Eliza to star in Fox Pilot "Nurses"

[Nobel_Son]

Hey Dusty I found these at the boards you mentioned:

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TV Stocks has been doing some tracking of the new series under development, and I figured I'd post the results so far

All of these series opened at a value of $1 - all pricing adjusts have been due to player interaction with the market, voting for or against these shows.

Fugly $1.052
Sam I Am 0.950
In Hell $0.892
Babylon Fields $0.802
The Middle $0.750
Capitol City $0.136
Miss/Guided $0.010
The Beast $7.210
Law Dogs $4.836
Them $0.502
The Bionic Woman $2.926
Fort Pit $2.676
Chuck $2.656
Mr and Mrs Smith $0.486
Skip Tracer $2.448
Viva Laughlin $2.288
Wild at Heart $0.208
Cashmere Mafia $0.010
Womens Murder Club $0.246
Lipstick Jungle $2.706
Canterbury's Law $7.882
Supreme Courtships $7.832
Nurses $7.902
Protect and Serve $0.492
The Captain $1.162
Pushing Daisies $1.000
Private Practice $1.000

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Does this mean Nurses is the highest bid and therefore the pilot in which people are betting the most that will get picked up or it just means that it's the most popular show, so the high number could also indicate that people are not only voting for the show but also against the show?

I'm not really sure, it all looks a bit weird, because if the highest number was the show everyone thought would get picked up I'm sure it would be something like "Private Practice" (Grey's Anatomy Spinoff) "Lipstick Jungle" or "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" which is also V. likely, not Nurses, which hasn't had too much hype yet. So could be against but it, doesn't make sense because you'd have thought against would be the 0.something shows and there are shows less likely that it to be picked up also.

I'll look into it later today, when I've got more time.

[eliza'snumber1fan]

im not too familliar with the pilot system and how they get rated/picked up.

thanks for all the info.

[Nobel_Son]

Originally Posted by DustyRose

I'm not really sure, it all looks a bit weird, because if the highest number was the show everyone thought would get picked up I'm sure it would be something like "Private Practice" (Grey's Anatomy Spinoff) "Lipstick Jungle" or "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" which is also V. likely, not Nurses, which hasn't had too much hype yet. So could be against but it, doesn't make sense because you'd have thought against would be the 0.something shows and there are shows less likely that it to be picked up also.

I'll look into it later today, when I've got more time.

Thanks, that'd be great. Are "Lipstick Jungle", "Private Practice" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" all FOX pilots? And also, how many drama pilots usually get picked up by a network every season? I did some search at the futoncritic and apparently there are 10 drama pilots that FOX has green-lighted to shoot so, at the upfronts on May 17th, even though it's competing with nine other shows, hopefully Nurses will be picked up.

Thanks, that'd be great. Are "Lipstick Jungle", "Private Practice" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" all FOX pilots?

No, ABC and NBC, so it isn't in competition with them for pick up.

Networks can pick as many dramas (or any other show) as they want/have room for on their schedule so it depends. IIRC FOX picked up Between 4-5 dramas is average, possibly with a couple of other mid season replacements at the ready for when some of those crash, but FOX has pretty much cancelled all of last season's new fall lineup crashed (as did many of the other networks' shows) so they might be looking for a couple more this year, but new reality shows, comedies etc will also be compeating for slots. I think FOX ordered about 8 last year but they've mostly failed and other series' have since been cancelled.

The chances of other 9 pilots is hard to work out because what I and FOX executives think would make good critical and commercial TV are probably two different things, which is why I was happy to hear that an insider considers the pilot "good", though I would like to know if that is general network opinion or just the one guy obviously. This all personal opinion: FOX's "Company Man" has a decent chance I think (according to what I've read online), I'd say either "Canturbury's Law" or "Supreme Courtships" and maybe "K-Ville" because of its Katrina connections could be a draw and probably one of the slightly different genre ones like "Them" or "The Sarah Conner Chronicles".

The points in "Nurses" favour would be that there are 2 medical shows in the top 5 (or is it top 3) scripted shows on TV and FOX already broadcasts one of them and so might be looking for another to compliment it with a slightly different tone and they know the type can get big ratings. It also sounds more comedic and less heavy than most of their other drama pilots and is different to the mostly cop/lawyer line up and has a good cast, as well as Eliza it has Oscar winner Lynn Redgrave and Sara Rue.

We'll know for sure at the upfronts, but the news will probably leak a bit beforehand because obviously the cast and producers are told beforehand if they have to be there.

[ThisYearsGuy]

Originally Posted by eliza'snumber1fan

im not too familliar with the pilot system and how they get rated/picked up.

thanks for all the info.

Lol me neither! But I hope this is all looking good! Thanks for the news!

[Keri]

DustyRose, thanks very much for your posts, and the time you are taking I love getting an insight like this, you are spoiling us!

I'm intrigued by The Sarah Connor Chronicles too, is Lena Headey still attached do you know?

[eliza'snumber1fan]

thank you Dustyrose , very much appreciated

[Nobel_Son]

Thanks Dusty! Cleared up a lot of things I wanted to know about the pilot season :D So we just have to wait for one or two weeks, 'cause the Upfronts are less than a month away.

