#strategyblog

With 23 pilots ordered for the 2013 season it would seem that CBS doesn’t know exactly what they are looking for, but they definitely have an idea.  While the overall premises in both the comedy and drama categories are seemingly different, there are some stark similarities among them.  CBS’s 2013 pilots seem to be full of stars returning or switching to television.  With several shows in both the drama and comedy categories having large, A-list names attached. 

It seems the network knows what they are looking for and are having a competition to find the best match.  There is a parent-child relationship theme among many of the comedy pilots.  The untitled Tad Quill project deals with a widowed father and his son, “Mom” is about a single newly sober mother and her mom, and “Crazy Ones” deals with a man working with his daughter in advertising.  There is also “The McCarthys” which has to do with a son struggling to spend less time with his family.  This family dynamic has proven to work with shows such as “Modern Family”, ‘Raising Hope”, and CBS’s own “Two and a Half Men”.

CBS is known for their procedural cop dramas like “NCIS”, “CSI”, and “Criminal Minds”.  This year it seems they are trying to add more serial programs, especially with a political background to them.  “Surgeon General” and “Hostages” are both medical dramas that also deal in politics.  “The Ordained” is focused completely in politics with the logline claiming the family involved to be Kennedy-esque.  Political dramas have also been shown to do well with “Scandal” and “House of Cards”, and “The West Wing”.

While it is obvious that CBS is trying to get a new variety of shows, they are also sticking to what they know best.  Out of the 12 dramas this year at least half are cop dramas.  CBS’s comedies cover a wide range as is.  With “Two and a Half Men” likely to not last much longer, it makes sense they would want to solidify a new family orientated show before it goes.

The pilots that will most likely get a time slot are those that have some big name actors, producers, and writers attached.  Greg Garcia has had success on CBS as well as other networks so it is easy to assume at least one of his two pilots will find a slot in the fall.  “Crazy Ones” has Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar as its leads while Anna Faris and Allison Janney star in “Mom”.  “The Ordained” and “Hostages” both have an abundance of television stars.

CBS drama pilot “The Ordained” has added to its cast some familiar faces.  Sam Neill and Jorge Garcia, both of which were in FOX’s “Alcatraz”, have been cast.  They will join Emmanuelle Chriqui from “Entourage”, Charlie Cox from “Boardwalk Empire”, and Audra McDonald from “Private Practice”.  The drama follows Tom (Cox) who leaves the priesthood to become a lawyer and his politically involved family.  It is being called a legal thriller.

  The actors involved in this project all have impressive resumes.  With so many pilots ordered from CBS this season, this is what will help a project stand out.  Politics seems to be a popular theme among the dramas ordered.  “Surgeon General” is a medical drama that is sure to have a politically backdrop.  “Hostages” involves a surgery on the president and also has a notable cast.  There are also several cop dramas on the list, something CBS has been known for with “CSI”, “NCIS”, and “Criminal Minds”.  

This article talks about all broadcast networks, but this summary will only talk about CBS.  This season CBS has ordered 23 pilots (12 comedies and 11 dramas), which is a massive increase to the 15 they ordered last season (8 comedies and 7 dramas).  CBS Corp chief Les Moonves has said that there are not going to be many new shows next season.  This makes the competition ever more tough, especially since CBS is known to be one of the hardest to get a new series on.  The comedy side has the most competition with two spots likely going to “Mom” and one of Greg Garcia’s two pilots.  “The Big Bang Theory”, “2 Broke Girls”, “How I Met Your Mother”, and “Mike & Molly” will all return and very possibly “Two and a Half Men”.  There will be three possible dramas ending this year: “CSI: NY”, “Vegas”, and “The Mentalist”.  So spots are limited in that category also.

  The 53% increase in pilots ordered between this season and last is strange and nerve racking for producers.  The drama series are all fairly different with legal, cop, and medical procedurals and some serialized thrillers.  This makes it hard to predict what will get one of the few spots available.  However, there does seem to be a political theme throughout several of the different shows.  The Untitled NCIS: L.A. spinoff will most likely grab a slot due to those shows being successful in the past for the network.  With several comedies probably coming back the amount of spots open is not known yet, but there will not be many.  Pilots with big names attached will have a better shot this year.

As of February 7th CBS has picked up a total of twelve comedies.  The last three are discussed in this article.  “Jacked Up” comes from Greg Malins and Patrick Warburton, star of “Rules of Engagement”.   It is about a baseball player adjusting to retirement.  What effect this will have on “Rules of Engagement” is not known yet.  The untitled Tad Quill project (“Scrubs”, “Bent”) is about a single father dating after the death of his wife.  “Smash” Executive producers Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky will write and produce an untitled project about a married mom balancing life.  This project is based off of an Israeli show. 

