An in depth look at 2003-2004 pilots

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Sticking with the script
A look at network pilot orders shows that worries about the decline of scripted entertainment were premature.

April 16, 2003

By Scott Collins


Heather Locklear plays a divorcee with meddling kids in NBC's "Once Around the Park."

"Joe Millionaire" and his reality ilk haven't completely conquered the airwaves yet. Not as long as Heather Locklear is out making pilots.

Locklear -- the blond ingenue-turned-leading lady whose two-decade TV career spans "Dynasty," "T.J. Hooker," "Melrose Place" and, most recently, "Spin City" -- plays a divorcee with meddling kids in NBC Studios/Touchstone TV's "Once Around the Park." It's one of 15 comedy pilots jostling for what will likely be three open half-hour slots on NBC's fall lineup.

The peacock bet the farm to get Locklear. Industry sources say she received $175,000 per episode with a 10-episode guarantee for "Park" -- believed to be the richest deal for any lead among the current crop of pilots.

"Everything she's worked in has been a success," NBC entertainment president Jeff Zucker explained.

That kind of dealmaking has industry veterans asking: What reality wave? The runaway winter success of Fox's "Joe Millionaire" and "American Idol" made some actors, writer-producers and agents quake with fear as network executives in February predicted 10-12 hours of unscripted series splayed across the fall schedules.

But as a look at the 124 pilot orders for the 2003-04 season makes clear, worries about the decline of scripted entertainment were exaggerated or at least premature. While sources agree that networks are generally holding license fees to last year's levels, studios are still spending a fortune to make pilots. Warner Bros. TV, the studio behind "Friends" and "The West Wing," has by itself a whopping 33 fall contenders, far more than second-place 20th Century Fox TV (which has 24) and nearly double last year's tally.

While that might not count as a renaissance for scripted fare, there is a growing sense among network chiefs that reality works best as a way to drive viewers to scripted series rather than as an end in itself. Scripted shows, in other words, remain the once and future kings of network TV.

"I don't think a network can succeed without one of these unscripted phenomena," said Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow, who oversees both the Fox network and the 20th TV studio. "At the same time, unless you're using it to launch a scripted show, you're making a mistake.

"The model is what CBS was able to do with Thursday night," Grushow added, with the "Survivor" franchise leading into the megahit "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Indeed, Fox has encountered similar success this season by using "American Idol" to bolster the sophomore drama "24" and the new sitcom "Wanda at Large."

At the WB Network, which found some success with this year's reality series "The Surreal Life," entertainment president Jordan Levin complained that the wave of reality hits earlier this season "created an overweighing of network schedules from scripted to reality that raised questions in the studios about the viability of the scripted business."

Even so, Levin said the WB never had any plans to depart from its focus on scripted series, which has yielded such hits as "7th Heaven" and "Smallville." "We were never looking for reality to supplant ... our scripted programming," he said.

As the Locklear deal indicates, if there is a theme among the ordered pilots this year, it's stars, stars, stars. Networks are as eager as ever to grab scripted projects with big- or even medium-sized names attached, believing that a recognizable face will guarantee that viewers at least sample a new show.

"Saturday Night Live" alumna Molly Shannon got an estimated $100,000-per-episode salary for the Fox comedy pilot "Cracking Up," industry sources say. Rob Lowe drew $125,000 per episode for NBC legal drama "The Lyon's Den," while British actor Rupert Everett got $150,000 for the NBC comedy "Mr. Ambassador." Charlie Sheen snagged at least $100,000 per episode for the CBS comedy "Two and a Half Men." And "Clueless" star Alicia Silverstone is believed to be in the $125,000 range for NBC's one-hour "Miss/Match."

"There was a frenzy for star-style names this year because everyone thinks they need it to launch a show," one top literary agent said.

Studios, meanwhile, are banking on volume. While both Touchstone TV and CBS Prods. pared back their pilot rosters considerably compared to last year, and NBC Studios held steady at 19 projects, WBTV and 20th TV both stepped up production in their perennial battle for market share. WBTV's 27% share of the total pilot orders for the top six networks this year left rivals agog. (WBTV declined comment.) But some observers say WBTV's bid is not surprising given that the studio's syndication profits for such huge hits as "ER" and "Friends" are headed downward.

