History Main / OneEpisodeWonder

* ''The Invisible Woman'' - no relation to ''ComicBook/TheFantasticFour'' character, the pilot starred Bob Denver as an absent-minded chemist who creates an invisibility potion which is drunk by his niece, an investigative reporter who uses her new powers to crack stories.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUvZP7-5LM The Animated Series]]''. It never even made it to the full pilot stage, but the link is to the 4-minute promo on Website/YouTube. It features almost the entire original cast (except Creator/SarahMichelleGellar; they got Buffy's voice from the video game instead).

* Only one episode of the AnimatedAdaptation of the ''Toys/GoGosCrazyBones'' toy series was ever released, and even then it was only released to Website/YouTube. Uploads of this one episode were later taken down due to backlash from ''Gogo's'' fans; the episode is now [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes extremely tough to come by]] as a result.

* ''Series/WulinWarriors'', the 2006 English dub of the 25th season of the Taiwanese show ''Pili'', had 13 episodes completed, but lasted only two episodes on Creator/CartoonNetwork's Creator/{{Toonami}} before it was canceled due to hostile reception. Broadcasting a live-action puppet show on a network dedicated to animated shows will do that. The rest of the episodes were later featured on AOL's Kids Online channel, but none of them were broadcast on television again. It would not be until 2016's ''Series/ThunderboltFantasy'', a Taiwanese-Japanese collaboration between ''Pili'''s staff and [[Creator/NitroPlus nitro+]], that Taiwan's unique form of puppetry would see both broadcast and success outside of Asia, being simulcast on the North American Website/{{Crunchyroll}} website ([[{{Irony}} which itself mostly streams anime]]). Three years later, the 2019 {{Creator/Netflix}} premiere of ''Series/PiliFantasyWarOfDragons'' marked the first entry in the ''Pili'' series to be broadcast uncut in English-speaking countries.

* ''The TV Wheel'': Another experimental sketch comedy show, this time, created by and starring ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]''[='s=] Joel Hodgson. Heavy on the "experimental", but worth a look. It was originally developed for HBO and known as "The X-Box". ([[UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} No relation]] to the video game console.)

* ''Peep Show'': A pilot for an American remake of the [[Series/PeepShow British series]] starring Johnny Galecki was created but never picked up for a full run (one of the main criticisms levelled at it being that it echews the main POV mechanic that the original show is ostensibly named for, which also eliminates the inner monologues of the POV characters, making it a more generic and boring sitcom). It is actually only one of several failed attempts to adapt the series, but seems to be the only one that has a full pilot episode widely available to the public, with another, separate pilot only available as a few short clips found from various sources.

* ''Comicbook/TheAmazingScrewOnHead'': 2006 animated pilot based on a one-off comic by Creator/MikeMignola, creator of ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}''. Featured Creator/PaulGiamatti as a SteamPunk cyborg who fights paranormal forces at the behest of the Lincoln administration, with David Hyde-Pierce as his arch nemesis, Emperor Zombie. The Sci-Fi Channel actually had an online poll to gauge interest, but despite being very well-received it somehow never made it, possibly due to low numbers (ignoring how hard it is to promote a one-off pilot or attract word-of-mouth).

* ''Seven of One'' was a series of seven pilot episodes, all starring Ronnie Barker. Two were picked up by the BBC (becoming ''Series/{{Porridge}}'' and ''Series/OpenAllHours'') and another by ITV (''My Old Man'', with Clive Dunn replacing Barker in the lead role). The other four remain as one-shot episodes.

* ''Police Story'' - Creator/GeneRoddenberry wrote and produced this unsold television cop show from 1967 about an elite squad of police detectives that tackle the cities' most important cases. Creator/DeForrestKelley played crank forensic detective Greene.

* ''BiffoVision'', the sketch show by ex-Series/{{Digitiser}} man Paul Rose, was [[ScrewedByTheNetwork shunted to "youth" channel BBC Three, as it took on the form of a decidedly twisted kids' show...who chose not to pick up the programme as it appealed to too old a market]].

* ''17th Precinct'' was a show pitched to NBC by Ron Moore (featuring Creator/JamieBamber, Creator/JamesCallis and Creator/TriciaHelfer, who had all starred in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' reboot) following a police department in a world where magic took the place of technology. A [[https://rutube.ru/video/4f26ec06905add87a428bcc0312da260/ pilot]] was produced but not picked up, though it was leaked onto Vimeo for a brief while in December 2011. Bamber left his role on ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' to work on this pilot.

* ''Series/TurnOn'': A 1969 Creator/{{ABC}} SketchComedy, slated to be a more sexually-charged, political version of ''Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'', from the same producers (who claimed that ''Turn-On'' was more reflective of their original concept for ''Laugh-In''), which became probably the biggest fiasco in American television history up to that point. Creator/TimConway (the SpecialGuest on the single aired episode) recalled the show's cancellation rolling across the country the night it premiered as TV stations towards the west realized what was playing in the east and took preemptive measures. The Denver and Cleveland affiliates failed to return to the show after the first commercial break (a sketch of a woman trying to get a pack of birth control pills out of a vending machine supposedly being the last straw), replacing it with a documentary on gun safety, while other affiliates either banned the episode from airing, or aired the entire episode and never reran it, with ABC never bothering to air the second completed episode (guest-starring Creator/RobertCulp). The prolific Creator/HamiltonCamp was one of the cast members. The Paley Center in New York has both episodes, and producer George Schlatter uploaded them both to Platform/YouTube in 2023.

