David Boreanaz in 'The Rockford Files' pilot episode. Mark Hill/NBC Logo text NBC executives Lisa Katz and Jeff Bader amazed some of their younger colleagues earlier this year with tales of past pilot seasons.
“I said, ‘We used to do twelve dramas,’ and they went, ‘What?!,'” Katz, president scripted content for NBC and Peacock, said on a conference call ahead of Monday’s NBCUniversal upfront. Added Bader, president program planning strategy at NBC, “We used to do six for one [open] time period.”
Those days are long gone, but NBC did order more scripted pilots — eight — than any single network had since 2022. Those eight projects resulted in four series pickups: dramas Line of Fire and The Rockford Files and comedies Newlyweds and Sunset P.I. Line of Fire and Newlyweds are set to premiere in the fall, while The Rockford Files and Sunset P.I. — both, coincidentally, centered on private investigators — will launch in early 2027.
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Katz had pushed to up the number of pilots NBC ordered this season, and NBCUniversal budgeted for the increased volume. And while NBC will also continue developing shows year-round — the default mode for most networks and streamers now — Katz expects to continue ordering and producing pilots in the first few months of 2027.
“We were looking at what potential slots we would have and wanting to have options for those slots, which thankfully we did,” Katz said. “We had a lot of great choices and really difficult decisions. We believe in pilot season, so as we see what shows work and what needs we have next year, I would advocate [for it] again.”
The advantages of making a pilot, as Katz sees it, include letting every department at NBC see a finished product well before a show hits the air. “It’s a way to have marketing, scheduling, everybody looking at it and deciding together — where they can actually see what the show is and how it could work.”
As for the four pilots that NBC passed on — three dramas and one comedy — Bader said the decision had more to do with specific needs than the quality of those shows. (Universal Television, which produced all of NBC’s pilots, may try to find other homes for the passed-over shows.) “It was more about what shows we thought paired best with the shows [already] on the schedule,” he said. “It was a very difficult decision.”
As for continuing the mini-revival of the traditional pilot season, “We want to do it again,” Katz said. “I hope that these shows are such hits that we don’t have as many needs. But I do think being able to have options and to be able to try some different concepts, and to have everybody look at them and see what works best, is a privilege. So I really hope that we have the opportunity to do it again.”
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