Once upon a time, a new science fiction drama called Star Trek premiered with an episode called "The Man Trap" rather than the pilot (actually the second pilot, the one that introduced Captain Kirk) on September 8, 1966. The pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," wasn't shown till the third week on the air. NBC's decision to switch the episodes didn't help amp up Star Trek's ratings in that first season, but network wisdom at the time was that "Man Trap" was a better starting point than "Where No Man Has Gone Before."
Cut to now. Two current properties, CBS's Eleventh Hour and Fox's Do Not Disturb, have switched out their pilot episodes for another episode as the season's premieres.
You might recall that Brett wrote a month ago about this happening with Joss Whedon's Dollhouse too.
On September 10, the Fox comedy Do Not Disturb will present "Work Sex," about the workers at The Inn fooling around on the job, in lieu of the pilot, which will air sometime in the future. This may be a sign of trouble.
The pilot may not have tested well with focus groups or perhaps the comedy seems to be clicking better in this other show. In today's rapid reaction Nielsen environment, if Do Not Disturb doesn't take off fast, it may not still be on the air by October. How many episodes of Unhitched aired on Fox last season before being yanked? (Although Unhitched may not be the best example to cite; it wasn't very good.)
Things are less tenuous for Eleventh Hour. Because it's a Jerry Bruckheimer show and CBS has had great success with his shows -- The Amazing Race, CSI, Cold Case -- it will give Jerry a good long run before determining the fate of Eleventh Hour. It has the luxury of time to find its groove.
The changing of the debut episode from the pilot (which seemed to be about cloning babies) to a show in which Dr. Hood investigates a food-related syndrome that's causing paralysis, is not a sign of worry. If anything, a food story is more topical considering this summer's tomato scare. If there's anything like a sure-thing in the 2008 Fall TV season, it's this Bruckheimer product, which is based on a UK hit. Putting it on in the time slot after CSI guarantees success. Eleventh Hour premieres on October 9 on CBS.
[via Futon Critic]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-24-2008 @ 1:09PM
Usama said...
You might recall they did this with Firefly too (another Whedon show), and look how well that turned out. Fox wanted an episode that was immediately entertaining, suspenseful, as opposed to the pilot which slowly built up the show's setting and cast.
At least this time Whedon (w/ Dollhouse) has creative control over what the pilot will be like. With Firefly Fox just chose to air the 2nd episode in the pilot's place.
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8-24-2008 @ 2:41PM
Victor Mancha said...
Thats not quite correct Usama. Actually they made him write a new pilot over a weekend. Whedon was told that if they didnt like the result they would pull the plug. Thats how "The train job" came to be.
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8-24-2008 @ 3:26PM
Usama said...
Really? Did not know that, thanks for the info. I apologize for the misinformation.
8-24-2008 @ 5:45PM
djbuhhda said...
i think a good example of a show that got canned when it shouldn't was Tru calling and Drive. i think that fox needs to stop looking for good ratings in the first couple weeks and actually give the shows a chance.
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8-24-2008 @ 5:48PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
I prefer they show the pilot 1st since that is when they tend to explain the premise of the show and develop the characters of the show. I like how they repeat the characters names a little more often in the first 2 eps so I can remember who is who and why they are the way they are. But it doesn't really matter to me anymore since I no longer watch any new shows on the major networks anymore until at least the 3rd or 4th year since they always cancel all the good shows so fast nowadays or move them all over until they get cancelled. I'll just catch-up with the dvd's if a new show makes it a few years without getting canned. It doesn't matter if I watch or not since I am not a part of the faulty Nielsen system anyway.
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8-24-2008 @ 9:22PM
joel said...
I am not sure you could call the brit series of Eleventh hour a hit. It last only one year.
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8-24-2008 @ 11:54PM
Oreo said...
In Britain a year is a hit for a show. :)
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