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Get a sneak peek at fall's hottest TV pilots | 155848__perry_l
HELLO, OLD 'FRIEND' Perry stars in Aaron Sorkin's backstage drama set at an ''SNL''-type TV show
Matthew Perry: Rebecca McAlpin/Retna

All About

Aaron Sorkin

The script for Prison Break sat in limbo for more than a year before Fox rescued it last fall. My Name Is Earl and Everybody Hates Chris were both rejected by Fox before NBC and UPN resurrected them from oblivion. Almost everyone had a crack at buying Desperate Housewives before ABC finally gave it a chance.

The moral? If the Next Big Thing were easy to spot, the networks' search for shows wouldn't be called ''development hell.'' And that's exactly where the broadcasters are right now, in that manic period between September and April when they spend enough cash on pilots to feed a small country (or cover Jerry Bruckheimer's producing fees for a month). ''[This year] the networks have been edgier,'' says agent Aaron Kaplan. ''They're taking chances.'' So will these ''chances'' make it to air? Here's your insiders' guide to seven shows you'll likely be watching next fall.

STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP
NBC has not one, but two competing series about the behind-the-scenes antics of late-night sketch shows. The first was written by and stars Tina Fey as — big stretch — a head writer for a Saturday Night Live-style program. The second is Studio 60, a drama from Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) starring Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet. Which will make it to air? Even though Fey's show is from SNL's Lorne Michaels, our bets are on Sorkin, who has Perry's comeback going for him. And NBC wouldn't have entered a reported seven-figure bidding war with CBS for Studio 60 if it didn't think Sorkin could deliver.

THE CLASS
Like bored toddlers, NBC and CBS weren't playing nice this year. The networks also sparred over The Class, an ensemble comedy starring Jason Ritter (Joan of Arcadia). Why? Well, the fact that it came from Friendsco-creator David Crane couldn't have hurt. In the end, CBS bought the project, about third-grade classmates who reunite as adults, for a reported seven figures. And this is interesting: The show also stars Andrea Anders from Joey — which doesn't bode well for that comedy's return.


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