History Main / PoorlyDisguisedPilot

* Likewise, an issue of ''Comicbook/TheMightyThor'' during the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover in Marvel Comics showcases the Comicbook/NewWarriors, who received their own book months later!
* Speaking of Thor, ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' #536 and #537 were used to set the stage for Creator/JMichaelStraczynski's ''Thor'' relaunch. The plot had the FF trying to prevent Comicbook/DoctorDoom from claiming the deceased Thor's hammer, which was revealed to have landed near Broxton, Oklahoma after the events of [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Ragnarok]].
* Season 9 of ''Comicbook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' introduces Billy, a teenage gay male Slayer-wannabe in his own story ''Billy the Vampire Slayer''. However, Billy has only made a few reappearances since then and is pretty much forgotten about in season 10.

* Creator/DCComics did the same thing earlier, occasionally trying out the ''idea'' of a character before going forward with "the real thing." DC's first DistaffCounterpart characters to Franchise/{{Superman}} (ComicBook/LoisLane temporarily getting powers and operating as "Superwoman" and ComicBook/{{Superboy}} [[GenderBender turning into a girl]] and operating as "Claire Kent, Super-Sister") were probably not tryouts so much as one-shot story ideas. But 1958's "The Girl of Steel" was clearly a dry run for Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}. In that story, ComicBook/JimmyOlsen uses a magic totem to wish for a "Super-Girl" who would be a companion and helpmate for Superman. It doesn't work out all that well, and Jimmy ends up wishing the girl out of existence at her own request (ItMakesSenseInContext... sorta.) Reaction was positive enough that DC introduced Kara Zor-El, the "real" Supergirl, shortly after in ''Comicbook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton''.
* Speaking of ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'', Nick Spencer's AbortedArc would've seen Kara teaming up with Comicbook/{{Robin}} (Damian Wayne), Comicbook/{{Static}}, Comicbook/{{Batgirl|2009}}, Comicbook/BlueBeetle, Miss Martian and Impulse (Irey West). According to Spencer, the plan was to use the storyline as a backdoor pilot for a new ''Comicbook/YoungJustice'' relaunch starring those characters, but he ended up being replaced on the book before his first issue was released.

** Franchise/SpiderMan is perhaps the most famous case. He first appeared as the cover character of the fifteenth issue of ''Amazing Fantasy'', an anthology series that was being canceled, despite an editor's note promising that ''Amazing Fantasy'' would be continued in a new format with a Spider-Man story every month. That promise would be fulfilled by a new title, ''The Amazing Spider-Man''.
** Marvel would revive ''Amazing Fantasy'' in the 2000s; Comicbook/AnyaCorazon got her own book shortly afterwards called Araña: Heart of the Spider. She would later become the sidekick of Ms. Marvel (ComicBook/CarolDanvers) before being retooled as the new Spider-Girl.

** Near the end of its run, ''ComicBook/{{The Transformers|Marvel}} gave heavy focus to the super hero team, the Neo Knights, even giving them their own spotlight issue and having them play a fairly large role in defeating Unicron in the final issue. It would later be revealed that the Neo Knights were Simon Furman's attempt to become one of Marvel's main writers, with Furman admitting in the last issue's letters page that he believed that the ''Transformers'' were finished as a franchise and that trying to get a Neo Knights spinoff was his new focus.

** Near the end of its run, [[ComicBook/TheTransformers Marvel's ''Transformers'' comic]] gave heavy focus to the super hero team, the Neo Knights, even giving them their own spotlight issue and having them play a fairly large role in defeating Unicron in the final issue. It would later be revealed that the Neo Knights were Simon Furman's attempt to become one of Marvel's main writers, with Furman admitting in the last issue's letters page that he believed that the ''Transformers'' were finished as a franchise and that trying to get a Neo Knights spinoff was his new focus.

** ''Uncanny X-Men'' #201 saw Comicbook/{{Cyclops}} leave the X-Men after losing a duel for leadership of the team to Comicbook/{{Storm}}.
** The final issue of ''[[Comicbook/TheDefenders New Defenders]]'' ended with most of the team being killed off, with former X-Men members Angel, Comicbook/{{Beast|Marvel Comics}} and Comicbook/{{Iceman}} left as the only survivors.

* Speaking of ''Comicbook/TheDefenders'', they also got their start this way. Prior to the launch of the series, the three future core members of the Defenders (Comicbook/DoctorStrange, the Comicbook/IncredibleHulk and [[Comicbook/SubMariner Namor]]) teamed up in a crossover that ran between their solo books, followed by a second crossover where Namor partnered with the Hulk and the Comicbook/SilverSurfer in his own series.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Parodied in the ''Script/AHDotComTheSeries'' episode "Ze Poorly-Disguised Pilot", which focuses on occasional guest stars The Germans and their adventures for a week instead.
[[/folder]]

* ''Comicbook/SecretWar'' featured a team-up between many of the characters who would go on form the core cast of ''Comicbook/NewAvengers'', and also set up several plot threads for that series.

