Strike Pushes Pilots Back; Upfronts a Go as Planned

NBC Radio City event
likely a no-go

A strike-shortened development season may push new programs to later in the fall season than normal, with some planned programs likely not seeing the light of day until next January.

The confirmation of pilot plans for the fall may still be several weeks away, several TV executives told Mediaweek. Once those pilots are confirmed and written, the logistics of series production could still push their premieres to later in the season.

Because of the strike, the networks had slimmed their pilot lists, dropping dozens of low-profile projects.

NBC, which said it was substantially reducing its reliance on pilots, had already approved about eight before the strike. Among those are a romantic sitcom, Man of Your Dreams, and a cop drama called Blue Blood, to be directed by Brett Ratner. Four direct-to-series shows have also been ordered, including sitcom Kath and Kim, billionaire drama The Philanthropist (from Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson), anthology series Fear Itself, and adventure series Robinson Crusoe.

Fox has reportedly completed filming on supernatural drama The Oaks, executive produced by The Shield creator Shawn Ryan. Other Fox potentials include: sci-fi drama Fringe, written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci; cop drama The FBI; workplace drama Queen Bee from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy; and Saint of Circumstance, a drama from Zach and Adam Braff.

CBS ordered a sci-fi drama from a British series called Eleventh Hour, along with romantic drama Meant-to-Be’s, from the creator of Medium and Moonlighting.

ABC possibles include Literary Superstar, a show exec produced by Darren Star and starring Jenna Elfman.

In the meantime, all networks plan to be open for the upfronts during the week of May 12-15, writes Adweek. NBC, as previously announced, will likely not present at its usual Radio City Music Hall venue, but will instead hold meetings with agencies and advertisers.

ABC will hold its upfront presentation as planned on May 13 at the Lincoln Center, while CBS will hold its presentation at Carnegie Hall on May 14. Fox’s will take place on May 15 at City Center.

ABC Network’s sales president said that, while the network might not have any pilot clips to show at the presentation, “we feel good about what we are doing and the ratings for our shows in the fourth quarter. And we want to tell advertisers about our plans for the fall and beyond.”