CM: A Plan for All Seasons..?

The American television schedules have always been governed by a certain level of routine. While their programming schedule may seem somewhat erratic to those of us brought up in the UK – in Blightly we rarely have the “Is it a new episode this week, is it a rerun, has it been pre-empted by a sporting fixture?’ problem – there IS a formula to their over-all year. Most network series start in the September/October window with some  shorter mid-season replacements entering the public consciousness around January and February running until mid-May.

Many have questioned that format. Spreading around twenty-two episodes over the September-to-May period requires many absent weeks and far too often a fledgling show is gathering momentum only to lose it all over a Christmas hiatus or a raft of repeats. A few years ago Flash Forward demonstarted this when it launched to great ratings, only to disappear for almost three months. By the time a new episode aired, people couldn't remember where they'd got to and had found new shows to which they could pledge their allegiance. 

Equally the production schedule needed to feed that machine has had similar patterns: rushing to get scripts ready, filming possible pilots and signing up talent months ahead of the next tv season itself.  It’s this former aspect that could be about to undergo a major change – one which must inevitably affect the latter. 

FOX,  has formally announced that it wants to move towards a more ‘cable model’ of creating series, meaning it has an intention to greenlight LESS drama pilots (each of which  then need to be tested before transmission and would still be on a short and deadly probation in their first weeks of transmission) but to have a firmer commitment to them: either committing to a full series, or at least creating further scripts and production budgets to the ones it does decide to back. This also means that such shows would be much more likely to get some room to breathe and find their footing unless their ratings were truly disastrous.

Continues... >>>

To read the rest of this article and gain access to all previous articles you need to have a subscription to Impact Extra. Sign up to Impact extra now and get a one month free trial.