Why NBC is reviving pilot season
NBC’s surprise return to a traditional pilot season might give some TV insiders a sense of nostalgia. But despite the desire to turn back the clock to a more fruitful era in network TV history, this isn’t an exact replica of past pilot seasons.
The Peacock network has ordered six pilots so far in 2026 – five dramas and one comedy – with sources indicating more orders are on the way. Even with the six already on the slate, that’s the most pilots NBC has ordered since pre-COVID days and double what they ordered in 2025.
But actors, don’t book that pilot season apartment in Burbank Oakwood just yet. First, there’s no indication that NBC or any of the other broadcast networks will completely abandon the year-round development model they’ve adopted in favor of a normal pilot season. Until the streaming revolution, the Big Four broadcasters would order, staff, cast and film more than 50 pilots over the course of several months, leading to upfronts in May. That won’t be back at all, but NBC would like to work within the usual pilot window in the future.
According to an NBC executive who spoke with Varietythe network wants to return more to the pilot season model. This is simply the first year in some time that external factors – like COVID and the 2023 double strike – have not impacted their ability to pick up pilots within the traditional time frame.
“There’s a reason why the process has worked so well for so long, and we’re still very excited about it,” the NBC executive said.
Nearly all of the pilots NBC has ordered this winter have a police procedural slant. That even includes NBC’s only comedy pilot, an untitled PI single-cam from “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” alumni Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici.
NBC’s drama pilots include a reboot of “The Rockford Files;” “What the Dead Know,” about a death investigator from Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment; and “Puzzled,” about a star athlete who suffers a brain injury that makes him an ace at solving crimes.
Even the lone (minor) standout – “Protection,” from writers Josh Safran and Jenna Bush Hager – follows a law enforcement family targeted by a mysterious assassin.
The hours of the week have been in high demand lately, as demand for expensive, highly serialized fare has declined in recent years. NBC’s current lineup is dominated by procedurals, including two “Law & Order” shows and the “One Chicago” dramas.
On the staying power of procedurals, the NBC executive said, “You can dive in and watch something that has a really satisfying beginning, middle and end… and that’s very attractive. Or you can also watch five seasons in a row and never leave your couch, and it’s very attractive.”
NBC isn’t the only one picking up pilots according to the traditional pre-upfront calendar, either. ABC has a spinoff of “The Rookie” in the works, starring Jay Ellis, as well as a Rachel Bloom comedy. CBS has the comedies “Eternally Yours” from the “Ghosts” team and “Regency” from Tara Hernandez. (Fox is still avoiding pilot season as we knew it).
Like so many other aspects of the TV business that have been unfairly maligned in the streaming age, series pilots can be an invaluable tool for assessing a TV series’ potential. When everyone started chasing Netflix’s “order first, figure out the details later” model, pilots largely fell by the wayside.
But now even streamers rely more on pilots. Hulu (and especially John Landgraf’s FX team) has recently commissioned several pilots, while HBO Max is deep in the pilot game with the police drama “American Blue” and the family drama “How To Survive Without Me” from Greg Berlanti, Bash Doran and Robbie Rogers.
Then there’s Netflix, the streamer that helped blow up the networking playbook as we knew it. Netflix has largely avoided pilots in its development process. But it recently picked up the sequel series “A Different World” after ordering a pilot for it in early 2025. It might not be such a different world on TV after all.