* ComicBook/PatsyWalker was resurrected in a storyline that ran across the 2000 annuals for ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' and ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', before receiving a SpinOff ''Hellcat'' limited series. The mini-series was even advertised at the end of the ''Avengers'' annual.

* The ComicBook/BlueBeetle and ComicBook/{{Hardware}} team-up in ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' includes an extremely obvious set-up for a new ''Hardware'' solo series.

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!!Other Examples:

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* This was a common occurrence in UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|OfAnimation}} era shorts, since one-shot characters were frequently made in hopes of becoming popular enough to become a studio icon (though in some cases their popularity was unexpected and just rolled with):
** ''WesternAnimation/PopeyeTheSailor'' (1933), the first animated ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} cartoon, was actually billed as a WesternAnimation/BettyBoop short. Betty herself was DemotedToExtra in it.
** The WesternAnimation/AndyPanda short "Knock Knock" is actually a vehicle for Creator/WalterLantz's intended new star, WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker, with the bird getting much more screen time than Andy and his poppa.
** WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck first appeared as a side character in the WesternAnimation/PorkyPig cartoon ''WesternAnimation/PorkysDuckHunt''. Though Daffy would continue being a foil for Porky in many later ''Franchise/LooneyTunes'' shorts, his next few appearances had him go solo with title billing.
** You'd be forgiven for not knowing that WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd was in fact a ''Looney Tunes'' mainstay '''''before''''' his adversary WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, who officially debuted in "WesternAnimation/AWildHare", one of Elmer's already ongoing cartoons. Incidentally, a prototypical version of Bugs was also first used in the Porky short ''WesternAnimation/PorkysHareHunt'', in much the same way as Daffy.
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "[[Recap/AmericanDadS15E19TopOfTheSteve Top of the Steve]]", where Steve runs away from home and, due to a technicality, enrolls in an all-girls' school. As the show goes on, things appear to be working in Steve's favor, and Roger correctly deduces that they are in a spin-off. They find that they cannot escape it, until they realize [[CaliforniaDoubling the spin-off is filmed in]] UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}}, and the only way out is to sing a [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]] song, since Canada can't afford the publishing rights, so they start to sing, "Hey..." but get cut off before they say, "Jude".
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', "Spellbound" gives WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain a full half-hour story before getting their own show, and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo Clock" was a pilot for a ''Slappy Squirrel'' series. The credits for the latter episode also feature different end credits music than the other episodes of ''Animaniacs''.
** The episode "Plan Brain From Outer Space" from the actual ''Pinky and the Brain'' series was another example of this. It was intended as a pilot for a show called ''Zalgar, The Brain Eater'', which featured the alien from the Animaniacs episode "PottyEmergency" trying to go after different brains of people. Most of the episode's dialogue had to be altered to remove references to the show.
** Some of the episodes of [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 the reboot]] feature short cartoons with all-new characters ("Starbox & Cindy," "The Incredible Gnome in People's Mouths"), suggesting that they might become recurring segments in future seasons if they catch on. The latter segment even said "to be continued" at the end.
* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': The "Spacecataz" cold openings that aired during the third season were, when put together, intended to be the pilot of a spinoff miniseries featuring the Mooninites and Plutonians; the idea never got off the ground, and the show dropped the cold openings before the short could be aired in its entirety (though it's available on the volume 4 DVD.)
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' had a "Postcards from Buster" special a while before [[WesternAnimation/PostcardsFromBuster the series]] started.
* Parodied in the DVDCommentary of the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "The Western Air Temple", where they joke that Haru, Teo, and the Duke messing around in the temple is one of these for a spin-off called ''The Last Street Luger'' with a lost pilot episode that consists of [[LeaveTheCameraRunning 22 minutes of Teo riding around in his wheel-chair while passing various kinds of plants]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'':
** Curiously, the episode "Zeta" was ''not'' originally intended to be a pilot for ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject'', but it was deemed a good enough premise that it got its own show, albeit one CutShort by cancellation. They did completely redesign Zeta for the spin-off to look more human-like, which doesn't stop Batman from recognizing him in the crossover episode.
** Similarly the two part episode "The Call" was used as a proof of concept for ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' while not actually being a poor disguised pilot. (the two shows are in two different time periods)
* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE13Showdown Showdown]]" feels very much like a backdoor pilot for a Jonah Hex cartoon, seeing as how Batman's only in the framing device of Ra's Al Ghul telling a story about a cowboy who thwarted one of his plans once.
* The episode "The Fear" from ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians'' is acknowledged by its writers as having been intended to lead into a solo ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' series (it was notable for having the first on-screen depiction of the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents[[note]]Prior to this, Bruce Wayne mentioned his parents being killed by criminals in the first episode of ''Series/Batman1966''[[/note]]). And in a way, it eventually did, since it's written by Alan Burnett, who went on to produce ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''.
