Articles

THE SKED’S BUSTED PILOT THEATRE: “Hail Mary”

Posted July 22, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> See A Word About Busted Pilots If it’s a procedural, this must be CBS.  HAIL MARY was one of the pilots that had initial buzz around town, and it boasted a casting coup with Minnie Driver in the lead (her first network show after doing The Riches for FX), but it’s not hard to […]

Full Story »

Articles

THE SKED PILOT REPORT: CBS’s “A Gifted Man” – PREMIERING TONIGHT

Posted September 23, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content of the […]

Full Story »

Articles

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Boss”

Posted October 31, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and production of episodes for the regular season:  a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover in the off-season) give plenty of notes, both helpful and otherwise, and […]

Full Story »

Articles

STATUETTE STAKES: The Globes – TV

Posted January 16, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> Possibly because the Golden Globes take place in much less proximity to the Emmys than they do to the Oscars, and thus aren’t the crucial part of network gamesplaying that they are for the movie studios, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s TV awards have always tended to be more adventurous and genuine than the […]

Full Story »

Articles

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Bent”

Posted March 22, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and production of episodes for the regular season:  a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover in the off-season) give plenty of notes, both helpful and otherwise, and […]

Full Story »

Articles

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Veep”

Posted April 30, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover) give plenty of notes, helpful and otherwise, and critics begin to […]

Full Story »

Reviews

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Episodes”

Posted July 2, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  EPISODES:  Sunday 10:30PM on Showtime   WHERE WE WERE:  Sean and Beverly Lincoln (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig) are a married pair of British television writers who’ve had a modest success with a low-key comedy about a middle-aged teacher at a boys’ private school.  US TV executive Merc Lapidus (John Pankow) tells them that […]

Full Story »

Pilot Reports

THE SKED’S MIDSEASON PILOT REPORT: NBC’s “1600 Penn”

Posted August 2, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  1600 PENN:  TBD Midseason on NBC – If Nothing Else Is On… Disclaimer: Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall. Pilots are often reedited and re-scored, and in some cases even recast or reshot. These critiques shouldn’t be taken as full pilot reviews, but […]

Full Story »