What unsold pilots would you like to see released (1 Viewer)

[spiny norman]

Judging by "The best TV shows that never were", most of them were rejected for a reason. A collection of pilots might still be fun, but more in a kind of cheesefesty way.

On occasion the creators block it on purpose, for example with Buffy and The Black Adder. (Those are two pilots, so not one for a very strange crossover.)

 

[Vladut_Vasilescu]

Hello,

I would love to see released one day on DVD / Blu-Ray the following unsold TV Series pilots:

1). 'The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre' (1964) [70 min., B & W, directed by Joseph Stefano / Robert Stevens] or 'The Haunted' [50 min., shorter version of 'The Ghost...']:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312723/

2). 'Lights Out' aka 'When Widows Weep' (1972) [60 min., created by Arch Oboler]:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068857/

3). 'Ghostbreakers' (1967) [60 min., directed by Don Medford]:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0447171/

* I would pay good money for a copy of one or more of the titles above, in any video format!! Any leads would be highly appreciated!!

The Best Wishes,

Vlad

 

[Vladut_Vasilescu]

Info on 'The Haunted' (1964) pilot, but in Japanese language - from Kanazawa Film Festival 2010 - some screenshots from that screening are also included!! Just press ENTER!

http://www.honeyee.com/feature/2010/horror_night_out/

 

[Neil Brock]

Info on 'The Haunted' (1964) pilot, but in Japanese language - from Kanazawa Film Festival 2010 - some screenshots from that screening are also included!! Just press ENTER!

http://www.honeyee.com/feature/2010/horror_night_out/

The Haunted is a better way to view this pilot. The movie version is needlessly padded out with every bit of extra footage that was shot in order to expand the running time to movie length. The show was actually listed on early versions of the CBS Fall Schedule for that year before they decided not to pick it up.

 

[Neil Brock]

I would love to see unaired series, shows that were scheduled and shot by networks and then pulled before airing. When Shout put out the Maude set, I had hopes that they would have included Onward and Upward, the revamped version of the Maude goes to Congress series, which featured John Amos. This was then revamped again into Mr. Dugan with Cleavon Little. They taped 3 of those and I have promos from recordings of shows earlier in the week. Snip I've seen all 6 episodes of at the Museum of Broadcasting. That would have been a big hit if NBC aired it but they chose not to.

 

[MartinP.]

I'd like to see the BBC pilot for BEWITCHED they did in 2008, with Frances de la Tour as Endora.

And the FARGO pilot that was aired once on the TRIO network, though I didn't see it.

There are two Desi Arnaz Productions pilots on THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW dvd's, as well as the original pilot for that show. The others are THE CAROL CHANNING SHOW and LAND'S END.

 

[spiny norman]

I would love to see unaired series, shows that were scheduled and shot by networks and then pulled before airing.

To me it's always a bit weird to see an old TV series that has no history (in our memories, I mean). There was "Beyond the veil" from 1958 starring Boris Karloff in a not-too-scary anthology series of 12 episodes. It was rediscovered some 40 years later.

 

[Darby67]

To me it's always a bit weird to see an old TV series that has no history (in our memories, I mean). There was "Beyond the veil" from 1958 starring Boris Karloff in a not-too-scary anthology series of 12 episodes. It was rediscovered some 40 years later.

And Timeless Media Group's complete series release of that show was a delightful blind buy for me and I wound up thoroughly enjoying the episodes.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Just for fun, does anyone know where I can find a complete list of circulating unaired Pilots (sold or unsold)? And I'm not including Game Shows.

I found a few sites, as well the unaired Mr. Terrific Pilot (W/Alan Young).

http://www.freewebs.com/workprints/unairedpilots.htm

http://www.workprinttrade.com/unaired-pilots

 

[spiny norman]

And Timeless Media Group's complete series release of that show was a delightful blind buy for me and I wound up thoroughly enjoying the episodes.

In that case, make sure you got the full 12 episodes and not just 10.