"The end is near in terms of the syndication dollars they've been getting for years now, and they believe they have to create a new generation of syndicatable product," one rival executive said. "They've got to come up with the next wave of hits, and they feel volume is the answer."

Still, the studios continue to confront a host of problems that are crimping profits. While some networks are increasing license fees to fill specific needs -- the WB, for instance, has raised the price it's willing to pay for comedies -- that's the exception rather than the rule. "Networks aren't getting any more generous with license fees," Grushow said.

Meanwhile, international sales are drying up. Domestic syndication has become much tougher than just a few years ago. And production costs are still rising, forcing studios to eat potentially bigger deficits.

"We are required to piece together sources of revenue from every imaginable source, including the international marketplace, DVD sales and merchandising," said Russ Krasnoff, president of programming and distribution at Sony Pictures Television. Sony made just one pilot last year but has six contenders this year as it struggles to reignite its network television business after a self-imposed period of dormancy.

"This was a relatively stressful development season for us," Krasnoff admitted. But "all of the networks wanted us to be in the business" because they wanted more suppliers to choose from.

There is more optimism at the networks, at least partly because analysts and media buyers seem relatively bullish on the upfront selling season, which begins after the primetime presentations to advertisers in New York next month. Many veterans expect ad-price increases in the 5%-10% range, with the war in Iraq and related terrorism fears remaining a wild card.

A Lehman Bros. research note from early March, just before the outbreak of war, predicted networks would sell about 80% of their ad inventory during the upfront -- compared with roughly 85% last year -- with mid- to upper-single-digit price increases. "This is very healthy and would be a record level by any standard," the report added.

As the WB's Levin put it, "Broadcast inventory is still beachfront property."

That's especially true, network executives say, if the inventory is supporting scripted programming. Part of the reason for networks' cooling ardor for reality has to do with a lack of enthusiasm from advertisers. ABC learned that lesson the hard way with "Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People."

The alphabet had hoped that "Are You Hot?" -- a brains-free parade of beauty and beefcake -- would boost its fortunes in the brutal 9 p.m. Thursday slot. Unfortunately, the only people who liked the show less than TV critics were advertisers.

The show came "at the expense of so much good will with advertisers, not to mention viewers, that it wasn't worth it," ABC entertainment president Susan Lyne said.

While advertisers have embraced Fox's smash "American Idol," reality shows that are "too salacious, too scatological" will keep ad buyers at bay, said John Rash of Minneapolis-based ad firm Campbell-Mithun.

Indeed, ABC -- which in January appeared to be on the verge of a wholesale flight toward reality -- has rediscovered the charms of scripted programming. While some rivals suspect the network might simply be positioning itself to media buyers who disdain reality, the conversion sounds genuine.

Lyne promises no more than two hours of unscripted programming on ABC's fall schedule, not counting "America's Funniest Home Videos." "If we're going to rebuild the network and make it profitable, then scripted programming is an asset we need," she said.

And that's perhaps the best news of all for Locklear -- and anyone who makes a living producing scripted programming.

Casting calls reap wide range
The major broadcast networks cast a wide net this year in the annual marathon casting session otherwise known as pilot season.

April 16, 2003

By Nellie Andreeva



The major broadcast networks cast a wide net this year in the annual marathon casting session otherwise known as pilot season.

Industry veterans say networks in general were more willing than in years past to roll the dice on a few fresh faces while at the same time putting a premium on such established TV personalities as Tom Selleck, Heather Locklear, Rob Lowe, Peter MacNicol and Molly Shannon.

Thirtysomething men with a knack for comedy were also highly sought-after -- and, for a change, the networks' "help wanted" notices also went out to actors well beyond the 18-34 demo, thanks to the boom in family comedy development.