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' put the characters of Gwen and Kevin [[PutOnABus on a bus]], but three episodes focus on how they're doing at Gwen's college. Those episodes have Gwen take up her old Lucky Girl identity from the original series and feature supporting cast members like Professor Xagliv, [[AlmightyJanitor school janitor/secret master magician]] Bezel, a [[HeelFaceTurn reformed]] Hex, a [[TheRival Charmcaster]] in a position to [[HeelFaceTurn reform and become a friend]], and set [[EvilOverlord the evil alien turtle Adwaita]] loose to become a potential BigBad to Gwen. WordOfGod stated that these episodes could be spun off into a ''Lucky Girl'' show for CN Asia ([[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff where Gwen is immensely popular]]), but it never materialized due to the lackluster reception of ''Omniverse'' as a whole, and the entire franchise was subject to ContinuityReboot [[WesternAnimation/Ben102016 two years]] after its end.
* ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'':
** The ([[InNameOnly alleged]]) Betty Boop short ''Popeye the Sailor''. While Betty is in the cartoon for about 30 seconds, [[ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} a certain one-eyed sailor]] takes up most of the screentime, and then got his own cartoon series. There was also an attempt to bring Jimmy Swinnerton's ''Little Jimmy'' to the screen, but it wasn't nearly as successful.
** The 1938 cartoon ''Sally Swing'' featured Betty in her last theatrical appearance[[note]]While her series lasted until 1939, all subsequent shorts would only feature her dog, Pudgy[[/note]] presenting the eponymous Sally, a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute created for the swing era... but it didn't catch on.
* ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' added a segment in its' final season where Blue travels to a playroom where she becomes a puppet and has new friends. ''Blue's Room'', the show these segments were a pilot for, would premiere on Nickelodeon six months after the first episode with this segment premiered.
* There's a two-part episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' called "Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century", which is clearly designed as a backdoor pilot for a potential new series that never entered production because Creator/{{Filmation}} had fallen upon hard times by this point (''Bravestarr'' ultimately went on to become Filmation's final, fully produced series). This bears no direct relation to the later Creator/DICEntertainment series ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'', which, like the two-part episode in question, is set in "New London" (''Bravestarr'' is set on the planet of "New Texas").
* Disney produced a CG/hand-drawn animated hybrid movie that served as the pilot to the TV series ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'', book-ended by the CG characters from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' actually watching the movie in Andy's room.
* Inversion: The Sector V kids from ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' were actually supposed to be the supporting characters in a different series pitched by creator Tom Warburton. Creator/CartoonNetwork saw potential in this group of neighborhood children, and had him create a second pilot alongside "Kenny and the Chimp" that focused purely on them. Viewer response lead to the "Kids Next Door" being chosen over "Kenny", and the rest is history.
* ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'':
** "Meet Diego!" was meant to launch ''WesternAnimation/GoDiegoGo''.
** "Dora's Christmas Carol" had a scene that was meant to set up the ''WesternAnimation/DorasExplorerGirls'' spin-off, which later became ''WesternAnimation/DoraAndFriendsIntoTheCity''. Two other episodes, "School Science Fair" (introducing a young Emma) and "Let's Go To Music School" (introducing a young Kate) also did this. Oddly enough, the latter episode aired in most countries ''after'' the spin-off series premiered, with it only airing in the United States several years after both the original series and spin-off had been cancelled.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'':
** The episode where Uncle Scrooge becomes the crime fighting "Masked Mallard". It wasn't originally intended to be this trope, just a one-shot story, but fans and writers liked it so much they started coming up with ideas for a sequel episode. They finally decided there were just too many good ideas that they wanted to do and created ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck''.
** The episode "Double-O-Duck", where Launchpad gets mistaken for a James Bond-style secret agent, seems to be the set up for a spin off, though the Film/JamesBond right-holders weren't too thrilled with the "Double-O" part. F.O.W.L. ('''F'''iendish '''O'''rganization for '''W'''orld '''L'''arceny), introduced in the episode, became the main villains for Darkwing Duck.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': The third season episode "Let's Get Dangerous" is a double-length episode focusing primarily on Darkwing Duck, as well as establishing Gosalyn and Launchpad [=McQuack=] as his crime-fighting partners. The episode was promoted heavily by Disney, even being released for free on [=YouTube=]. It was later confirmed they would be rebooting Darkwing for streaming on Creator/DisneyPlus .
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'':
** The fifth season had an episode where main characters Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda appear purely as a FramingDevice for what is actually a pilot for a proposed spin-off, that being a full-length version of the ShowWithinAShow ''Crash Nebula''. Plans never got off the ground, partly due to the creator was already juggling another series [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom that also happened to be an action show starring a teenage boy learning to be a hero]].
** The episode "Spellementary School" was actually first pitched as a spin-off starring Poof and [[EvilTwin Foop]] attending school in order to hone their fairy magic, with the concept being recycled into an episode after it was rejected.
* Not really a pilot, but Cleveland got more attention than normal on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' after [[WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow his spin-off]] was announced.
* ''WesternAnimation/FluppyDogs'' was intended as a pilot for a television series. The movie was not well-received, and the series was never picked up.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'':
** It has "Pendragon", which ends with a resurrected King Arthur heading out to wander the world in search of Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. This is in fact a Poorly Disguised Pilot for a show that never came to fruition.
** The World Tour arc is rife with these. There's "The New Olympians", one for... ''The New Olympians''. "Sentinel" is a more subtle predecessor to ''Gargoyles 2198''. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the creator's "ramble" on the episode:
--->'''Greg:''' The way this ended, you'd almost think we were setting up yet another spin-off. "That wacky alien Nokkar teams up with a doctor and two archeologists to save the world from invasion and learn a little something about getting along... all in one hotel room!"
