{"id":432951,"date":"2026-01-23T20:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T20:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/432951\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T20:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T20:32:07","slug":"why-nbc-is-reviving-pilot-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/432951\/","title":{"rendered":"Why NBC Is Reviving Pilot Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNBC<\/a>\u2019s surprising return to a traditional pilot season<\/a> might give some TV insiders a sense of nostalgia. But despite the desire to turn back the clock to a more fruitful time in network TV history, this is not an exact replica of pilot seasons past.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Peacock network has so far ordered six pilots in 2026 \u2013 five dramas and one comedy \u2013 with sources indicating more orders are on the way. Even with the six already on the slate, that is the most pilots NBC has commissioned since the days before COVID and double what they ordered in 2025.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut actors, don\u2019t book that pilot season apartment at the Burbank Oakwood just yet. First, there is no indication that NBC or any of the other broadcast networks are going to totally abandon the year-round development model they have adopted in favor of a normal pilot season. Until the streaming revolution, the Big Four broadcasters would order, staff, cast and shoot in excess of 50 pilots over the course of several months leading into upfronts in May. That\u2019s not coming back entirely, but NBC is keen on working within the usual pilot window going forward.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to an NBC executive who spoke with Variety, the network wants to return more to the pilot season model. This is simply the first year in some time that outside factors \u2013 like COVID and the double strike of 2023 \u2013 have not impacted their ability to pick up pilots in the traditional timeframe.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe process worked so well for a long time for a reason, and we are really still very enthusiastic about it,\u201d the NBC exec said.<\/p>\n

\n\tNearly all of the pilots NBC has ordered this winter have a police procedural bent. That even includes NBC\u2019s lone comedy pilot, an untitled PI single-cam<\/a> from \u201cBrooklyn Nine-Nine\u201d alums Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici.<\/p>\n

\n\tNBC\u2019s drama pilots include a reboot of \u201cThe Rockford Files;\u201d <\/a>\u201cWhat the Dead Know,\u201d about a death investigator that hails from Dick Wolf\u2019s Wolf Entertainment<\/a>; and \u201cPuzzled,\u201d about a star athlete who suffers a brain injury that makes him a wiz at solving crimes.<\/p>\n

\n\tEven the one (slight) outlier \u2014 \u201cProtection,\u201d from writers Josh Safran & Jenna Bush Hager<\/a> \u2013 follows a law enforcement family targeted by a mysterious assassin.<\/p>\n

\n\tCase-of-the-week hours have been in high demand lately, as appetites for high-budget, heavily serialized fare has soured in the past couple of years. NBC\u2019s current lineup is dominated by procedurals, including two \u201cLaw & Order\u201d shows and the \u201cOne Chicago\u201d dramas.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the enduring power of procedurals, the NBC exec said, \u201cYou can dip in and watch something that has a really satisfying beginning, middle and end\u2026 and it\u2019s very appealing. Or you could also watch five seasons in a row and never leave your couch and it\u2019s very appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNBC is also not alone in picking up pilots under traditional pre-upfronts calendar. ABC has a spinoff of \u201cThe Rookie\u201d in the works, starring Jay Ellis, as well as a comedy from Rachel Bloom. CBS has the comedies \u201cEternally Yours\u201d from the \u201cGhosts\u201d team and \u201cRegency\u201d from Tara Hernandez. (Fox is still avoiding pilot season as we knew it).<\/p>\n

\n\tLike so many other aspects of the TV biz that were unfairly maligned in the streaming era, series pilots can be an invaluable tool for assessing the potential for a TV series. As everyone started chasing the Netflix model of \u201corder first, figure out details later,\u201d pilots largely fell by the wayside.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut now, even streamers are relying more on pilots. Hulu (and mostly John Landgraf\u2019s FX team) have commissioned several pilots recently, while HBO Max is deep into the pilot game with the cop drama \u201cAmerican Blue\u201d and the family drama \u201cHow To Survive Without Me\u201d from Greg Berlanti, Bash Doran, and Robbie Rogers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen there\u2019s Netflix, the streamer that helped blow up the network playbook as we knew it. Netflix has mostly avoided pilots in its development process. But it recently picked up the \u201cA Different World\u201d sequel series after ordering a pilot for it in early 2025. In TV, perhaps it\u2019s not such a different world after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBC\u2019s surprising return to a traditional pilot season might give some TV insiders a sense of nostalgia. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,6333,226464,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-432951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-nbc","12":"tag-pilot-season","13":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}