A TELEVISION PILOT

A TELEVISION PILOT

A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its creation, the pilot is meant to be the testing ground to gauge whether a series will be successful, and is therefore a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity. In the case of a successful television series, the pilot is commonly the very first episode that is aired of the particular series under its own name. A "back door pilot", is an episode of an existing successful series that features future tie-in characters of an up-and-coming television series or film. The purpose of the "back door pilot" is to introduce the characters to an audience before the creators decide on whether they want to pursue a spin-off series with those characters or not.

Television networks use pilots to discover whether an entertaining concept can be successfully realized. After seeing this sample of the proposed product, networks will then determine whether the expense of additional episodes is justified. They are best thought of as prototypes of the show that is to follow, because elements often change from pilot to series. Variety estimates that only a little over a quarter of all pilots made for American television proceed to the series stage, although the figure may be even lower.

Most pilots are never publicly screened if they fail to sell a series. If a series eventuates, pilots are usually—but not always—broadcast as the introductory episode of the series.

A pilot episode is generally the first episode of a new show, shown to the heads of the studio to whom it is marketed.

The television industry uses the term differently from most viewers. Viewers frequently consider the first episode available for their viewing to be the pilot. They therefore assume that the first episode broadcast is also the episode that sold the series to the network. However, this is not always true.

Sometimes, too, viewers will assign the word "pilot" to a work that represented the first appearances of characters and situations later employed by a series – even if the work was not initially intended as a pilot for the series. On other occasions, the pilot is never broadcast on television at all.

PRESENTATION

If a network is not completely sold on a potential series' premise but still wants to see its on-screen execution, and since a single pilot can be expensive to produce, a pilot presentation may be ordered. Depending on the potential series' nature, a pilot presentation is a one-day shoot that, when edited together, gives a general idea of the look and feel of the proposed show. Presentations are usually between seven and ten minutes. However, these pilot-presentations will not be shown on the air unless more material is subsequently added to them to make them at least 22 or 45 minutes in length, the actual duration of a nominally "30 minute" or "60 minute" television program (taking into account television commercials that fill the remaining time). Occasionally, more than one pilot is commissioned for a particular proposed television series to evaluate what the show would be like with modifications.

BROADCAST

Pilots usually run as the first episode of the series, and more often than not are used to introduce the characters and their world to the viewer.

MULTIPLE AIRINGS

The majority of TV pilots are aired twice (typically in September and December), while some have aired more times.

DEMO

Since the mid-1990s, television producers and networks have increasingly used presentation tapes called "demos" in lieu of full-length pilots. These demos tend to be substantially shorter than a standard episode, and make limited use of original sets and post-production elements. The idea is merely to showcase the cast and the writing. These types of pilots are rarely broadcast, if ever, although the material is sometimes partially fitted onto a future episode of the resulting series. A demo prepared at an early stage, normally using amateur equipment, is also known as a sizzle script.

BACKDOOR PILOT

A backdoor pilot is a movie or miniseries that serves as a proof of concept for a full series, but may be broadcast on its own even if the full series is not picked up.

UNINTENTIONAL PILOT

While, as listed above, there are many telemovies or episodes within series intended as pilots, there are often telemovies or episodes within other series that are so popular that they inspire later television series.

PUT PILOT

A put pilot is a pilot that the network has agreed to air either as a special or series. If the network does not air the pilot episode, the network will owe substantial monetary penalties to the studio. Generally, this guarantees that the pilot will be picked up by the network.

UNSOLD PILOT

Unsold television pilots are pilots developed by a company that is unable to sell it to a network for showing.

10/90

In a 10/90 production model, a network broadcasts ten episodes of a new television program without ordering a pilot first. If the episodes achieve a predetermined ratings level, the network orders 90 more to bring the total to 100 episodes, immediately enough to rerun the show in syndication.

Sources: Google, Wikipedia, Pinterest, IMDB, Variety, Be Your Craft, Hollywood Reporter, Bonnie J Wallace