History Main / DroppedAfterThePilot

* In the second ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' pilot, Kenshin met a prototype of Kaoru named Chizuru. While Chizuru never appeared in the main ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga, she did make a cameo in the ''Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection'' OVA as the girlfriend of Kenshin's son Kenji.

** Subverted in the case of the second ''One Piece'' pilot which had Luffy's grandfather who didn't appear when the series got picked up. Eight years into the run of the manga in chapter 431, a Marine Vice-Admiral who wore a dog mask and appeared early on in the series removed his mask revealing him to have been Luffy's grandfather all along.

* In the first ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' pilot, Kenshin met a prototype of Kaoru named Chizuru. While Chizuru never appeared in the main ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga, she did make a cameo in the ''Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection'' OVA as the girlfriend of Kenshin's son Kenji.

* There were three ''Manga/OnePiece'' pilots all of which had prototypes of the character that would eventually evolve into Nami. The Nami prototype from the first pilot, Silk, eventually did appear in an Anime OVA ''One Piece: Romance Dawn Story'', but her character design was significantly altered to look less like Nami.

* The ''Anime/LupinIIIPilotFilm'' (released in the west with the [[Anime/LupinIIIGreenJacket Green Jacket]] series, but in Japan with the ''Secret Files'') has Detective Kogoro Akechi (the same character as Edogawa Rampo's detective), an established character in the manga series, as a partner for Inspector Zenigata who never appears again in the anime portion of the franchise.

* In "Everybody's Favorite Bagman," the ''LawAndOrder'' pilot, Roy Thinnes portrays District Attorney Alfred Wentworth. When it came time for the series to go into production, Thinnes was unavailable, working on a different series. So the role was renamed ("Adam Schiff") and recast (Stephen Hill). There was no on-screen explanation for the change, which really confused viewers when NBC inexplicably aired the pilot as the ''sixth'' episode.

** Perhaps the most famous example, [[TheCaptain Captain Pike]] from the first pilot. More accurately, everyone but Spock was replaced.

* ''Series/RaisingHope'' opened with Jimmy and Cousin Mike working at the pool-cleaning business and living in Maw-Maw's house. In the second episode (which takes place the morning after the pilot) he's left a note stating he met a girl and joined a cult. [[TheBusCameBack He reappears for a couple of episodes towards the end of Season 1.]]

* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' gave Detective Lassiter a female partner ([[{{House}} Anne Dudek]] appeared as the competent and skeptical Detective Lucinda, no last name given, partner and lover of the major character Carlton Lassiter) with whom he was having an affair and who was suspicious of Shawn's [[PhonyPsychic "psychic" abilities]]. Post-pilot she is never seen nor heard of again, she's transferred out in the second episode because of the affair thing and [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute replaced]] with Shawn's trusting, less skeptical eventual LoveInterest, Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara.

* In the unaired pilot of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' there's a girl named Katie whom Leonard & Sheldon rescue from being homeless and moves in with them, and Gilda, geeky female friend/fellow researcher of theirs with whom Sheldon has had sex. In the real continuity of the show, Sheldon is a NoHuggingNoKissing advocate, hasn't lost his virginity because of it, unlike the more sex-driven Leonard, and recoils at the mere mention of coitus.

* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' had Maria and Sarah Jane's loud-mouthed neighbor Kelsy, who is set up as Maria's friend and possibly a member of Sarah Jane's newly formed alien hunting squad (despite outright denying the extraterrestrial things she witnessed). Kelsy is never mentioned again after the pilot, and her role as the "cool one" is [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute given to Clyde]], who ends up sticking around the whole series and providing the OpeningNarration.

* In the unaired pilot of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' there's a girl named Katie whom Leonard & Sheldon rescue from being homeless and moves in with them, and Gilda, geeky female friend/fellow researcher of theirs with whom Sheldon has had sex.

* In "Everybody's Favorite Bagman," the ''LawAndOrder'' pilot, Roy Thinnes portrays District Attorney Arthur Wentworth. When it came time for the series to go into production, Thinnes was unavailable, working on a different series. So the role was renamed ("Adam Schiff") and recast (Stephen Hill). There was no on-screen explanation for the change, which really confused viewers when NBC inexplicably aired the pilot as the ''sixth'' episode.

* In the first episode of ''Series/DeathInParadise'', Inspector Poole's new partner turns out to be the killer, and is arrested. Camille, his actual partner from the second episode onward, is introduced appearing to be a criminal (she was undercover at the time).
* Similarly to the above, the pilot episode of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' initially implies that the character Simon is an undercover Alliance Officer (i.e. a bad guy) and that the actual Alliance Officer, Dobson, will be one of the main characters. This is disproved by the end of the episode ([[SpoilerOpening not to mention the opening credits]]).

Subtrope of OneShotCharacter and SecondEpisodeSubstitute.

!!Examples

* The ''Anime/LupinIIIPilotFilm'' (released in the west with the [[Anime/LupinIIIGreenJacket Green Jacket]] series, but in Japan with the ''Secret Files'') has Detective Kogoro Akechi, an established character in the manga series, who never appears again in the anime portion of the franchise.

