History Main / Pilot

-->--''Film/PulpFiction''

* ''TheJokersWild'' had two pilots in 1968-69 hosted by [[{{Password}} Allen Ludden]], the first having a panel of celebrities asking the questions. A third pilot comprised the last two-thirds of the awkward 90-minute ''The Honeymoon Game'' (1970), hosted by Jim [=MacKrell=]; the first third was axed after the taping, replaced by a pitchfilm with creator JackBarry explaining that it wasn't good (it was a lame ''Newlywed Game'' derivative). After airing for three months on KTLA in 1971, ''Joker''[='s=] wheels spun from 1972-75 on CBS and 1977-86 in syndication, an amazing run for a game show.
* ''MatchGame'' had one for the more staid 1960s format and two for the more familiar 1970s format (all hosted by Gene Rayburn), a week for a 1990s revival that lasted one season (Bert Convy hosted the pilot week, but Ross Shafer hosted the series after Convy was diagnosed with a brain tumor), and an unsold 1996 pilot with Charlene Tilton and a radically-altered bonus round. The last one evolved into a shorter-lived 1998-99 revival hosted by Michael Burger. At least two pilots (''What the Blank!'' in 2004 and ''Match Game'' in 2008) had been made since then, but it went nowhere until 2012.

* ''The $10,000 {{Pyramid}}'' evolved from an unsold pilot called ''Cash on the Line'', whose bonus round became the maingame of ''Pyramid''. Supposedly, the bonus round of the unsold pilot was the only part of the format that execs liked.

* Creator/{{NBC}} accidentally aired the second pilot of the 1990 revival of ''ToTellTheTruth'' on the east coast. This was notable as Richard Kline hosted the two pilots, but Gordon Elliott was the actual host of the series (for a few months, at least) and the set was entirely different.
* ''WheelOfFortune'' had three pilots. The first (1973) was ''Shopper's Bazaar'', hosted by Chuck Woolery. It featured a vertical Wheel, a much larger emphasis on prize-buying over gameplay (even in comparison to the shopping rounds used until 1989), a phone that delivered clues to the contestants, no Bankrupts, a confusing scoring system, and a pretty easy bonus round. The second and third (1974) were much closer to what made it to air, but were hosted by a drunk Edd "Kookie" Byrnes. When the show finally made it to air in 1975, it used the Byrnes format with Chuck as host, who of course was replaced by Pat Sajak in 1981. More info on these pilots can be found [[http://gscentral.net/wof/1974.htm here.]]

* ''MyNameIsEarl'': Somehow manages to painlessly explain a convoluted backstory in only 22 minutes and still be funny.
* The pilot episode of ''{{Seinfeld}}'' is not only considered the worst in the series, but the producers can't even agree on the title. The current decision is ''The Seinfeld Chronicles,'' which was the original title for the show. TV Guide gives it as ''Pilot,'' but that was changed to avoid confusion with the Season 4 finale ''[[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming The Pilot]].'' The most unusual name for it is GoodNewsBadNews. Don't ask me how they got there.

* ''WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego'' had two pilots: "The Purloined Pooch" and "The Disoriented Express"). What made these relatively unique was that they were aired during Season 1 (as episodes 58 and 62, respectively) with a disclaimer at the start noting that there were some differences. Among the differences...

* The first anime adaptation of ''Manga/LupinIII'' was a twelve-minute short that was originally supposed to be a pilot for a feature-length film. The pilot was later recreated for the first anime series.

** The first pilot of ''Series/FullHouse'' was largely identical to the first official episode ("Our Very First Episode") with nearly the entire cast in place, with the very obvious exception of John Posey (essentially a stand-in for an unavailable Bob Saget) as Danny Tanner.

* ''InspectorGadget'''s pilot had the inspector himself with a mustache and a british accent (provided by GaryOwens). When the show was picked up as a series, they had to throw in a HandWave in the aired version explaining the mustache. US tropers, however, can see the aired version [[http://www.hulu.com/watch/83128/inspector-gadget-original-series-winter-olympics#s-p5-so-i0 here]].

* ''TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' had a pilot (known as "[[http://theamazingworldofgumball.wikia.com/wiki/Early_Reel Early Reel]]"), in which Gumball and Darwin had markedly different designs. The pilot used to be on YouTube, but Cartoon Network pulled it in 2010.

