It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Wait, wasn't that last month? Actually, it's the best and worst time for me at work. I read TV and film scripts for a living, and create character descriptions for the roles being cast so that agents, managers and actors know what to expect during auditions.

January through April is pilot season, the busiest time of the year. This is when all the networks buy pilots for new series, with an eye toward debuting them in the fall or next January. Actors from New York fly out to L.A. to maximize their chances and there's a general sense of excitement and momentum going into the "upfronts," the big demonstrations from networks to advertisers in which they trot out their new programming slates.

The Good:
I love getting the inside scoop on the most buzzed-about new shows.

The Bad:
I can't tell anyone about them!

The Good:
We're insanely busy.

The Bad:
We're insanely busy. It's not like everything else stops for pilot season, it's just added to it, so we're still reading regular episodes of established shows, as well as film scripts.

The Good:
I can play "Who Should They Cast?" in my head and see if I'm right.

The Bad:
Sometimes the pilot scripts that I love the most don't make it to air, and if it ends on a cliffhanger, I NEVER GET TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS. I still remember a pilot I read in 2006 that didn't get a series pick-up, and I STILL think it would've been a great show, and I STILL wonder where they were gonna go with it.