From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

A television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot studies serve as precursors to start of larger activity. Networks use pilots to discover whether an entertaining concept can be successfully realized. After seeing this sample of the proposed product, networks will then determine whether the expense of additional episodes is justified.^[1] They are best thought of as prototypes of the show that is to follow, because elements often change from pilot to series. Variety estimates that only a little over a quarter of all pilots made for American television succeed to the series stage,^[2] although the figure may be even lower.^[1]

Contents 1 As distinguished from "first episode" 2 Types of pilot 2.1 Standard pilot 2.1.1 Production 2.1.2 Broadcast 2.2 Demos 2.2.1 Examples of series sold using demos 2.3 Backdoor pilots 2.3.1 Examples of mini-series or movie pilots 2.3.2 Examples of pilots within other series 2.3.3 Examples of Pilots-within-Anthology-Series 2.4 Unintentional Pilots 2.5 Put pilot 3 Pilot Season 4 See also 5 References

There is somewhat of a divergence between the way the television industry uses the term, and the way that viewers do. Viewers frequently consider the pilot to be the first episode available for their consumption. They therefore assume that the episode which comes first in broadcast order is also the episode which sold the series to the network. For instance, the episode Invasion of the Bane was not a pilot for The Sarah Jane Adventures because the BBC had in fact committed to the entire first season prior to seeing any filmed content^[3]—yet it is routinely referred to as a pilot.^[4][5]

Sometimes, too, viewers will assign the word "pilot" to a work that represented the first appearances of characters and situations later employed by a series—even if the work was not initially intended as a pilot for the series. A good example of this is Love and the Happy Days, an episode of Love, American Style which featured a version of the Cunningham family. It was in fact a failed pilot for the proposed 1972 series, "New Family in Town", not a successful pilot for 1974's Happy Days.^[6] So firmly embedded is the notion of it as a Happy Days pilot, however, that even series actor Erin Moran views it as such.^[7]

On other occasions, the pilot is never broadcast on television at all. Viewers of Temple Houston, for example, would likely have considered The Twisted Rope its pilot because The Man from Galveston was only publicly exhibited in cinemas four months later. Even then, Galveston had an almost completely different cast, and its main character was renamed to avoid confusion with the then-ongoing series.

Pilots are expensive to produce. Before a network commits to funding an entire pilot episode, it often requests a pilot presentation, a one-day shoot that, when edited together, gives a general idea of the look and feel of the proposed show. Some pilots can be just a few minutes long (ex: 10 minutes or less); however, such pilots will not be shown on the air unless more material is subsequently added to them to make them at least twenty-two minutes in length, the actual duration of a nominally "thirty minute" program (taking into account commercials). Occasionally, more than one pilot is commissioned for a particular proposed television series to evaluate what the show would be like with modifications. Star Trek, Stargate SG-1 and All in the Family are famous examples of this situation.

An example of change between the making of a pilot and the making of a series is To Tell the Truth in 1956. The original title of the pilot was Nothing But the Truth and the show was hosted by Mike Wallace. The program host was changed to Bud Collyer, and the title changed to To Tell the Truth.

Pilots usually run as the first episode of the series, unless the series ended up being so different from the pilot that it wouldn't make sense (in this case the pilot, or portions of it, is often reshot or rewritten to fit the rest of the series). The pilot for Gilligan's Island, for instance, showed the castaways becoming stranded on the island. However, three roles were recast before going to series, with the characters either modified or completely altered to the point where the pilot could no longer be used as a regular episode. The series began with the second produced episode, with the characters already on the island. The story from the pilot was largely reworked into a flashback episode which aired later, although with several key scenes reshot.

There have been exceptions to this rule when a network or a producer has chosen to run the pilot at a later date. Series for which this has happened include the first Star Trek series, where the second, modified pilot ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") was aired as the third episode, and footage from the original pilot ("The Cage") was edited into newer footage to produce the two-part episode "The Menagerie". (However, at the time it was common for a series' episodes to be shown out of the order in which they were produced.) Previously many unsuccesful pilots were shown as episodes of anthology series that were popular in the 50's and early 60's. The more recent television show Firefly set a particularly curious example, where the series was officially cancelled before the pilot aired as the final televised episode. Critics of the Firefly move complained that the networks decision to air the pilot out of sequence made it difficult for audiences to understand what was going on; when the series was subsequently released on DVD, the episodes were listed in Joss Whedon's intended order, which the two hour pilot as the first episode.

