Each year, television executives try to stay ahead of the curve with entertainment trends, greenlighting new TV series with popular stars, themes and brands in mind.
This year is no different, with three of those themes categorizing the majority of this year’s pilots: spinoffs, revivals and anthologies.
Spinoffs will always be popular, relying on dependable brands that can bring in audiences to a new but familiar story. NBC’s Chicago franchise expands this year with Chicago Medical, for example, and Criminal Minds will get a spinoff
Revivals depend on the same premise - familiar brands told in a new way. Luther and The X-Files will see new light on Fox, and Craig T. Nelson’s Coach gets a reboot at NBC. In terms of movie revivals or adaptations, broadcast TV will see series versions of Uncle Buck, Minority Report and Rush Hour.
Anthologies, like Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens for Fox, are expanding on the proven success of shows like True Detective and American Horror Story. ABC has LA Crime in the works, and The CW is rebooting Tales from the Darkside as well.
Season one of Scream Queens will be about a series of campus murders starring Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lea Michele, but later seasons will start off with new stories and new characters. Fox hopes the overall Scream Queens brand—much like its predecessor, American Horror Story—carries over season to season, but the show will have the flexibility to change plot lines and cast in order to stay current.
Read more at the NY Post.
Brief Take: With ratings on the constant decline, broadcast networks are continually on the lookout for what will resonate with viewers. That said, whether there’s an Empire in next year’s crop of shows is anyone’s guess.
[Image courtesy of Fox]
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