Awards Circuit Column: HBO Max's hit medical drama has some in the industry missing the old primetime formula.
Plus IconMichael Schneider
Variety Editor at Large
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Warrick Page/MAX 
One of the hottest trends to come out of the network upfronts this year was the return of pilot season. NBC ordered a total of eight pilots this year — ordering half of them to series. Primetime’s back, baby!
Well, OK, let’s curb our enthusiasm. I give a ton of credit to NBC for producing pilots this year, a practice that was so maligned that the pendulum wound up going too far the other direction, as networks and streamers started bypassing the practice almost entirely. But we’re still a long away from the days when the broadcast networks would each order around 20 pilots, all within a few months of each other in winter. It was an insane practice, as the networks had to scramble and compete for the same limited number of performers and crew — and then get their project in order-ready shape before May.
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