The Failed Pilot Project Case File #13: Family Guy

Some people use their time before a big break to evolve their craft. Not Seth McFarlane.

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #12: The Big Bang Theory

The power of second chances

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #11: Veronica Mars

Rob Thomas’ last ditch effort to save his show amounted to nothing. It was probably for the best.

The Failed Pilot Project Case File # 10: The Dresden Files

 When a pilot gets reordered, the entire series gets thrown off kilter

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #9: Arrested Development

Mitchell Hurwitz decided to make an extended cut of the pilot after the series got picked up. Why, exactly?

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #8: Heat Vision and Jack

When a failed pilot becomes famous, do we lose the ability to evaluate seriously?

The Failed Pilot Project Case File # 7: Nobody's Watching

How a TV love letter gained prominence on the internet

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #6: The Amazing Screw-On Head

The limitations of adaptations

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #5: Wonderfalls

When a show recasting roles turns into a positive

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #4: Dollhouse

Finding the best way to roll out a story

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #3: Firefly

With special guest episode “The Train Job”

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #2: Angel

Part of the reason for analyzing the pilots for this project in the order that I did – apart from making sure that I could deal with obvious issues of how one person's approach to pilots changes over time – was that by putting Buffy and Angel back-to-back, it opens the floor to speak about pitch pilots. Pitch pilots, as their name implies, are meant solely to pitch a show to various networks; they serve as a quick snapshot of what the show is about. Not all pilots are pitched to  a wide swath of networks; it’s also very common for a network to work with a writer/producer to develop a series, and go straight into filming a full pilot that will often work as the first episode. These pilots are often known as “put pilots”, those that come attached with a financial penalty to the network of the pilot isn’t picked up, thus almost guaranteeing a pick up. But pitch pilots, without such financial backing, have to temper their expectations. As such, pitch pilots tend to run under ten minutes in length, and they favor tone over story, a characteristic that can get shows into trouble during the early runs if nobody’s careful.

The Failed Pilot Project Case File #1: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

“It sucks on ass.”

-Joss Whedon, on the original pilot

Between the original pitch to the networks and the time that they air on TV, pilots almost always undergo some sort of change. Sometimes the changes are larger – like those pilots that will be covered here – but often times they’re much smaller, like recasting a role, or re-filming a few scenes in order to change the tone slightly. Not all pilots get changed, mind you – especially at the cable level – but it happens enough that it should be considered a general rule of thumb. Knowing what changes happen between the original and aired versions of a pilot is something of interest to many TV critics, as it plays into this discussion of the art vs. business dialectic within the television industry. But what are we to make of a pilot that’s not meant to air, that is only meant to sell the series to the network, with the implication that the first episode aired will vary greatly from what’s in the pilot? Enter the unaired pilot for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

The Failed Pilot Project: An Introduction

The pilot is the single most important step in any television show's lifespan. Though it is rarely the best episode the show will offer up, it is the show's one true chance to claim, loudly and boldly, “here I am, this is what I can do.” (Yes, sometimes shows ended up changing dramatically from their pilots *cough* Cougar Town *cough*, but rarely do shows get a bigger audience after the initial airing.) It is the first chance to win over an audience – and the only chance to win over the executive boardroom. But what happens when a pilot doesn't succeed? What is the pilot is reworked, or is scrapped for a new introductory episode, or -worst of all – just not picked up? Enter The Failed Pilot Project, Pixelated Vision's long-term look at the rarely seen relics of TV.