Industry awakes, plays catch-up

Hollywood lurched back into gear this week, reviving projects sidelined by the three-month labor dispute with its writers.

For broadcast television, which felt the brunt of the work stoppage, the most pressing issues center on the prospects for next season. Studios are now rushing to piece together a truncated pilot season.

Even with a limited pool of new shows to choose from, the networks plan to roll out some kind of fall season. CBS and ABC said Thursday they would join Fox in holding upfront presentations in New York in mid-May, when the networks showcase their new schedules for advertisers.

The week of presentations -- usually lavish affairs that cost up to $5 million per network -- kicks off the period in which broadcasters sell the bulk of their commercial time for the coming TV season.

NBC plans a low-key approach this year, although the network has not yet provided specifics. Overall, the upfronts are likely to be scaled back, in part because broadcasters won't have a bevy of new shows.

"This year it might be more of a meeting-like presentation, but we have plenty to talk about to our advertisers," said Mike Shaw, ABC's president of sales and marketing.

Still, the delayed pilot season has left the industry playing catch-up. In a typical February, most pilot scripts have been finished, and producers are busy casting, location scouting or building sets. By March, between 110 and 120 pilots are in production, about 40 of which get picked up as new series.

Instead, studios that had pilot scripts in hand before the strike are now weighing which ones to produce, while writers who hadn't finished their drafts before the walkout are racing to complete them.

"Everyone is scrambling," said Cyrus Voris, who is developing two pilots with writing partner Ethan Reiff, one for CBS and another for the CW.

"The basic sense is that we've got a week or two to get our scripts in, or else they'll automatically be written off," Voris said.

Gary Newman, chairman of 20th Century Fox Television, said the studio's development staff was in touch with its writers.

"We're not giving people hard-and-fast deadlines," he said. "We're just making them aware of the competitive advantage they'll get if they're able to turn their script in sooner rather than later."