L.A. Screenings Buyer Feedback: ProSiebenSat.1 Media

LOS ANGELES/UNTERFOEHRING, June 6: Rüdiger Böss, the head of program acquisitions at ProSiebenSat.1 Media gives World Screen Newsflash his perspective on the new crop of pilots he screened in Los Angeles.

After watching the new shows presented by the studios in Hollywood, Böss feels, “Overall it was not a bad year. There were no big ‘sure thing’ [series] like Desperate Housewives, but there were a few very good dramas. The producers have learned from last year, [when there were] many serial flops like Vanished or Runaway, and they are back into easier storytelling,” he explains.

“Off course, everybody is looking for the next Desperate Housewives and offered Cashmere Mafia (very good), Lipstick Jungle (not too intriguing) and the male version Big Shots (I liked it),” Böss continues. “Sure things are Gossip Girl, Sarah Connor Chronicles from Warner Bros. International Televison, Reaper or the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Private Practice at Disney-ABC International Television. A very good drama, but it’s a procedural, is Damages from Sony, which reminded me of Murder One. And in the vein of House now comes a [complex, offbeat] police officer in Life, from NBC Universal Television Distribution.

Böss was quite impressed with Californication although he pointed out that this series is better suited for pay TV than free TV. In fact, the show airs on Showtime in the U.S.

He also believes the studios took some risks this year, with shows like Pushing Daisies, which he describes as, “delivered in a Tim Burton style, or Viva Laughlin, with a permanently dancing Hugh Jackman—very strange!”

B?rightly points out that, “As always, it’s not easy to judge from the pilot; we will see, and have already optioned our hits.”