Inside O.U.T. (1971) Essentially a slapstick version of Get Smart, with Bill Dailey as the head of the government's Office Of Unusual Tactics. The leading lady is a very young Farrah Fawcett, who'd done some Jeannies with Dailey. See if you can recognize the uncredited narrator -- and don't bother looking at IMDb, it's not listed there.
I would love to see the 2004 Dark Shadows pilot for the WB. By all accounts it's terrible, but I want to see it anyway.
Peter Graves? (My wife and I each/both independently came up with Graves, and she did so not even knowing anything at all about the vintage of the clip.) How'd we do?
Star Trek: Assignment Earth Gene Roddenberry used Trek to pitch this show idea. It is strange as the Star Trek cast appear like guest stars on their own show.
I've heard this called "a backdoor pilot" where they attempt to launch another show from an existing show. To me, the difference between this and a spinoff is that the backdoor pilot usually doesn't feature a regular cast member that will go to the new show. An example of some other backdoor pilots: The Twilight Zone - "Cavender Is Calling" (starring Carol Burnett and Jessie White and was the only episode with a laugh track) The Brady Bunch - "Kelly's Kids" Although its not a television series, there are a few cartoons that basically functioned the same manner. As an example, Betty Boop cartoons were used to introduce other characters for a possible series. It likely that the best known one is "Popeye The Sailor" where Betty Boop makes an appearance but it is basically a Popeye cartoon. Note: Checked Wikipedia to verify some of the above information.
The 2002 attempt to reboot THE TIME TUNNEL. Never aired, but included in the 2006 DVDs of the '60s TIME TUNNEL series.
Irwin Allen himself attempted to reboot THE TIME TUNNEL with a telemovie called THE TIME TRAVELERS in 1976.
Gene Roddenberry tried to get other series going after STAR TREK had been cancelled and was experiencing a renaissance in the 70s. First up was GENESIS II:
CBS didn't buy GENESIS II, but ABC gave the go-ahead for the series to be attempted again with a second pilot. This one was called PLANET EARTH. A short opening is here:
Next up for Roddenberry was THE QUESTOR TAPES. Mike Farrell and Robert Foxworth starred. Foxworth was an android built to specs by scientists following the plans of a deceased "creator". The character is sort of an early version of "Data". No video on YouTube. Here's the Wikipedia entry: The Questor Tapes - Wikipedia
I saw the pilot, and also read the novel, and I enjoyed it. It had potential but I don't know if it would have made it as a regular TV series. It might have worked better as a series of TV movies (not uncommon at that time).
this Wonder Woman pilot from a few years ago was really something. Wonder Woman Unaired Pilot - Video Dailymotion
The Man from 1997 (1956) Conflict (TV series) - Wikipedia Actor James Garner caught producer Roy Huggins' attention with a comedic performance as a gambler in a role not specifically written to be comical in the series' sixth episode, a time travel scenario entitled "Man from 1997", leading Huggins to cast Garner as the lead the following year in his television series Maverick, according to Huggins' Archive of American Television interview. In the episode, Charles Ruggles portrays an elderly time-traveling librarian from the future attempting to retrieve a 1997 almanac that he mistakenly left 41 years before it is supposed to exist.
1775 - Unsold pilot for Revolutionary War themed sitcom based around a family inn. With Ryan O'Neal, Jeffrey Tambor, and Adam West as George Washington (1992)
Truly bad and also preposterous. They send a black woman back to WWII and she dresses like a soldier and no one finds it odd. A black woman soldier. There weren't even mixed race platoons with black men in WWII.
There have been literally hundreds of these things made. By the way, Sherwood Schwartz never gave up on the Kelly's Kids concept and in the mid 80s it actually became the series Together We Stand with Dee Wallace and Elliot Gould.
Fascinating! Time capsules of culture and creative personnel. One thing I loved about the old Twilight Zone episodes was seeing so many well-known actors early in their careers or just out of context of the normal tv pap.
There was sort-of a back-door pilot that sprang from an episode of M*A*S*H. The episode was "White Gold", wherein Hilly Hicks played the leader of a band of black marketeers, stealing penicillin from the 4077th. His role wasn't big, but Gelbart & Reynolds attempted to do another service comedy, this time set in WWII, and cast Hilly Hicks in it. It was called ROLL OUT and lasted only about a dozen episode. Roll Out (TV Series 1973–1974) - IMDb
Travis Logan, D.A. (TV Movie 1971) - IMDb TRAVIS LOGAN, D.A. (TV), 1971 DVD: modcinema* Directed by Paul Wendkos Starring: Hal Holbrook, Brenda Vaccaro, Vic Morrow Genres: Crime, Drama, TV Pilot 94 minutes Travis Logan, D.A. is a TV pilot film, originally telecast in March of 1971. Vic Morrow heads the cast as Logan, while Hal Holbrook earns "special guest star" billing as a clever murderer. Logan is prepared to go around with Holbrook's defense team when they try to cop an insanity plea. But a little ardent sleuthing reveals a vital trip-up clue in the form of a shotgun pellet. Though Travis Logan, D.A. did not result in a series, its pilot film was far and away superior to most one-shot of its ilk.
Dear Diary with Bebe Neuwirth Dear Diary (1996) - IMDb This was a failed pilot but it won for Short Oscar. I remember it felt like a jazz poem style. It would never work as a tv show but I thought it was interesting. I see it's on Youtube now. Enjoy!
