New net mantra: Think BIG

Next fall's pilots still copying hits -- but at least they're bold hits

By JOSEF ADALIAN, MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

The nets are getting edgier in their '06 degrees of preparation.

The Big Six, soaring toward pilot season, have filled their development slates with a bevy of brave ideas and bold format experiments.

Having already stolen much of the watercooler buzz back from pay cable, the nets appear determined to keep it. That means more big, promotable event dramas -- as well as high-concept procedurals with a serialized, relationship-driven edge.

On the comedy side, creatively liberating single-camera laffers -- all but dismissed by webs a few years ago -- are suddenly back in vogue.

The surest sign nobody's playing it safe: Even pied pipers of populism such as Jerry Bruckheimer and Dick Wolf are shaking up their successful formulas by adding some sudsy storylines to their procedural palette.

One network exec says he's been surprised by how "all over the place" network development slates seem to be this year. CBS Entertainment prexy Nina Tassler says she's also noticed "a very, very diverse development slate" among the webs.

"In our case, it's about broadening out," she says. "We've got security and strength in our schedule ... we've now afforded ourselves the chance to try some different things."

NBC development chief Ghen Maynard believes the "think big" approach webs are taking this year owes a debt to the unscripted genre.

"A lot of people are realizing reality shows have hooks where you can get people there right upfront," he says. "Having a clear conceptual hook is something scripted TV needs to do and (the networks) stopped doing it for a long time."

Of course, even in their creativity, the nets are still doing what they do best: Grabbing on to whatever's hot and beating the trend into the ground.

While there've been some meat-and-potatoes successes lately -- think "Criminal Minds" or "House" -- it's been unconventional shows such as "Lost," "My Name Is Earl" and "Prison Break" that have made the most racket.

It's no wonder, then, that the nets are now rushing to see who can come up with even noisier, more out-there ideas.

"Each network seems to have been rewarded in their own way for stretching the parameters of what they were doing," says Fox exec VP Craig Erwich. "That has emboldened each network to take more chances."

Touchstone Television-based producer Matthew Gross says nets were "very picky" in choosing which projects to develop. Some writers he worked with had to develop two or three concepts just to get one sold.

"The networks aren't just looking for packages that look good on paper," he says. "They want the big ideas. A lot of the ideas are so big, who knows if they can execute them?"

Indeed, nets often develop ambitiously early on, only to end up playing it safe when it comes time to greenlight pilots in January and order series in May.

Tollin/Robbins principal Mike Tollin warns that it's dangerous to focus too much on trends or trying to develop the next big thing.

"As producers and filmmakers we can't go there," he says. "It's like trying to hit a moving target -- by the time we get there, the target has already moved on. We certainly listen (to the networks) and take part in strategy sessions. But we sit down with writers and talk about stories that get us excited."

Some early concepts that are getting network suits excited:

• It's the end of the world -- let's put on a show! ABC alone has at least two would-be skeins set in post-apocalyptic America ("Resistance" and "Red & Blue") while Gavin Polone and Bruce Wagner are teaming for the comfy-sounding plague drama "Four Horsemen" at CBS (which also is developing "Jericho," about life in a small town after America is destroyed).

  "It feels like last year there were a lot of sci-fi (pitches). There's some weird sensibility this year about trying to top that," Maynard says.

• Lather, rinse, repeat. Post-"Desperate Housewives," there's an astonishingly large number of scripts in the works with loglines containing either "soap" or "telenovela." Many involve sprawling families, often set against the backdrop of big business or rural towns. And in the wake of the BBC's success with "Footballers Wives," there are several dramas set in the world of pro sports.

  Nets have also recruited leading sudsmeisters (Darren Star and, yes, Aaron Spelling) to help blow some bubbles.

• Big names. Aaron Sorkin, David Crane and Kevin Williamson have been lulled back to TV, while Steven Bochco, Wolf, Bruckheimer and others are as busy as ever.

  There are also the familiar titles, like Paul Haggis' small- screen adaptation of "Crash," as well as the "Terminator"-fueled "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" at Fox.

• The "24" effect. "Reunion" may not be doing huge numbers at Fox this season, but the nets are still high on skeins -- both half-hour and hour -- that mess with the traditional notions of time.

  Each episode of ABC's "21 Days" would look at one day in a three-week engagement, while Fox's "Worst Week of My Life" recounts the days leading up to a wedding.

  CBS' "22 Birthdays" tells the story of the parents of pre-school kids, one of whom has a birthday each week, while the Eye's "Kidnapped" tells the story of one abduction as it unfolds through the season. NBC's David Noah drama tells a post-apocalyptic tale backward. UPN's "Evil Lives" is set over the course of one week.

• Thirty is the new 20, at least according to a bevy of thirtysomething shows, including ones at ABC from Gail Gilchriest, Kayla Alpert, Kirk Rudell, Betsy Thomas and Margaret Naegle. CBS has "My Five-Year Plan," while Fox is developing one as well.

• The military effect. While the war rages in Iraq, projects set there range from the serious (Fox's John Masius project) to the off-beat ("Spirit of America," about a Baghdad TV station, also at Fox).

  ABC and CBS both boast military-wives projects, while Fox has a laffer from Garland Testa set on a naval carrier. Eye also has a drama set at Maryland's Bethesda Naval Center, while John August and Jordan Milcher are developing the "Three Kings"-esque "OPS."

• Other popular themes include "Moonlighting"-style romantic capers, as well as multi-generational skeins and shows about long-lost friends being reunited.

Erwich says he's bullish on this year's development crop.

"The creative community appears to be really inspired this year," he says. "It was an exciting time to be buying. I came away pretty encouraged about network TV."