* ''Turn-On'': A 1969 SketchComedy, slated to be a more sexually-charged, political version of ''Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'', from the same producers (who claimed that ''Turn-On'' was more reflective of their original concept for ''Laugh-In''). It was scored with synthesizer music and set up as a computer showing bizarre scenes and set pieces to an unsuspecting audience. It's been said to be one of ''the'' most notorious flops in Creator/{{ABC}}'s history. Tim Conway recalled the show's cancellation rolling across the country the night it premiered as TV stations towards the west realized what was playing in the east and took preemptive measures. The Denver and Cleveland affiliates failed to return to the show after the first commercial break (the final sketch that aired was said to be a scene of a woman trying to get a pack of birth control pills out of a vending machine), replacing it with a documentary on gun safety, while other affiliates either banned the episode from airing, or aired the entire episode and never reran it. It's also remembered for featuring voice actor and musician Creator/HamiltonCamp in one of his rare on-screen roles. The Paley Center in New York has the pilot and a second, unaired episode.

* Only one episode of the AnimatedAdaptation of the ''Toys/GoGosCrazyBones'' toy series was ever released, and even then it was only released to Website/YouTube. Uploads of this one episode were later taken down due to backlash concerning how cheesy the show was to ''Gogo's'' fans; the episode is now [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes extremely tough to come by]] as a result.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGroovenians'': A 2002 half-hour CGI television special by Kenny Scharf that was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject. It was aired just once on Adult Swim, where it was hated for being vastly different in tone than the normal fare, and these days is mostly only remembered as an obscure punch line in a second-season episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab2021}}''.

* ''Series/HeatVisionAndJack'': 1999 comedy/sci-fi show starring Creator/JackBlack as Jack Austin, a former astronaut exposed to inappropriate levels of solar radiation, granting him super-intelligence whenever the sun is out. Since NASA wishes to take out his brain, he's on the run with his friend Heat Vision, a friend who has been hit by a laser beam and turned into a talking motorcycle (Voiced by Owen Wilson). They travel the countryside chased by NASA mercenary Ron Silver (as himself), blocked at every turn...by adventure! Directed by Creator/BenStiller.
** Created by Creator/DanHarmon who gave the leads (Black and Wilson) a guest appearance on a [[Series/{{Community}} show of his]] that did get picked up.

* ''Series/HeilHoneyImHome'': A 1990 British comedy starring caricatures of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and Eva Braun who live in matrimonial bliss until they become neighbors to a Jewish couple... Let's just say it's no ''Series/HogansHeroes''.

* ''Higher Ground'' - A retired F.B.I. Agent played by John Denver (no, really) becomes a bush pilot in Alaska.

* ''In the Dark'', a game show produced by [[Creator/{{ITV}} Meridian]] and hosted by Creator/JulianClary, was set to run on Creator/TheWB in 1996. Although a promo was aired, the show itself was abruptly replaced by a rerun of ''Series/TheWayansBros'' It was remade for Germany the following year as the one-off ''Zappenduster''.

* ''17th Precinct'' was a show pitched to NBC by Ron Moore (featuring Creator/JamieBamber, Creator/JamesCallis and Creator/TriciaHelfer, who had all starred in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' reboot) following a police department in a world where magic took the place of technology. A [[https://rutube.ru/video/4f26ec06905add87a428bcc0312da260/ pilot]] was produced but not picked up, though it was leaked onto Vimeo for a brief while in December 2011. Bamber left his role on ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' to work on this pilot. Whoops.

* An entire season of [[Series/{{Heathers}} a series]] based on the film ''Film/{{Heathers}}'' was shot. Paramount Network abandoned the whole thing due to controversy around the subject matter before airing the first episode, although said episode made it onto [=iTunes=] and cable on-demand services. Ultimately a subversion, [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/edited-heathers-reboot-will-air-paramount-network-all-1147329 as Paramount did end up scheduling the series to air after all,]] albeit edited for content.

** In “PTV” Peter creates the titular channel filled with uncensored content. One of them is a parody of ''Series/{{Jackass}}'' called ''Douchebags''. He poops on top of a bridge which lands on Lois’s car. The FCC comes over to the Griffin’s house and cancels PTV and ''Douchebags'' after one episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/ConstantPayne'': 2001 animated pilot for Nickelodeon. Similar in concept to ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'', it followed the Payne family, consisting of an adventurous super-inventor and his daughter. There are several reasons why it didn't get aired, most notably the unfortunate timing of the September 11th terrorist attacks (combined with a scene in the pilot where a blimp nearly crashes into a twin-towered building), it being possibly too violent for Nickelodeon, and creator Micah Wright's attempts to unionize animators making him unpopular in the Nickelodeon office.

** In “PTV” Peter creates the titular channel filled with uncensored content. One of them is a parody of Jackass called “Douchebags”. He poops on top of a bridge which lands on Lois’s car. The FCC comes over to the Griffin’s house and cancels PTV and Douchebags after one episode.

* ''Angora Napkin'': An animated pilot about a CloudCuckoolander girl band, made in 2009 for Teletoon's late night program "Teletoon at Night". It was Canadian comic artist Troy Little's attempt to turn his comic into an adult-oriented WidgetSeries. When it failed, Little continued to make Angora Napkin as a WebComic and a series of graphic novels.

* ''Chinese Burn'', a BBC sitcom about three young Chinese women living in London. It was promoted as challenging stereotypes about Chinese people; but its stereotyped, arguably racist humour put audiences off. The show's creators were born and raised in Asia, and the channel was criticised for not commissioning new work from British Chinese creatives - many of whom felt they could have written something better than this. The negative response to the show meant that it wasn't commissioned for a full series.

* ''In the Dark'', a game show produced by [[Creator/{{ITV}} Meridian]] and hosted by Julian Clary, was set to run on Creator/TheWB in 1996. Although a promo was aired, the show itself was abruptly replaced by a rerun of ''Series/TheWayansBros'' It was remade for Germany the following year as the one-off ''Zappenduster''.