** Other episodes set up elements that would lead to spinoffs:
*** "Future Tense" with [[AppliedPhlebotinum the Phoenix Gate]] being thrown into the timestream, setting up "Timedancer" (which also never came to fruition).
*** "Walkabout", "Bushido", "Kingdom" and "The Journey" all have elements that feature in the ''ComicBook/BadGuys'' series.
* ComicBook/GhostRider appeared in backdoor pilots on ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFour'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1996'' for his own cartoon on UPN, which was not picked up. This had the effect of preventing the character from appearing in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', as the Fox execs did not want to promote a character who was going to be used by a rival network.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'':
** The Halloween special "Underfist" relegated the show's main trio of characters to cameos in order to focus on five of the show's supporting cast members as they form the titular superhero team. It never got off the ground, with the creator later explaining that the executives interested in the project had left the company while the special was being produced, and the new ones weren't interested.
** When the show was still known as "Grim & Evil," and featured ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne'' shorts, one episode features the character Max Courage and his family in what was apparently intended to be the pilot for a spin-off that never materialized.
* The last episode of ''WesternAnimation/HongKongPhooey'', "Comedy Cowboys", uses its full half-hour length to introduce a bevy of new characters (Honcho, The Mysterious Maverick and Posse Impossible), all evidently itching to get their own cartoon. (Only one, ''Posse Impossible'', succeeded when it appeared on ''WesternAnimation/CBBears''.) Lampshaded in that Phooey does hardly anything in the episode, as they point out at the end.
* ComicBook/IncredibleHulk appeared in backdoor pilots in both ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' and ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFour'', before being spun off into his own [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1996 cartoon]] (which aired on Creator/{{UPN}} rather than Creator/FoxKids).
* Fan speculation ran rampant that the ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "Far From Home" was designed as a Poorly Disguised Pilot for a ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' series that would have starred Supergirl and taken place in Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse continuity; however, [[http://adventure247.blogspot.com/2009/03/bruce-timm-on-alleged-pilot-episode.html Bruce Timm denied this]]. The fact that a ''Legion'' [[WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes cartoon]] started up the next year, starring Franchise/{{Superman}}, is apparently just a coincidence.
* ''The Henry and June Show'', a half-hour ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'' special, was produced in hopes of spinning ''[=KaBlam=]!'' hosts Henry and June off into their own series and premiered in Summer 1999 (around the same time Nickelodeon started using the duo as hosts for various programming blocks, replacing Stick Stickly). Due to low ratings, the spin-off never happened and the special was [[MissingEpisode never aired again]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'':
** Halfway through Season 2, Bobby and Ronnie Anne Santiago move from the show's suburban setting to the city to live with their extended family, the Casagrandes. This was a two-part episode where we meet the entire family in what is an obvious way to launch a spin-off... and indeed, ''[[WorkingTitle Los Casagrandes]]'' (later renamed ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'') was announced the following year.
** The [[FiveEpisodePilot first five half-hours]] of Season 4 are even more directly this, revolving around Ronnie Anne, her family and new best friend/neighbor Sid Chang, with the main cast from ''The Loud House'' barely appearing, if at all. To make it even more obvious, the show's usual opening sequence was swapped out with one that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUqfXtIEqK4 straight-up has Ronnie Anne ask the viewer to meet her family]], and all the episodes have "with the Casagrandes" in their titles.
* The Addams Family's guest appearance on ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'' may have been to test the waters for ''WesternAnimation/TheAddamsFamily1973''. Similarly, the episodes featuring Batman and Robin were probably this for ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'', especially since the first season featured "Junior Superfriends" consisting of teenagers and their dog.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
** The Fireside Girls episodes "Isabella and the Temple of Sap" and "Bee Story" are sometimes seen as this, but are actually companion episodes to their respective "A-episodes."
** The episode "Doof 101" is so obviously this, with all the focus on Doof, Vanessa and Perry and only a brief glimpse of the title characters, plus the fact that it had its own theme song, no running gags, and an inexplicable subplot about talking bugs.
** "The OWCA Files" features the same talking bugs and Perry assembling a new team of agents, including Doof. This is particularly obvious as it premiered after the show's GrandFinale.
* The {{WesternAnimation/Pixar Short|s}} ''Air Mater'' actually [[{{Pun}} appears to be this]] to the spinoff film ''WesternAnimation/{{Planes}}''.
* "WesternAnimation/PlutosJudgementDay", despite being labeled as a WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse short, is actually one of the first WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts to focus almost entirely on WesternAnimation/{{Pluto|thePup}}.
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "Lawnmower Dog." After Morty's dog, made sentient due to a headset made by Rick, takes other dogs along with him to colonize an alternate universe, Rick starts to talk about how there must be satisfying stories going on in that universe and how he'd watch it for "at least eleven minutes a pop." Doubles as a reference to a failed pitch for a kids' cartoon that co-creator Creator/JustinRoiland had before making ''Rick and Morty'', which never got greenlit.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'':
** The episode "All Growed Up" features an odd "vision into the future" where all the characters are about twelve years older and have their adventures grounded in something resembling reality, as opposed to the usually surreal and fantastic nature of the exploits of their toddler incarnations. Sure enough, the episode was quickly transformed into a series, ''Rugrats: WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'', which shows the Rugrats as junior high schoolers.
** Later was the episode "Preschool Daze" which focused on Angelica and Susie's first day of preschool. This too was spun off into ''WesternAnimation/RugratsPreschoolDaze'' following that same formula but with a markedly different art style. Unlike All Grown Up however, it didn't really get anywhere, and only 4 episodes were ever produced.
** The episode where Susie celebrates Kwanzaa with her family was meant to be this, as it was planned to have a spin-off focusing on Susie and her family. It never materialized.
* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'':
