Unsold TV Pilots

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by JozefK, Jul 15, 2018.

  1. WLL

    WLL Popery Of Mopery

    ...Another 70s unsold pilot I don't think I knew of till recent - THE SUNSHINE BOYS. The Neil Simon play/movie, I know the latter, which ends with both Sunshine Boys, unbeknownst to each other, agreeing to move into the same Old Showbiz Timers' Home in Joisey - so presumably the sitcom version would have dealt with the SBs being adorably cranky old guys interacting with each other and their fellow residents of the OSTH, plus The Kid, The Black Guy and others of the staff there? Does my Scotss blood give me second sight upon occasion or what, I ask ye laddie:D?
     
  2. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Hollywood Dog (1990)

    Failed FOX pilot featuring Hank Azaria as the voice of the animated titular character

     
    Steve Litos likes this.
  3. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
  4. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    There is a fascinating book on the early 1970s non-Star Trek work of Gene Roddenberry that goes into an extraordinary amount of detail of all these shows. Roddenberry really worked very hard to get into other things, though ultimately the only thing that succeeded was a re-boot of Star Trek. Along the way were several unsold TV pilots, feature film projects that went nowhere, and unfinished ideas.

    These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s,
    Volume 1 (1970-75)
     
  5. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Poor Devil (1973)

    Poor Devil (1973) was an NBC television film that served as an unsold pilot of a comedy series. The film was first broadcast on NBC on February 14, 1973.

    Sammy Davis Jr. starred as "Sammy", a demon from Hell who desires a promotion from working in the furnace room. Lucifer, played by horror veteran Christopher Lee, tells Sammy that he must first convince a San Francisco accountant named Burnett J. Emerson (Jack Klugman) to sell his soul. The film also starred Adam West.​

     
  6. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Inside Danny Baker (1963)

    Family sitcom loosely inspired by the classic "Dreams of Glory" cartoons by William Steig, about a Walter Mitty-ish young boy. The fascinating thing about this Leave It To Beaveresque show is that it was written by Mel Brooks, who in later years would denigrate such programs as being far beneath him.

    [​IMG]



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    [​IMG]

    Mel Brooks’s lackluster attempt at TV with Inside Danny Baker
     
  7. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Wheel Of Fortune pilot Shopper's Bazaar (1973)

    The first pilot, taped in September 1973, put more emphasis on shopping for prizes at the behest of NBC boss Lin Bolen, who had commissioned the pilot to boost network daytime ratings among women 18-34. With Chuck Woolery as host and Mike Lawrence as announcer, the show had contestants (all female) who solved Hangman-style puzzles, but their winnings were determined by a vertical mechanical Wheel stopped by Woolery.​

     
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  8. Morton LaBongo

    Morton LaBongo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manchester NH
    I had an experience kind of like what Rooster described, this was in maybe 1991 or 92. In my case though I was just walking around a mall in Florida and someone with a clipboard asked me to take part in a "survey." So why not, right? I went into this side room with a TV (I was by myself) and it played a fairly lame family sitcom that was probably entitled "Going Up The Country." Predictably enough, the theme song for it was Canned Heat's song of the same name. Anyhow, it was more or less a 1990s-era rehash of "Green Acres" except it was a family with a couple kids that left the city for the countryside. It was completely unremarkable. Commercials were shown during the program as well. Anyways, after the show the survey guy asked me questions about what I'd remembered and about 90% percent of what he asked was about the commercials. "Did you recognize any actors from the commercials? What movies have you seen them in? What do you think of them?" etc. It was quite odd. I was paid $10 cash.

    Any time I went to this mall on a Saturday, I saw survey people there doing this kind of thing. Apparently they did all different kinds of public surveys, I remember one time this older woman was saying that she had just taste-tested some yogurt.
     
  9. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Where's Rodney? (1990

    Unsold sitcom pilot about a kid who can magically summon Rodney Dangerfield to solve his problems. A co-production of Aaron Spelling and Hanna Barbera (!)

    [​IMG]

    https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6kk335
     
  10. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    SuperTed (1975)

    Original, Unaired Stop-Animation Pilot

     
    paulisdead likes this.
  11. mattdm11

    mattdm11 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    Boy, how could this not have gotten picked up? :rolleyes:
     
  12. LilacTeardrop

    LilacTeardrop "Roll It Over My Soul...and Leave Me Here"

    Location:
    U.S.
    Patrick Warburton ("Puddy" in Seinfeld & The Tick)..

    had 2 pilots which didn't air between Seinfeld and Rules of Engagement. I knew of one:
    Blind Men. A comedy about men who sold window blinds. I somehow remember this & only
    just discussed it recently w/a friend (have no clue why!!! :rolleyes:) She wasn't understanding what I was saying (b/c she's an "over-talker"...just continues talking over anybody else!)
    so, she thought I was saying it was a show about a blind man selling window blinds!!! When I got what she'd thought, I thought that was hysterical!!! :biglaugh:
    & might have stood a better chance of getting aired than that show! (Not now; that wouldn't be at all P.C.!)

