L.A. Screenings: Which Shows Got the Most Buzz

This story first appeared in the June 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Gotham, Warner Bros. TV’s Batman spinoff about young Bruce Wayne, has emerged from the L.A. Screenings with the most buzz, international buyers tell THR.  “A smart origins story, beautifully produced with a strong cast,” says Sarah Wright, head of acquisitions for BSkyB, of the series starring Ben McKenzie. Notes Jeffrey Schlesinger, president of Warner Bros. Worldwide TV Distribution, “Broadcasters look at [Gotham] as something that has built-in name recognition.”

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Also getting high marks at the annual billion-dollar TV sell-off for global buyers is Disney’s How to Get Away With Murder, starring Viola Davis and produced by Shonda Rhimes. Wayward Pines, M. Night Shyamalan‘s 10-episode thriller from FX Productions, also has fans. “An intense level of suspense,” says Aline Marrache-Tesseraud of Canal Plus.

The Mysteries of Laura, a Warner Bros. comedy starring Debra Messing, is cited by Ruediger Boess of ProSiebenSat1 Group, along with WBTV’s Stalker and Gotham, as having “high production value, perfect writing, good casting and a great sense of emotion.” Satisfaction , an NBCU dramedy about an investment banker, is among the few comedies a Scandinavian buyer liked: “The sitcoms we saw were pretty poor,” but Satisfaction was “funny and extremely relatable.” Sony’s comedy Marry Me also got a thumbs-up from Wright: “It had me in stitches throughout.”

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Prabal Gurung