** Given the theme song is entirely about the Boo Brothers, with Franchise/ScoobyDoo hardly mentioned, it's hard to believe that ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMeetsTheBooBrothers'' wasn't intended as a pilot for a Boo Brothers series.
** The ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndScrappyDoo'' episode "The Ransom of Scooby Chief" comes off as this, since it focuses mainly on Scrappy and his "gang" (Duke and Annie, two friends of his) rescuing Scooby and Shaggy from two (non-[[ScoobyDooHoax disguised]]) crooks. The two friends are never seen afterwards.
* In an unusual variant, one of the last episodes of ''WesternAnimation/SecretMountainFortAwesome'' was "Uncle Grandpa", starring a completely different cast and only had the main characters as a FramingDevice. Eventually, ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'' was greenlit for its own series. What makes this interesting is that, similar to the ''Kenny and the Chimp''/''Codename Kids Next Door'' situation above, Uncle Grandpa was the star of the pilot ''Secret Mountain Fort Awesome'' was based on, with the Disgustoids only having a brief appearance and were seemingly mindless monsters.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** The episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield 22 Short Films About Springfield]]" is a backdoor pilot for a Simpsons spinoff called "Tales from Springfield", [[ADayInTheLimelight which would showcase the lives of every character on the show who wasn't a member of The Simpson family.]] The crew decided it would be too much work, and the idea was abandoned.
** The concept was parodied in the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E24TheSimpsonsSpinOffShowcase The Simpsons’ Spin-Off Showcase]]", which revolves around ThreeShorts that were alleged spin-off pilots. The hefty amount of StylisticSuck and ClicheStorm invoked makes clear that the spin-offs wouldn’t run for long even if they actually existed.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SkylandersAcademy'' episode "Crash Landing" features VideoGame/CrashBandicoot as a special guest star. Here, he is SuddenlySpeaking, much more intelligent than normal, and everyone thinks he's extremely cool, especially Spyro, who begins trying to mimic him and essentially becomes his FanBoy. The idea of Crash getting his own show is outright lampshaded in the episode itself.
-->'''Eruptor:''' That dude was so cool. I wish we could have gotten to know him better.\\
'''Master Eon:''' Yes, Eruptor, Crash was quite the aspirational hero whose wacky adventures would make for addictive weekly viewing.
* The "[[ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit Adventures of Sir Johan and Peewit]]" episodes in Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' come off as this.[[note]]Indeed, they were treated as a separate series when it was broadcast in Belgium and France.[[/note]] This is the opposite of the original French language comic, where the Smurfs originally appeared in the ''Johan et Pirlouit'' album ''La Flute à Six Trous'' ("The Flute with Six Holes") before getting their own series. This also explains why the Smurfs take so long to turn up in the movie ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfsAndTheMagicFlute'' (Or in the original French, "La Flute à Six Schtroumpfs"[[note]]Literally, "The Flute with Six Smurfs".[[/note]]; based on the aforementioned album).
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' has Sofia rescue a princess named Elena. Sure enough, ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'' made it to television screens later that year, making this one of the most successful examples of this trope. Although this example is interesting as the special that was meant to lead into Elena ended up being delayed to the point where it aired after the Elena series had been airing for a while, making it look like a RequiredSpinoffCrossover.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' is rife with crossovers with the rest of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, and [[WordOfGod the writers]] have since revealed that the two-parter with Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} was meant to launch another series, which ended up not being made. Also the last episode of season 4 really seems like they were trying to start a Prowler TV spinoff.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' also features various episodes where the PowerTrio encounters several other Marvel heroes, including the Franchise/XMen. Notably, Wolverine uses the same Australian accent he uses on the later ''WesternAnimation/PrydeOfTheXMen'' pilot, even though he's Canadian. It was meant to be a backdoor pilot for an X-Men show that never got off the ground, but strangely enough, [[WolverinePublicity did not include Wolverine]]. It would've had Comicbook/{{Cyclops}}, ComicBook/{{Storm}}, ComicBook/KittyPryde, ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}}, ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, Thunderbird and ComicBook/MsMarvel ([[AdaptationNameChange renamed]] "Lady Lightning") as [[HighSchoolAU teenagers attending a public high school]] rather than the Xavier Institute. The idea was finally successfully used in 2000's ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution''.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' had a couple, though it's not as evident as some given the show's anthology-style format.
** "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E6TheGathering The Gathering]]" through "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E9ANecessaryBond A Necessary Bond]]" involve Ahsoka meeting a diverse group of young Jedi in training and helping them learn the ropes. None of the characters get another speaking role in the series, and it's very easy to imagine a TV show around them. One has to wonder if the involved InferredHolocaust was a factor...
** "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E10SecretWeapons Secret Weapons]]" through "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E13PointOfNoReturn Point of No Return]]" is a completely self-contained mini-arc where the only main character to be present is R2, with everyone else being a crew of naturally kid-appealing droids and their commander.
** "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E1TheBadBatch The Bad Batch]]" through "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E4UnfinishedBusiness Unfinished Business]]" was a ''very'' thinly veiled pilot for the [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheBadBatch upcoming spin off]] starring the epynonymous clone commandos.
* ''WesternAnimation/StreetSharks'' has an example that's like an odd cross between this and a ReTool. It introduces a trio of evil velociraptor-like aliens from outer space in "Ancient Sharkonauts", and introduces their counterparts, the heroic Dino Vengers, in the following episode, "Sharkotic Reaction". The dinosaurs then proceed to stick around for the next six episodes, which, as it turned out, are the FINAL six episodes of the series. The opening title sequence even changed to call the show ''Dino Vengers Featuring Street Sharks'' in the original airings. This resulted in the Dino Vengers and raptors, heavily retooled and having cut continuity with ''Street Sharks'', getting their own show the next year: ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeDinosaurs''.
* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' has "In Brightest Day", an episode that focuses primarily on the origin of the Kyle Rayner version of Franchise/GreenLantern, and does a pretty good job of establishing his mythology and arch-enemy Sinestro. Superman is a secondary character at most, and a victim of TheWorfEffect. Ultimately, though, no new GL show came of it and when ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' came along, John Stewart was used as the team's Green Lantern rather than Kyle. Kyle would not appear again (save for a silent cameo in the ''Justice League'' episode "Hereafter") until many years later in the ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode "The Return," where it was revealed that he'd been stationed on Oa after the events of "In Brightest Day," thus explaining why John was acting as Earth's Green Lantern instead.
* ''WesternAnimation/TalesOfArcadia'': One late episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' has Jim and his friends teaming up with Aja and Krel, two "foreign exchange students" who behave very oddly and have a few more minor appearances throughout the rest of the show. This paves the way for the second installment of the trilogy, ''WesternAnimation/ThreeBelow'', which takes place at the same time as the third season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}''. In it, Aja and Krel are royal aliens fleeing galactic conflict and posing as humans in Arcadia. Jim and his friends also have ADayInTheLimelight in this show along with several minor appearances, with Steve and Eli being the two main overlapping characters.
* Season 6 of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' had "Beast Boy's That's What's Up" special event that consisted of Beast Boy visiting the Doom Patrol for four episodes, giving each member of the team plenty of development and giving their house and town plenty of detailed background artwork. Further increasing the likelihood that this trope is in effect is the fact that the ''[[Series/DoomPatrol2019 Doom Patrol]]'' live action show came out that same year.
* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures:''
** Two episodes of the series focus on Elmyra's previously unseen and unmentioned family. The first one introduces us to Mr. Skullhead, as the subject of Elmyra's imaginary TV show. He went on to become a recurring character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''. Although the episodes never got picked up for a series, Elmyra did eventually end up starring in [[WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain another show]], which her family (and even Furrball) are left out of.
** "The Return of Batduck", which is a homage and tie-in to the 1992 Tim Burton film, ''Film/BatmanReturns'', is a pilot for the short-lived spin-off, ''The Plucky Duck Show'', which otherwise wound up airing only as a package of previously-aired Plucky Duck cartoons from ''Tiny Toons'' (though some shorts aired on ''The Plucky Duck Show'' first).
** "Fields of Honey" and "Two-Tone Town" are also suspected of being this; the latter even lampshades the show's eventual replacement (with "ACME Oop!", a.k.a ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'').
* Before starting their Little King shorts, Creator/VanBeurenStudios made two shorts based on the Little King's companion ("topper") strip, "Sentinel Louie", which were both released as part of their Aesop's Film Fables series of shorts.
** "Plane Dumb" feels like a prototype for the two Van Beuren ''Amos 'n' Andy'' shorts, since the bulk of the cartoon has Tom & Jerry disguised in blackface makeup and acting like the then-popular radio duo. They even talk, often--something they almost never do in previous shorts.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/WaitTillYourFatherGetsHome'' features a {{Crossover}} with ''Series/Car54WhereAreYou'', introducing Gunther as Erma's brother in law. The episode quickly focuses on the officers trying to find a missing kid, with the Boyles shoved into the background.
** ''Wait Till Your Father Gets Home'' is one of two animated segments of ''Series/LoveAmericanStyle'' prepared as potential pilots (this was titled "Love And The Old Fashioned Father"). The second, ''Melvin Danger'' (as "Love And The Detective"), didn't get past its initial airing on ''Style''.
* ''WesternAnimation/WonderPets'' has an episode featuring Ming-Ming visiting a cousin of hers. It's clearly a poorly disguised pilot for a possible spin-off series with Ming-Ming as the lead character, but it was never made.
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* Chuck Austen's final few issues of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' serve as a springboard for the ''[[ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvel New Invaders]]''. This is a particularly egregious example, as the finished product reads like an Invaders story that just happens to guest star a few of the Avengers.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'' were extremely popular games for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, so when Creator/{{Nintendo}} decided to create a SpinOff game starring Wario, the villain of the latter, it was titled ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'' despite not really being a ''Super Mario Land'' game. When that game proved popular, the sequel was simply titled ''VideoGame/WarioLandII'', and so on for all the later ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' games.
** Similar to the ''Wario Land'' example, VideoGame/{{Yoshi|sIsland}}'s first major starring game is titled ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'' despite being a ''prequel'' to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and all the other ''Mario'' games. Also similar to ''Wario Land'', the ''Super Mario World'' part was dropped for all subsequent ''Yoshi'' games.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' features several mini levels where you control Captain Toad, who can't jump, in a more puzzle-oriented environment. Flash forward to E3 2014, and Nintendo announces ''VideoGame/CaptainToadTreasureTracker'', an ''entire game'' starring the eponymous character and based around these kind of levels.

