The month of May will soon be upon us, and, according to ancient calendars, promises to be a good one. In the Hindu calendar, May is the Jyeshtha month (or month of Buddha). In the Chinese calendar, May (and in particular May 21) indicates the time when the “seeds from the grain are becoming full.”
In the international television calendar, May means the L.A. Screenings. When they first began, they were known as the “May Screenings,” but when they moved to June, calling them the “May Screenings” no longer made sense, so they became the “L.A. Screenings.” We at VideoAge also like to think that this name change was thanks to a nudge from us as we began referring to the event as the “L.A. Screenings” in 1983.
Because of the pandemic, the L.A. Screenings were held virtually for two consecutive years: 2020 and 2021. This time, the U.S. studios will host hybrid screenings that will combine in-person and virtual elements, while the indies that tend to buzz around the studios’ new TV season presentations to international buyers will only have in-person meetings.
As for the 2022-2023 TV broadcast season, the U.S. networks are looking at 36 new pilots, of which 24 are dramas and 12 are comedies. NBC and CBS have the largest number of dramas, with six each.
Most of the pilots come from CBS Studios and 20th Television (meaning Disney), which each have nine. Next up is Universal with seven pilots, then Warner Bros. TV with five. There are also a couple of new series co-produced by multiple studios.
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