Occasionally, pilots that fail to launch a series are nonetheless broadcast as TV-movies or as specials, usually as filler or as attempts by networks to recoup some of their investment in the production. Examples include the one-hour 1982 pilot for a never-produced Modesty Blaise series, and a 1986 pilot for The Saint in Manhattan, which had failed to launch a new series of Simon Templar adventures for television. Presumably, strong ratings for such broadcasts are capable of changing the network's mind, but this rarely occurs. On some occasions, a pilot film for a televised series will air separately long after the series itself has been cancelled. Such was the case with the pilot film for A Man Called Sloane, which featured a different actor in the title role. After it was not picked up for the 2006 fall season, the Aquaman pilot became available on the iTunes Store.

The pilot episode of The A-Team features a different actor (Tim Dunigan) in the role of Face, the part that Dirk Benedict would become well known for in the following series. In fact, creators Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo had wanted Benedict from the off, after seeing him as Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica, but network executives insisted on a different actor in the role. Upon completion of the pilot (given the title 'Mexican Slayride' in syndication), they changed their minds, feeling that Dunigan wasn't right for the part, and the role was given to Benedict after all.

In addition to the occasional occurrence of a different actor or actress playing a lead character, the main set may be different — sometimes substantially — than the one used during the rest of the series. For instance, on The Cosby Show, the Huxtables' living and dining rooms in the pilot episode are different than the ones used in subsequent episodes.

The television show Even Stevens had a unique way of airing its pilot. The original pilot was made two years before the show was picked up so the actors looked younger than they did when the series eventually aired. Taking advantage of this, Even Stevens' tenth episode used the pilot as a flashback for when the characters were much younger. Newer footage was mixed in to show the main characters daydreaming about the events in the pilot while being trapped on a ferris wheel. The pilot originally contained inconsistencies too, such as the Stevens' last name being the Spiffys. Because of this, some dialogue was overdubbed before it aired.

Since the mid 1990s, television producers and networks have increasingly used presentation tapes called "demos" in lieu of full-length pilots.^[1] These demos tend to be substantially shorter than a standard episode, and make limited use of original sets and post-production elements. The idea is merely to showcase the cast and the writing. These types of pilots are rarely broadcast, although the material is sometimes partially retrofitted onto a future episode of the resulting series.

• One Tree Hill
• Saul of the Mole Men
• Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge
• Charmed
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer

A backdoor pilot is a "pilot episode filmed as a standalone movie, so it can be broadcast if not picked up as a series".^[8] It is distinguished from a simple pilot in that it has a dual purpose. It has an inherent commercial value of its own while also being "proof of concept for the show, that's made to see if the series is worth bankrolling".^[9]

A historically important venue for backdoor pilots has been the anthology series. They have variously been used as a place to show work still being actively considered for pickup, and as a venue for completed work already rejected by the network. With the decline of anthology series, backdoor pilots have increasingly been seen as episodes of existing series, one-off television movies, and mini-series. As backdoor pilots have either failed to sell or are pending the outcome of the broadcast, networks will not advertise them as pilots. It is thus often unclear to initial viewers of backdoor pilots that they're seeing a pilot of any kind—unless they have been privy to knowledgeable media coverage of the piece.

• The ABC mini-series Dinotopia was turned into a short-lived series.

• The 4400 on USA Network was initially broadcast as a miniseries, and was later picked up as a full series on the same network.

• The reimagined Battlestar Galactica was initially broadcast as a miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel, and enormous popularity caused it to be picked up by the network.

• The Cartoon Network series Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends and Samurai Jack debuted as television movies and were later picked up as series.