* The "Crisis Times Five!" arc from ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA'' run ended with several former members of the Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica deciding that it might be time to put the team back together and mentor the newest generation of heroes, leading into James Robinson and David Goyer's ''JSA'' relaunch.

An episode in which the show's primary characters take a back seat to brand new characters in order to test the waters for a separate show. Whereas the traditional {{Spinoff}} involves main/recurring characters becoming [[BreakoutCharacter popular enough]] to break out on their own, the characters described here are clearly jammed in there just for the sake of the new show. Rarely do these pilots get picked up by the network, however.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'', Jack goes to Hollywood and makes a trilogy of LOTR-ish films about himself. He eventually gets caught and exiled from Fabletown, leading into the ''Jack of Fables'' series.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'':
** The third season episode "Let's Get Dangerous" is a double-length episode focusing primarily on Darkwing Duck, as well as establishing Gosalyn and Launchpad [=McQuack=] as his crime-fighting partners. The episode was promoted heavily by Disney, even being released for free on [=YouTube=]. It was later confirmed they would be rebooting Darkwing for streaming on Creator/DisneyPlus .

** Earlier, in the late 1960s, Marvel did it with ''Marvel Super-Heroes'', a larger-than-normal comic whose lead feature launched such stars as ComicBook/CaptainMarVell, [=Ka-Zar=], and the ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy, with classic 1940s and 50s stories backing it up!