    The other I just learned of trying to locate something on Blind Men. Article's provided:
    https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-mar-15-ca-37858-story.htm
     
  13. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    The first attempt to make a Fargo TV show. Kathy Bates directed. (2003)

     
  14. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Swingin' Together (Unsold Pilot) - Television Obscurities

    Bobby Rydell starred in this unsold 1963 sitcom pilot for a proposed CBS series about band traveling the country via bus, looking for their big break.

    On Monday, August 26th, 1963, CBS aired an installment of Vacation Playhouse called “Swingin’ Together.” Vacation Playhouse was an annual summer replacement for The Lucy Show — except in in 1965, when it replaced Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. — that consisted of unsold pilots.

    “Swingin’ Together” was co-produced by Desilu Studios and Ludlow Productions. According to Lee Goldberg’s Unsold Television Pilots Vol. 1: 1955-1976, it was a potential CBS entry for the 1962-1963 season [1].

    Singer and teen idol Bobby Rydell starred in “Swingin’ Together” as Bobby Day, leader of a band — Bobby Day and His Four Knights — that traveled the country in a bus, playing any gig they could get in the hopes of eventually making it big. The Four Knights were Yogi, Big “D”, Steve and Skooby Doo, played by Peter Brooks, Art Metrano, Larry Merrill and Ben Bryant, respectively. James Dunn played the band’s agent and bus driver, P.J. Cunningham. The back of the bus was roomy enough to fit a drum set, a piano and an upright bass, not to mention a guitar and a saxophone. There was even a shower.

    Guest stars in the pilot included Stefanie Powers as Linda Craig, a prudish young woman who meets the band at a classy country club and learns to be a little less straight-laced, as well as Dennis, Lindsay and Phillip Crosby (three of Bing Crosby’s sons) who appeared, not surprisingly, as singers. Songs featured in the pilot included “Let’s Twist Again,” “This Could Be the Start of Something Big” and “Little Bitty Tear.” Howard Leeds wrote the pilot, which was directed by Gene Reynolds.​

     
  15. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Wow! Thank you for posting this. I had no idea. Very interesting...

    Between this and Rover Dangerfield I guess he was trying to find projects for kids and families.
     
  16. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    The Nerd (1989)



    Unsold pilot for a sitcom adaptation of the Larry Shue play, starring Robert Joy, who originated the role on the Broadway stage. Also stars Harley Jane Kozak, John Dye, M. Emmett Walsh, and Toni Sawyer. Created in 1989, but not aired until 1996.
     
  17. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
  18. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I can see why that didn't get picked up for a series. The animation style isn't very appealing for a kids cartoon and the characters are all pretty dull and cookie-cutter.
     
    MikaelaArsenault likes this.
  19. swedwards1960

    swedwards1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canton OH
    The Monkees on wheels! With Skooby-Doo and Petticoat Junction and the Yogi guy like the Big Bang Theory guy, plus the Girl from UNCLE.
     
  20. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Back to Norm (2005)

    Sketch comedy pilot starring Norm McDonald, commissioned by Comedy Central

     
  21. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I love both the cast, and the premise of this and I've got to set aside time to see it!
     
  22. Demolition Man

    Demolition Man Forum Resident

    Thankfully CBS decided that this certain recently finished sitcom about geeks needed a bit of retooling before they picked it up.......

    Unaired Pilot

    And then you have the failed attempt of "The Office" spin off known as "Dwight's Farm" that ended up getting retooled into an episode of "The Office" itself.

    The Farm (The Office) - Wikipedia
     
    MikaelaArsenault likes this.
  23. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Top Secret (1988)

    Here is the third (unsold) pilot to Top Secret, produced and hosted by Wink Martindale, from March 1988.

    The object of the game is for the players to try and guess the secret identities of the other players. The sole survivor then plays the Super Sleuth round for $5,000 (or $10,000 if they win both rounds). Can any of our three players break the bank?​

     
  24. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dixie
    Condor (1986)

    In futuristic Los Angeles, a crime-fighting organization known as Condor goes up against the Black Widow, a female master criminal. The Black Widow steals the national security code and threatens to blow up Hollywood unless her old enemy, Proctor, a Condor operative, is turned over to her.

    Stars: Ray Wise, Wendy Kilbourne, Vic Polizos, James Avery, Cassandra Gava, Craig Stevens, Carolyn Seymour, Diana Bellamy, Bradley Fisher, Phil Fondacaro , Catherine Battistone

    Director: Virgil W. Vogel
    Writers: Len Janson, Chuck Menville​

     
  25. Steve Litos

    Steve Litos Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    That wasn't a bad 22 minutes.
    Looks like Bobby could actually play the drums a little bit.
     

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