Pilots that didn't make it to a full series - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

bookandfilmnut · 05-08-2013, 03:48 PM

Last evening I was browsing on Amazon's live streaming collection, and rewatched a failed tv series pilot from 1973 called "Baffled", starring Leonard Nimoy as a race car driver who finds out he has psychic abilities and uses them to prevent a murder in England. I had seen it rerun on A&E once before about 22 years ago - back when A&E ran afternoon movies. I actually liked it pretty well then, and enjoyed it again last night. Too bad it never went further than the one pilot/tv movie.

I once saw a similar made for tv movie that was also actually a failed pilot called "Spectre", with Robert Culp as a psychic detective fighting demonic forces.

Over the years, there have undoubtedly been hundreds of pilots that never turned into a series, and probably several dozens of them at least made it to a one-time network broadcast.

Anyone else know of any failed pilots that you saw and liked and wish had become a full fledges series?

MacLeaper · 05-08-2013, 05:01 PM

"The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk" (a live action pilot from 1967 with Rick Gates and Tim Matheson as Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively.)

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202490/)

mr awesome · 07-14-2013, 04:49 PM

I remember there was a pilot called 'The New Saint' that aired on CBS during the Summer of '87 back when they used to have a failed pilot theater hosted by the actor Tim Reid and his wife.

DroopyVids · 07-15-2013, 12:48 AM

I collect some of these. They are a bear to find as Public Domain. But they are out there. Anyone finding one, please tell me where you saw it and if it's not Copyrighted, I can add it to the list.

Failed TV Pilots

DroopyVids

treky · 07-15-2013, 02:34 AM

there was one that Gene Roddenberry wrote and it aired in 1973 (I think) called THE QUESTOR TAPES. I saw part of it on You Tube once, it was good, a shame it never made it to series the way he wanted it.
What happened was, the network-I think CBS-wanted to go with it, but with a lot of changes. They wanted to rename it QUESTOR, ignore the end of the pilot, make it into a "man on the run" series (like THE FUGITIVE) and 1 or 2 more. Rodenberry had just finished STAR TREK a few years earlier where he'd had to put up with similar network interference and it was still fresh in his mind. He didn't want to go through all that again, so he just threw his hands up, said "THE **** WITH IT!!!" and dropped the whole thing. The pilot aired during the summer as a TV movie and was never heard from again.

Tubehead · 07-15-2013, 11:02 AM

I remember one show named baby something were little baby talking it didn't last long I also Remember one show called blind justice it was about this person who want t o be a cop but he was blind person then teen angle didn't last long it was on tgif were this boy who h as best friend dies by eating a chess buger under his bed then he helps his friend out it didn't last long then their was another one called you wish it was about this family that found this genuine it only lasted couple episode's

treky · 07-15-2013, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tubehead

I remember one show named baby something were little baby talking it didn't last long I also Remember one show called blind justice it was about this person who want t o be a cop but he was blind person then teen angle didn't last long it was on tgif were this boy who h as best friend dies by eating a chess buger under his bed then he helps his friend out it didn't last long then their was another one called you wish it was about this family that found this genuine it only lasted couple episode's

those were all short-lived shows; we're talking about pilots that were never made into a series.

benjamoon · 07-15-2013, 11:09 PM

I wish networks still aired the "busted pilots" in the summer. I would be interested in seeing what they passed on, every year there are descriptions of shows that sound interesting

70s show watcher · 07-16-2013, 01:19 AM

there was one that aired in 1979 called mr. and mrs and mr at was about a remarried woman whose first husband who she thought was dead comes back and trys to reenter her life but rather than kick him out she and her new husband decide to let him live with them as a border it was a really funny pilot that should have been picked up

jimpickens · 07-16-2013, 04:12 AM

Two that come to mind were 1985s Aquaman and 1994s birdman.

bencasey · 07-18-2013, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benjamoon

I wish networks still aired the "busted pilots" in the summer. I would be interested in seeing what they passed on, every year there are descriptions of shows that sound interesting

Full pilots are rarely, if ever, produced any more. They do short (5-10 minute) presentation reels now. Too costly to produce actual full pilots.

bmasters9 · 07-18-2013, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr awesome

I remember there was a pilot called 'The New Saint' that aired on CBS during the Summer of '87 back when they used to have a failed pilot theater hosted by the actor Tim Reid and his wife.

IIRC, that was called CBS Summer Playhouse, and it was on for 3 summers: '87, '88, and '89. The '88 and '89 ones had no hosts and no call-in line (the '87 one had a call-in line to vote for which one showed the most promise, IIRC).

Tubehead · 07-20-2013, 09:23 AM

I know they made mini series] on hall mark movie channel of ninja turtles I heard that they couldn't make it cause it would coast lots of money I heard they w ere going to make series or movie of quantum leap then they decide to remake battle star Galactic I heard it was about sams daughter leaping around in time trying to find sam

Will and Grace Fanatic · 07-20-2013, 10:04 AM

They should air every pilot and whichever ones get the best ratings should be pick up.

DroopyVids · 07-20-2013, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will and Grace Fanatic

They should air every pilot and whichever ones get the best ratings should be pick up.