* ''Series/NewGirl'' had this going for it with Coach as played by Damon Wayans, Jr. When ''Series/HappyEndings'' was picked up for a second season, Coach was [[PutOnABus written out of the second episode]] and [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute Winston Bishop]] took his place (literally, as he moved into Coach's room). However, with ''Happy Endings''' cancellation, [[CommutingOnABus Coach has returned for the third season]].

* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' gave Detective Lassiter a female partner with whom he was having an affair and who was suspicious of Shawn's [[PhonyPsychic "psychic" abilities]]. She's transferred out in the second episode because of the affair thing and [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute replaced]] with Shawn's trusting eventual LoveInterest, Juliet.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': The doctor and telepath from the pilot were given SecondEpisodeSubstitute treatment, which became plot points. WordOfGod is that JMS had written out a plan for replacing any of the pilot episode characters just in case.
* ''Series/HogansHeroes'' had a Russian tailor named Vladimir Minsk in the pilot. Carter was a prisoner making his way through. Vladimir's actor decided the show wasn't taking the Nazis seriously enough and quit, and Carter became the fifth main character for the series proper.

Subtrope of OneShotCharacter.

* The ''Anime/LupinIII'' pilot (released in the west with the [[Anime/LupinIIIGreenJacket Green Jacket]] series, but in Japan with the Secret Files) has Detective Kogoro Akechi, an established character in the manga series who never appears again in the anime portion of the franchise.

* ''Series/NewGirl'' had this going for it with Coach as played by Damon Wayans, Jr. When ''Series/HappyEndings'' was picked up for a second season, Coach was [[PutOnABus written out of the second episode]] and [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute Winston Bishop]] took his place (literally, as he moved into into Coach's room). However, with ''Happy Endings''' cancellation, [[CommutingOnABus Coach has returned for the third season]].

Pilots are unique in many ways. Most notably, they're how we (and networks) learn about the people whom we'll hopefully be spending the following twenty-one (or twelve, or however many) episodes with.

However, pilots are also produced independently of the rest of the series, and any number of things can between the filming and presentation of the pilot and its subsequent pickup. Actors may end up getting parts somewhere else, or an extension on their current contract. The production budget may be smaller than anticipated. They may decide that the character doesn't mesh creatively with the rest of the show for whatever reason.

As such, the character is dropped from the show's actual production run, in any number of ways: PutOnABus, killed off, [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute replaced with a new character]], or outright ignored. For more major supporting characters (e.g. the main character's best friend or arch-nemesis), it feels a bit like EarlyInstallmentWeirdness because the show spends parts of the pilot building up the character as someone of note for the show to follow, and they suddenly disappear from episode two on. For people introduced as minor recurring characters, this could be a form of WhatHappenedToTheMouse.

* The ''Anime/LupinIII'' pilot (released in the west with the [[Anime/LupinIIIGreenJacket Green Jacket]] series, but in Japan with the Secret Files) has Detective Kogoro Akechi, an established character in the Manga series that never appears again in the anime portion of the franchise.

* ''Series/CovertAffairs'' introduced Annie to Conrad Sheehan, a fellow CIA agent set up as a potential romantic interest[=/=]rival, and subsequently disappears. [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute In his place,]] we get Jai Wilcox in the second episode who takes up that mantle.

* ''Series/NewGirl'' had this going for it with Coach as played by Damon Wayans, Jr. When ''Series/HappyEndings'' was picked up for a second season, Coach was [[PutOnABus written out of the second episode]] and [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute Winston Bishop]] took his place (literally, as he moved into into Coach's room). However, with ''Series/HappyEndings''' cancellation, [[CommutingOnABus he's returned for the third season]].
* The pilot of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' had a gay latin houseboy named Coco, who never appeared again.

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': Claire, the waitress at Pete's Luncheonette, was intended to be a regular but she was [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute replaced]] by the character [[Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus Elaine]] after the pilot episode. Pete's Luncheonette was also replaced with Monk's Cafe, explaining why she's never seen again.
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' had Detective Lassiter with a female partner he was having an affair with and who was suspicious of Shawn's [[PhonyPsychic "psychic" abilities]]. She's transferred out in the second episode because of the affair thing and [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute replaced]] with Shawn's trusting eventual LoveInterest, Juliet.
* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' had Maria and Sarah Jane's loud mouthed neighbor Kelsy, who is set up as Maria's friend and possibly member of Sarah Jane's newly formed alien hunting squad (despite outright denying the extra terrestrial things she witnessed). She's never mentioned again after the pilot, and her role as the "cool one" is [[SecondEpisodeSubstitute given to Clyde]], who ends up sticking around the whole series and providing the OpeningNarration.
* ''Series/NoOrdinaryFamily'''s pilot is presented in a HowWeGotHere fashion using POVCam as if the various family members are talking to a family therapist, but as of the second episode and beyond it's clear they've never been to therapy or told anyone about what happened to them.

* In a rare anime example, the ''Anime/LupinIII'' pilot (released in the west with the [[Anime/LupinIIIGreenJacket Green Jacket]] series, but in Japan with the Secret Files) has Detective Kogoro Akechi, an established character in the Manga series that never appears again in the anime portion of the franchise.