Television pilot

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A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom, Ireland and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television broadcaster or other distributor. A pilot is created to be a testing ground to gauge whether a series will be successful. Television networks use pilots to determine whether an entertaining concept can be successfully realized and whether the expense of additional episodes is justified, much like pilot experiments serve as precursors for choosing which full-scale research projects will move forward with an investment of time and money. Variety estimates that, across the big four US networks alone, roughly 100 pilots will be reviewed by network executives each year, with only a little over a quarter proceeding to the series stage, with the remainder never being seen by a viewing audience. Once a pilot has been successful in getting a show ordered...

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