In many of the "Playhouse" type shows, they were used to feel out the public. Some of those presentations became series. It was a good idea when Mystery Theater presented Columbo, Murder She wrote, McCloud, and others that went on to be successful series. They Honeymooners was first presented on another program, Cavalcade of Stars by Dumont in 1951.

Another way was for a farsighted person that is already successful to make a pilot inside their own program. Danny Thomas did exactly that with that little sleepy town of Mayberry and Andy Griffith. Look how popular that was. It wasn't a spinoff, it was designed to feel the public out and listen to the public much like Dumont did with the honeymooners.

Spinoffs from an already tired programming rarely has worked. It just makes a tired programming. Unfortunately, when the other programming is even more lame, what do we watch?

DroopyVids

05-08-2013, 03:48 PM	#1
bookandfilmnut Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 20, 2012 Location: Charleston, WV Posts: 157	Pilots that didn't make it to a full series Last evening I was browsing on Amazon's live streaming collection, and rewatched a failed tv series pilot from 1973 called "Baffled", starring Leonard Nimoy as a race car driver who finds out he has psychic abilities and uses them to prevent a murder in England. I had seen it rerun on A&E once before about 22 years ago - back when A&E ran afternoon movies. I actually liked it pretty well then, and enjoyed it again last night. Too bad it never went further than the one pilot/tv movie. I once saw a similar made for tv movie that was also actually a failed pilot called "Spectre", with Robert Culp as a psychic detective fighting demonic forces. Over the years, there have undoubtedly been hundreds of pilots that never turned into a series, and probably several dozens of them at least made it to a one-time network broadcast. Anyone else know of any failed pilots that you saw and liked and wish had become a full fledges series?

05-08-2013, 05:01 PM	#2
MacLeaper Child of the 80s Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 20, 2001 Posts: 3,355	"The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk" (a live action pilot from 1967 with Rick Gates and Tim Matheson as Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively.) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202490/)
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07-15-2013, 12:48 AM	#4
DroopyVids Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jun 18, 2013 Location: Colorado Posts: 82	I collect some of these. They are a bear to find as Public Domain. But they are out there. Anyone finding one, please tell me where you saw it and if it's not Copyrighted, I can add it to the list. Failed TV Pilots DroopyVids
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07-15-2013, 02:34 AM	#5
treky star trek fan Eternal Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 25, 2002 Location: Conshohocken, pennsylvania Posts: 14,490	there was one that Gene Roddenberry wrote and it aired in 1973 (I think) called THE QUESTOR TAPES. I saw part of it on You Tube once, it was good, a shame it never made it to series the way he wanted it. What happened was, the network-I think CBS-wanted to go with it, but with a lot of changes. They wanted to rename it QUESTOR, ignore the end of the pilot, make it into a "man on the run" series (like THE FUGITIVE) and 1 or 2 more. Rodenberry had just finished STAR TREK a few years earlier where he'd had to put up with similar network interference and it was still fresh in his mind. He didn't want to go through all that again, so he just threw his hands up, said "THE **** WITH IT!!!" and dropped the whole thing. The pilot aired during the summer as a TV movie and was never heard from again.
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07-15-2013, 11:02 AM	#6
Tubehead Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 12, 2007 Location: chattanooga.tn Posts: 5,139	show got canled I remember one show named baby something were little baby talking it didn't last long I also Remember one show called blind justice it was about this person who want t o be a cop but he was blind person then teen angle didn't last long it was on tgif were this boy who h as best friend dies by eating a chess buger under his bed then he helps his friend out it didn't last long then their was another one called you wish it was about this family that found this genuine it only lasted couple episode's

07-14-2013, 04:49 PM	#3
mr awesome Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 23, 2013 Location: pittsburgh Posts: 275	I remember there was a pilot called 'The New Saint' that aired on CBS during the Summer of '87 back when they used to have a failed pilot theater hosted by the actor Tim Reid and his wife.

07-15-2013, 11:09 PM	#8
benjamoon Bewitched Senior Member Join Date: Jun 15, 2000 Location: New York Posts: 1,450	I wish networks still aired the "busted pilots" in the summer. I would be interested in seeing what they passed on, every year there are descriptions of shows that sound interesting
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07-16-2013, 01:19 AM	#9
70s show watcher Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: May 20, 2008 Location: between point place and studio 8 h Posts: 4,548	there was one that aired in 1979 called mr. and mrs and mr at was about a remarried woman whose first husband who she thought was dead comes back and trys to reenter her life but rather than kick him out she and her new husband decide to let him live with them as a border it was a really funny pilot that should have been picked up

07-16-2013, 04:12 AM	#10
jimpickens Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 01, 2007 Location: weston,wv Posts: 1,389	Two that come to mind were 1985s Aquaman and 1994s birdman.

07-20-2013, 09:23 AM	#13
Tubehead Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 12, 2007 Location: chattanooga.tn Posts: 5,139	ninja tutrtles min i seriers / quantma leap I know they made mini series] on hall mark movie channel of ninja turtles I heard that they couldn't make it cause it would coast lots of money I heard they w ere going to make series or movie of quantum leap then they decide to remake battle star Galactic I heard it was about sams daughter leaping around in time trying to find sam

07-20-2013, 10:04 AM	#14
Will and Grace Fanatic be happy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 15, 2002 Location: seattle, washington Posts: 2,746	They should air every pilot and whichever ones get the best ratings should be pick up.
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