7 career lessons you can learn from TV pilot season

7 career lessons you can learn from TV pilot season7 career lessons you can learn from TV pilot seasonEvery year, about this time, the networks announce the new TV lineups and listings of shows that will debut in the fall. And every fall, the majority of those pilots disappear without as much as a whimper, never to be heard of again - unless its in the form of a punchline. Believe it or not, there are a lot of career lessons to be learned from the best and worst TV pilots.Here are some in no particular orderTheres no stigma to failA few years back screenwriter Noah Hawley wrote in The Hollywood Reporter about the great unknown secret of the TV industry, and it was sad. According to Hawley, about 92% of all TV pilots fail. And because so many shows fail or never see the light of day, something unexpectedly delightful happened - catastrophe is seen as experience, not acareer killer. Or as Hawley wrote in TV, the thinking goes, each step forward a writer-producer takes imbues him or he r with valuable job skills and authority. Once youve been The Boss, therefore, you remain A Boss, even after your show disappears.TV pilot lesson learned Keep the skills you learn on the way to improve your chances the next time around.A badeanstalt review isnt necessarily fatal to your careerWhen Friends debuted, it was dismissed as being fruchtweinly a Seinfeld rip-off. People didnt hate it, but they couldnt seem to find much to love about it. Critics, viewers, and the network gave the show a chance though, and Friends ended up being one of the longest-running sitcoms in TV history.TV pilot lesson learned One bad performance review shouldnt color your entire career. Try to improve and show just how far youve come.You can always find direction as you goEven the most die-hard Parks and Recreation fans will admit that the first season of the show was pretty awful. Also, boring. Oh, and there wasnt all that much character development or originality. Somehow the show picked up momentum - and rabid fans - and the show ended up a cult classic.TV pilot lesson learned Starting a new job, can be daunting. And sometimes when you start, it isnt all that clear where youll be going once you get there. Work with your team to keep improving and you might just end up a massive success.Work it. Then rework itPretty much anyone who loves Game of Thrones raves about the pilot it was thrilling and set the stage for the seasons to come. That said, it wasnt the original pilot. Wait, what? True story. The original pilot had a somewhat different cast and plot trajectory and by all reports was nothing short of awful.TV pilot lesson learned If you believe in something, give it your all. If it doesnt live up to your vision or expectations, dont be afraid to tear it down and start over again.Theres no cure for boringThe Wire is one of the most critically acclaimed shows of all times. People who love it sound almost reverential when discussing various plots and character relationships . People who hate it probably never got through that first excruciating hour.TV pilot lesson learned Even if you have the most innovative plan or project on earth, people wont be interested in it if you cant find a way to capture their interest. Start strong and build in interesting points as you go.Show dont tellIf there was ever a pilot that fully expressed the full range of emotions of the upcoming series it was the absolute perfection of The Walking Dead. The pilot didnt rely on dialogue or even gratuitous zombie scenes to express the full horror of what the world had become.TV pilot lesson learned If youre good at what you do, dont hold the bag. Dont brag about it, dazzle them with your skills instead.Dont stop believingBy the time that the pilot script for Mad Men made its way to the executives at AMC it had been bounced around for over eight years - and rejected at every turn. Somehow though, someone took a chance and Mad Men ended up being one of the most ground-breaking sh ows in the history of television.TV pilot lesson learned Just because something doesnt work for them, doesnt mean it wont work for you. If you believe strongly enough in the power of something, keep going until youve proven everyone else wrong. But choose wisely. You dont always want to be known as the champion of underdogs.