Credit: Jessica Kourkounis/Chip Somodevilla/Mireia Triguero Roura

Hollywood is currently in the heat of pilot season, the time of year when TV producers and studios lobby broadcast networks for a shot at having their series appear on the 2017-2018 schedule. A number of pilots already have been picked up, meaning some very important industry people have been given the green light to shoot one episode of a potential show — a calling card, if you will.

One would think that quality has something to do with a pilot’s success, and in some cases it does. But the traits networks are looking for change from season to season, and cultural trends can be an even more powerful determinant of whether a pilot leads to a full-fledged series than originality or artistic vision. Thus the top story of recent months, Donald Trump’s political ascendance, is affecting the current pilot season.

Looking at the collective hand-wringing and soul-searching that took place following the November election, this shouldn’t come as much of a shock. Hollywood sustained a portion of the focus in […]

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