Quote: Tokyo Nambu @ July 30 2013, 11:01 PM BSTAnd aren't editors and producers supposed to be able to tell bad from good, broadcast the good and quietly can the bad? Isn't the idea of pilots that you work through the issues in the format and production so that when you make the actual series, it's better? The BBC have now produced three ratings disasters of sitcoms (Heading Out, Wright Way, Strong) which had disastrous first episodes after which it may, or may not, have improved but the audience had already left the building. Might it be worth BBC execs asking themselves what they need to do to make successful programmes?
Er, yeah. That's their job. I don't think the original 'Office' pilot, directed by Ash Atalla, was ever screened on TV. They used it to show execs and focus groups. (Then Gervais/Merchant convinced them to let them direct the series.) So pilots are not always broadcast.
You can understand them making a CAS version for TV if it has a large enough loyal fan base from radio, but it still has to appeal to a new audience. And as you said, it's a bit of a ratings disaster.