Pilot Season 2022: Presentations & Writers Rooms Gain Ground, Comedy Retreats As Cycle Stretches Past Upfronts
deadline.comLike every other facet of life, the broadcast pilot season has not been the same it was before the pandemic. Back in January, we did a story about the expected historic low volume of pilots, which has since became a reality with 30-something orders, and how some Covid-imposed changes were here to stay.
A more refined picture of pilot season has now emerged, and it shows a shift toward cost-effective pilot alternatives such as presentations and writers rooms/backup script orders, more willingness to do pilots outside of the traditional January-May window, with many of the 2022 pilots out of upfront consideration, and a major pullback in comedy.The latter probably should not come as a surprise given the fact that two of the Big 4 networks, NBC and Fox, had no comedies on the fall schedule this season and a third, ABC, only featured one comedy block with its signature Wednesday lineup.There is another explanation.
As one top TV executive at a big traditional media company put it, every show is now produced with an eye toward its ultimate destination: the company’s streaming platform.
A broadcast run is just an initial window. Given that dramas on average tend to do better on streaming than comedy — save for rare outsize performers such as The Office and Friends — it makes sense why there would be fewer comedy series in a broadcast pipeline that eventually leads to a streamer.In total there are 10 comedy pilots this broadcast season, with dramas outnumbering them 2-to-1.
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