Television pilot

A television pilot is the first episode of an intended television series. It is usually longer than normal episodes (often twice the normal length) and is intended to get network programming executives, and later the public, interested in the series. However, pilots are rarely fair examples of what a "normal episode" of a series is like, since they usually set the general background and tell the origin story for the series (e.g., if the series is about two angry roommates, the pilot will probably show how they met).

Production of the pilot

Pilots are expensive to produce. Before a network commits to funding an entire pilot episode, it often requests a pilot presentation, a one-day shoot that, when edited together, gives a general idea of the look and feel of the proposed show. Some pilots can be just a few minutes long (ex: 10 minutes or less); however, such pilots will not be shown on the air unless more material is subsequently padded into them to make them at least twenty-two minutes in length, the actual duration of a nominally "thirty minute" program (taking account of commercials). Occasionally, more than one pilot is commissioned for a particular proposed television series to evaluate what the show would be like with modifications. ' is the most famous example of this situation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An example of change between the making of a pilot the making of a series is To Tell The Truth in 1956. The original title of the pilot was Nothing But The Truth and the show was hosted by Mike Wallace. The program host was changed to Bud Collyer, and the title changed to To Tell The Truth.

Related Topics:
To Tell The Truth - 1956 - Mike Wallace - Bud Collyer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~