** Episode 2 was closer to the show as we know it today; the CreativeClosingCredits were in the white-text-on-black-background that we know today, and the only major difference was there was no EpisodeTitleCard with police clip background; and Alastair Stewart's name was rendered as ALASTAIR STEWART in Gill Sans MT Bold, rather than the later Frutiger Italic and Futura Condensed that would be seen from 1995 onwards. The actual 1995-1996 series was BritishBrevity (unless [[WildMassGuessing you consider them as Series 1 as a whole, and not Series 1, 2 etc...].

** The first one, in 2000, had ''Trevor!'', ''Nikki'', ''Foe Paws'', ''Uncle Gus'', ''Lucky Lydia'', ''Longhair and Doubledome'', ''Lost Cat'', and ''Prickles''. At least ''Longhair and Doubledome'' [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes impossible to find online or anywhere else]]. Its two competitors were both picked up for series: ''TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' and ''WhateverHappenedToRobotJones''

* [[{{Jeopardy}} Alex Trebek]] was the host of an unsold game show pilot called ''Malcolm'' that was meant to be sold to NBC. The real star was the titular animated character who would sometimes help the contestants answer questions whose answers always had two parts to them. Malcolm would often make wisecracks at the questions a la ''HollywoodSquares'' before giving the right answer (he always gives the right one). [[http://gameshowgarbage.com/ind098_malcolm.html]]

* The unaired ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' pilot was deemed too confusing, so a more linear version was shot. It could be said to be a case of ViewersAreMorons, but it could also be said that throwing the viewers in the deep end wasn't the best idea for a high concept show in which they were essentially asked to cheer for slave owners.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'''s pilot was made for and aired on Nickelodeon's ''Random Cartoons'', making it the rare show which aired on a [[ChannelHop different network]] than its pilot. Finn was named Pen in the pilot.

** A similar project called ''TheCartoonstitute'' was planned, but it never got off the ground and only a few shorts were completed. However, ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' was spawned from the failed project. The ''Regular Show'' pilot was also adapted into the Season 2 episode "First Day".

* A number of Creator/{{Cartoon Network}}'s original series have debuted as pilots on ''[[WhatACartoon The What-A-Cartoon Show]]'', including ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', and ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog''. In 2000 came "The Big Pick", which was where ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'' and ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' got their start.

* Creator/CartoonNetwork ran a bunch of pilots in its history, some of which fans got to vote on in a series called ''The Big Pick''.
** The first ''Big Pick'' has ''Longhair and Doubledome''. It was aired a couple times, but there wasn't any interest in starting a series, neither from viewers nor the channel executives, so it quickly faded out of existence and memory, and is [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes impossible to find online or anywhere else]]. Its two competitors were both picked up for series: ''TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' and ''WhateverHappenedToRobotJones''
** The second ''Big Pick'' produced ''Captain Sturdy'', ''Yee-Haw and Doo-Dah'', ''Imp, Inc.'', ''My Freaky Family'', ''Major Flake'', ''Utica Cartoon'', ''The Kids Next Door'', ''Swaroop'', ''FerretAndParrot'', and ''A Kitty Bobo Show''. The winner was ''The Kids Next Door'', which became ''CodenameKidsNextDoor''.

* One of the pilots from the Cartoon Network's Big Pick show was ''Longhair and Doubledome''. It was aired a couple times, but there wasn't any interest in starting a series, neither from viewers nor the channel executives, so it quickly faded out of existence and memory, and is [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes impossible to find online or anywhere else]].

* ''Series/Lookwell''

* The pilot episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' was made with virtually no budget and was never intended for the airwaves; it was just to give the WB network an idea what the show might be like. The pilot's been widely circulated online, but series creator JossWhedon has kept it from being included on DVDs or any other official release. He ''really'' [[OldShame thinks it's a piece of crap]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'''s pilot was made for and aired on ''WesternAnimation/RandomCartoons'', making it the rare show which aired on a [[ChannelHop different network]] than its pilot. Finn was named Pen in the pilot.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'''s pilot was made for and aired on ''WesternAnimation/RandomCartoons'', making it the rare show which aired on a [[ChannelHop different network]] than it's pilot. Finn was named Pen in the pilot.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'''s pilot was made for and aired on ''Oh Yeah Cartoons'', making it the rare show which aired on a [[ChannelHop different network]] than it's pilot. Finn was named Pen in the pilot.

