hate My Teenage Daughter. Very surprise to hear Alcatraz is set for a fall debut, which makes me think Terra Nova will be pushed back to midseason.

Based off all of that am going to have a stab at naming the FOX fall lineup...

Bones - House (final season)

Glee - New Girl - I Hate My Teenage Daughter

The X Factor - Raising Hope

The X Factor Result Show - Alcatraz

Hells Kitchen - Fringe

Repeat/The OT - Repeat/The OT - The Simpsons - Bob's
Burgers - Family Guy - The Cleveland Show

-----------------------------------
The Finder, Terra Nova, Kitchen Nightmares and American Dad would all be midseason shows. Hells Kitchen tyically bleeds over from summer into part of the fall lineup though they could stop that and air a new show Fridays at 8pm? So there might be room for another show. Fox still could bump its comedy pilots for midseason and use the post Glee slot for a drama if Terra Nova makes it to fall and squeezes out another show.

Also I feel FOX might need to use Kitchen Nightmares a little later than the normal January/Feb start date to make room for the other midseason shows. Alcatraz could even make fridays a J.J night? Also if House is a shorter than normal 8th season, it could make room in midseason for The Finder as it really needs to be paired with Bones IMO.

 

[bigdaddy]

I'm telling you Jax Terra Nova isn't ever going to air.

Maybe the pilot will air but the year 2036 but at the way the show is going we will most likely make a time machine or bring dinosaurs back to life by then.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

That's more the jeopardy the characters are in, the immediate dramatic conflict. (And getting off the island ceased to be part of the conflict halfway through the series, when characters did get off the island and realized that wasn't the point after all.)

The premise is the story engine and that was provided by what I outlined there. The show dropped the escape part of the premise, but kept the discovery part. It's always a risk to switch things up like that, but the show had hooked a loyal audience by that stage and its theme remained the same after the switch, which helped keep storytelling unity.

But if a conflict like that will keep people watching, why did they tune out of Flash Forward, where there was a ticking-clock dramatic conflict?

Maybe it got some of the other elements wrong. I can only speak to that once I've watched it.

Name 3 other shows besides Lost and Heroes in the last 20 years. Or 30... That consistently brought in 6-7 million viewers.

X-files?

Plenty in the last 30 years. Cancellation thresholds used to be a lot higher. Lois & Clark averaged 15 million viewers in its third season, with its top-rated episode drawing 21.2 million viewers (unfortunately the show went into a ratings death spiral after that following some hugely ill-advised plot developments). Even one-season SFF shows in the early 1990s would have regularly drawn more than 6-7 million viewers, and indeed more than 10 million viewers. But the television landscape has changed dramatically and the thresholds of what constitutes a hit and where the cancellation levels are have dropped substantially.

In the last five years or so, in addition to Lost and Heroes, SFF shows that drew at least 6-7 million viewers include Invasion, Surface, Moonlight, Jericho, Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Chuck in its first two seasons, Fringe in its first season, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles in its first season.

The fact that Heroes could average over 13 million viewers in its first season, and Terminator: TSCC, Pushing Daisies and Fringe over 9 million viewers in their first seasons means that's there's a sizable audience willing to watch SFF shows. Producers just need to get all of the elements right to keep that audience engaged rather than see a big drop-off.

 

[wamdue]

CW has renewed One Tree Hill for 9th season of 13 episodes, expected to be the final call for the show. ---13 episodes means CW will make room for another pilot pickup and leaves Nikita the only show waiting to be renewed for Axed, I guess the season finale numbers + how stong the CW pilots are will determine its fate.

what about Hellcats, or have I missed news on that?

 

[bigdaddy]

Hellcats is dead. Not officially but it's dead.

 

[Jetfire]

All the shows on The CW are dead...seriously they need some kind of special voodoo to get their ratings on all shows up to a respectable level.

 

[Jax]

Hellcats is dead. Not officially but it's dead.

Yes, I hear Hellcats won't be renewed but its not official, it all depends on the CW pilots.

 

[startrekwatcher]

I can see why NBC renewed Harry's Law--they're desperate--but I was sorely disappointed by it. I gave it a show and realized Bates was the only thing it had going for it. The other actors/characters were bland and its attempt to be Boston Legal failed. Plus the court cases were boring.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Bummer, Locke & Key is dead but American Horror Story on FX sounds like it covers much of the same territory, and that cool sounding pirate series is seriously in the works!

 

[Beagleman]

[...] and that cool sounding pirate series is seriously in the works!

From the article: ‘Deadwood on the high seas’.... I'm so there!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

They've got a choice: they can make it about Henry Morgan and Port Royal, Jamaica (circa late 1600s) or about Calico Jack, Anne Bonny and Mary Reed (circa early 1700s). Or just throw history to the winds and combine both eras with fictionalized versions of all the characters.

My guess is that this project isn't high toned enough for HBO. I expect to see it on Showtime or Starz.

 

[Witterquick]

I guess Locke and Key is too cultish and nerdy for network. I don't think it's completely dead yet since it does have a fan-base already. It might go to a cable channel. Of the cast, I only like Nick Stahl though.

 

[Starbreaker]

NBC has picked up Smash, Prime Suspect, Whitney, and Up All Night

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I guess Locke and Key is too cultish and nerdy for network.

What I've heard is a) they didn't like Miranda Otto in the lead; b) the story won't sustain a full series; and/or c) it's too scary and disturbing for network TV (which is why a horror show shouldn't be on frakkin network TV!!!! )

NBC report.

Biggest news: Ms. Hot & Cold, Wonder Woman, is blowing cold again - "appears doubtful." No great loss if that one gets passed up.

Reconstruction and Grimm are "still alive." I hope Grimm makes it. I'd like to see Robert Knepper on Reconstruction but from the premise, that show is cancellation bait on a network.

No verdict either way on Playboy or REM/Awake.

There is a God: the painful-sounding Mann's World is "highly unlikely."

But the most interesting news of all: Chuck has been renewed. With a measly 1.4./4 rating, this sheds scary new light on NBC's pilot season - are their pilots really coming in so bad that they can't fill a schedule with shows that would beat that rating? Would 17th Precinct not have been able to beat it? Do they think Adrianne Padelicki bouncing around in her bodice alone couldn't beat it? I'm not sure I want to see NBC's lineup now!

 

[startrekwatcher]

NBC has picked up Smash, Prime Suspect, Whitney, and Up All Night

None of those sound interesting--looks like NBC is going to continue to be crap. Well maybe Prime Suspect might be interesting I need to learn more about it first.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Smash sounds fun! But if you don't care about Broadway shows, you probably would disagree. Rumor has it that a behind the scenes catfight is brewing between Debra Messing and Katherine McPhee. Fun fun!

Anyway, I can't quibble with NBC. Smash and Prime Suspect definitely sound like the most likely ratings-grabbers of all the shows they have lined up. Some, like REM/Awake and Reconstruction might be fascinating but the premises don't sound like anything that can survive long-term on broadcast.