273 replies to this topic

[Brian C]

As you know, TV shows film episodes call pilots to demonstrate what a particular show is about.

Generally speaking, said pilots are produced, shown to TV buyers, and the ones that are picked up are then aired on the networks.

Occasionally, though, TV shows will pull a Cousin Larry trick, and make a pilot for a new program, but sneak it into an existing program.

I call these shows "secret" pilots (the more common term, as noted below, is backdoor pilots), and for me, they are one of the funnest little things to find when you're watching old TV programs. In fact, I bring the topic up because I saw one just the other night, while watching an old episode of Simon & Simon. It was a clear backdoor pilot for a new show about a secret agent named Brian Harms. You just KNOW the name of the show was going to be called "In Harms Way." You just KNOW it.

A lot of times, these backdoor pilots go nowhere, but sometimes they do end up in a show making it. Two notable examples:

Facts of Life on Diff'rent Strokes.

Mork & Mindy on Happy Days.

But just as notable are all the ones that failed to be picked up (the majority of them, I'm afraid), like, for instance:

The white kid/black kid/Puerto Rican kid who all get adopted by the Brady's neighbors on the Brady Bunch.

Gary Seven on Star Trek.

That angel guy on Happy Days.

And my personal "favorite," when the Facts of Life spent its LAST FREAKING EPISODE on setting up a pilot for a spin-off that didn't get picked up!!! I always thought that was ridiculous.

So, please, name some other examples of these backdoor pilots! I'm always interested in hearing about ones that I've missed!

Edited by Brian C, Feb 1, 2005 @ 10:08 PM.

[Teague]

No idea if TPTB will let this thread stand, but while it's here...

What was the set-up for the last episode of Facts of Life? I stopped watching years before it ended, but I'm curious.

Also, I think the official term for this (or if not official, a common one, since I've heard it before...) is a "backdoor pilot". Another one you didn't mention was that The Andy Griffith Show actually got started as a backdoor pilot on The Danny Thomas Show. And Happy Days spun off several series, but was itself a backdoor pilot from Love, American Style.

Some of these, though, aren't so much backdoor pilots as spin-offs, which while they share some commonalities, aren't really synonymous. The Facts of Life, for example, was a spin-off--they created a new show for Ms. Garrett. They didn't introduce Ms. Garrett so as to backdoor pilot a new series. It's a small difference, I grant you, but a notable one.

[Brian C]

Thanks, Glark, for the head's up (so now I can safely reply ;)), and also thanks for the better thread title!!

[Rinaldo]

That angel guy on Happy Days.

That one happened, I think, however briefly. Wasn't it Out of the Blue?

I can think of three more -- maybe more will occur to me later, this is a favorite obscure subject of mine.

On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, one episode featured Bill Daily as an inept but lovable political candidate, with an office full of wacky but loyal employees. It was intended as exactly this sort of backdoor pilot, but went nowhere. Instead, Daily got a steady job on MTM's Bob Newhart Show.

On Kate & Allie, one episode was about a customer of Kate's but then she went away and we spent the rest of the episode with the client and her family and friends, clearly a sitcom setup that never happened. It centered around Lindsay Wagner, and we also had Barbara Barrie, Mercedes Ruehl, and Sam Freed (who was later recast as Bob Barsky, Allie's fiancé/husband).

Magnum P.I. had one very strange hour that was only tangentially about Magnum -- he started remembering an old military buddy, and then we cut to this guy in what was clearly a tryout of an Indiana Jones sort of scenario, someone who lived in Oklahoma or Texas or something, and hunted for lost treasures or suchlike. William Lucking was the lead, and also in the cast (can't be sure if they all would have been in the nypothetical series) were John Calvin, Joanna Kerns, Richard Roundtree, and Soon-Teck Oh.

Edited by Rinaldo, Oct 21, 2005 @ 8:34 AM.

[Brian C]

Magnum, P.I., had one very strange hour that was only tangentially about Magnum -- he started remembering an old military buddy, and then we cut to this guy in what was clearly a tryout of an Indiana Jones sort of scenario, someone who lived in Oklahoma or Texas or something, and hunted for lost treasures or suchlike. William Lucking was the lead, and also in the cast (can't be sure if they all would have been in the nypothetical series) were John Calvin, Joanna Kerns, Richard Roundtree, and Soon-Teck Oh.

That's funny, because that sounds like one I remember on Magnum PI with a PILOT, rather than a treasure hunter.

With Joanna Kerns, even!

Edited by Brian C, Feb 1, 2005 @ 10:20 PM.