• The Doctor Who telemovie was to serve as a backdoor pilot for a new series with the Eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann. The series was not picked up, but the series was later revived in 2005 by BBC Wales. Prior to that, McGann would reprise his role for a series of Big Finish audio adventures licensed by the BBC, as well as performing the role for an independent series produced by BBC Radio.

• An episode from February 1960 of The Danny Thomas Show served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. In the episode, Danny Thomas' character is arrested by Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) of Mayberry, North Carolina for running a stop sign. The Andy Griffith Show was retooled from this episode and debuted on October 3, 1960.
• In 1976, the character of Huggy Bear (Antonio Fargas) had become so popular in Starsky & Hutch that producers considered giving him a spin-off. The second season episode "Huggy Bear and the Turkey" (which would have been the name of the proposed series) saw Huggy paired with former Sheriff "Turkey" Turquet (Dale Robinette) as Private Investigators. The idea flopped and the series was never made.
• Two second season (1979) episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, "Jude Emery" and "Mason Dixon's Girls", served as backdoor pilots for would-be series. The former concerns a Texas Ranger, and the latter is about a traveling Private Investigator and his beautiful assistants; both were written by Dukes creator Gy Waldron in hope of launching new shows, but neither episode led to a series being commissioned.
• The first season (1981) episode of Magnum, P.I. titled 'J. Digger Doyle' presented the character of security expert Joy "Digger" Doyle (Erin Gray) of the episode title, in hope of launching her own series, but the idea didn't follow through. The third season (1983) episode 'Two Birds of a Feather' again served as a potential pilot for a new show. After playing the very similar character of pilot Grady Dancer in two episodes of Magnum co-creator Donald P. Bellisario's 1982-3 series Tales of the Gold Monkey, William Lucking was introduced as ace pilot Sam Hunter, a treasure hunter like Grady. Again a series wasn't picked up (although Bellisario went on to rework the 'adventures of an ace pilot' concept in Airwolf).
• The feature-length (later airing in two parts in syndication) second season (1984) Knight Rider story "Mouth of the Snake" (a.k.a. "All That Glitters") introduced Charles Taylor as bionically enhanced David Dalton (the story is notable for little inclusion of series leads Michael Knight and K.I.T.T., or few other series regulars or locations). On this occasion, the concept actually was picked up, leading to several TV movies featuring Dalton in 1986; However they were not successful and a full series did not appear.
• The first two seasons of the original Twilight Zone had several instances of backdoor pilots, none of which were successful in establishing a new series. The Twilight Zone itself was a development from a backdoor pilot ("The Time Element") written for Playhouse 90 but finally airing as an installment of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse: the cover page of the shooting script refers to "The Twilight Zone". The airing of a second, more conventional, pilot episode ("Where Is Everybody?") followed 11 months later and served as the first official episode of the legendary series.[1] Two episodes of the series were intended as backdoor pilots, both (possibly) coincidentally about guardian angels. One was called "Mr. Bevis," which starred Orson Bean as a down-on-his-luck man; the other was called "Cavender Is Coming," which starred Carol Burnett as a down-on-her-luck woman and Jesse White as her angel. Neither were picked up, and neither were particularly well-received by Twilight Zone fans. Producer Buck Houghton has expressed particular disappointment with "Mr. Bevis."
• Star Trek provides a famous example of the latter "backdoor pilot"-type with the episode "Assignment: Earth" where the crew of the Enterprise encounters Gary Seven, a character with his own agenda with the planet in a story that was intended to introduce the character and the premise of his adventures in a proposed spin-off series.
• The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Disaster" featured isolated groups of the primary and supporting cast in semi-standalone stories throughout the ship. One of these, featuring Chief O'Brien and Ensign Ro, was intended to test the characters' chemistry and ability to hold audience interest, in preparation for the planned series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Ultimately, Michelle Forbes, the actor who played Ensign Ro, did not sign on for the series, and her character was replaced with Major Kira.
• Robin Williams appeared as "Mork" on the series Happy Days. His overnight success led to his own series, Mork and Mindy.
• The military investigative drama NCIS began as a two-part episode of JAG.
• CSI: New York began as an episode of CSI: Miami, which itself began as an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Both spin-off series featured crimes being investigated by the CSI units from both cities/series.
• Top of the Heap, a short-lived television series starring future Friends cast member Matt LeBlanc, began as an episode of Married...With Children.
• The pilot episode of Private Practice (a spin off from Grey's Anatomy) was first shown on May 3, 2007 in a special two hour episode of the main show.
• Boston Legal, a spin off from The Practice, was introduced through a six episode story arc that saw James Spader's character being fired and the collapse of the firm from The Practice.
• In season 4 of Seinfeld, there is a two-part episode called "The Pilot". Instead of being the usual pilot-within-the-series, this fake pilot served as a self-parody of the show.
• When the TV series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch was in its heyday, a backdoor pilot featuring a witch and her two daughters (also witches, played by Sabrina actress Melissa Joan Hart's real life sisters) fell in love with a mortal man with two sons. The show was never picked up.
• An episode of Diff'rent Strokes featured a woman who taught a class of immigrants a course on English. The show was never picked up.
• In the first season of The Cosby Show, the Huxtable family spent the weekend at a youth center run by a young Hispanic man played by Tony Orlando and his girlfriend/wife. This show, too, was never picked up.
• An episode of the The Cosby Show also served as a pilot for the Spin-off (media) series A Different World (TV series)
• On the Disney Channel series That's So Raven, a backdoor pilot featuring a young girl who acted on a fictional show about the 1950s called "Better Days" was shown. The series would have followed the girl's attempts to balance her acting career with her normal life as a middle schooler. The series was not picked up, but it did inspire the Disney show Hannah Montana
• The Fairly Oddparents had a backdoor pilot which starred Timmy Turner's television hero, Crash Nebula in 2004. The series was never picked up.
• The Brady Bunch also had a backdoor pilot called "Kelly's Kids" in which Ken Berry played a friend of the Bradys as he and his wife adopted not only a white orphan but also his black and Asian best friends as well, much to his bigoted neighbor's chagrin. This pilot was never picked up either.
• The popular show Xena: Warrior Princess had it's starting premisses on two episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (first season's "The Warrior Princess" and "The Gauntlet"). The two shows would also frequently share characters (Ares, Joxer, Autolycus, Callisto, Salmoneus among others) and have intertwining plots.
• An episode of The Golden Girls served as a backdoor pilot to the series Empty Nest (although the pilot had undergone a number of changes before the series aired).

