It is January, which marks the beginning of the season of broadcast pilots, when the networks begin to pick up their crop of pilots for the next season. Not this year. As of January 2021, most broadcast networks are still preparing to film some of their 2020 pilots and the country is experiencing a deadly wave from Covid-19, with California as its epicenter.
The coronavirus pandemic exploded in the pilot season of 2020, leaving almost all pilots on the ground just as they were going into production. The shake-up led to networks taking orders directly to the series more broadly, relying on extra backup scripts to make their decisions. Fox, which had already begun a transition to development all year, over the summer has adjusted its development approach and will order a mix of traditional pilots, low-cost presentations, writer’s rooms, as well as direct orders for the ongoing series front. ABC has also stepped up its plans to move development out of the cycle (also known as the “second cycle”).
While the broadcast networks are moving towards the streaming development model, they haven’t officially canceled the traditional pilot model yet and have bought a considerable number of pitches this season, considering last season’s backup development. And although the situation is very fluid, it is expected that some drivers will have the green light in this cycle. Orders are likely to arrive late, as the scripts are arriving late, and I heard that there is no urgency on the part of broadcasters to rush them. (I heard that some networks received just over half of their scripts.) The pilot’s pickup decisions for the networks will be difficult to make this year, with most of the new series broadcast from 2020-21 still to debut and a number of pilots from 2020 still to fire, delayed by the current increase in coronavirus infections. In the case of Fox and CW, all of its 2020-21 lines are being launched just now, so there is little information now about the performance of the new and old series.
Here’s how I hear things being on each of the networks with respect to existing and new drivers.
ABC gave three of its 2020 pilots direct orders for series, dramas Big sky, which had a solid debut in late autumn, and Rebel, and comedy Call your mother. He also picked up the comedy series Domestic economy out of a presentation.
Of the remaining pilots, high-level drama Harlem cuisine starring Delroy Lindo, does not go forward; was scheduled to shoot this month, I learned. ABC Signature tried to buy the project for streamers, but couldn’t find a new home, I heard.
Harlem cuisine was one of five pilots in 2020 that ABC committed to shooting in June, along with Rebel, which ended up going straight to the series and comedies Mandona, Domestic economyand Working wife. I heard that there is still no decision on Working wife, who was shot while Mandona is yet to be filmed because of the current Covid outbreak.
For the 2020 pilot season, ABC has a “second cycle” pilot drama Screening, which was recently completed. I heard it will probably be joined by Kevin Costner National Park Service drama (also known as It’s B), originally purchased last season as a placement pilot, and Sam Esmail’s Crime acts, to which ABC committed itself to pilot production as part of the current development cycle. Both are heating up for pilot orders.
Triage, National Park Service and Crime acts they are all procedural, so I hear additional drama pilot requests, at least two, can be great idea / serialized projects. On the comedy side, ABC has already given a direct order to the series for a project launched last summer, a multi-camera comedy starring Kelsey Grammer and Alec Baldwin. The network is yet to catch a few pilots for half an hour, with the multi-camera starring Sarah Hyland among the first competitors.
In addition to the slow delivery of the pilot script and focus on pending 2020 pilots, ABC’s 2021 pilot orders may also be delayed by the recent change in top executive, with Craig Erwich from Hulu adding ABC Entertainment supervision as Karey Burke , which bought the current development, took over 20th Television.
CBS gave direct order to the series for the 2020 drivers The equalizerstarring Queen Latifah and Silence of the innocents sequence Clarice, and chose for the series the only complete pilot of the Pilot 2020 season, comedy B Positive, as well as another comedy pilot produced by Chuck Lorre, which was filmed during the pandemic, Al United States. Of the other CBS 2020 pilots, comedies Ghosts, Wilde Things (also known as Big Bad Wolfes) and The three of us were shot and remain in containment. The rest, drama Ways and means, starring Patrick Dempsey, is filming this month in New York; drama Good sam, headed by Sophia Bush, is scheduled to be shot in February in Canada; and multi-cam comedy Welcome to georgia (fka Unt. Kingsbury / Daley / Goldstein) will be recorded in March in Los Angeles. Comedy Duty of the jury, whose cast was launched last year, is in the running for a pilot pickup. (CBS also rolled out drama last year Out the door.)
With Ways and means and Good sam probably in the run for next season, and CBS also hopes to start production in the CSI sequence in the coming months for the next season, the network will likely order only a couple of drama riders in this cycle. The same on the comedy side.
Fox in May issued a direct order for the comedy series Call Me Kat, that just debuted. Also recently it started to be a comedy This country, who filmed a portion of his pilot before production ended in March 2020.
Fox has several 2020 drivers that are lined up to start production as soon as its safe and dramatic The cleaning lady, Blood relative and The ‘Goonies’ reconstitution project; comedy Pivoting will shoot in February. Ballet drama Big jump was filming in December, but stopped filming because of positive Covid-19 cases. Scheduled to resume in February, the project is already generating great excitement.
In the direct model for series involving the opening of writers’ rooms, the broadcaster has two projects aimed at series orders, Our kind of people, that is heating up, and Country Music Dynasty drama.
In addition, Fox recently acquired a Fantasy Island restart with a direct request for the series and have a Dan Harmon animated comedy in progress.
Of NBC’s 2020 pilots, the network has become dramatic Debris, who filmed a partial pilot before the stoppage in March. Drama Companion La Brea, who was also placed on a direct path to the series in the summer with an order for six scripts in total, is believed to be approaching the green light for the series, along with the comedy pilots American Auto and Grand Crew, as the network and the studios are redoing the casts agreements due to delays related to the pandemic.
NBC has completed all the 2020 pilots it has committed to shooting in June, comedies American Auto, Grand Crew as Night school, which is not happening, and dramas Common Joe and Langdon, based on the Dan Brown novel The lost symbol. The two dramas are in strong dispute, with Ordinary Joe, whose script was a favorite of NBC metals last spring, which is believed to be close to a pickup.
NBC drama pilots At that age and Eco and comedies Crazy for You, Jefferies and Someone out there remain under consideration for a pilot order this season. Of the five, only At that age kept his squad under options.
With the Summer Olympics on deck and a shelf of new series yet to open, NBC is likely to make some pilots this pilot season. As in the case of ABC, there is an additional factor that contributes to the delay in pilot orders – the large layoffs pending across the Entertainment Content division managed by Susan Rovner.
The CW gave the series direct orders to Superman and Lois, Walker, Kung Fu, whose pilot had filmed some footage last March, and The Republic of Sarah.
Of the other 2020 drivers, the Arrow by-product Green Arrow and the Canaries it is not going forward. The 100 prequela remains in contention, possibly for a joint showing on the CW and HBO Max, although the options on the actors who appeared in the pilot backdoor episode have expired. The 2020 pilots launched, Maverick and The lost boys, are considered for this cycle.
Like last year, I heard that the network can go straight to the series again on up to four projects. Some of the hottest projects that could make it into this range may include the one produced by Greg Berlanti Wonder Girl and another DC drama by Ava DuVernay Naomi.