[alliterator]

I remember Growing Pains had one that lead into the series Eight is Enough. It was like Mike organizes a protest a school and it gets the gym teacher fired and then we see the gym teacher's family - a wife and six kids. And then I think it just stayed with them until the very end when they decided to move someplace else.

[Rinaldo]

That's funny, because that sounds like one I remember on Magnum PI with a PILOT, rather than a treasure hunter.

Hey, I haven't seen it since it first aired! Yeah, he was a pilot (we saw him flying from Hawaii (?) to his home), but he was also someone who was into lost artifacts, or something along those lines, and that was where the plot complications came from.

[Added later:] I just remembered one more -- an arguable one, and maybe some Rockford Files experts will know more. No, not Richie Brockleman; that was a spinoff, and besides the series actually happened for a few episodes. No, this was the strange second-to-last episode, "Just a Coupla Guys," which featured the aforementioned two guys trying to break into the world of crime. Rockford is mentioned, but is seen briefly and in passing, in one scene. The series was known to be in its last days, and maybe they were trying to eke out one more episode even though they didn't have much of James Garner's time. But it sure had the smell of "unsold pilot" to me.

Edited by Rinaldo, Feb 2, 2005 @ 12:05 AM.

[ShunnedforLife]

I remember that Golden Girls had a pilot with Rita Moreno and her characte'rs husband but when they actually did the show, all the characters were recasted.


And I recall that Married with Children had two pilot/spin off episodes. One with Kelly and one with their neighbors. Neither were picked up.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch tried to spin off a show for Amanda Spellman only for both to be ignored.

[superdiva80]

On Martin weren't they trying to spin off a show about Pam working at a record label? I remember an episode near the end that focused all about that but I guess it wasn't picked up.

Backdoor pilots are very sneaky.

[Josette]

remember Growing Pains had one that lead into the series Eight is Enough.

Actually, Just the Ten of Us. I used to watch it.

Who's the Boss? had a few backdoor pilots. One actually did make it to a series--Living Dolls, but there was also a spin-off attempt for Mona (it would have been called Mona) involving a rundown hotel her brother ran. And there was a strange attempt for Donna Dixon and Fran Drescher to have a series. In this backdoor pilot, Donna Dixon played a woman whose life had always been perfect until her husband left her. Now, she hoped to become a photographer, but landed a job as a model. Fran Drescher was a tough aspiring model. Naturally, they wound up rooming together. The episode was called "Charmed Lives" and that would have been the name of the series. The IMDb actually lists it as a series, but it doesn't appear in The Complete Directory to Prime Time and Cable TV Shows, so I don't believe it ever was a series.

The Nanny tried a backdoor pilot with Tracy Nelson as a kooky aspiring actress who gets a job at The Chatterbox salon.

Edited by Josette, Feb 2, 2005 @ 12:37 AM.

[TonyBoy123]

I remember that Golden Girls had a pilot with Rita Moreno and her characte'rs husband but when they actually did the show, all the characters were recasted.

What show did this end up being? Did this have anything to do with "Empty Nest?" I don't remember how and if they set up the premise for "Empty Nest", does anyone know?

And I recall that Married with Children had two pilot/spin off episodes. One with Kelly and one with their neighbors. Neither were picked up.

I though one of the shows did get picked up. The one with Matt LeBlanc and his dad. There may also have been one with Matt LeBlanc and this other single Italian guy. Does anyone remember this?

ETA: MarquisDCarabas, you answered before I could even submit my post. Now that's fast service.

Edited by TonyBoy123, Feb 2, 2005 @ 12:53 AM.

[Canadian Tyler]

Did this have anything to do with "Empty Nest?" I don't remember how and if they set up the premise for "Empty Nest", does anyone know?

There was one episode of Golden Girls called "Empty Nests" I believe. Although, David Leisure was the only regular character to carry over to Empty Nest from the backdoor pilot, they also changed his character around.

ETA: Estelle Getty also appeared on both shows, but not as a regular cast member on Empty Nest

I'm quite impressed with everyone's knowledge of these things! It's kinda freaky actually.

Edited by Canadian Tyler, Feb 2, 2005 @ 1:05 AM.

[Brian C]

What was the set-up for the last episode of Facts of Life? I stopped watching years before it ended, but I'm curious.

To answer the first question (I didn't want to give an answer until I knew the thread was copasetic..hehe), it was going to star Blair as the new headmistress of Eastlyn, which was having financial woes, so it had to become co-ed. Blair's family also had financial woes, so whatever money she made from Eastlyn was it.

It kept all the young kids from Facts of Life (the Australian girl and more), and it added BLOSSOM AND OZ!!!!

Seth Green looked so weird.

It looked stupid, but no stupid than most other shows. But yeah, they did it so that the other girls only had tiny little cameos. Luh-ame.

