After its success on YouTube.com, NBC has ordered six episodes of failed pilot Nobody’s Watching from creators Bill Lawrence, Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan.
NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly says the network took a serious look at the show, which began as a pilot for The WB and started picking up tremendous buzz when it went on the Web, because it is produced by NBC Universal Television Studio (NUTS).
The network plans to put videos on the Web featuring the series’ characters, two sitcom fans taking part in a reality show, Reilly told the Television Critics Assn. press tour Friday in Pasadena, Calif.
“We’re continuing down a unique path,” he said. “Over the next six months, we will…blur fact and fiction.”
Reilly acknowledged being “very surprised” by the reaction the pilot got on YouTube and said NBC has nothing to do with putting it there. He began receiving emails about it while sailing in Mexico.
NBC’s move to bring back a dead pilot passed on by another network is almost unheard of in Hollywood. It has initially attempted to clamp down on YouTube but now sees the Web site to as a way to promote some shows.
Reilly says the network is willing to continue to deal with the service, but only on a “case by case” basis and if it sanctions a project.
Lawrence wants to shoot scenes close to the time the videos appear on the Web to enhance the experience for viewers.
