Backdoor pilot

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A backdoor pilot (from English backdoor , back door ' ) is a marketing strategy for the introduction of a new television series . For this purpose, the pilot film (or a clearly delimited mini-series ) is produced and broadcast on its own, so that the production of an ongoing series “through the back door” can only be started if there is appropriate approval. On the one hand, weaknesses can be identified and remedied in this way before the “real” start of series production, and on the other hand, the financial damage in the event of non-continuation is kept small. Backdoor pilots are usually not advertised as such.

An important platform for this form of pilot was provided by anthology series such as Incredible Stories . In the meantime, backdoor pilots are often conceived as individual episodes of already established series, which further reduces the effort required for shooting due to the resulting synergy effects . In addition, a target group for the new product can be addressed in this way - fans should be given the opportunity to start an additional series. This form of backdoor pilot can often be recognized by the fact that the narrative format changes for a short period of time (often only individual episodes) or new characters appear in a leading role. In general, series that are developed from an ongoing series are referred to as offshoots (see also franchise ).

For example, the investigators of JAG - On behalf of the honor in the double episode Eisige Zeiten from season eight are supported by a new team whose stories will be continued in Navy CIS . A planet called Earth ( Spaceship Enterprise , Season 2) was planned as an independent pilot film and was only later fitted into the Star Trek cosmos. A subsequent series was never commissioned. In contrast, Battlestar Galactica was based on a two-part miniseries.

The general term crossover is to be distinguished when two television series that are already in production overlap in terms of content - for example through guest appearances by the respective characters. Both concepts, however, have in common that in this way the thought game of a common fictional world (“series universe”) is made possible.

literature

  • Rüdiger Petersen: "Series spin-off" as a strategy for program development , Institute for Broadcasting Economics at the University of Cologne, Cologne 2004. ISBN 3-934156-84-3 (also as online text, PDF file )

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