Networks are looking for the next big hit

  • Article by: GAIL PENNINGTON , St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • Updated: February 27, 2012 - 9:55 AM

You might never see these TV shows being produced for only one episode, but they offer a clue about what's in store for the fall.


John Goodman and Roseanne Barr will team up in NBC’s “Downwardly Mobile.” Can they duplicate the success of “Roseanne”?

Did you hear about the new sitcom that will reunite Roseanne Barr and John Goodman? How about Reba McEntire's return to TV, or Marc Cherry's follow-up to "Desperate Housewives"?

Before you get too excited, though, hold on a minute. None of these new network shows is a done deal -- far from it.

This is pilot season in Hollywood. At this point, executives of the broadcast networks have considered all the pitches they've heard for new series and read all the scripts they've received. The next step, for the lucky ones, is "going to pilot," as the network orders one episode produced.

Making a pilot episode is a big deal, and expensive, calling for casting actors, assembling a writing staff, hiring crew and creating sets. In a best-case scenario, the pilot will be picked up as a series, and the episode being produced now will be the one shown to advertisers at the "upfronts" in May, when the networks announce their fall schedules.

Most pilots, however, go nowhere. The network passes, the actors and writers are released, and the sets are torn down.

The pilot generally goes unseen.

As long as you take pilot announcements with the necessary skepticism, though, they provide an interesting preview of how the next TV season could look.

Which pilots the networks order also show what they're looking for. Dramas with supernatural elements seem big, along with prime-time soaps; comedies often center on unconventional families or living situations.

Where there's a rule, of course, there's usually an exception. NBC just ordered "Hannibal," a serial-killer thriller spinning off the Thomas Harris-Hannibal Lecter character, not as a pilot but as a series of at least 13 episodes. Picking up a show without making a pilot first can be risky business, but it's also a big money saver. In this case, NBC -- in need of many new series for fall -- was willing to take the chance.

Here are some of this year's highest-profile pilots, many of which still don't have stars and some of which remain untitled. But remember: Don't count on seeing them.

"Downwardly Mobile" (NBC): Barr stars as the tough-talking, good-hearted manager of a mobile home park in a comedy that reunites her with Goodman as the park's handyman.

"Malibu Country" (ABC): In a comedy that sounds, superficially at least, a lot like "Reba," McEntire is a newly divorced mom of three who moves the family from Nashville to her rock star ex's house in Malibu, Calif., and tries to restart her singing career.

"Devious Maids" (ABC): Marc Cherry follows "Desperate Housewives" with this telenovela adaptation about four ambitious maids in Beverly Hills.

Untitled Mindy Kaling comedy (Fox): Kaling (Kelly Kapoor on "The Office") is creator and star of a comedy about a young doctor described as "Bridget Jones"-esque. Fox reportedly picked up the pilot after NBC passed. A spinoff of "The Office" featuring Rainn Wilson's Dwight character is said to be in the works at NBC.

"Beauty and the Beast" (CW): This updates the 1980s romance series that originally starred Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton.

"Beauty and the Beast" (ABC): This one's the fairy tale, reimagined as a princess who makes a connection with a beast.

"The Carrie Diaries" (CW): Josh Schwartz and author Candace Bushnell are executive producers of a "Sex and the City" prequel featuring Carrie Bradshaw in the 1980s.

"Friday Night Dinner" (NBC): Tony Shalhoub and Allison Janney head the cast of a comedy about a traditional Jewish family.

"County" (NBC): Jason Ritter, Aimee Garcia and Michael B. Jordan work at a Los Angeles County hospital in a drama from Jason Katims ("Friday Night Lights").

"Applebaum" (CBS): A stay-at-home mom becomes a private eye in a drama based on Ayelet Waldman's "Mommy Track Mysteries" series. Director Chris Columbus is an executive producer, as is Waldman.

"The Smart One" (ABC): Produced by Ellen DeGeneres, the comedy stars her wife, Portia de Rossi, as a woman who reluctantly goes to work for her beauty queen sister, the mayor of a big city.

"Gilded Lilys" (ABC): A period drama from Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy") is set in 1895 New York, as the city's first luxury hotel opens. Blythe Danner stars.

"Arrow" (CW): A comic-based drama from Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim tells the story of superhero Green Arrow.

"Elementary" (CBS): In a Sherlock Holmes update, the detective solves cases in New York City.

Sarah Silverman project (NBC): In a comedy inspired by Silverman's life, a woman readjusts to life after a long relationship. Ken Kwapis ("Outsourced") is an executive producer, along with Silverman, who stars.

"Scruples" (ABC): A soap set in the 1970s adapts the Judith Krantz novel. Her son is an executive producer along with Natalie Portman (who apparently won't star).

"Save Me" (NBC): After a serious car accident, Anne Heche starts talking to God. Alexandra Breckenridge ("American Horror Story")also stars.

Untitled Jimmy Fallon show (NBC): Three new dads tackle parenthood even though they're still big kids. Fallon is an executive producer but won't star.

"The Frontier" (NBC): Pioneers head west from Missouri in the 1840s in a drama with Ethan Embry. Shaun Cassidy and Thomas Schlamme ("The West Wing") are executive producers.


In "Beautiful People" (NBC), set in the near future, mechanical servants rebel. "Revolution" (NBC), from Eric Kripke ("Supernatural"), follows survivors' struggle to exist in a world with no sources of energy.

"Do No Harm" (NBC) is about a neurosurgeon with a "Mr. Hyde" alter-ego. And in "The Selection" (CW), Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain adapt a Kiera Cass young-adult novel (not due out until April) set 300 years in the future, as a young woman is chosen by lottery to compete to become a queen.

  • The Hollywood Reporter and the website the Wrap contributed to this article.
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