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

[MattPriceTime]

I really don't grasp why there's such a paranoia here that streaming is the enemy. I know it's got a nice cushion by virtue of the internet and is far and above it's sister representatives, and the actual "enemy" is sitting in limited form, but to me when i examine this, i'm looking at precedent of past transitions and alternatives and what stands to be making more money for the producers. And often posts on the forum make me go "....huh?"

 

[bretmaverick2]

I don't know if it's been mentioned but I would really like to see a release of a failed WB Aquaman pilot and DARK SHADOWS pilot.

 

[jjvz1989]

There are quite a few I have seen and have collected myself. The ones that I would like to see is
Clerks 1995 Tv Pilot
Chateau Snavely (I have both Amandas and Payne)
The Sixth Gun
Locke and Key
Ball and Chain
Dark Shadows 2004
Dilbert 1997 TV pilot
Holly Golighty
African Queen (Warren Oates version, Have "Safari")
Sad Sack
MCspaced
Oh No not Them
Archie 1978 (have seen the musical)
Sad Sack
The Addams Family Fun-House
Bad Teacher
King of the Hill Live Action Spin off
Catch 22
Cat Ballou
Eastwick 2002
Peep Show 2009
The Rear Guard
Car Wash

To add to the list of DVDs having unsold pilots as extra features:
L.A. Confidential Special Edition
Blazing Saddles Special Edition
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray (Aquaman pilot)
Meet Me in St. Louis
State Fair

 

[jjvz1989]

There are quite a few I have seen and have collected myself. The ones that I would like to see is
Clerks 1995 Tv Pilot
Chateau Snavely (I have both Amandas and Payne)
The Sixth Gun
Locke and Key
Ball and Chain
Dark Shadows 2004
Dilbert 1997 TV pilot
Holly Golighty
African Queen (Warren Oates version, Have "Safari")
Sad Sack
MCspaced
Oh No not Them
Archie 1978 (have seen the musical)
Sad Sack
The Addams Family Fun-House
Bad Teacher
King of the Hill Live Action Spin off
Catch 22
Cat Ballou
Eastwick 2002
Peep Show 2009
The Rear Guard
Car Wash

To add to the list of DVDs having unsold pilots as extra features:
L.A. Confidential Special Edition
Blazing Saddles Special Edition
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray (Aquaman pilot)
Meet Me in St. Louis
State Fair

 

[jjvz1989]

All of them. I have hundreds of unsold pilots recorded from back in the 70s, 80s and 90s when networks would throw them on the air. Plus I've picked up quite a few from film as well but there are still thousands more out there that no one has.

Mr. Brock, I was wondering whether you could maybe share the list of what you have with me, if you have catalogued them of course.

 

[Neil Brock]

Warner Archive Streaming has some vintage shows available which have not come out and probably never will, but I personally don't think it's worth $9.99 a month unless you watch everything you want within a single month's time.Plus their service is kind of buggy and not always very clear. They have a ways to go before they can compete with Netflix, yet they are already charging more. Not surprising given that it's Warners, who ever since the start of the Archive program consistently overprice an inferior product.

When they had their system up as a free test last year, there was no copyguard on it and I was able to record a bunch of shows from there. When it came back, now they do have it copyguarded and you can't record to DVD. Fortunately, DVD ain't the only game in town.

 

[Neil Brock]

Vic, based on a long pattern of posts for many years in this forum, the devil will be driving a Good Humor ice cream truck in hell before "Mr. Brock" shares any of his collection for free.

The people who put stuff up on youtube are the people who are in the same category as those who sell crappy quality multi-generational dubs on Ioffer. Folks who neither originated anything nor spent significant sums to acquire the shows. Rest assured, no one who spends $$$ on a 16mm film print of a show is rushing to offer it up to everyone for free. Ask the people who put together the My Living Doll DVD what the film collectors were asking just to borrow prints.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I would like to see The New Addams Family (aka The Adams Family Halloween Special) released on DVD. I was really hoping that TGG would have released it as part of their MGM titles. I really liked it when I watched it when it first aired. Of course, I was around eleven, so it might not be as great now, but I would really like to see it on DVD. Note: Good Times did release it on VHS which I may have to turn to if I get desparate.

 

[Professor Echo]

When they had their system up as a free test last year, there was no copyguard on it and I was able to record a bunch of shows from there. When it came back, now they do have it copyguarded and you can't record to DVD. Fortunately, DVD ain't the only game in town.

You can still record from it onto DVD, but why bother? The quality is often lacking and for me they don't have anything of any interest, mostly second and third tier shows that weren't very good to begin with.

 

[MatthewA]

Some that came to mind:

—Norman Lear's attempted reboot of Our Gang with Gary Coleman as Stymie.

—The original unaired pilot from Gimme A Break! with Tracey Gold as Samantha and a younger Kanisky son named Matthew (making it a coincidence that the mostly abysmal final season had Nell ending up with an adopted son named Matthew). The plot was the same as the first episode that actually aired (Katie gets caught shoplifting), but it has a different set and some different dialogue. This should have been on VEI's complete series set.

—Used: The proposed Married...With Children sequel that had Al Bundy leaving Peg and dating again. I don't know if they actually taped this, though.