* There are dozens, if not hundreds, of unsold GameShow pilots:
** DavidLetterman hosted two pilots of ''The Riddlers'' in November 1977. The first pilot was shown on {{GSN}}, and Dave talks about it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHJDu-hPhDo here.]]
** While it never made it to series, a portion of the February 1975 pilot ''[[http://www.usgameshows.net/x.php?show=KingOfTheHill&sort=0 King of the Hill]]'' (not [[WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill that]] one) became the BonusRound to ''CardSharks''.
** ''Pyramid'' creator Bob Stewart had no fewer than 15 pilots which he pitched to networks over time but never sold. As was the case with ''Cash on the Line'' in 1973, most of his pilots had ideas that wound up in other series of his that did make it to air. For instance, the main game of ''Series/{{Go}}'' was based on the BonusRound to ''Series/ChainReaction'', and appeared in at least two pilots before that.
** ''Pass the Line'' is an abysmal 1954 "game" created and hosted by Cliff Saber in which a professional artist drew something which was copied line by line by several panelists. Possibly the only redeeming quality is the presence of a very young Jonathan Winters.

* The first anime adaptation of ''Manga/LupinTheThird'' was a twelve-minute short that was originally supposed to be a pilot for a feature-length film. The pilot was later recreated for the first anime series.

* ''Anime/KirbyOfTheStars'' had a four-minute clip made to celebrate the release of ''VideoGame/KirbyAirRide'' in Japan. The pilot can be viewed [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXHME5248pM here]].

* Following its 1975 cancellation, ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' made two pilots for a revival under original host Art Fleming. The first, in March 1977, used a much different format which started off with each player playing as many questions as possible in 30 seconds apiece (with no penalty for wrong answers) before finishing off the rest of the board normally. After that, the lowest-scorer was eliminated, the two remaining contestants played an unaltered Double Jeopardy! Whoever had the higher score after this moved on to a BonusRound with a 5x5 board, and had to get five right answers in a row within 90 seconds for a bonus or $100 per clue.
** The 1978 pilot omitted the timed portion of the first round and eliminated the time limit from the bonus round, but also ended the bonus round if three wrong responses were given. Under these radically changed rules, ''Jeopardy!'' aired just five months.
** The current Alex Trebek version, which began in 1984, also had two pilots. Both returned to the original format of straight-up answer-question gameplay that's still in use today. The first (1983) used the same set layout and music cues as the 1978 version, plus pull-card clues in the maingame and whiteboards in Final Jeopardy! like the first Fleming version and Jay Stewart announcing. The second (1984) had the familiar video wall for the maingame and light pens for the Final Jeopardy!, along with current announcer Johnny Gilbert. Both pilots, however, had much lower clue values — the first used the 1978 values of $25-$125 and $50-$150, while the second had $50-$250 and $100-$500.