For a complete list, see Shows that spun off from Anthology Series

Usually these anthology series were for one off-stories and the episode showed the potential for a series.

• British Cop Drama The Bill was originally an episode of the anthology series Storyboard[2] called "Woodentop".
• Rumpole of the Bailey first appeared on Play for Today.
• Popular British comedies Steptoe and Son, Til Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served?, and Last of the Summer Wine all began as episodes of the Comedy Playhouse strand.

In some cases, a series is created specifically to showcase pilots.

• Both Prisoner and Escort (which led to Porridge) and Open All Hours first appeared as part of Ronnie Barker's Seven of One series.
• BBC2's series of comedy pilots which aired under the title Comic Asides spawned the series The High Life, KYTV, Mornin' Sarge and Tygo Road.

While, as listed above, there are many telemovies or episodes within series intended as pilots, there are often telemovies or episodes within other series which are so popular that they inspire later TV series.

A "put pilot" is an agreement between a network and a studio, where the network will incur substantial penalties if the pilot episode is not aired. This is a virtual guarantee that a pilot will be picked up.^[10]

In American television, pilots are generally sought at a specific time of year, called "pilot season". A phenomenon of the shape of the traditional broadcast season, pilot season occurs between mid-March and early May. During this time, the networks must decide what should go on the fall schedule. The networks look at the large pool of pilots, and then decide which ones they will keep for series. These are announced as part of the fall schedule or as mid-season replacements. Sometimes during pilot season it is not unusual for a pilot to be shopped to another network after it has been rejected.

• Channel 101 and Channel 102, venues for the public exhibition of demos