NBC and Peacock Scripted Content President Lisa Katz on Bringing Back Pilot Season

This blog post includes excerpts from a story by TheWrap's Jose Alejandro Bastidas, originally published on Feb. 20, 2026. Read the full story here.

NBC is going all-in on pilots in 2026, circling back to an industry-standard method of making TV in the hopes of crafting the broadcast network's next big hit.

This year, NBC bet on pilot orders for eight new projects – generating 4,000 new jobs across five dramas and three comedies – to produce pilot episodes and test the waters on cast and creative teams before committing to full seasons.

The pilots include a Rockford Files reboot starring David Boreanaz and four other crime procedurals, a multi-cam romantic comedy starring Téa Leoni, a comedy set in a private investigator's office and a buddy comedy with Katey Sagal and Jane Lynch. At least two of those shows would film in Los Angeles.

Pilot season was broadcast TV's top development workflow for decades. Networks would make a combined 40-50 pilots a year as they tested out potential new scripted shows that would entice advertisers to invest on the upcoming season's entertainment schedule. By producing just a single episode, these networks experimented with different genres and concepts to see what did or didn't work. Each season, a dozen shows would come out of those efforts, keeping a steady stream of new titles.

NBC created some of its biggest hits through a traditional pilot season, of course. Friends, Seinfeld, Cheers, Law & Order, ER and 30 Rock all began with pilots before the network picked them up to air.

But the advent of streaming platforms favoring straight-to-series orders, allowing a show to develop its first season in full upon receiving a green light, put pilot production on the back burner for many TV distributors. Production pauses due to Covid and the writers’ and actors' strikes also made the practice difficult.

_{^{The pilot episode of “Friends” (NBC)}}

With those problems behind it, NBC is now bringing the practice back with a 2026 mindset that’s more cost-conscious. And it’s not just NBC, other distributors are also leaning into pilot orders, which revives a stream of Hollywood job opportunities — even if only to produce that one episode.

NBC and Peacock's scripted development teams, led by Katz, looked at over 1,500 submitted pitches for new TV shows during this development cycle, a typical number for the year. From there, roughly 70 projects were developed specifically at NBC. Eight projects received pilot orders, and greenlight decisions on most are expected before NBCUniversal’s 2026-27 season upfront presentation in May, as has been the industry standard.

For drama series, Katz and her team bet on the crime procedural genre. The Rockford Files, from Shades of Blue producer Mike Daniels, is a contemporary retelling of the classic PI series. Network hitmaker Dick Wolf is an executive producer of What the Dead Know, centered on a female "death investigator" who teams up with the NYPD to solve cases. Gossip Girl reboot scribe Josh Safran created Protection, about the mystery surrounding a serial killer targeting a family of law enforcement officers, set to star Peter Krause.

There's also Puzzled, from Charmed reboot writer Joey Falco and starring Damon Wayans Jr., about a savant sports bettor who pivots to solving crimes; and there's one from Quantum Leap EP Dean Georgaris, inspired by the legacy of profiler and author Dr. Ann Burges, starring Emily Deschanel.

NBC is also taking a comedic bite out of the PI apple, with Brooklyn Nine-Nine duo Dan Goor and Luke del Tredici setting their next workplace comedy in the offices of an L.A. private detective's office. Katz said the show could be an effective complement to St. Denis Medical, the hospital-set mockumentary that was already renewed for Season 3 for the 2026-27 season.

The network ordered two more comedy pilots, both for multicam projects to complement the renewed Happy's Place, headlined by Reba McEntire and Belissa Escobedo. Newlyweds, starring Téa Leoni, follows a free-spirited woman and an organized professor who decide to marry after a whirlwind courtship. The second is a buddy comedy starring Katey Sagal and Jane Lynch.

Katz said the schedule could accommodate multiple new series, depending on episode counts and renewal decisions. And while this pilot exercise is NBC-focused, the team could always pick up a show for sibling streamer Peacock, too.

For NBC, the goal is to add another hit show to its 100-year-old legacy – one filled with huge hits that emerged out of pilot season.