History Main / DroppedAfterThePilot

* Lampshaded in the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode ''Back To The Pilot'' where Stewie notes that [[TwentyFourHourPartyPeople the men drinking at the bachelor party]] in the first episode are never mentioned again. When he returns to the present at the end of the episode, Peter invites them to the house.

* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' gave Detective Lassiter a female partner (Creator/AnneDudek appeared as the competent and skeptical Detective Lucinda Barry) 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 and is only mentioned once more several seasons later.

* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' gave Detective Lassiter a female partner (Creator/AnneDudek appeared as the competent and skeptical Detective Lucinda, no last name given) 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 and is only mentioned once more several seasons later.

* 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.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Mint Candy, the brother of [[ComicBook/EttaCandy one of the three main characters]] who works in military intelligence like the [[Characters/WonderWomanTheCharacter other]] [[ComicBook/SteveTrevor two]], is introduced in the first issue and never seen nor mentioned (at least by name) again.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Mint Candy, the brother of [[ComicBook/EttaCandy one of the three main characters]] who works in military intelligence like the [[Characters/WonderWomanTheCharacter other]] [[ComicBook/SteveTrevor two]], is introduced in the first issue and never seen nor mentioned (at least by name) again.

* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' gave Detective Lassiter a female partner (Anne Dudek appeared as the competent and skeptical Detective Lucinda, no last name given) 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 and is only mentioned once more several seasons later.

* ''{{Series/Eureka}}'': ''Series/AllyMcBeal'' alum Greg Germann appeared in the pilot as the head of Global Dynamics Warren King, who was replaced by the character of Nathan Stark by the second episode.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Mint Candy, the brother of one of the three main characters who works in military intelligence like the other two, is introduced in the first issue and never seen nor mentioned (at least by name) again.

* The finale of ''WesternAnimation/HongKongPhooey'' featuired characters who were groomed to have their own series--Honcho, the Mystery Maverick and Posse Impossible. Of the three, only Posse Impossible was greenlighted airing as a segment of 1977's ''WesternAnimation/CBBears''.

* The third part of the FiveEpisodePilot of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' introduced General Traag and his right-hand man, a grey Rock Soldier named Sergeant Granitor. While Traag remained a recurring character, Granitor never appeared again after his debut, though he did appears as a boss in [[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame the arcade game]].

* The third part of the FiveEpisodePilot of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' introduced General Traag and his right-hand man, a grey Rock Soldier named Sergeant Granitor. While Traag remained a recurring character, Granitor never appeared again after his debut.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': A very unusual example. In the first ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short Vicky had a younger brother whom we heard screaming over the telephone. We never saw his face and subsequent episodes make no further reference to him.

* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' made note of three lower-tier detectives in the pilot: Scully, Hitchcock, and Daniels. While Scully and Hitchcock are still around, Daniels is never mentioned again after the pilot. (Also notable: Daniels is the only female of those three.)

* The ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' pilot episode "No Smoking" had the Red Guy assisted by Cerberus. The Red Guy's three-headed canine accomplice never appeared in any other episodes after ''Cow and Chicken'' became a series.

** Perhaps the most famous example, every character except for Spock was replaced after the first unsuccessful pilot episode "The Cage", and Spock was considerably reworked, being promoted to take Number One's spot as executive officer and having his character as a Vulcan fleshed out. Spock actually ''grins'' at one point in the episode. (Creator/MajelBarrett, who played the ship's exective officer and helmsman Number One in "The Cage", was later brought back for the series [[YouLookFamiliar to play recurring character Nurse Chapel]].)

* The pilot episode of ''Series/{{ER}}'' actually featured TWO NaiveNewcomer medical students--Carter, and a young woman assigned to Doug Ross and intended to be his love interest. But when positive test audience feedback forced the producers to revive Carol Hathaway, the student was given given a case of ChuckCunninghamSyndrome.

* In ''The Tome of the Unknown'', an animated short that served as a pilot for ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'', techinically has this if you consider a book a character. The short has Wirt, Greg and Beatrice in search of the titular book, the existence of which is completely omitted in the final miniseries. Additionally, the giant goose they found at the end of the short was implied to be a new companion for them, but he never appears in the series.

No matter the behind-the-scenes reason, the character is dropped from the show's actual production run. This can in any number of ways within the show's actual narrative: 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, only for them to suddenly disappear from episode two onward. For people introduced as minor recurring characters, this could be a form of WhatHappenedToTheMouse.

* In ''The Tome of the Unknown'' (The animated short that served as a pilot for ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'') Wirt, Greg and Beatrice were in search of a book titled The Tome of the Unknown. In the actual series, the existence of said book is completely omitted. Additionally, the giant goose they found at the end of the short was implied to be a new companion for them, but he never appears in the series.

Of course, depending on the work, some viewers may not even be aware that this happened: as we said, the pilot is produced independently of the rest of the series. Depending on the studio, the actual pilot episode may not count as part of that first season order and thus only exist as a proof-of-concept that may never make it to air. This is especially common in WesternAnimation, where pilot episodes are often much shorter than normal episodes, usually clocking in at around seven minutes in length, no matter the genre. In this scenario, some other episode goes on to take the role of the premiere story, while the original pilot ends up locked away in some vault until it's time to put together special features for the DVD/Blu-Ray release, or someone involved in production uploads it online. At which point longtime fans may find themselves exclaiming "wait, who the heck is ''that''!?"

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 21 (or 12, or however many) episodes with.

However, pilots are also produced independently of the rest of the series, and any number of things can happen 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. The producers 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 he suddenly disappears from episode two onward. For people introduced as minor recurring characters, this could be a form of WhatHappenedToTheMouse.

* ''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) they're now a yard-working business and 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.]]

** Speaking of ''The Golden Girls'', spin-off ''Series/EmptyNest'''s pilot was made as an episode of ''The Golden Girls'', and almost everything about it was dropped after the pilot, including its premise. The pilot starred an older married couple dealing with the fact that their children had all left home; The series was about a widower with three adult daughters, two of whom still lived at home. The only things which carried through to the series were the main character's job as a doctor and the wacky DropInNeighbor played by David Leisure (although that character also changed name and career).