The story of a TV pilot as it goes through the network TV process of casting, production and finally airing.
A television network is making a pilot of Mike's quirky comedy based on the aftermath of his brother's suicide. As the network suits ask for change after change, and as Mike struggles with compromise, there are strains on families, execs who show rushes to their children, leads who feel each other out, and assistants who put a smile on everything. Can an honest show get made in the world of reality TV chasing an audience of teen-aged boys?—<[email protected]>
It's TV pilot season in Hollywood. Mike Klein, after fifteen years of struggle, has finally had one of his scripts green-lit for development, this one, titled The Wexler Chronicles, specifically with the Panda Network. It is good timing as the extra money for as long as the project proceeds will help his personal finances in he and his wife Natalie expecting their second child. The project is a semi-autobiographical half hour dramedy - the comedy borne out of the tragedy, specifically his brother and thus that of the lead character having committed suicide - making it close to his heart. While he does have some say in how the pilot develops beyond the actual script, he will have to decide how much he will push back against the wants of the network president, Lenny, who has to consider the material in light of the competition. That push back, at any stage, may threaten the project in its entirety. Overall, her modus operandi seems to be to gear her network fare to the lowest common denominator regardless of how smart a project is purported to be, such as this one. While Mike's manager Alice is somewhat of a yes woman in doing whatever to push the project along, acting somewhat of a counterbalance is the new President of Primetime Programming, Richard McCallister, who, as a former BBC executive, is more accustomed to working on highbrow fare than he is with Hollywood sitcoms.—Huggo
David Duchovny's character writes a personal story that is being considered for a pilot. He is forced to accept a series of compromises from his choice for the male lead, to a intimate plot device (suicide), even down to the name of the pilot. On each issue he compromises his original vision in order to satisfy his desire to get the pilot 'picked up'. Rationalizing that having the pilot made in a compromised format is better than not at all, he gives in, only to see the final product turn out so far from the original smart and funny concept that he is ashamed of the outcome.
