When it comes to sitcom pilots, it's not exactly a secret that most of the pilots that get produced aren't really any good. In most cases, the producers haven't been able to come up with a pilot that would be good enough and that could entertain us.
The biggest reason for this lack of quality in pilots has to do with the show's lacking premise. The 'concept' and the 'premise' for the series in most shows is not good enough, which means that the series just doesn't have potential to be any good.
In order to give you an example of a bad pilot, let's look at a recent sitcom called 'Abby's'. This comedy about 'an unlicensed backyard bar' and its characters started running some weeks ago on NBC as a mid-season replacement for the network.
When it comes to Abby's as a series, the premise for the show isn't necessarily that original. The main concept for it was more or less taken from 'Cheers', a popular and critically well received sitcom from the 80s, about a bar owner and its regular customers.
Based on the massive success of 'Cheers' (it went on for eleven whole seasons), it wasn't that surprising that someone tried to 'copy' the show. What could go wrong with imitating a concept that during its run managed to win multiple Emmys?
Unfortunately, when it comes to 'Abby's', the show simply doesn't work at all. Unlike Cheers, a classic quality show that really knew what it was about, pretty much nothing about this new sitcom feels even remotely natural or organic.
For example, when it comes to the basic premise of the show, the setup in 'Abby's' feels painfully illogical. It just doesn't feel believable - storywise at least - that someone would come up with an illegal backyard bar like they did here.
In practice, the problem with not having a solid premise is that if you don't have one that makes sense, it's impossible to care about anything that happens on the show. You can't take the characters seriously, because the whole thing feels just implausible.
In comparison, one of the reasons that 'Cheers' worked is that it took place in a regular bar that had its owner and its regular customers. There wasn't anything in the premise that would make you think that it wasn't plausible and that it couldn't happen in real life.
Furthermore as a whole, 'Cheers' was also genuinely well written. It respected its down to earth characters that you were able to relate to (Ted Danson's & Shelley Long's especially) and the storylines that the writers managed to come up with were creative.
On the other hand, when it comes to 'Abby's' pretty much nothing in it works or is even remotely logical. The premise is just too contrived and the characters (at best cardboard cut outs) and the storylines (non-existent) aren't even remotely well thought out.
In that sense, it's pretty clear that had the producers paid even a little bit more attention to the show's premise, things would have been at least a bit better. In that case there would have been at least a chance that the show would make a tiny bit more sense.
After all, had those behind the show done their work, 'Abby's' wouldn't have been so unfocused and so all over the place. There wouldn't have been so many idiotic things about it (like the bar keeper having hundreds of arbitrary 'rules' for the customers).
In the end, when you put it all together, even though I'm not saying that coming up with good pilots certainly isn't easy, it shouldn't be that hard. It shouldn't be completely impossible to be able to come up with a premise that has at least some potential.
After all, if one has even a tiny bit of talent when it comes to knowing what makes sense and what has potential, coming up with a solid premise should be doable. It should be possible to come up with story & characters that wouldn't be completely awful.
Unfortunately for us, in the case of 'Abby's', the writers simply didn't do their jobs. They did not pay enough attention to making sure that the premise would be even remotely plausible and that it would make at least some sense.
On the contrary, instead of coming up with a solid premise, they came up with an awful one. They came up with a awful one in which the show didn't have enough potential and in which it didn't have any of the elements that made 'Cheers' so good during its run.
In order to give you an example of a bad pilot, let's look at a recent sitcom called 'Abby's'. This comedy about 'an unlicensed backyard bar' and its characters started running some weeks ago on NBC as a mid-season replacement for the network.
When it comes to Abby's as a series, the premise for the show isn't necessarily that original. The main concept for it was more or less taken from 'Cheers', a popular and critically well received sitcom from the 80s, about a bar owner and its regular customers.
Based on the massive success of 'Cheers' (it went on for eleven whole seasons), it wasn't that surprising that someone tried to 'copy' the show. What could go wrong with imitating a concept that during its run managed to win multiple Emmys?
Unfortunately, when it comes to 'Abby's', the show simply doesn't work at all. Unlike Cheers, a classic quality show that really knew what it was about, pretty much nothing about this new sitcom feels even remotely natural or organic.
For example, when it comes to the basic premise of the show, the setup in 'Abby's' feels painfully illogical. It just doesn't feel believable - storywise at least - that someone would come up with an illegal backyard bar like they did here.
In practice, the problem with not having a solid premise is that if you don't have one that makes sense, it's impossible to care about anything that happens on the show. You can't take the characters seriously, because the whole thing feels just implausible.
In comparison, one of the reasons that 'Cheers' worked is that it took place in a regular bar that had its owner and its regular customers. There wasn't anything in the premise that would make you think that it wasn't plausible and that it couldn't happen in real life.
Furthermore as a whole, 'Cheers' was also genuinely well written. It respected its down to earth characters that you were able to relate to (Ted Danson's & Shelley Long's especially) and the storylines that the writers managed to come up with were creative.
On the other hand, when it comes to 'Abby's' pretty much nothing in it works or is even remotely logical. The premise is just too contrived and the characters (at best cardboard cut outs) and the storylines (non-existent) aren't even remotely well thought out.
In that sense, it's pretty clear that had the producers paid even a little bit more attention to the show's premise, things would have been at least a bit better. In that case there would have been at least a chance that the show would make a tiny bit more sense.
After all, had those behind the show done their work, 'Abby's' wouldn't have been so unfocused and so all over the place. There wouldn't have been so many idiotic things about it (like the bar keeper having hundreds of arbitrary 'rules' for the customers).
In the end, when you put it all together, even though I'm not saying that coming up with good pilots certainly isn't easy, it shouldn't be that hard. It shouldn't be completely impossible to be able to come up with a premise that has at least some potential.
After all, if one has even a tiny bit of talent when it comes to knowing what makes sense and what has potential, coming up with a solid premise should be doable. It should be possible to come up with story & characters that wouldn't be completely awful.
Unfortunately for us, in the case of 'Abby's', the writers simply didn't do their jobs. They did not pay enough attention to making sure that the premise would be even remotely plausible and that it would make at least some sense.
On the contrary, instead of coming up with a solid premise, they came up with an awful one. They came up with a awful one in which the show didn't have enough potential and in which it didn't have any of the elements that made 'Cheers' so good during its run.
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