Pilot Reports

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “The Spoils of Babylon”

Posted January 9, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  THE SPOILS OF BABYLON:  Thursday 10PM on IFC – Change the Channel A lot of talent has been harnessed for IFC’s miniseries parody THE SPOILS OF BABYLON, starting with performer/producers Will Ferrell (whose Funny Or Die studio is behind the project), Tobey Maguire and Kristen Wiig, and including cast members Michael Sheen, Jessica Alba, […]

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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 […]

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Pilot Reports

THE SKED FALL PILOT REPORT: CW’s “Beauty & the Beast”

Posted October 11, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  BEAUTY & THE BEAST: Thursday 9PM starting 10/11 on CW – 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 […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “The Red Line”

Posted April 29, 2019 by Mitch Salem

  THE RED LINE:  Sunday 8PM on CBS CBS waited until the final few weeks of the regular broadcast season to do something very un-CBS:  over the next 4 Sundays, it will air all 8 hours of the limited series THE RED LINE, an earnest social drama produced by Ava DuVernay and Greg Berlanti about […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Twin Peaks”

Posted May 22, 2017 by Mitch Salem

  TWIN PEAKS:  Sunday 9PM on Showtime – DVR Alert (for some) Trying to recapture what it was like to watch the original premiere of TWIN PEAKS would be like attempting to duplicate the experience of seeing the first moon landing.  Twin Peaks emerged at a time when “Quality TV” meant LA Law, which won […]

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Pilot Reports

UPDATED–THE SKED PILOT REPORT: NBC’s “Animal Practice”

Posted August 13, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  ANIMAL PRACTICE: Wednesday 8PM starting 9/26 on NBC – Change The Channel UPDATE:  Tonight NBC aired the recast version of the ANIMAL PRACTICE pilot as a last-gasp grab for the attention of its Olympics audience.  Joanna Garcia Swisher now plays the female lead, the new boss of the show’s animal hospital and ex-girlfriend of […]

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Pilot Reports

THE SKED SERIES PREMIERE REVIEW: “The Bridge”

Posted July 11, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  THE BRIDGE:  Wednesday 10PM on FX – DVR Alert FX has assumed a leadership role in the development of serious, ambitious TV drama over the past decade (The Shield, Rescue Me, The Americans), and with its new series THE BRIDGE, it takes on its largest canvas to date.  The Bridge, which is based on […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Pitch”

Posted September 22, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  PITCH:  Thursday 9PM on FOX – Potential DVR Alert Dan Fogelman is a busy man.  He’s not only the creator of This Is Us, which debuted strongly two nights ago, he’s also co-creator (with Rick Singer) of the buzzy PITCH.  And gues what, this pilot has a twist in its final moments too. The Pitch twist is the […]

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