** ''Pyramid'' would later have no fewer than '''ten''' pilots recorded between 1996 and 2010 that went unsold. Several of these pilots strayed very far from the format, including one with one celebrity for each category, one with a rock & roll format (perhaps inspired by ''Rock & Roll Jeopardy!'') and two in the late 2000s hosted by Andy Richter. And this isn't counting the two revivals that ''did'' make it to air (''Pyramid'' in 2002-04, hosted by Donny Osmond, and ''The Pyramid'' in 2012, hosted by Mike Richards).
* ''WheelOfFortune'' had three pilots. The first (1973) was ''Shopper's Bazaar'', hosted by Chuck Woolery. It featured a vertical wheel, a much larger emphasis on prize-buying over gameplay (even in comparison to the shopping rounds used until 1989), a phone that delivered clues to the contestants, no Bankrupts, a confusing scoring system, and a pretty easy bonus round. The second and third (1974) were much closer to what made it to air, but were hosted by a drunk Edd "Kookie" Byrnes. When the show finally made it to air in 1975, it used the Byrnes format with Chuck as host, who of course was replaced by Pat Sajak in 1981. More info on these pilots can be found [[http://gscentral.net/wof/1974.htm here.]]
* ''MatchGame'' had one for the more staid 1960s format and two for the more-familiar 1970s format (all hosted by Gene Rayburn), a week for a 1990s revival that lasted one season (Bert Convy hosted the pilot week, but Ross Shafer hosted the series after Convy was diagnosed with a brain tumor), and an unsold 1996 pilot with Charlene Tilton and a radically-altered bonus round. The last one evolved into a shorter-lived 1998-99 revival hosted by Michael Burger. At least two pilots (''What the Blank!'' in 2004 and ''Match Game'' in 2008) had been made since then, but it went nowhere until 2012.
* ''CardSharks'' filmed two pilots in 1978 with the same set and rules, which pretty much resembled the show's final product. The only difference was that #1 depicted a loss and #2 depicted the highest possible win in the Money Cards (which also happened once in the real game). Two revivals (one on {{CBS}}, one syndicated) aired in the mid-80s, apparently without pilots. There was also an unsold 1996 pilot which greatly altered the format, and another in 2000 that eventually became the 2001 revival.
* Creator/{{NBC}} accidentally aired the second pilot of the 1990 revival of ''ToTellTheTruth'' on the east coast. This was notable as Richard Kline hosted the two pilots, but Gordon Elliott was the actual host of the series (for a few months, at least).
* ''TheJokersWild'' had two pilots in 1968-69 hosted by [[{{Password}} Allen Ludden]], the first having a panel of celebrities asking the questions. A third pilot comprised the last two-thirds of the awkward 90-minute ''The Honeymoon Game'' (1970), hosted by Jim [=MacKrell=]; the first third was axed after the taping, replaced by a pitchfilm by creator JackBarry explaining that it wasn't good (it was a lame ''Newlywed Game'' derivative). After airing for three month on KTLA in 1971, ''Joker''[='s=] wheels spun from 1972-75 on CBS and 1977-86 in syndication, an amazing run for a game show.
* Surprisingly averted with ''Series/ThePriceIsRight''. When Creator/MarkGoodson began the revival in 1972, he instead created a pitchfilm that included him and host Dennis James discussing the game. They played two mock pricing games (which eventually became Take Two and Ten Chances), followed by a clip of Dennis filling in for Monty Hall on ''Series/LetsMakeADeal''. Very few of the eventual show's elements are in place at this point, and neither CBS nor Bob Barker were involved just yet.
** The original ''Price Is Right'' was piloted as "Auction-Aire," following a run on local New York TV as ''The Sky's The Limit.'' When the pilot proved disastrous, NBC wanted to buy out the show's contract and cancel it. Creator Bob Stewart asked for a leap of faith--13 weeks, and if the show didn't click, NBC could cancel it. It hit the air as ''The Price Is Right'' and quickly developed a following.
* Like Many game shows, ''WhereInTheWorldisCarmenSandiego'' had to go through the pilot stages before PBS could pick the series up. Two pilots were shot (Pilot #1, the first-recorded episode, was "The Purloined Pooch", and Pilot #2 was "The Disoriented Express"). What made these two pilots so unique was the fact that they were included in the regular season 1 rotation package as regular episodes (58 and 62 respectively), along with a disclaimer at the start reminding viewers about the differences. Presented below is a list of key differences between the two pilots and the actual series:
** Rockapella was wearing street clothes. They continued to do so in the first few tapings of the actual series.

** The gumshoes started off with 125 points, and a correct guess would cost them 10, while an incorrect one would cost them an additional 5. The wagering for the final clue was 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, instead of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.
** Pilot #1 featured a ransom note from Patty Larceny (one of the crooks on the show, and the one responsible for stealing the Lhasa Apso from the East African Kennel Club Dog Show). It was never used again, and would be replaced by a phone tap conversation between Carmen Sandiego and the crook.

* [[http://www.usgameshows.net/x.php Game Show Pilot Light]] has reviews on a very large number of game show pilots, both sold and unsold.

* ''TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' had a pilot (known as "[[http://theamazingworldofgumball.wikia.com/wiki/Early_Reel Early Reel]]"). In it, Gumball and Darwin had markedly different designs. The pilot used to be on YouTube, but Cartoon Network pulled it in 2010.

* The unaired ''{{Dollhouse}}'' pilot was deemed too confusing, so a more linear version was shot. It could be said to be a case of ViewersAreMorons, but it could also be said that throwing the viewers in the deep end wasn't the best idea for a high concept show in which they were essentially asked to cheer for slave owners.
* The pilot episode of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' was made with virtually no budget and was never intended for the airwaves; it was just to give the WB network an idea what the show might be like. The pilot's been widely circulated online, but series creator JossWhedon has kept it from being included on DVDs or any other official release. He ''really'' [[OldShame thinks it's a piece of crap]].

** In the Jailtime Challenge, there would be audience members supporting the gumshoes. This trend continued in the first few tapings of the actual series.
** In both pilots, it didn't matter which order the gumshoe had to find the loot, warrant, and crook in for the Jailtime Challenge. As long as he or she found them in one turn, that was all that mattered. By the time production began on the actual series, it was changed so that the gumshoe HAD to find them in the right order, as police officers do the same thing in real life when looking for a stolen person, place, or thing.

** Last, but not least, instead of "Do it, Rockaella!" the pilots used "Hit it, Fellas!".