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American TV schedules
Jul. 31st, 2011 12:26 amCan someone explain to me a bit about the timetable for a US TV series?
When a pilot is made, is it only shown to TV executives and/or a test audience unless/until the show is commissioned? I assume these pilots aren't broadcast, but am I wrong? And does anybody know, or know where I can find out, how far in advance a pilot is made before the commissioned show starts shooting, and how far in advance shooting is before broadcasting? There must, presumably, be places on the web which talk about this process for particular series, but I don't know where to look. Is there a difference in the procedure between the big networks and the cable networks? A difference in the number of shows in a season? (Why does Leverage have fifteen and Buffy about 22?)
Also, whenabouts do new series generally start? Is it the autumn, with the November sweeps being the first of the TV year and July being the last, or am I confused on that? I might be getting it mixed up with my own performance schedule, but Buffy has Halloween, and Bones has Christmas episodes, and so on...
When a pilot is made, is it only shown to TV executives and/or a test audience unless/until the show is commissioned? I assume these pilots aren't broadcast, but am I wrong? And does anybody know, or know where I can find out, how far in advance a pilot is made before the commissioned show starts shooting, and how far in advance shooting is before broadcasting? There must, presumably, be places on the web which talk about this process for particular series, but I don't know where to look. Is there a difference in the procedure between the big networks and the cable networks? A difference in the number of shows in a season? (Why does Leverage have fifteen and Buffy about 22?)
Also, whenabouts do new series generally start? Is it the autumn, with the November sweeps being the first of the TV year and July being the last, or am I confused on that? I might be getting it mixed up with my own performance schedule, but Buffy has Halloween, and Bones has Christmas episodes, and so on...