  Of the twelve comedies, half will be single-camera and half will be multi-camera.  Last season CBS only had two of it’s eight half-hour comedies to be ordered into series.  With at least thirteen in production for this year, it will be curious to see which one’s make it.  Rottenberg and Zuritsky have proven they can produce a hit show, but how will the transition from musical to comedy play out?  As discussed before, it is Israeli format, which has proven to work in the past.  The Tad Quill project has some stiff competition in the family comedy department, as talked about in post 3.  “Jacked Up” seems most unlikely to make it to air due to conflicts with “Rules of Engagement” and a premise that doesn’t appeal much to younger viewers.

CBS has ordered a new pilot from famed 1990s television writer and producer David E. Kelley. Two of Kelley’s shows, “Ally McBeal” and “The Practice” won Emmys in 1999 for comedy and drama series, respectively. “Crazy Ones” will be a half-hour sitcom starring Oscar winner Robin Williams in a father-daughter workplace comedy.  This will be Williams’ first regular live-action series since his sitcom “Mork & Mindy” in 1978.  Kelley also just debuted a medical drama on TNT called “Monday Mornings”.  CBS has also ordered a drama from the “Homeland” team called “Anatomy of Violence” about a criminal psychologist and young detective duo.

  CBS teamed up with Kelley in the 90s for the award winning show “Chicago Hope”. Kelley, while having consistent shows, hasn’t created a completely comedy series in some time.  Bringing in Williams could be a hit or miss since he has been off of television for so long.  He might not have the same audience appeal as he used to, especially in the coveted 18-49 age group.  There seems to be several comedy pilots on CBS this season that involve a parent-child relationship including the untitled Tad Quill project, “Mom”, and ‘The McCarthys”.  With “Mom” seeming likely to take a time slot, there won’t be room for all the others.

Samuel Blood, creator of FOX’s “Lie To Me”, is writing and executive producing “Surgeon General” for CBS.  The show is based on the surgeon general of the United States.  It is the 7th drama pilot ordered this season for CBS.  It is joining “Hostages” about a surgeon in a political conspiracy.  Other dramas ordered by CBS include an “NCIS: L.A.” spinoff and “Beverly Hills Cop”.

  With limited spots, it will be a battle between “Hostages” and “Surgeon General” to make it to air.  Both are medical dramas that seem to involve some kind of political aspect.  “Hostages” is based on the Israeli format, which has worked for shows like “Homeland”.  It stars television vets Tate Donovan, Dylan McDermott, and Toni Collette.  “Surgeon General” has two actors coming off of recently canceled shows, Beth Riesgraf and Jason Isaacs.  This show seems better in concept than it will ultimately be, so “Hostages” probably has the upper hand.

Allison Janney, from “The West Wing”, will join Anna Faris in Chuck Lorre’s new half-hour comedy “Mom”.  The CBS show has Janney playing the mom of a newly sober single mother (Faris).  Janney’s previous two shows ABC’s “Mr. Sunshine” and NBC’s “Friday Night Dinner” where both canceled soon after or before premiere.  Chuck Lorre Productions has two other comedy’s on CBS, “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory”.  “Mom” will be written by Lorre along with Eddie Gorodetsky and Gemma Baker who also serve as executive producer and producer, respectively.

  Janney hasn’t had a hit show since “The West Wing”.  She did have two movies in this years Sundance, one of which got the festivals best deal from Fox Searchlight.  She also has several other films coming out soon.  Anna Faris has been strictly a movie actress, but does specialize in comedies so she should be able to pull it off.  Considering Lorre’s deal and success with CBS, “Mom” seems like a shoe in for a time slot this season.

Variety Staff. "NBC to Preempt Struggling Comedy ‘1600 Penn'" Variety. 10 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. <http://variety.com/interstitial/?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fvariety.com%2F2013%2Ftv%2Fnews%2Fnbc-to-preempt-struggling-comedy-1600-penn-1118066017%2F>

                         Between pulling ‘Do No Harm’ after only two episodes and the announcement that Christina Applegate will exit ‘Up All Night’ as the show moves to a three camera format, it’s been a terrible week for NBC.  Network execs knew that they were entering a rough ratings stretch, but have been disappointed by the lack of success of some of their once promising new shows in the wake of the end of football season. Once afterthought ‘Community’ now stands as NBC’s second strongest show on Thursday nights, a stark change from what was anticipated of the struggling network. In the short term, NBC plans to air encore episodes of ‘Law & Order: SVU’ in ‘Harm’s stead. As for ‘1600 Penn’, the show is being preempted for an extended episode of ‘The Office’ this week after hitting a series low rating of 1.3 on January 24th. Also disappointing was ‘Smash’, which struggled in its first airing without a lead in from ‘The Voice’. There is a little hope for NBC, as ‘The Voice’ returns in late March and a promising Anne Heche show is waiting in the wings with two episodes.