Say goodbye to “Friends” and hello to … “Mr. Ed.”
It’s pilot season in Hollywood, when “Mr. Ed” and dozens of other test shows are being made with the hope they can replace this year’s failures as well as long-running hits such as “Friends” and “Frasier,” which are headed to rerun heaven.
Most of the projects end up in storage closets of the TV studios that make them. But the pilots already in the pipeline offer a glimpse of what may be ahead:
Aloha
Hawaii hasn’t had much exposure in prime time since the days of “Hawaii Five-O” and “Magnum P.I.” But the 50th state could be the backdrop of a new ensemble cop drama on NBC. Meanwhile, Fox has “Oahu,” about staffers and guests at a luxury hotel on the island paradise. And the WB is going to Hawaii’s North Shore for “Rocky Point,” about a young woman who takes in her estranged father.
The Mark Burnett Show
The creator and executive producer of the hit reality shows “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” is trying his hand at dramas and sitcoms. He has a sitcom at the WB about his own experiences as a British military commando-turned-nanny for a Beverly Hills family. He’s also developing a drama for NBC about students in a summer study group marooned on a remote island.
Tick, tick, tick
With Fox’s “24” heading for a fourth season, other networks are trying shows that play out in real time or something close to it. ABC has John Stamos in a sitcom that would chronicle a first date over an entire season. The network also has a show about a SWAT team’s handling of the last 43 minutes of a crisis–which happens to be the length of an hourlong drama after the commercials are taken out.
Old faces, new places
Networks always turn to proven TV stars in the hope of getting lightning to strike again. CBS has “Roseanne” co-star John Goodman in a sitcom set in Chicago. “Seinfeld” alum Jason Alexander tries again with a comedy based on the life of sports columnist Tony Kornheiser. Carolyn Rhea returns to sitcoms as a single woman with romance, career and weight issues. Jennifer Love Hewitt is trying to come back as a sportscaster/ single mom.
Revival time
“Mr. Ed” isn’t the only show that may trot back from TV purgatory. The WB will try to relaunch the ’60s sci-fi favorite “Lost in Space,” and ABC has enlisted John Wells–executive producer of “ER” and “The West Wing”–to resurrect the Gothic soap “Dark Shadows.”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
