I got curious about this because I just completed my first run-through of my Barney Miller DVD set (going back for seconds!) and one of the interesting things about it was that the first pilot of BM (The Life & Times of Barney Miller) was shot with a different set of actors and characters (including Charles Haid of Hill Street Blues fame playing a Polish detective named Kazinsky and an Italian detective instead of a Japanese). Only Fish, Barney and the guest stars were "familiar." Then the same story was reshot as "Ramon", with the cast that became "permanent."

I was just wondering what other shows might be in recorded existence where the exact same pilot story was shot twice, with only cast changes. I don't mean a show like Star Trek (TOS) because, even though there were major cast changes between the two pilots, the second one was telling an entirely different story. I mean two sets of actors playing out the same script.

Edited June 18, 201213 yr by applcin

The original Buffy pilot was, I believe, the same as the first episode, but had a different actress (Riff Regan) as Willow. Let's just say Riff was...very, very different from Allyson Hanigan.

The pilot of Gilligan's Island had several cast changes, including daytime's own John Gabriel as the Professor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLIHQTVLRz4

I know the original pilot for Charmed and the actual aired pilot did this. There were two major cast changes in who played Phoebe and Andy. My god their original choices were terrible, especially the blonde guy as Andy if anyone has ever seen it.

I know the original pilot for Charmed and the actual aired pilot did this. There were two major cast changes in who played Phoebe and Andy. My god their original choices were terrible, especially the blonde guy as Andy if anyone has ever seen it.

Lol I was just about to mention this!

Not a pilot shot twice but I remember Hope & Faith's pilot had a different little boy playing Justin than the rest of the series.

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The Three's Company pilot was shot three times, and only John Ritter, Norman Fell, and Audra Lindley were in all three pilots. It wasn't until the second pilot when Joyce DeWitt was found as a replacement Janet, and Suzanne Somers was the third actress to portray Chrissy.

Tracey Gold was not in the original pilot episode for Growing Pains. Interestingly, she had been rejected for the part of Carol Seaver before being asked to be a replacement.

The first pilot episode of Married...with Children was shot with actors other than Christina Applegate and David Faustino portraying the Bundy children.

Edited June 18, 201213 yr by Max

The original pilot for Seinfeld did not have Elaine, instead having Claire, a waitress, played by Lee Garlington.

Carl Reiner filmed a pilot for Head of the Family, playing Rob Petrie. The network did not like him in the role, and the entire project was recast, resulting in The Dick Van Dyke Show. This is the original cast.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455118/

Edited June 18, 201213 yr by CarlD2

The pilot for Dynasty starred George Peppard as Blake Carrington, not John Forsythe.

The first pilot episode of Married...with Children was shot with actors other than Christina Applegate and David Faustino portraying the Bundy children.

Yep, and here are their scenes (kid scenes only from the unaired pilot). Gotta love YT!

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Edited June 18, 201213 yr by Wendy

I'm cheating, not the same pilot shot twice, but D.J. in Roseanne and Judy in Family Matters were both played by different child actors in the pilot. D.J. 1.0, Sal Barone, was being bullied by Sara Gilbert so his mom yanked him from the show. #regretsI'vehadafew Michael Fishman looked SO much like Roseanne though, it was meant to be.

Edited June 18, 201213 yr by SFK

Full House - According to Wikipedia, Bob Saget did not originally play Danny Tanner in the pilot due to his contract with CBS, but when he became available they reshot the pilot.

Home Improvement - The E True Hollywood Story explained how Frances Fisher was the original Jill in the pilot. She was considered too dramatic so was replaced with Patricia Richardson

The Big Bang Theory - this wasn't the same pilot with the same script exactly, but they originally shot the pilot with both Galecki and Parsons but the Penny character wasn't the bubbly blonde ala Kaley Cuoco, instead there was some sort of rough, tough biker chic. They were given the opportunity to reshoot the pilot and it was then picked up in its current form

Full House - According to Wikipedia, Bob Saget did not originally play Danny Tanner in the pilot due to his contract with CBS, but when he became available they reshot the pilot.

John Posey was in the unaired pilot. I watched it awhile back because my friend had the first season of Full House.

Gilmore Girls original pilot had Alex Borstein as Sookie and an actor named Nathan Wetherington as Dean. I think there used to be some clips on Youtube.

If I remember right wasn't there a different pilot for Happy Days with Tom Bosley being the only one in both pilots

If I remember right wasn't there a different pilot for Happy Days with Tom Bosley being the only one in both pilots

Happy Days started out as a segment on Love, American Style.

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Yeah I know, but I remember reading about a different pilot for HD that featured only Tom Bosley and now that I think about it, Anson Williams