The pilot episode, an American television classic in danger of extinction

Just 20 years ago, Lost It opened a new era for the series, and for all the fanaticism that surrounds them. So much so that, in 2004, still without streaming legal, when many Spanish users downloaded the first episode of the series about the mysterious island, they learned a new television term when reading its file: pilot. What did that word refer to? Maybe the pilot of the crashed plane who died in the jungle? Was it the name of the chapter?

A pilot episode is, in fact, the term with which for decades American television has baptized these test episodes with which a series begins and which served to convince channels to order more episodes. It was a proven formula for success. The one of Lost It was until then the most expensive in history, with a budget of more than 10 million dollars. But since Oceanic plane 815 went missing, almost everything has changed in a television industry now focused on platforms. Pilots are a classic in danger of extinction and, with this, the chains have taken away a conglomerate that moved billions and created hundreds of jobs. According to the calculation of The Hollywood Reporterin 2013 98 pilot episodes were recorded. This season, 12 years later, they can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

In the original pilot of 30 Rock, Jenna Maloney’s character did not have the face of the iconic Jane Krakowski, but that of Rachel Dratch, who would later be used in cameos in different characters. The one of The Office It was a shot-for-shot copy of the British original. And in The Big Bang Theory Penny didn’t exist. Nor was Alyson Hannigan Willow in Buffy. Sometimes the turn was more drastic. Star Trekfrom 1966, only kept the actor who played Spock from its cast, although its original pilot has gained so much fame that those characters have ended up getting their own continuation series in 2022.

Filming a pilot was arduous and left victims along the way, from actors to demoralized scriptwriters, but it also served to polish and improve. When it bore fruit, it did so with great results. They looked for the best in each project, backed by data, even though everything could not always be considered good: Seinfeld, for example, worked terribly in previous passes. What did you do? Add Julia Louis-Dreyfus to provide a feminine vision. She didn’t hurt him.

A 2016 report by The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the signature Screen Engine It projected 250 pilots a year in front of test audiences. Each one cost an average of five million. Do the math. That money no longer reaches anyone. There were even actors who only went to Hollywood to record pilot after pilot and see if the flute would finally sound. From January to May, the pilot industry did not stop rolling. Pedro Pascal, for example, recorded the pilot of Wonder Woman in 2011. Rejected. Months later, she starred in the comic book adaptation The Sixth Gun. Refused. Edie Falco and Kathy Bates filmed their own fargo in 2003. Rejected. Greta Gerwig (known today for directing Barbie) did How I met your father. Refused. HBO said no to pilots with Jane Fonda, Ewan McGregor… And they filmed superhero projects like Doctor Strange, Nick Fury (with David Hasselhoff) and the Justice League of America. They never saw the light beyond the trial.

The free-to-air channel with the most audience in the United States, CBS, openly accepts the change of era: “The era of pilots is possibly dead for us,” said its president, Amy Reisenbach, this May when presenting the new season. That detail reveals much more about the time of spending reduction in the television industry, accelerated by the screenwriters’ and actors’ strikes of 2023. The mantra is to save. “The key is to dramatically reduce our investment in content,” warned Disney boss Bob Iger in those same conferences before publicists. ABC, its network and that of Lostwill only program five fictions in the fall.

It is not the only feared fact. In February, the head of the FX network, John Landgraf, announced in his annual report that in 2023 the production of fiction series had decreased for the first time in a decade (except for the year of covid): it fell by 14% to premiere 516. The figure is not negligible, but in 2022 there were 600. Everything indicates that 2024 will have fewer.

Fiction is expensive and, without so many eyes watching, it is no longer worth it. There is a clear example. In the 2013-14 season, the most watched free-to-air series in the US was NCISwith 18.5 million viewers. This year has been tracker, also on CBS, with 8.3. Ten million less. Yeah Intelligencecanceled after 13 episodes in 2013, was in the ranking, It would be one of the five most watched series. In the top-10, today everything is police and fire department franchises, except for two comedies: the derivative young sheldon and the remake Ghosts.

Free-to-air channels take less chances. This year they gave the green light to spin-off of young sheldon (derived from a spin-off about Sheldon’s brother’s girlfriend’s family); to the police version of Fire Country; he remake of Matlock; the new one Suits in Los Angeles; a sequel to The Office with journalists, and the umpteenth NCIS (franchise that exceeds 1,000 episodes), now about its origins. Why spend millions on new pilots with declining numbers?

Although in the streaming This is not so noticeable, the savings have reached the platforms, which often share an owner. HBO sells its series to the highest bidder, with Netflix broadcasting blood brothers either sex in NY. And they launch packages together to scratch subscribers. Max joins Disney+, and Comcast with a Netflix/Peacock/Paramount+ offer. The mergers will not take long.

Netflix killed the star of the pilot

The one that turned the tables was, as usual, Netflix. HBO never wanted test pilots with an audience because they had a “creative vision that could not be measured without context,” they said in 2016. But while Amazon made the audience test pilots on its website, Netflix launched with series that it produced. directly an entire season. A strategy that everyone copies today, but that is also problematic: if the wickers don’t work in the first episode, it will be difficult for them to do so in six runs at a time.

Today’s platforms also compete in advertising with the usual chains. Now they seek to convince advertisers with other values, while adding to their direct offer, realities and, especially sports. He streaming It sounds more and more like old television, but there is a change that they seem to have buried: the pilots, and the million-dollar industry around them. Recently, Max greenlit a new old-fashioned series from John Wells (of Emergencies). The Pitt It has no stars, is procedural and moderately expensive. Everything sounded like old TV, except for one thing; He suddenly received the order for 15 episodes. No proof of success.

Not only is this a new way of doing business, it also means fewer buyers, fewer scripts, fewer opportunities, less originality and fewer jobs. “People are scared,” said a screenwriter in April to The Hollywood Reporter: “The teams are filled only with veterans and the only scripts they buy are from proven writers.” The end of the pilots is just another symptom of the series’ tin age.

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