The pilot season is always a big, big deal for US television - a raft of new shows arriving all at once, each trying to be bigger and flashier than its rivals.
After last year, when fewer programmes premiered thanks to the writers' strike, many were hoping that this year they might arrive big time, all bells and whistles, and flashy fireworks. But with the current state of the economy? Well … you remember those indoor fireworks that kind of glowed like a tired old firefly and made a little pthththththhhh noise before going out? Looks like the near future of television is going to be a bit like that instead.
That is, at least, according to this report in Variety. It suggests that, owing to Mass Financial OhDearieMeness (to use the technical economics term), everyone at the American networks is under strict orders to curb their spending. That leaves the executives sitting round trying to rack their brains to work out (a) what people want to watch during a recession and (b) how they can make it as cheaply as possible.
The answer to (a) seems to be simple - or at least it seems to be being dealt with pretty simply. In hard times, they reason, people like television programmes about everyday folks - good, honest, working people. And not in a reality-TV way - in a removed-from-reality way.
In drama, that might be ordinary folk with a twist, given extraordinary powers or put in extraordinary situations, such as Heroes, Reaper, or Chuck. Or perhaps people doing good acts for others who are down on their luck; Burn Notice (fired spy helps regular folk with crazy spy skills), Leverage (a US version of Hustle, basically, but with more emphasis on the Robin Hood aspect) or The Mentalist (fake psychic shyster turned nice police-helper: one of this year's most successful new shows).
In comedy, it seems, the networks think viewers want hard-working blue-collar people or rich folks fallen on hard times. Feeling good about yourself by laughing about everyday things that go wrong - even if they're being played out by someone on TV on your behalf - has always been a staple of popular US sitcoms. Now they're turning to it again. None of these edgy comedies with one camera and a more maverick style - no, we're looking at a return to multi-camera, live-audience, wholesome family fun.
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