—The proposed NBC sitcom from the late 1990s with Bob Newhart and Sisqo. On paper how can you not love the idea of a cerebral, iconic comedian being paired with the guy who sang "The Thong Song"?

—The Adventures of Pollyanna: A 1982 Disney anthology series episode with Shirley Jones as Aunt Polly. I wonder if they asked Hayley Mills to play the older role. It might end up coming out through Disney Generations.—A Dog's Life: a 1979 pilot with Charles Martin Smith as a dog. This was actually produced by Norman Lear's company after he stopped supervising the shows personally, showing how far their standards had fallen in such a short time. Looks like it might make for good rubbernecking.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

One that I'd like to see released is Savage. This TV movie pilot was from 1973 and starred Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Dabney Coleman. It was written by Levinson & Link and directed by Steven Spielberg. It's not as great as you'd expect of something involving such a talented group, but it was entertaining enough and had potential. (I guess if it was as great as you'd expect, it wouldn't have remained unsold.) I still have a VHS recording somewhere that I made years ago when it showed up on (I think) one of the Encore channels, but it would be nice to see an actual release.

I'm currently waiting on an Amazon order that includes a just-released TV movie (coincidentally also from 1973) called Baffled, with Leonard Nimoy. It was designed as a pilot for a potential series, but it never went beyond this one show. I haven't seen it before, but the descriptions all made it sound interesting enough that I thought I'd take a chance on it. Apparently there was the version that aired in the US and a longer version that aired in the UK (it was made by ITC); and this release has both versions.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Speaking of Landau, here's another one I'd like to see: Haunted, an unsold CBS pilot from the mid 1960s, directed by Outer Limits producer Joseph Stefano. Laudau said several years back in a Starlog interview that although it was never broadcast in the US, it did appear on British television during the time he was living in England/filming Space: 1999. He also claimed to possess a 16mm print of his own that he would occasionally screen for people.

Here's a brief description (from Landau's interview): "It was a wonderful, wonderful pilot. I was a psychic consultant, whose actual profession was the restoration of old Victorian homes. His sub-vocation, or hobby, was psychic research. Whether or not he actually believed in ghosts was never addressed," Landau explains. "Robert Stevens started to direct it, got sick, and Joe Stefano ultimately directed it. It never aired in the United States, but when I was in England doing Space: 1999, it showed up on TV on a British anthology show. People were knocked out by it."

 

[Jakerman1988]

I'd like to see Warner Archive release THE BEST OF TIMES. It was a unsold pilot that aired on CBS in 1983. I assume they have some unaired episodes in their vaults, but it would make my day.

 

[bretmaverick2]

For MASH fans, wasn't there also a pilot for Radar at one point? Was it included in the complete MASH set?

 

[Jack P]

It was called "Walter" and no it was not included in the set. Considering how MASH fans haven't been clamoring for "AfterMASH", I don't think they're eager to see that either.

 

[Jack P]

Bumping this thread, because I think in the tradition of the pinned list threads of shows released on DVD we could use another thread at some point devoted to unsold TV show pilots that are available on DVD. These could fall into these categories.


1-Unaired or aired as one-shots on anthology programs or as a TV movie of the week if it was a 90 minute or two hour pilot film.


2-Aired through the "backdoor" as an episode of an existing TV show.


3-A pilot for a sold series that because of alterations later made resulted in "recycling" of the pilot. We should list only those instances were the original version is available like the first "Lost In Space" pilot or "The Cage".


Because of the high volumes of unsold pilots that were made, obviously we'll never have more than a bare minimum number but it would be nice to take inventory and find out what there is to sample in the best possible format for convenience since these things are as much a part of TV history as the shows we're familiar with.

 

[mark27b]

Adrianne Palicki's Wonder Woman (2011)

 

[upperco]

I've always wanted to see HARRY AND MAGGIE with Don Knotts and Eve Arden.

 

[bretmaverick2]

Many years ago, CBS ran old made for tv movies and tv series up against The Tonight Show. During that time I saw and recorded two shows I had long wanted to see: The New Maverick" and "WALTER" (the failed pilot for a MASH spinoff). At one point I had these on tape, betamax (!!!). Sadly these tapes are long lost.


As I recall the WALTER pilot was fairly entertaining, but like AfterMASH, the character just didn't work as well outside of the mother show.


Like an above poster said earlier, I would really like the failed pilots for DARK SHADOWS and the most recent WONDER WOMAN pilot.


I was under the impression that the failed AQUAMAN pilot had been released as part of a season of SMALLVILLE. True?

 

[Vic Pardo]

I've discovered so many old TV shows on YouTube within the past month or so that were put up by collectors who just wanted to share treasures that would not be available in any other way. I'm not sure who owns the copyright these days on shows like "This Man Dawson" or "Everglades!" or "Rescue 8," but how much would it cost to put up whatever available prints they have on the web? I'd happily pay a copyright owner a reasonable fee if they would put up the shows they own in this manner. If Ziv or CBS or NBC Universal, etc., started their own channel or made them available through an existing service, that would be great. I understand that some TV suppliers already do this through Hulu and such, but I'd love to see a wider range of older titles available before I sign up. Just a thought.

Well, all good things must come to an end. The YouTube channel that offered the shows listed above (bolded), plus dozens of others, all from the '50s, '60s and '70s, was taken down for copyright violations.