As for Facts of Life not being a backdoor pilot, I think it counts as one because the Mrs. Garrett episode was done SPECIFICALLY to set up a pilot. Likewise, I think the Tortellis counts as a backdoor pilot.

[PhantomChic]

Highlander spent six episodes of its last season (which was half the season, because they only did 13 episodes that year) on backdoor pilots for spin-offs featuring a female immortal. They pretty much all sucked. One of them didn't even bother to include Duncan MacLeod or any of the other main cast.

The irony is that the best spin-off option they had that season was a MacLeod-less Joe & Methos episode, which rocked and would have had a lot of potential. Of course, it was the one that wasn't intended to be a backdoor pilot.

Then the spin-off they ended up doing didn't come from any of those episodes, which means that half of Highlander's season was even more wasted.

[watcha]

Can anyone recall if there was an actual backdoor pilot for Family Matters via Perfect Strangers? I remember Harriet Winslow being recurring as the elevator lady (?) and then did her family get introduced? I was in diapers when all this happened.

I'm also going to assume that X-Files had one for The Lone Gunmen, although I myself am not interested in recalling that.

Edited by watcha, Feb 2, 2005 @ 1:48 AM.

[Brian C]

No, Family Matters didn't get a backdoor pilot.

As for Lone Gunmen, I don't even think that THEY got one. I think it was a straight spin-off.

[Canadian Tyler]

I always thought Family Matters did get a backdoor pilot, I thought I remembered them introducing Hariet's family on Perfect Strangers. Maybe I'm wrong though.

[thinkcwik]

Was the McLean Stevenson suckfest Hello Larry a backdoor pilot from Different Strokes, or just a regular ol' spinoff ?

Edited by thinkcwik, Feb 2, 2005 @ 2:11 AM.

[Nflux Forever]

And I recall that Married with Children had two pilot/spin off episodes.

Three actually. The third one came in the last season. It was called Enemies It was making fun of Friends and starred Nicole Eggert.

Speaking of Nicole Eggert, she was in one of the 3 backdoor spinoffs which Charles In Charge did. The other two featured Ellen Travolta and Willie Aames respectively.

Edited by Nflux Forever, Feb 2, 2005 @ 2:28 AM.

[karra]

ETA: Estelle Getty also appeared on both shows, but not as a regular cast member on Empty Nest

Actually, Sophia was a regular cast member (in the credits, even) the last two seasons of Empty Nest. Stop staring at me.

Topic? There was a bizarro Ghost Rider pilot nestled in the 90s Incredible Hulk cartoon. I dunno if it got picked up. An episode arc on Power Rangers...something or another was a pilot slide in for Masked Rider. (seriously. stop looking at me like that.)

Strong Medicine just aired one called "First Response" for a show that should start in the fall about...adopted EMS teams?

Edited by karra, Feb 2, 2005 @ 2:40 AM.

[Brian C]

Canadian Tyler, to the best of my knowledge, the first time we met her family was in the first episode of Family Matters.



thinkcwik, Hello, Larry wasn't even a traditional spin-off, I do not believe. It was a new show that they retroactively tied to Diff'rent Strokes (as they aired the same night from the same production company).



Nflux Forever, regarding Charles in Charge, do you mean the hotel Buddy's uncle owned, or something? I didn't know that they intended Buddy to star in that.

[cutecouple]

I seem to remember a backdoor pilot jammed into the Cosby Show, about people running a community center or a health clinic. I do remember something spinning off of Mork and Mindy, but I think that was a proper spin off and not a backdoor pilot.

[karra]

Wasn't almost the ENTIRE last half of the final season of the Practice a backdoor pilot for Boston Legal? That was pretty sucessful, I think.

Failed: the "Gandy and Gabby" episode of Rockford Files, starring...Louis Gossett jr and...I wanna say Issac Hayes? That was awful. I woulda loved it.

[ChocolateCherry]

Do we get to comment on characters (Harriet Winslow or the Jeffersons) who made the jump here or only official backdoor pilots?

In the early seasons of the Cosby show there was one really out of place episode that made no sense to me. The Huxtables helped out at a community center, but the episode was really about the couple that worked there. It involved them trying to help a little beat up boy. Was this a BDP?

And did the Aqua Teen Hunger Force exist before they appeared on Space Ghost Coast to Coast?

ETA: cutecouple posted while I was typing and thinking.

Edited by ChocolateCherry, Feb 2, 2005 @ 2:58 AM.

[Brian C]

Good point, karra.

And I figured, ChocolateCherry, that we have enough discussion room (as there's been a LOT of them) on just the backdoor pilots to stick to discussing just them.