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Weird TV Pilots That Weren't Picked Up

Lost Lemurian

Lost Lemurian

Member
Nov 30, 2019
4,297
Let's talk about weird TV pilots that didn't get picked up for production.

Here's one:


Based on the Mike Mignola comic, The Amazing Screw-On Head was produced by the SciFi Channel back in 2006. With an irreverent tone, super-creative visuals, and the voice talents of Paul Giamatti, David Hyde-Pierce, Molly Shannon, and Patton Oswalt, it was insanely ahead of its time. An utter shame that it didn't even get a single season order.

Here's another (at least, what parts were released and pieced together by the internet):


Dog Police is a combination police procedural, comedy, and surreal nightmare. Clearly based on the offbeat music video for "Dog Police" by the band...Dog Police (see below), it's presumably an attempt to stretch the idea "police, but, like, dog police" to the absolute limits of imagination. However, what entertainment could've been wrung from that premise is neutered by writing that never rises above bad dog puns and the most horrifying dog-person costumes since The Shining. It also inexplicably co-stars a young Jeremy Piven and Adam Sandler.

The music video in question:



So, any weird pilots you know of that never made it to series, but are worth remembering?
 
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DrForester

DrForester

Mod of the Year 2006
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,708
xOPpaqm.jpg
 

ookiimarukochan

Member
Nov 6, 2017
279
Heil Honey I'm Home wasn't a pilot, it was a full series - it's just that the series was cancelled after the first episode was aired when the company that owned the channel was bought.
 
kurahador

kurahador

Member
Oct 28, 2017
17,570
This Wonder Woman tv show in 2011. I think I remember the pilot leaked on torrent side back then. Can't find it on youtube though.
 
Apathy

Apathy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,992


Korgoth the Barbarian from the cartoon Network is my favorite one that never got picked up


Btw, the screw on great art style reminds me of darkest dungeon
 
J75

J75

Member
Sep 29, 2018
6,621
How do some of these unpicked pilots even end up getting on the internet/public view?
 
jph139

jph139

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,385



1999 pilot for "Heat Vision and Jack," directed by Ben Stiller, co-written by Dan Harmon, with Jack Black as the lead - a former astronaut with superintelligence. Heat Vision is his motorcycle, which can talk and is voiced by Owen Wilson; they're both being hunted by Ron Silver, playing a fictionalized version of himself.

Ahead of its time.
 
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Claude Augario

Claude Augario

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,991
Hollywood Dog, based off the strip of the same name, a live action show where the main character was animated and voiced by Hank Azaria. I'm a bit surprised more people didn't try to capitalize off what Roger Rabbit did 2 years earlier.



There are way more pilots with dog gimmicks around than I realized.
 
Joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,159
Mockingbird Lane was a The Munsters reboot by Bryan Fuller staring Jerry O'Connell as Herman, Portia de Rossi as Lily, and Eddie Izzard as Grandpa. It was so good it was a shame it never got picked up.
 
Carnby

Carnby

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,238
jph139 said:



1999 pilot for "Heat Vision and Jack," directed by Ben Stiller, co-written by Dan Harmon, with Jack Black as the lead - a former astronaut with superintelligence. Heat Vision is his motorcycle, which can talk and is voiced by Owen Wilson; they're both being hunted by Ron Silver, playing a fictionalized version of himself.

Ahead of its time.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Best theme song ever. For real.
 
AnimaRize

AnimaRize

Banned
Nov 7, 2020
3,483
Didn't CN have a show that ran weird cartoon pilots that they were trying to guage audience reaction on
 
Eraser_Arcade

Eraser_Arcade

Member
Oct 25, 2017
746
The Elvira Show TV pilot:



I really wished this had been picked up, I believe I would have loved watching this show as a kid.
 
The Hobo

The Hobo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,032
kurahador said:
This Wonder Woman tv show in 2011. I think I remember the pilot leaked on torrent side back then. Can't find it on youtube though.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The best part of that pilot was Wonder Woman going on live TV and accusing Veronica Cale of committing a bunch of crimes and then immediately saying that she had no evidance of any of it.
 
nachum00

nachum00

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,418
All the best ones have been mentioned.

Lookwell
Heat Vision and Jack
Korgoth of Barberia
Amazing Screw On Head

They all deserved at least one season.
 
Stencil

Stencil

Member
Oct 30, 2017
10,379
USA
I am SO utterly confused by the Dog Police thing. So many questions. This was before Sandler was famous, right? Was that song popular? It's not a very good song. They mustve been well connected to some reaaaal coked out Hollywood types to get that floated as a full lenght pilot, not to mention attempting an entire series.

fallengorn said:



Thank god this got leaked out.
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Click to shrink...

Smigel and Conan? Oh boy I'm watching this now.
 
ZackieChan

ZackieChan

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,056
I was brought in for a focus group to watch a pilot starring Sarah Paulson, Tim Meadows, and the dude who played Nathan Patrelli on Heroes. They ran a business that helped unemployed people find new careers.
The pilot itself was humorous, but not great. However, it started out with a scene of Sarah Paulson singing to herself in a car on her commute that was one of the most off-putting and annoying starts for a TV show I've ever seen. My little "I'm loving it/I'm hating it" knob was all the way to hate during that scene. What a mess.
Guess it never went anywhere?

Edit: here it is - it was called "Help Wanted" - https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1842531/
 
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