by Stacey Levin
Ever sit around watching television and see a show that’s so bad, you shout out loud to no one in particular: “How the hell did this get on television!?” Ahh, the wonders of “pilot season.” Yes, there’s actually a name for the time when studios and networks decide what new series they’re going to make. In fact, Hollywood is all a twitter right now because it’s in the midst of “pilot season” – that frantic time of year when the television executives pluck several scripts from the depths of development and make them into a single episode of a television series known as a pilot. Once they’re all completed, the execs view them and decide which ones will be ordered to series and which ones will never see the light of day. Being a television exec myself, I can say that there are often many times when a really good pilot doesn’t get a chance and we sit around and scratch our heads as to why. Here’s an aside: I once worked on a pilot called “Babylon Fields” that was fantastic and to this day, I’m still mourning the decision not to pick it up to series. You guys would have totally loved this show – it was about zombies who return to their lives as they left them when they died. Not crazy 28 Days Later monster zombies – just dead people who didn’t understand why they’re back and how to live as zombies. Am I right? You would have so watched this show.
Memories of “Babylon Fields” makes me wish that execs would show the pilots to the public and let them decide which show they’d watch if it became a series. I can’t even imagine how much money, time and effort that would save everyone involved. And it might help keep some of the “crap” off television. Well, someone at Top Cow was apparently reading my mind when they
decided to create “Pilot Season” for comics – an ingenious plan to launch new comic titles as one-shots and let the fans vote on the winners which will then become new series titles. They first launched the event in 2007 and received a great response from fans and new readers alike. Since then, they’ve chosen the two top-voted titles each year to go to series. Creators ranging from comic veterans to newbies have gotten a shot at the “Pilot Season” test, but this year Top Cow mixed it up a bit. They paired two giants in the industry, writer Robert Kirkman and artist Marc Silvestri, to do five one-shots .
“Pilot Season” 2009/2010 consists of “Murderer,” “Demonic,” “Stealth,” “Stellar” and “Hardcore” with the latter being released next week.
- “Murderer” (Writer Robert Kirkman, Artist Marc Silvestri) – Poor
Jason Sparks. Here’s a seemingly normal guy on the outside, but on the inside, he’s a tortured mess because he’s been cursed with the ability to hear all of the nasty thoughts that pass through people’s minds. Whether it’s a hidden desire or an ugly secret, Jason can hear them all in a swarm of noises running through his head. Can’t imagine how annoying that must be. Well, apparently really annoying because the only thing that seems to quiet the noise for Jason is when he commits a murder. Oooh, tough spot to be in, no? Luckily Jason is a decent dude and when he has to murder to preserve the little sanity he has left, he tries to take out a bad guy. But something tells me it won’t always work out that way.
- “Demonic” (Writer Robert Kirkman, Artist Joe Benitez, Cover Marc Silvestri) – To date, my personal favorite is this title. At its core,
“Demonic” is a very emotional story about Scott Graves, a man who seemingly made a pact with the proverbial devil to fight off his inner demon. Once the demon manifests itself within Scott, he must continue to kill to satisfy its appetite in exchange for the demon not forcing Scott to brutally take the lives of his wife and daughter. To accomplish his ghoulish task, Scott roams the streets as a serial killer known as Demonic looking for his next victim. Every moment for Scott is a desperate fight as he wrestles between his guilt and his natural born survival instinct to keep his family safe. It’s a great human struggle story with lots of gore to spice it up.
- “Stealth” (Writer Robert Kirkman, Artist Sheldon Mitchell, Cover Marc Silvestri) – This dark tale centers around Todd Carey, a recently
divorced parent who has a daughter flunking out of school and a father who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. What Todd isn’t aware of is that his soon to be senile old man has a secret identity (doesn’t everyone in comics?). Carey, Sr. has been serving up his own brand of justice as the masked vigilante known as Stealth… and this doesn’t bode well for Todd’s future once his aging superhero father moves in with him.
- “Stellar” (Writer Robert Kirkman, Artist Bernard Chang, Cover Marc
Silvestri) – Simply put, poor Stellar got screwed. She is one of five genetically-enhanced super-humans who were created by the government. But unfortunately, the government didn’t get it right (shocking!) and Stellar was treated with a process that made her toxic to other humans. Because of the effect she has on others, Stellar drove everyone around her insane and now she’s alone, roaming the universe and trying her best to only use her jacked-up powers for good. But the loneliness isn’t the only thing Stellar must contend with – she knows the other super-humans are out there and waiting for the most opportune moment to strike.