"I think (the major networks) were certainly very open in terms of going with newer, less-proven kind of people," Gersh Agency co-president Bob Gersh said. "I'm not sure whether that's driven by just trying to be more creative and newer or maybe financially driven or maybe a combination."

Newcomer Benjamin McKenzie was tapped to play the central character in Fox's drama pilot "The O.C.," which has already been given a 13-episode order. Erica Parker was cast as the lead in ABC's drama pilot "111 Gramercy Park," while Al Madrigal was picked after an extensive talent search to topline NBC's comedy/talk show pilot "The Ortegas."

"I think we were lucky enough to find some really new, interesting actors," said Mary Buck, Warner Bros. TV senior vp casting.

This year's trend toward newcomers is sure to put additional pressure on the market for big-money talent deals, a la the pacts inked last year by Jimmy Smits (with ABC) and Anne Heche, who garnered seven figures from Warner Bros. TV. Nothing came of those deals.

Indeed, the tide has turned even among actors who have the clout to command big money in a holding deal, observers say.

"I think a lot of it has to do with (actors) who have looked at the past five to seven years in our business and realized that ultimately these deals are only successful if we're able to identify the right projects," 20th Century Fox TV president Dana Walden said. "Otherwise, there is a tremendous amount of pressure that the actor feels to just do something when it gets toward the end of pilot season."

The big trend on the comedy side this year is the proliferation of family shows -- even at NBC, which has focused more on urban sophisticates during the past decade. The demand for moms and dads opened up more opportunities for actors out of the 18-34 demo than in recent pilot seasons.

"There were more family shows, so there were definitely more roles for people in their 40s," Gersh said. "It wasn't fully dominated by twentysomething-year-olds, so that made it a little more interesting, a little more diverse."

But as always, the hardest roles to fill were those that called for funny leading men. ABC was forced to push to midseason its untitled Scherick and Ronn comedy about three adult siblings -- a sister and two brothers. Network development executives settled on Samantha Mathis for the sister but couldn't find two actors they liked for the male leads.

In a pre-emptive move, NBC inked a holding deal with 32-year-old Nathan Fillion, former star of ABC's "Two Guys and a Girl," who had no luck this season in Fox's drama "Firefly." Fillion wound up as the lead in NBC's comedy pilot "Alligator Point."

"It's tough; it's definitely a tight marketplace in that area," NBC executive vp casting Marc Hirschfeld said. "A good-looking, funny 30- to 35-year-old guy is a real commodity."

Some opted for unorthodox solutions. Bob Odenkirk, writer/exec producer of the Fox comedy "The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke," wound up casting himself in the pilot's lead role.

ABC
The alphabet net is suffering from a shortage of drama, at least on the air.

April 16, 2003

By Scott Collins


Touchstone TV/Shady Acres' "Platonically Incorrect" stars Tom Everett Scott and A. J. Langer as best friends and co-workers in platonic relationships.

ABC is suffering from a shortage of drama, at least on the air. The alphabet hasn't launched a successful scripted one-hour series since "Alias" in fall 2001, a problem executives hope their current development will remedy.

"We made the mistake of going after shows that were high-concept more than they were creatively strong," ABC entertainment president Susan Lyne said of such failures as the occult drama "Miracles," the adventure-themed "Veritas: The Quest" and the fantasy "Dinotopia." Meanwhile, "The Practice" looks to be on the bubble after seven seasons following a disastrous move from Sundays to Mondays.

In thinking about development for the 2003-04 season, Lyne said, "We looked back at the shows that people loved on ABC -- the shows that people tended to be passionate about -- and it's character-driven shows."

The network is therefore eyeing such character-heavy dramas as "Karen Sisco," based on the federal marshal Jennifer Lopez played in the feature "Out of Sight"; "111 Gramercy," about high-class New Yorkers and their domestic help; and "The Street Lawyer," a legal drama based on John Grisham's book.

As for time slots, Lyne is focusing on 10 p.m. Wednesdays -- where she admits the network "blew it" in not exploiting "The Bachelor" lead-in this season -- and 10 p.m. Sunday, the slot currently occupied by Dick Wolf's "Dragnet."

