The CW begins its 2011-2012 with CBS Pilot "Ringer"

Deadline is reporting that the pilot Ringer, starring Sarah Michelle Geller, has been picked up to series. The crazy thing is that the network picking it up isn't CBS (which developed it), it's the CW. This is a very interesting move because the pilot was developed at CBS. What probably happened was CBS didn't think it was the right fit for them, so they passed on it, and the CW jumped immediately to pick up the pilot. This should be a great fit for the new network, which is looking to get out of the ratings toilet.

What does everyone else think of this? Excited to see Buffy back on your TVs?

Update: The CW has also picked up the witch drama Secret Circle and the medical drama Hart of Dixie. They also picked up the unscripted series H8R


THE CW HAS ANNOUNCED THEIR FALL SCHEDULE

CBS begins its Pickups for Next Season

CBS has begun its pickups for next season by picking up the JJ Abrams drama Person of Interest and the Whitney Cummings /Michael Patrick King comedy Two Broke Girls.

The Eye has also cancelled Shit My Dad Says, Mad Love, and The Defenders

CBS HAS ANNOUNCED ITS FALL SCHEDULE

ABC Makes its 2011-2012 Pickups (and Cancels some Shows)

ABC has made calls to producers regarding which series they will be picking up for next year, and which shows they wouldn't.

ABC picked up 7 new dramas. These are: the remake of Charlie's Angels, the soap Good Christian Belles (formally Good Christian Bitches), the 1960s drama Pan-Am, the fairy tale drama Once Upon a Time, the new Shonda Rhimes pilot Scandal, the Count of Monte Christo like drama Revenge, and the drama The River. 

On the comedy side, ABC picked up the Tim Allen sitcom Last Man Standing, the much-talked-about comedy Apartment 23 (formally Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23), Chris Moynihan's Man Up, the comedy Suburgatory, and the cross-dressing comedy Work It. 

ABC made decisions on its remaining unpicked up shows. It renewed the comedy Happy Endings, the procedural Body of Proof, and the reality show Shark Tank. Other shows were not so lucky as ABC made a flurry of cancellations. These are: the sci-fi drama V, the family drama Brothers and Sisters, the comedy Mr. Sunshine, the other comedy Better with You, the superhero drama No Ordinary Family, the medical show Off the Map, and the cop drama Detroit 1-8-7. 

ABC ANNOUNCES ITS FALL SCHEDULE

NBC Makes their 2011-2012 Pickups (And Cancels some others)

I had a post up on Wednesday with the first batch of decisions (but it was eaten in the Blogger crash).

NBC has made their decisions on which pilots to pickup and which shows to Renew and Cancel. 

The network has picked up 5 new dramas. Among those picked up are the remake of the British drama Prime Suspect, the musical series Smash, the Inception-style cop drama Awake (which was known as REM in development), the 1960s show The Playboy Club, and the fairy-tale show Grimm. 

On the comedy side NBC picked up 6 new comedies. They picked up the multicamera sitcom from Whitney Cummings called Whitney. They picked up the comedy Up All Night starring Will Arnett and Christina Applegate previously in the week. Today they announced the pickups of Chelsea Handler's new comedy Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, the adaption of the British comedy Free Agents starring Hank Azaria, the romantic comedy Bent, and they also picked up BFFs. 

This makes a total of 11 new series for NBC, as they try to rebuild their network.

Among the pilot pickups, some shows were Renewed and Cancelled as well. Chuck was given a new season. Parenthood and Harry's Law were renewed as well. Outsourced, The Event and Law and Order: LA were cancelled. 

NBC HAS ANNOUNCED THEIR FALL SCHEDULE

FOX begins the Series Pickups and Series Cancellations for 2011-2012

FOX has begun order season by announcing the pickup of three new series for next fall. The New Girl is a comedy starring Zooey Deschanel as a school teacher who moves away from her town and moves in with three guys.  The Finder is a spinoff of the show Bones that stars Geoff Stults as a "finder" as well as Michael Clarke Duncan. Alcatraz is a crime drama from JJ Abram's production company set in the prison. The series follows investigators as they investigate the disapperance of 1960s prisoners. The show stars Jorge Garcia of Lost fame.

The network also cancelled the show Human Target. The show was rebooted this year but never really gained traction in the ratings.

Updater: FOX has also cancelled Breaking In after it failed to gain traction in the post-Idol timeslot.

Update 2: FOX has also picked up the comedy pilot I Hate My Teenage Daughter starring Jamie Pressly.

Update 3: The Chicago Code, Lie to Me, and Traffic Light  have been cancelled as well.

FOX ANNOUNCES ITS FALL SCHEDULE

Pilots 2011-What's Interesting? What could be good? What looks awful?

Pilot season is upon us again. This is where the broadcast networks decide on the shows that they will air next year by making one episode of a show and seeing what that makes. The pilots are casting now, I see notices daily. I thought I'd take repeats of NBC comedies as an opportunity to share my thoughts on the best and worst of pilot concepts and casting. 


There seem to be some outside-the-box shows that are being developed, look in the list for specific examples. I'm glad that some of these shows are being developed and I'm glad that the networks are taking these risks.


You can find them after the jump. (This post will be updated with more information as pilots are cast and development continues).


Disclaimer: This is based purely on the concepts and early casting. I have not read any scripts and footage doesn't exist for these pilots so I cannot judge based on the actual content, only the concept, casting, and what other people have said. These judgements are very loose and can change easily when I see an episode of the show. Also, the pilots I discuss are not the only pilots in contention, just what in my mind are the most notable. And finally, these are pilots, not full fall commitments so some, if not most, of these shows will not make it onto network schedules.