* Creator/MarvelComics tried a similar tactic with their 1993 annuals, which each introduced a new character. Of the 27 new characters created, the only one who really caught on was Legacy, who fronted his own series for a while as the new [[Comicbook/CaptainMarVell Captain Marvel]].

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' has Sofia rescue a princess named Elena. Sure enough, ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'' made it to television screens later that year, making this one of the most successful examples of this trope. Although this example is interesting as the special that was meant to lead into Elena ended up being delayed to the point where it aired after the Elena series had been airing for a while, meaning it wasn't very disguised by the time it aired.

** The plot for ''ComicBook/TransformersGeneration2'' is kicked off in a {{Crossover}} with ''Franchise/GIJoe''.

* The Archie ''ComicBook/MegaMan'' series had an arc that focused on the cast of ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' prior to the events of the first game. By Ian Flynn's account, it was an attempt to gauge interest for a comic focused on X. Unfortunately, ''Mega Man'' itself was starting to slip in sales by that point, which made the prospect of a series focused on his less iconic counterpart a bit of a crapshoot.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOnTheRun'', which features flashbacks of a younger [=SpongeBob=] meeting Gary and the rest of the main cast at Kamp Koral, appears to serve as this for the upcoming SpinoffBabies series ''WesternAnimation/KampKoral''.

* ''Avengers World'' had an ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}'' tie-in that ran in issues #16-17, where, after undergoing a temporary CharacterAlignment change, Comicbook/DoctorDoom formed his own team of heroes to stop the evil Comicbook/ScarletWitch. The story ended with the heroic Doom using the Witch's power to resurrect ComicBook/CassieLang, a plot point that had very little to do with the story at hand, but existed to set up the new ''ComicBook/AstonishingAntMan'' series that launched soon after, and under the same writer to boot.

* One of the major plots you spend time investigating in ''VideoGame/AnotherCode R'' is the mystery of Matt's father and what drove his business into the ground. While the bulk of the mysteries surrounding it are solved and tie in well to the main story, the final fate of his father is unresolved. It was supposed to lead into a separate game where Matt would resolve this plot, but Cinq (the developers) went under before such a game could be produced.

* The notorious 'Comicbook/ThePunisher Goes Black' story arc in 1992 that guest-starred {{ComicBook/Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} served as a pilot for the 1990s Cage series.

* The ninth issue of the original ''Comicbook/WhatIf'' series was probably intended to be this for a series starring the various heroes from Marvel's 1950s comics. Which did happen, albeit 30 years later, with ''Comicbook/AgentsOfAtlas''. A much later issue of ''What If'' is the basis for the entire ''ComicBook/MarvelComics2'' universe and ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl''.

* Curiously, the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Zeta" was ''not'' originally intended to be a pilot for ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject'', but it was deemed a good enough premise that it got its own show, albeit one CutShort by cancellation. They did completely redesign Zeta for the spin-off to look more human-like, which doesn't stop Batman from recognizing him in the crossover episode.

* There's a two-part episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' called "Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century", which is clearly designed as a backdoor pilot for a potential new series that never entered production because Creator/{{Filmation}} had fallen upon hard times by this point (''Bravestarr'' ultimately went on to become Filmation's final, fully produced series). This bears no relation to the later Creator/DICEntertainment series ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'', which, like the two-part episode in question, is set in "New London" (''Bravestarr'' is set on the planet of "New Texas").

*** The Guardians of the Galaxy got this treatment ''twice''. First they were introduced in Marvel Super Heroes in the late '60s, and nothing came of it. A few years later they made guest appearances in ''Marvel Two-In-One'' and ''ComicBook/TheDefenders'' before they got their own book as the stars of ''Marvel Presents''.

* This was common occurrence in UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|OfAnimation}} era shorts, since very often one shots were made in hopes of becoming popular enough to become a studio icon (though in some cases their popularity was unexpected and just rolled with):

** The WesternAnimation/AndyPanda short "Knock Knock" is in actuality a vehicle short for Creator/WalterLantz's intended new star WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker, with the bird getting much more screentime than Andy and his poppa.

** You'd be forgiven for not knowing that WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd was in fact a ''Looney Tunes'' mainstay before his adversary WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, who officially debuted in "WesternAnimation/AWildHare", one of Elmer's already ongoing cartoons. Incidentally, a prototypical version of Bugs was also first used in the Porky short ''WesternAnimation/PorkysHareHunt'', much in the same way as Daffy.