"Whether 'Dragnet' comes back or not, it may be we can launch a new show off 'Alias' next season," Lyne said. The network will also experiment with a half-cost drama for summer 2004, she added.

ABC's 2002-03 comedies started strongly, led by John Ritter's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," but the incursion of Fox's "American Idol" took some air out of the alphabet's Tuesday sitcom block.

Nevertheless, Lyne said, "We want to expand our comedy time periods next season," with a target of four new sitcoms joining six returning series.

One insider said the network is toying with an 8 p.m. Thursday sitcom block and maybe even reviving the "TGIF" block of youth-skewing half-hours on Fridays.

Freshman contenders include "Hench at Home," a semiautobiographical comedy from Michael J. Fox; "Hope and Faith," a domestic comedy with Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa as sisters; and an untitled Jenny McCarthy project.

As for reality, don't expect much on ABC's fall schedule. Lyne promised "no more than two hours of unscripted" series on the slate, not including the Friday perennial "America's Funniest Home Videos."

CBS
By any measure, the eye network has been hot the past few seasons, and the season that wraps next month has been no exception.

April 16, 2003

By Cynthia Littleton


"The Unsolved" stars Kathryn Morris as the head of a Philadelphia cold-cases police squad.

By any measure, CBS has been hot the past few seasons, and the season that wraps next month has been no exception.

During the 2002-03 campaign, CBS chief Leslie Moonves, entertainment president Nancy Tellem and their troops fielded a big new hit in "CSI: Miami" and a Thursday night contender in "Without a Trace." They maintained the health of such franchises as "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" and refreshened the Monday night comedy block with "Still Standing."

But for all its success, CBS still has a few bleak spots on its schedule, the most obvious being 9-11 p.m. Sunday. The Sunday movie slot, a fixture on the schedule since 1986, has been declining for the past few years -- as have movies in general on the broadcast networks -- but CBS' total-viewer numbers have dropped 19% this season, to an average of 9.8 million viewers from last season's 12.1 million.

The network tried to broaden its movie strategy this season by adding original telepics that were edgier ("Mafia Doctor") and campier ("Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt") than the material in seasons past. But none drew much of a crowd.

Now, as fall 2003 schedule-setting time draws near, CBS is considering a range of options for fixing its Sunday woes. CBS has experimented on and off this season with running episodes of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and selected other series in the Sunday 9-11 p.m. berth. Network brass are said to be mulling a move of the movie slot to another night, possibly Wednesday, where CBS previously had a second movie slot until two years ago.

Other than Sunday, CBS' biggest challenge remains launching a comedy series on a night other than Monday. "My Big Fat Greek Life" got off to a good start behind "60 Minutes" on Sundays, but the show still has to prove that it has legs, creatively and commercially.

CBS' effort to launch an urbane adult-oriented sitcom to offset its Monday clutch of domestic-themed comedies faltered when "Bram & Alice" did a fast fade in the fall. But the eye is taking some left-of-center shots again this year with comedy pilots like "Harry's Girl," featuring Christine Taylor as a hip book editor whose life is narrated by her dog (pooch's voice provided by Andy Richter). As usual, CBS also has an assortment of family-themed vehicles stocked with multigenerational stars, a la the pairing of Jay Baruchel and Lindsay Sloane as the children of Robert Klein and Judith Light in "The Stones."

CBS has its share of successful dramas on the schedule right now, but it is fielding nearly the same number of drama pilots as it did least year. Some of its hot prospects include the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced gumshoe drama "Unsolved," another detective vehicle starring Danny Glover, Joe Pantoliano in "Street Boss" and David E. Kelley's return to the family ensemble form with "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H."

Fox
The first half of the this season convinced Fox that something had to change. The second half convinced them that anything was possible.

April 16, 2003

By Cynthia Littleton


Eliza Dushku stars in "True Calling," about a graduate student who goes back in time to prevent tragedies.

The first half of the 2002-03 season convinced Sandy Grushow, Gail Berman and the rest of the Fox Broadcasting Co. brain trust that something had to change. The second half of the season convinced them that anything was possible.

