Play Spot the US TV Commission
Five of these are genuine pilots for new American shows - the other five we've made up. Can you tell which is which?
- Paul Jones
Published: Friday, 25 January 2013 at 3:20 pm
This week has seen confirmation of a raft of new commissions from major US TV networks including ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. Among them are pilots for stateside re-makes of British shows such as Pulling and Gavin & Stacey as well as movie spin-offs like Beverly Hills Cop and About a Boy.
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But alongside those there are a number of less immediately explicit titles. Below are five of them. For each one we've given you the genuine series pitch, plus a made-up one of our own. The question is, can you tell the real US commission from the ones we've invented? Some are harder than others...
Donor Party
A: A professional slacker is forced to grow up when he discovers he has a child resulting from his days as a sperm donor. After a single mother contacts him with the news, he begins a relationship with her and the son he never knew he had.
B: A private hospital arranges a social event aimed at pairing up terminally ill organ donors with prospective recipients. Friendships and alliances develop – but with so much at stake, can anyone really be trusted?
Answer: A
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Ex-Men
A: A young man finds camaraderie among the more experienced guys he meets in a short-term rental complex.
B: A group of post-op transsexuals become masked, high-heeled crimefighters after meeting at a counselling group for victims of violent crime.
Answer: A
REVEAL
The Returned
A: Sitcom about the disastrous love lives of a group of staff working on the returns and refunds counter of a busy department store.
B: Things will never be the same again for the people of Aurora after the loved ones they have buried and mourned begin to return from the dead.
Answer: B
REVEAL
Holding Patterns
A: Ensemble comedy about a group of friends whose lives change for ever after they survive a plane crash.
B: Margaret has the best collection of knitting patterns in town – and her fellow anatics will do anything to get their hands on them...
Answer: A
REVEAL
The List
A: A post-apocalyptic Los Angeles is under the sway of a religious cult which follows the teachings of an ancient manuscript. But the text is actually a to-do list that once belonged to 21st-century singleton Brad, whose life is revealed in flashback.
B: When members of the Federal Witness Security Program start turning up dead, a US Marshal leads the hunt for the person who stole “the list”, a top secret file that identifies every member of the program.
Answer: B
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Authors
Paul JonesExecutive Editor, RadioTimes.com
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