Alternate, unaired TV pilots

Here's a fun side-by-side comparison of the unaired and aired pilots of Married with Children.

I can't imagine MWC with the other kids. Part of its success is owing to Christina Applegate as Kelly.

The original 3 other castaways in the GI pilot The professor, Ginger and Bunny (instead of Mary Ann) were far inferior to their replacements. Good call for them recasting.

The original Kelly and Bud on MWC were inferior also. The original Kenny (Tina Caspary) was in some of the same dance troups with Christina Applegate years earlier and supposedly Tina was very mean to Christina then. It must've been very sweet revenge for Christina to snatch the role away from her and go on to be much more successful as well. The original Bud (Hunter Carson) is Karen Black's son.

* The original Kelly

Is it true that Carrot Top was the original Don Draper?

One of the earlier All In The Family pilots.

Different Mike and Gloria and Edith not as dingy.....

The whole ep.....really the same in some ways

All I know is Rob Reiner was a better Mike, but that guy had a much nicer ass!

Family Guy unaired pilot.

They had a different Carol in the unaired Growing Pains pilot. The original actress looked like a younger, somewhat butch Iola Boylen!

Desperate Housewives first pilot had a different Mary Alice and John the gardener, plus the tone was off.

I feel sad for those replaced.

R11 I had no idea there was another DH pilot!

Apparently they recast Rex, as well.

The unaired Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot with a different Willow.

I hate it when they save uncut/unaired versions of episodes for the dvd. Especially when there's not a huge difference in the length of certain scenes like Bitten or Blade.

R6 If you watch the first episodes of All In The Family, Edith isn't as dingy in them either. But, they quickly made her more and more of a dingbat, until she became the Edith everyone remembers. The interesting thing is that Else, the character Edith was adapted from on the original British Till Death Us Do Part, was not a dingbat.

R13 yes, they didn't like the voice of Mary Alice so got a much better fit in Brenda Strong. They said it was her pleasant, sing-song voice!

Cherry said a friend advised casting a hunk instead of a schoolboy for it to make more sense Gabi was so lustful with him. Enter Jesse Metcalfe.

I think they didn't get enough chemistry between Marcia and the first Rex so her was replaced with the excellent Stephen Culp.

Notice a lot of the camera works changed too.

The first failed Star Trek pilot had Jeffrey Hunter playing William Shatner.

R18, Jeffrey Hunter played a different character entirely, Captain Christopher Pike. Leonard Nimoy’s Spock was the only character that was kept.

Nothing gets by you R18.

Did I say he played Kirk? Nope. But he did play the Cpt of the Enterprise, just like Shatner....

[quote]The original Bud (Hunter Carson) is Karen Black's son.

Was he cross-eyed, too?

The scrapped pilot of Sherlock was shorter, different tone and a whole other performance by Cumberbatch

The Star Trek pilot also had a bull dykey character as one of the officers on the bridge. The actress was Gene Roddenberry's wife, and when the series was picked up she was recast at the demure sickbay nurse.

The original Mike, Chip Oliver, from All in the Family was perhaps cast because the actor lined up politically with his character. But he wasn’t much of an actor.

He was hot as fuck, though.

He had a banging body, for sure.

The one pilot I've always wanted to see is the failed US version of AbFab.

Roddenberry did manage to use a considerable amount of the Star Trek pilot in a two part episode where it is shown as flashbacks giving the backstory of the current mission.

Wasn't that "Cybill" r26?

Roseanne was going to do a US AbFab, but I don't think she filmed a pilot...

Actually, the American version was High Society with Jean Smart and Mary MacDonnell. They did not know what to do with it. It had two "Saffy" characters: a young Republican son and Faith Prince as a down-to-earth college friend They axed Faith and kept the son, which was a big mistake. But, in the end, Network TV was just to prudish for such a show.