"Moving this place from where it was in December to where it went in January has been a source of great pride for all of us," Berman said.

In the fall, Fox was reeling from the twin blows of slow-starting new shows and a month of scheduling disruptions for its postseason baseball coverage in October. In January, Fox KO'd the competition with the one-two punch of "Joe Millionaire" and "American Idol."

The combination of massive reality hits from Fox alternative guru Mike Darnell and savvy scheduling by Fox executive vp Preston Beckman allowed Fox to reap the best of both worlds by using "Idol" to bolster "24" and "The Bernie Mac Show" and introduce the midseason comedy "Wanda at Large" in a big way.

But even as Fox shot from fourth place in the November sweep to first place in February, network brass were plotting a radical overhaul of their scheduling strategy. In mid-development cycle, they upended their regular pilot takeoff procedures to fast-track a handful of projects for summer consideration.

This year, Fox is vowing to launch a steady stream new series -- scripted and otherwise -- from June through September in an effort to offset the loss of momentum when baseball arrives.

"We had to take a yearly look at our schedule as opposed to looking at it just purely seasonal," Berman said. Fox would up holding back one of this season's midseason drama orders -- the distinctive police series "Keen Eddie," which is now slated for a June premiere in the Tuesday 9 p.m. slot -- and last week it gave early series pickups to the serial "The O.C." and dramedy "Wonder Falls."

The summer programming effort is forcing the network to spend more money on programming and marketing, but it will more than pay off if fresh summer shows help them hang on to the viewers, especially young females, who have returned to the network in droves for "American Idol," Berman said.

Among the problem areas that Fox will focus on shoring up next season are Friday nights, where male-oriented dramas "Fastlane," "Firefly" and "John Doe" have failed to spark, and Thursday, where Fox hasn't had any traction since the mid-1990s heyday of "Martin" and "Living Single."

As usual, Fox is fielding an eclectic stew of pilots this year -- from offbeat comedies like the untitled project featuring Luis Guzman as the mayor of Spanish Harlem to Steven Bochco's futuristic look at police work in "NYPD 2069."

"Sometimes you've just got to swing for the fences," Berman said. "We'll have some hits and some misses. That's the nature of the beast."

UPN
After enduring more downs than ups during this season, UPN is looking high and low for laughs.

April 16, 2003

By Cynthia Littleton


Spelling TV's "Hotel" follows the goings-on at a hip, ritzy Miami hotel.

After enduring more downs than ups during the 2002-03 season, UPN is looking high and low for laughs with this year's development slate.

The network has stepped up its comedy development considerably this year, with six pilots in the hopper, compared with two last year. The upcoming season will mark the first time UPN entertainment president Dawn Ostroff has really had the chance to hone her vision for the network's Monday-Friday primetime schedule.

Ostroff, formerly head of programming at Lifetime, joined UPN in February 2002, when development work on pilots for the current season was well under way -- which is one reason why UPN had so few pilot orders last year.

"We've spent a lot of time (during the past) year looking at our brand and how our nights flow together," Ostroff said. "We hope that after this season everyone will know what a UPN show is and (the young-adult) audience we're going after."

The network had a rough time of it in the fall as new dramas "Haunted" and "The Twilight Zone" failed to spark, while viewership of its Tuesday and Wednesday anchors, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Enterprise," fell off considerably compared with the 2001-02 season. Even the Thursday "World Wrestling Entertainment" spandex showcase took a big year-to-year dive.

The bright spot for UPN continues to be the Monday comedy block, which was bolstered by the growth of "Girlfriends" in its third season, "One on One" in its sophomore year and the success of new addition "Half and Half."

Ostroff said it's too soon to tell if UPN will try comedies on another night in the fall -- the midseason experiment with sitcom "Abby" in the post- "Buffy" Tuesday 9 p.m. slot didn't work too well -- but she is determined to have a range of half-hour choices at her disposal when it comes time to piece the fall schedule together next month. And she will have plenty of holes to fill: "Buffy" lays down her spike for good next month and "Enterprise" is not a slam dunk to return.