[Arrow]

On an unrelated note, Fox just canceled "Drive", the show with Nathan Filion. I said unrelated but it is related in a way because it shows us (again) why that show, as promising as it may be, did not end up on the right network.

Drive was created by the very good Tim Minear(Firefly), had very good reviews and had a huge marketing campaign that started waayyy back. It started on a sunday with the first two episodes airing back-to-back and the third one playing the next day. They played the next episode the following week and that was that.

4 episodes and a little more than a week. That's all it took.

[SMG Rules]

I thought Drive was a really good show and it sucks that it's gone.



Back on topic....I've been in the hospital before and I never had a nurse that looked like Eliza. I wish I had.

Another good report on the pilot on Nurses IMDb from someone part of media testing:

i'm a member of an online research survey community..i was sent this pilot to view and report on...you'll all be happy to know that it was actually pretty good and ms dushku is amazing....can't wait for the real thing....it is a Fox show for those who were wondering earlier....

[Nobel_Son]

Woo-hoo. Just a few more days 'til the Upfronts.

[dirrrty]

Yay that review sounds good, oh i hope its picked up

More generally good reviews, nothing we didn't really know before, but a couple of sub-plot titbits.

This could be a good show, but it's a little too much like "Greys Anatomy". Lots of sleeping around.

Eliza looked awesome in this by the way.

I saw the pilot. It is decent, but really similar to other stuff thats already out there.

Eliza looks amazing in this. Of course... she looks amazing in anything.
In the pilot, she went from being almost topless, to wearing scrubs, and a slinky dress and looked awesome.

The rest of the cast is just kind of "meh" for me. They'll need some work. I don't like one of the sub-plots or secondary storylines already. The pilot had a nurse that was afraid of having kids and an overly excited husband that really wants them. They need to rework that, or recast the actress because it was non-contributory in my opinion.

So it's similar to other hospital dramas, which we already knew and it's not like FOX is usually very bothered about being original. It's good to know that even people who say its very like Greys think its good though and that Eliza is very good, which will help.

[ThisYearsGuy]

Generally good stuff. I dunno if its good that its like others out there or bad at the moment - we'll have to wait and see. Glad Eliza is getting praise tho!

More insider titbits posted on pifeedback.com

FOX
Hearing they will pick up 4 to 5 pilots.

HOT:
1. SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES by Josh Freidman (WBTV); This will be their one sure thing to pick up. Heard it looks great and they are very excited about how it came together.
2. APOSTLES by Chuck Pratt (20th); This came in much better than they thought and this is looking very good for a pick up.
3. THEM by McNamara & Eick (CBS Paramount/Eick/Circle of Confusion); This came in very strong and has a lot of support.

CLOSE TO HOT:
1. NURSES by Goodman & Stern (20th); Hearing they really like this show and would be something a bit lighter for them to put on the air.
2. K-VILLE by Jonathan Lisco (20th); This pilot is really starting to pick up some steam and wouldn't be surprised if it got a pick up.

WARM:
1. THE CURE by Massett & Zinman (WBTV); Hearing that this is just ok for them, wouldn't be surprised to see this move up.
2. CANTERBURY'S LAW by David Erickson (Sony/Apostle); Again hearing this is ok, wouldn't be surprised if they picked up another law show.

COLD:
1. NEW AMSTERDAM by Christian Taylor (Regency); Hearing this pilot does not look well and the pace of the show is incredibly slow.
2. SUPREME COURTSHIPS by Gary Tieche (20th/Adelstein); Heard this pilot is a mess and this not getting any buzz at all.
3. NSA INNOCENT by Ehrman & Cochran (20th); Not a lot of buzz on this, that's why it made the cold list.

So the network likes it a lot, that's good, but it seems it (obviously) has quite a bit of competition and is not thought of as certain. But as I thought, they might be seeing it as a lighter touch to the darker sci-fi/law drama thing they've got going on. I'm not sure if by 4-5 pilots they mean altogether with comedies and gameshows (which aren't listed here) or just dramas. I think possibly the dramas because the guy mentions quite a few as "possibles" that aren't on the very hot list. Well we'll have to wait and see what else comes out in the next few days.

[Nobel_Son]

YES!

[Faith_Fan]

Originally Posted by DustyRose

Firefly was cancelled because of c**p ratings too, and unlike TC it was one of the most expensive shows on network TV at the time. Sad, but not entirely their fault from a business perspective.

One of the main reasons Firefly was canceled was because Joss refused to listen to Fox exec's suggestions on ways to "improve" the show. They didn't see that the ratings would improve or any reason to give the show a second chance.

On the other hand, TC's producers did what they were told and did whatever it took to keep the show on the air (add Priestley, retool, recast, have American Idol guest stars, and so forth), so it was given more time.

Considering how quickly Fox yanked Drive (Tim Minear's new show), I doubt they'd be willing to give shows the 2nd and 3rd chances TC got anymore. They'd rather just move the talent to a new pilot.

[ThisYearsGuy]

Cool - 4th on the list seems good to me! Fingers crossed

Thanks for posting that btw - I'd have to clue where to find it lol.