Now that I think about it, I seem to recall and episode where Eds and Pats appear, wanting to buy a hairbrush from the Jackie O estate, so they could get DNA and make a Jackie clone.

Or maybe I am imagining that...

There was an US AbFab pilot with Kristen Johnston.

Johnston was to play Patsy, and Kathryn Hahn would have been Edina. Interesting choices but based on this article I can see why it flopped. No drugs, no smoking......

r10

Obviously they replaced her because of the "Streisand effect"

[quote]Actually, the American version was High Society with Jean Smart and Mary MacDonnell.

Cybill was a version of AbFab too.

Danny Devito was in the unaired pilot of the Facts of Life, he played Natalie

America was too prissy to do a successful version of AbFab at the time. It might work now, on cable or streaming, anyway.

R34, not really. It was more "inspired by..." than "a version of.." Which to be honest, is why it ran for three years and High Society did not.

For my Millennial brethren, I give you the lurid clunky horror that is the original unaired (and unfinished) pilot of Nickelodeon sitcom DRAKE & JOSH.

The music cues are janky and strange; their Dad is played by a totally different and less-charming guy, and the house they live in is ALL WRONG with this foul yellow color-wallpaper. The set is also way over-lit, and Drake Bell’s hair is just frighteningly ‘90s.

Trivia: the theme song for D&J was originally a Lenny Kravitz b-side until 14-year-old Drake Bell walked into Nick HQ one morning with a new song to use.

When Roseanne had the rights to AbFab it was Carrie Fisher as Edina and Barbara Carrera as Patsy.

The pilot for Leave It To Beaver had Barbara Billingsley and Jerry Mathers, but different actors playing Ward and Wally.

Finally after many years of hearing about it, Beans of Boston showed up. Garry Marshal's US version of Are you being served. Charlotte Rae in the Mrs. Slocombe roll. MAJOR disappointment.

On the ODAAT thread, I wrote about being part of a focus group in the Late 1990s in Dallas that watched and rated two unsold pilots starring Valerie Harper and Patrick Warburton.

Neither pilot has ever surfaced from what I can find, nor any mention of them. They weren't half bad.

R41 Thanks for posting that I have been dieing to see it for years. George O'Hanlon Jr. as Franklin Beane was definitely better looking than Mr. Rumbold. Tom Poston, Charlotte Rae, John Hillerman, and Don Bexley of Good Times, with Garry Marshall behind it, with so much talent it is strange it wasn't better, but German Week wouldn't have been my choice for a pilot. I wouldn't have made Ms. Brahms' character as central as they did, and they should have done like Australia and brought over John Inman for Mr. Humpheries.

I still want to see the original Brothers and Sisters pilot with Betty Buckley

The original pilot for Black Adder. Tonally, it's more in line with series 2, 3 and 4.

[quote] I have been dieing to see it for years

I'm DYING to say oh, dear.

The pilot for "The Dick Van Dyke Show," which was called "Head of the Family." Starred Carl Reiner as Rob. And DL fave Sylvia Miles as Rose Marie.

They would’ve run this one, but Gary...

The 90s/2000s version of Charmed had an unaired pilot where Lori Rom played Phoebe instead of Alyssa Milano.

The US is indeed too prissy for a show like AbFab to work here. Hell, nowadays it probably wouldn't even be greenlit in the UK.

The drugs. The smoking. Even the drinking would be "problematic" for glorifying alcoholism. All the "Patsy is/used to be a man" and drag references would be deemed "transphobic." The Marrakech episode even has Patsy stating she is going there for "easygoing sex with underage youth."

No way would any of that fly today.

On a different note, check out the original Star Trek Voyager pilot with Geneviève Bujold as Janeway. She is a great actress but absolutely sucked in the part, which is why they quickly fired her and replaced her with Kate Mulgrew.

I always wanted to see the unsold pilot for the US version of Waiting For God. I can't remember who played Diana, but Richard Mulligan played Tom and Julie Hagerty played Jane.