UPN's comedy crop spans everything from a romantic comedy starring chanteuse Eve as a fashion designer ("Opposite Sex") to a CG animated vehicle about a family of video game characters ("Game Over") to a project about a Howard Stern-like disc jockey struggling to grow up after becoming a father ("Rock Me Baby").

Another project Ostroff feels has strong potential is "All of Us," about a contemporary blended family that is inspired by the real-life adventures of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, who are executive producers.

UPN's drama slate runs the gamut from undercover agents working Mexican border towns ("The Edge") to a con man who cons his way into a gig as a Las Vegas casino detective ("Vegas Dick") to reality-bending fare like the Joel Silver-produced "Newton," a family ensemble set in a suburb that is actually a testing ground for futuristic products.

WB
The web looks to find a follow-on franchise to replace "Dawson's Creek"

April 16, 2003

By Cynthia Littleton and Nellie Andreeva


"All About the Andersons" stars comedian Anthony Anderson as a man who moves back in with parents and his young son.

Will Tarzan swing into action for the WB Network this fall? Will MacGyver's nephew save the day? Or will a quartet of twentysomething slacker detectives rise to the occasion?

The biggest challenge the WB Network faces in the upcoming season is finding a worthy successor to "Dawson's Creek" -- one of its signature series that wraps a 5-and-a-half-year run next month -- in the 8 p.m. anchor slot on Wednesday nights. As daunting as the task is, WB Network entertainment president Jordan Levin said the network has plenty of strong options in the development pipeline, including the revivals of Tarzan, a new generation of "MacGyver," a spinoff of "Gilmore Girls" and "Other People's Business," something of a cross between "Friends" and "77 Sunset Strip."

"It's always a challenge to replace a show that has not only been in a time slot for a long period of time but also continues to perform well," Levin said. "We're committed to a long-term strategy of trying to find a healthy balance between transitioning of veteran series into retirement and the introduction of newer series."

It's not a given that "Dawson's" will be replaced by another drama series. Levin said the network is "probably looking at a total of four hours" of new programming, but how that will break down in terms of dramas, comedies and unscripted hours and half-hours is still unclear.

What is clear, Levin said, is that the WB is determined to stick with dramas on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, while Friday is sure to remain a haven for family-friendly comedies.

"Wednesday could be a mix of things, Thursday could be a mix of things," Levin said. "Thursday is always going to be about counterprogramming to NBC's and CBS' strengths."

Among the high-profile comedy contenders on the WB's development slate this year is the Adam Sandler-produced untitled Adam Resnick project about a 19-year-old who becomes the mayor of a small New Hampshire town, and "Are We There Yet?" which teams "Survivor" maven Mark Burnett with Carsey-Werner-Mandabach to tell the story of a family's trek through Europe. And even after striking out this season with its revival of "Family Affair," the WB is taking a stab at a modernized version of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" penned by "Frasier" alum Jay Kogen.

The WB also will continue to experiment with unscripted shows in what Levin describes as the "light entertainment" vein. The network will try to follow up on the modest successes it had this season with "Surreal Life" and "High School Reunion" with a fresh take on "The Gong Show" and a stand-up comedy showcase hosted by Steve Harvey.

"We're always going be relatively light on reality programming (in comparison to other networks)," Levin said. "Where we can find unique concepts and strong storytelling that's entertaining and not exploitative, we'll pursue those opportunities."


hollywoodreporter.com

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I for one think it's about time that CBS drop it's sunday night movie. It would be nice if they could recreate the says of All in the Family, One day at A Time, Jeffersons, Alice. I also remember liking Crazy Like A Fox.

Since According to Jim is doing so well at 9, they should move Life with Bonnie & Less than Perfect to Thursdays and be patient. Leave them in while Friends is pounding them in the ratings, then when Friends ends they could seize an opportunity at expanding a core base of family-viewers, Just like Cosby Show flourished among all ages Thursdays on NBC back in the 80s.