Pilot: Difference between revisions

|''[[Pulp Fiction]]''}}

 

 

(The term "pilot" is used in this sense outside the entertainment industry; a "pilot plant", for example, may be a smaller-scale power plant that's used to test some new generation technology.)

 

Many, many pilot episodes are simply named "Pilot", making "Pilot" [[Stock Episode Titles|the most common episode title among all series]].

 

[[The Futon Critic]] has reviews for many of the successful pilots and now the unsuccessful ones.

* ''[[Naruto]]'' wasn't a ninja series, but instead involved magic. Instead of wanting to be Hokage, Naruto was sent on a quest to find friends under the orders of whom would later become Hiruzen Sarutobi after one prank too-many. Instead of a demon being sealed inside Naruto, the Demon Fox was his father.

* ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' had Kenshiro as a teenager. He is then on the run after being framed for killing his girlfriend.

 

== [[Game Show]] ==

* ''[[Match Game]]'' had one for the 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 his death from brain cancer forced Ross Shafer to take over when it sold), 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.

* ''[[Card Sharks]]'' 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 bonus round (which also happened once in the real game). There was also an unsold 1996 pilot which greatly altered the format, and another in 2000 that eventually became the 2001 revival; there were also relatively unchanged revivals in 1986-89 network and 1986-87 syndicated.

* [[NBC]] accidentally aired the pilot to the 1990 revival of ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'' on the east coast. This was notable as Richard Kline hosted the pilot, but Gordon Elliott was the actual host of the series (for a few months at least).

* ''[[The Joker's Wild]]'' had two pilots hosted by Allen Ludden (of ''[[Password]]'' fame), in which a panel of celebrities asked the questions. A third pilot was part of an awkward 90-minute special, ''The Honeymoon Game'', hosted by Jim MacKrell, which was a hodgepodge of games put together (including an entire first third that was axed ''during the pilot'' because Barry disliked it). Finally, once everything got going, ''Joker'''s wheels spun for 14 years, an amazing run for a game show.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

** The latter was required by a [[Special Effects Failure]]—Delenn was originally supposed to be a ''male'' Minbari who became female as a side effect of the process that turned him into a [[Half-Human Hybrid]], but they were unable to make the male Delenn (still played by actress Mira Furlan) look and sound believable.

* ''[[Being Human (UK)]]'': Notable in that two of the three main characters, as well as the big bad of the first season, were recast between the pilot and the start of the series.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' had a pilot episode (actually several, since they re-made it several times, using the same script) which, despite being a British show from 1963, survived. It was similar to the first episode, but with different costumes, a scene with Susan drawing a bizarre inkblot, and a statement that the Doctor and Susan come from the 49th Century. Because it was produced after the series was accepted rather than to sell the series, it may not technically be a pilot by some definitions.

** "Invasion of the Bane", the first episode of another [[Whoniverse]] series, ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', aired as a stand-alone story ''like'' a pilot, but, again, the BBC had already agreed to make the first season.

* ''[[Lost]]'': One of the most expensive pilots ever made, but worth every penny for both the critical reaction and the ratings success.

** Also notable for being one of the few times "Pilot" has independently made sense as an episode title.

** Funnily enough, the guy who approved it (and its budget) was fired before the show was aired for investing such a large amount of money into a risky project.

* ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'': Somehow manages to painlessly explain a convoluted backstory in only 22 minutes and still be funny.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' had two pilots, which was unusual back then. The first one ("The Cage") didn't sell because Gene Roddenberry produced a dramatic show instead of the action show he had promised. It was later worked into the two part "The Menagerie". The second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before" lacked Dr. McCoy and was aired (in a slightly re-edited version) as an early episode of the series.

** One of the things that changed between the pilot and the regular series was the design of the Enterprise—due to the high cost of special effects and the low resolution of 60s televisions, many of the special effects shots from the pilot were re-used in the series, even though the ship looked subtly different.

* ''[[30 Rock]]'': Rather mediocre pilot and quite possibly the worst episode of the whole series. [[Tina Fey]] herself has said "if I never see that pilot again, it will be too soon". Also notable in that the scenes with Jenna were refilmed before it aired, [[The Other Marty|replacing Rachel Dratch with Jane Krakowski]].

** Ironically, ''[[Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip]]'', [[Dueling Shows|another NBC show that started in 2006 and takes place behind the scenes at a sketch comedy show]], is generally considered to have had a great pilot and quickly gone downhill from there.

* The pilot episode of ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', "The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay", is markedly different from those that follow. The larger budget allotted to pilots typically allows for better visual effects compared to those found in "normal" episodes; that is inverted here, as "Turtle Bay" is the only episode of the series to be animated using Adobe Flash. As a result, animation appears choppy and uneven when compared to later episodes, which are hand-drawn. Some characters are drawn in a different style or act with different personalities than in the main series; Dr. Venture, for example, is depicted as a successful, competent scientist rather than a neurotic failure. Several supporting characters from the series also appear, although they are [[No Name Given|unnamed]] at this point. The Venture Brothers themselves also have a pet dog named Scamp (based upon Jonny Quest's dog Bandit), which is never seen outside the pilot; a later episode mentions in passing that Scamp has since died.

* The pilot for ''[[Comic Book/The Amazing Screw On Head|The Amazing Screw On Head]]'' animated series. Though the series was not picked up, the (awesome) pilot is avaliable online and on DVD.

* ''[[KaBlam!]]'' had "Your Real Best Friend!" for Sniz and Fondue, Prometheus and Bob, and Henry and June, "[[KaBlam!]]! Gets Results!" had the Life with Loopy pilot, and the [[Action League NOW]] pilot aired as part of ''[[All That]]''.

* Sniz and Fondue's REAL pilot is a rarely-seen short called "Psyched For Snuppa", directed by [[Courage the Cowardly Dog|Jon R. Dilworth]]. Aside from starring Snuppa and Bianca and featuring Sniz and Fondue (called "Squeaky") as supporting characters, it pretty much is identical to the eventual show.

* ''[[Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]]'' had a four-minute clip made to celebrate the release of ''[[Kirby]] Air Ride'' in Japan. The pilot can be viewed [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXHME5248pM here].

* The ''[[Recess]]'' pilot, "The Break In" was made in 1996 and was aired as the first episode in 1997...at least the altered version. The "pilot" version had ''very'' different character designs, such as no one wearing their main outfit (except Mikey and the non-main six cast), T.J. being tall and skinny, Vince looking like a teenager, Spinelli looking like a kindergartener, and Gretchen with black hair (Gus wasn't in the pilot). When it aired as the first episode, it was re-drawn to look more like the series proper. Clips of the pilot version were seen in an ABC Saturday Mornings promo on the 1997 VHS to ''[[101 Dalmatians]]'' (live-action), as well as certain station identifications for [[One Saturday Morning]] (depending on the ABC station). The pilot gave a good example of the show's setup and character personalities while ''not'' giving clunky exposition dialogue.

 

== Never got beyond pilot stage ==

* In 2006, ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' writer Derek Drymon completed a 12 minute pilot for [[Nickelodeon]] called ''Diggs Tailwagger'' in which he voiced the title character. It never got picked up for series, and Drymon now works at [[Cartoon Network]].

* Micah Wright, a writer for ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'', created a pilot called ''[[Constant Payne]]'' that never sold.

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