Original Bob's Burgers pilot with Tina as Daniel.

30 Rock with Rachel Dratch instead of Jane Krakowski. Couldn’t even imagine this mess!

And the new, low-key Cerie they changed to is so much better than the over the top character they went with with this gal.

R40- I've got that in my DVD collection. The two actors playing Ward and Wally weren't bad but they had zero chemistry with Jerry Mathers and Barbara Billingsley. Mathers had actually worked with Hugh Beaumont before so maybe that's how the casting got switched for Ward. They also gave Barbara a terrible hairstyle in that orginal pilot.

Three' s Company had a trio of pilots and John Ritter was in all three. Joyce DeWitt was Janet in second pilot, but a different Chrissy

The pilot for McHale' s Navy was originally a drama

The pilot for That Girl made Don half Native American and there were different actors playing Ann Marie's parents

Full House's pilot had a different actor playing Danny Tanner

R54, have to disagree about the actor playing Ward Cleaver in the LITB pilot. I forget his name, but he was never a good actor. He played the husband in the Marilyn Monroe movie "Niagara" and he really sucked.

Casey Addams who changed his name mid-career for no apparent reason^^^^

Wasn’t DL fave Shelley Hack in the original pilot for Night Court?

The US version of AbFab did have Kirsten Johnston and Kathryn Hahn in a pilot, but it didn't screen well from what I recall and got shelved. I thought Roseanne was tied to this pilot as well, but this article doesn't really indicate that was the case. I do remember her wanting Carrie Fisher and Barbara Carerra.

Speaking of British comedies being adapted to American TV, I remember that at some point they were going to make a Vicar of Dibley, with Kirstie Alley for FOX, but I don't know if they actually shot a pilot or not. Which I thought was crazy because so much of the humor of that show was Dawn French being a large woman who totally accepts and loves herself, yet let her size be the basis for some of the comedy, and KA always seems to be someone who is uncomfortable with her weight and doesn't want it acknowledged.

Roseanne and Carrie Fisher were jointly writing the original AbFab - which it was to be called in t he US. They got permission to film at the real Betty Ford Center and it just went kaput because of creative differences with the network. Carrie would have made a perfect American Edina. I think Debbie Reynolds was going to appear as the Mother.

R61 That sounds perfect. Networks can be idiots, too bad HBO or Showtime couldn't have picked it up.

I sound like an idiot but I'd love to see the u aired pidldot to Saved By The Bell.

R59 I don't think Roseanne was involved with it by then. She paid for what I think was a two year option, and didn't develop it within that time, so Fox took a stab at it and failed.

The American version of the IT Crowd looks awful.

[quote]not really. It was more "inspired by..." than "a version of.."

What? Cybill was pretty much the exact same as AbFab, but with less drinking.

[quote]Wasn’t DL fave Shelley Hack in the original pilot for Night Court?

No, she came later on.

The public defenders were played by

Gail Strickland as public defender Sheila Gardner (pilot episode only).

Paula Kelly as Liz Williams (season 1)

Ellen Foley as Billie Young (season 2)

Ellen was sort of a love interest for Harry, but she decided to leave at the end of the season to focus on her music career

THEN Shelley Hack was brought in did not get along with Harry Anderson or anyone else.

Reinhold Weege who created the show had envisioned the role for a Markie Post type, but she was doing the Fall Guy. So after Hack was let go, he offered it to her.

[quote]George O'Hanlon Jr. as Franklin Beane was definitely better looking than Mr. Rumbold.

His father was the voice of George Jetson

r43

The pilot was stupid because no American store ever operated like that.

Did the Shelley Hack episodes of Night Court ever air, r67?

Yeah -- i don't remember ever seeing Shelly on the show.

R69 I'm not certain if that is true or not, I've gone into some older established one location clothing stores that cater to older wealthy clientèle, who seem very formal and rigid, even today.