The pilot-like episode from "Telephone time" apparently also exists with a "Veil" introduction by Karloff. That is not the version on the DVD but a reliable 16mm collector told me he had it that way.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Don't remember the name of the pilot, but it aired many years ago. It starred Fred Gynne as a medical examiner before that idea had been done to death. I remember it featured Gynn'es droll humor and my wife and I both loved it. We wish it had been picked up as a series.

 

[Darby67]

In that case, make sure you got the full 12 episodes and not just 10.

The pilot-like episode from "Telephone time" apparently also exists with a "Veil" introduction by Karloff. That is not the version on the DVD but a reliable 16mm collector told me he had it that way.

Wells:

The Timeless Media Group release does have all 12 episodes including the unofficial pilot "The Vestris" that aired on Telephone Time; here is the Amazon listing: http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Unexpla...m_dvd_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

[spiny norman]

Wells:

The Timeless Media Group release does have all 12 episodes including the unofficial pilot "The Vestris" that aired on Telephone Time; here is the Amazon listing: http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Unexpla...m_dvd_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Yes, I know, but there were also sets with "just" 10 episodes.

 

[Larry Tate]

The Boston Terrier Pilot "Salem Witch Hunt" February.28 1963

In 1960 Blake Edwards chose 27-year old Robert Vaughn to be the lead in a new private eye show called "The Boston Terrier". Vaughn had been magnificent in "The Magnificent Seven" and received an Oscar nomination for "The Young Philadelphians".

Vaughn was often dazzling in TV guest star performances. He was handsome, intelligent, smooth, and a fine actor. Robert Vaughn had the potential to be a great series lead in the Cary Grant mold. He could clearly follow in the fine footsteps of David Janssen ("Richard Diamond"), Craig Stevens ("Peter Gunn") and John Vivyan ("Mr. Lucky").Robert Vaughn played A. Dunster Lowell, aka "The Boston Terrier". Lowell was the scion of one of Boston's finest families. He had breeding and class. Dunster was a Phi Betta Kappa graduate of Harvard.

He drove around in a spiffy, foreign, convertible coupe sports car. He had a Boston terrier dog who went everywhere with him.Dunster had a cranky friend on the force (Robert Wilke). A former professor of Dunster's served as his scientific consultant (John McGiver).

The professor had a sexy, apparently underage daughter who kept making the moves on Dunster, who, as a true gentleman, gently refused them.
Lovely Diana Millay was the girl in the case.

The second one is the one i want to see on DVD or anywhere else.

Blake Edwards and Robert Vaughn didn't give up.
They made another pilot for "The Boston Terrier", this one 30-minutes instead of 60-minutes. Elizabeth Montgomery guest starred, and she always added sex appeal, energy, and a convincing performance to anything she was in.

The 30-minute version was much better. It looked and sounded a lot more like the great "Peter Gunn" and "Mr. Lucky".

There seemed to be more on-location shooting. Blake Edwards clearly had much more control over the second pilot. But the series still didn't sell. Private eyes were out and doctors were in.

 

[Neil Brock]

The networks used to air many unsold pilots, especially during the summertime. Those of us who did a lot of recording picked up hundreds of them, starting in the late 70s. 16mm film collectors also were able to get tons of them that were for sale and I'm sure if one was interested they would still turn up on ebay, although if they are highly sought after the prices could soar.

 

[Frank Soyke]

It's too soon to say whether it's successful or not, but you can believe Warners is investing very heavily into streaming, believing it to be the future of home entertainment. My sources at the studio say they will eventually abandon their physical media departments altogether and focus strictly on streaming. We'll see if this comes to pass.

This is the root of my fear that if we don't get the detective shows within the next years or 2, we will never see them.

 

[Gary16]

This is the root of my fear that if we don't get the detective shows within the next years or 2, we will never see them.

Well they pulled 77 and Eye from their archive streaming. All that's left is a "best of Surfside 6".