- “Hardcore” (Writer Robert Kirkman, Artist Brian Stelfreeze, Cover Marc Silvestri) – This title hits the stands on April 14, so here’s the official synopsis of the story which sounds great: “Once the hard
core is shot into the back of your neck, an assassin’s brain waves can be transmitted into your body–circumventing your brain functions–taking complete control of your body. When assassins use this technology–your killer can be anyone; your barber, your neighbor or your wife. They are the best assassins in the world–but what happens when one of their own turns against them? Who can you trust when your enemy can change his appearance as easy as someone changes a shirt?”
All of the books have several cool elements about them and if it’s up to me, I’d like to see more than one of these titles continue. But what I really love about “Pilot Season” is the idea behind it. I may be a television exec, but unfortunately, the pilot greenlight decisions aren’t left up to me. I just get to sit around and watch them get made. But Top Cow’s “Pilot Season” puts all of us in control with the power of our vote. So the next time I have to shell out money for one of the “Pilot Season” titles, I feel some ownership over it and the will to make it a success because somebody finally asked the readers what we think. If only we got that chance in television, right? Cause then we know that at least those evil Real Housewives would have never made it on the air.
The last entry of “Pilot Season 2009/2010” releases next week and I encourage all of you to pick it up and vote for your favorites when the time comes. With “Pilot Season,” Top Cow is making you a part of the process and that’s very cool – an opportunity no comic fan should waste.
Duck season? Rabbit season? No, it’s pilot season!
by Stacey Levin
Ever sit around watching television and see a show that’s so bad, you shout out loud to no one in particular: “How the hell did this get on television!?” Ahh, the wonders of “pilot season.” Yes, there’s actually a name for the time when studios and networks decide what new series they’re going to make. In fact, Hollywood is all a twitter right now because it’s in the midst of “pilot season” – that frantic time of year when the television executives pluck several scripts from the depths of development and make them into a single episode of a television series known as a pilot. Once they’re all completed, the execs view them and decide which ones will be ordered to series and which ones will never see the light of day. Being a television exec myself, I can say that there are often many times when a really good pilot doesn’t get a chance and we sit around and scratch our heads as to why. Here’s an aside: I once worked on a pilot called “Babylon Fields” that was fantastic and to this day, I’m still mourning the decision not to pick it up to series. You guys would have totally loved this show – it was about zombies who return to their lives as they left them when they died. Not crazy 28 Days Later monster zombies – just dead people who didn’t understand why they’re back and how to live as zombies. Am I right? You would have so watched this show.
Memories of “Babylon Fields” makes me wish that execs would show the pilots to the public and let them decide which show they’d watch if it became a series. I can’t even imagine how much money, time and effort that would save everyone involved. And it might help keep some of the “crap” off television. Well, someone at Top Cow was apparently reading my mind when they
decided to create “Pilot Season” for comics – an ingenious plan to launch new comic titles as one-shots and let the fans vote on the winners which will then become new series titles. They first launched the event in 2007 and received a great response from fans and new readers alike. Since then, they’ve chosen the two top-voted titles each year to go to series. Creators ranging from comic veterans to newbies have gotten a shot at the “Pilot Season” test, but this year Top Cow mixed it up a bit. They paired two giants in the industry, writer Robert Kirkman and artist Marc Silvestri, to do five one-shots .
“Pilot Season” 2009/2010 consists of “Murderer,” “Demonic,” “Stealth,” “Stellar” and “Hardcore” with the latter being released next week.
All of the books have several cool elements about them and if it’s up to me, I’d like to see more than one of these titles continue. But what I really love about “Pilot Season” is the idea behind it. I may be a television exec, but unfortunately, the pilot greenlight decisions aren’t left up to me. I just get to sit around and watch them get made. But Top Cow’s “Pilot Season” puts all of us in control with the power of our vote. So the next time I have to shell out money for one of the “Pilot Season” titles, I feel some ownership over it and the will to make it a success because somebody finally asked the readers what we think. If only we got that chance in television, right? Cause then we know that at least those evil Real Housewives would have never made it on the air.
The last entry of “Pilot Season 2009/2010” releases next week and I encourage all of you to pick it up and vote for your favorites when the time comes. With “Pilot Season,” Top Cow is making you a part of the process and that’s very cool – an opportunity no comic fan should waste.