Wilfred: "Trust"

Season 1, Episode 2

Working out that dog/man/conscience dynamic

Futurama: "Ghost in the Machines"

Season 6, Episode 16

Back to basics, back to the fun

Men of a Certain Age: "Whatever Gets You Through The Night"

Season 2, Episode 11

The penultimate episode finds the show returning to its own path

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #6: The Amazing Screw-On Head

The limitations of adaptations

Falling Skies: "Prisoner of War"

Season 1, Episode 3

Plot devices, plot holes, higher ideas, and all that jazz

Louie: "Pregnant"

Season 2, Episode 1

A triumphant return for everyone’s favorite non-comedic comedy

Wilfred: "Happiness"

Season 1, Episode 1

A comedy that deals heavily in self-examination

Futurama: "Neutopia"/"Benderama"

Season 6, Episode 14 & 15

Over-plotting destroys two sure-fire premises

Burn Notice: "Company Man"

Season 5, Episode 1

Can the show overcome a tired formula?

Men of a Certain Age: "Can't Let That Slide"

Season 2, Episode 10

Will the circle be unbroken?

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #5: Wonderfalls

When a show recasting roles turns into a positive

The Killing: "Orpheus Descending"

Season 1, Episode 13

A “What the fuck?” kind of ending right up the show’s meandering, frustrating alley

Falling Skies: "Live and Learn"/"The Armory"

Season 1, Episode 1 & 2

The sci-fi romp provides good groundwork, as well as plenty of drama and thrills

Men of a Certain Age: "A League of Their Owen"

Season 2, Episode 9

America’s pastime, the guys’ futures

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #4: Dollhouse

Finding the best way to roll out a story

TV Newsline: AMC renews The Killing

Apparently deaf to the to the increasing negative reviews from critics - and all of the audience members who have declared that they were dropping the show once we figure out who killed Rosie Larsen - AMC has decided to renew The Killing for a second season. Now, given that the show had the second highest premiere beyond the Walking Dead, and has maintained a viewership of around 2 million - higher than Breaking Bad's numbers ever were, and better than Mad Men's first three seasons - it makes sense from a entirely fiscal sense why AMC would choose to renew this show. But looking at this from a artistic decision, it makes far less sense.

The Killing: "Beau Soleil"

Season 1, Episode 12

Swinging back around to square one

Doctor Who: "A Good Man Goes to War"

Season 6, Episode 7

A case for increased serialization

Men of a Certain Age: "The Pickup"

Season 2, Episode 8

A fantastic setup to plots that may or may not pan out

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #3: Firefly

With special guest episode “The Train Job”

The Killing: "Missing"

Season 1, Episode 11

Oh, come on! We’re this close to the end!

Doctor Who: "The Almost People"

Season 6, Episode 6

The second part fails to live up to the intellectual expectations

Men of a Certain Age: "The Great Escape"

Season 2, Episode 7

Never have I been so glad to see a group of aging males

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #2: Angel

Part of the reason for analyzing the pilots for this project in the order that I did – apart from making sure that I could deal with obvious issues of how one person's approach to pilots changes over time – was that by putting Buffy and Angel back-to-back, it opens the floor to speak about pitch pilots. Pitch pilots, as their name implies, are meant solely to pitch a show to various networks; they serve as a quick snapshot of what the show is about. Not all pilots are pitched to  a wide swath of networks; it’s also very common for a network to work with a writer/producer to develop a series, and go straight into filming a full pilot that will often work as the first episode. These pilots are often known as “put pilots”, those that come attached with a financial penalty to the network of the pilot isn’t picked up, thus almost guaranteeing a pick up. But pitch pilots, without such financial backing, have to temper their expectations. As such, pitch pilots tend to run under ten minutes in length, and they favor tone over story, a characteristic that can get shows into trouble during the early runs if nobody’s careful.