[quote] What? Cybill was pretty much the exact same as AbFab, but with less drinking.

It evolved into that when the writers wanted to write to Baranski and her strengths. They also had to counterbalance how seriously Cybill took herself at some points. (This isn't just my opinion....Alan Ball and Chuck Lorre, I think, both talk about this in interviews about their time on the show.)

But the show was conceived to be more of a Cybill does Lucille Ball thing. Didn't quite work out that way. And even with Maryann's drinking and their escapades to torture Dr. Dick, there was never quite the drug usage, etc.

The Shelley Hack episode never aired. They did release press photos with her in them though. She claimed they changed the character after she was hired and it was a mutual decision between her and producers that she leave.

They really had a lot of trouble finding female cast members that worked for that show. Hack, Gail Strickland (who only appeared in the pilot that did air), Paula Kelly, and Ellen Foley were the revolving door of public defenders on the show before settling on Markie Post. Then they had the first two female bailiffs (Selma Diamond and Florence Halop) die while on the show. They cast a younger version with Marsha Warfield, who managed not to die and stuck with the show.

I found John Larroquette to be oddly hot on that show.

Me too, r75. Especially in the early seasons. He looked good in his three piece suits!

There was another actress in the early Night Court years...forget her name (yes I know I can google it) but she was the brunette who played “De-nise, De-nise” on Three’s Company who tries to mold Jack into some country club...whatever

I remember hooking up with a lawyer when I was fresh outta college who looked a lot like Laroquette. Long Polish name, and equally long Polish cock. Yum.

I can't imagine having to listen to that tedious original "Gilligan's Island" theme song every week.

R77 Oh yes, that was Karen Austin who played the court clerk for most of the first season. She apparently asked to be let go from the show.

R48 - isn't that I Love Lucy living room set the same one they ended up using as the hotel suite living room during the season they all went out to Hollywood? That seems shockingly thrifty!

This is a promo with Betty Buckley and a few other cast changes. Patricia Wetig was wonderful on that show. The first two seasons were absolutely marvelous -- perfect cozy TV. Then someone screwed it up. I wish I could find the whole pilot episode.

The unaired pilot of Happyish with Philip Seymour Hoffman would be nice to see.

[quote] This is a promo with Betty Buckley and a few other cast changes. Patricia Wetig was wonderful on that show. The first two seasons were absolutely marvelous -- perfect cozy TV.

He may have been an awkward fit for TV but that was probably the influence of Jon Robin Baitz, who left at the end of year one. All his good stuff lasted through season 2, and then they started running out of ideas.

R81, the Golden Girls kitchen was recycled from a failed Patty Duke sitcom.

That kitchen was in like 6 different shows.

High Society was as direct a ripoff as they could get to AbFab without having to pay Jennifer Saunders for it. Cybil was just riding the wave of "female buddy movie" that AbFab started. There's no way that Cybil and Christine could even begin to compare with the stellar acting that Jennifer and Joanna did.

And in Season 9 of Roseanne, Jennifer and Joanna did an AbFab crossover to Roseanne.

Peyton Place's original pilot was filmed 11/22/1963 - and maybe jinked because of it. The Cross family included Selena (Gyl Roland - daughter of Constance Bennett and Gilbert Roland) and her rape by stepfather Lucas was deemed too offensive for tv by soap maven Irna Phillips who ABC hired as a consultant. Constance Mackenzie (Dorothy Malone) was a real estate agent instead of a bookstore owner and Mike Rossi (Ed Nelson) was a principal instead of a doctor. Realizing the teen characters were all seniors and principal Rossi would be kind of useless after Season 1 - Rossi as switched to be a doctor.

Mike Rossi is a school principal in the "Peyton Place" movie and the love interest of Lana Turner as Constance.

[quote] Constance Mackenzie (Dorothy Malone) was a real estate agent instead of a bookstore owner

But of course she needed to be a bookstore owner