19 minutes ago, Franko said:

Hurricane Sam, which failed to make CBS' 1990-91 schedule. Karen Valentine, Ben Savage (as Sam), Fran Drescher, Tim(othy) Stack, Kiersten Warren, Christopher Castile (as Fran's son!), and Ray Walston as Grandpa, plus featured guest Kurt Fuller. (God bless the producers who upload their busted pilots.)

 

This is an absolute '90s who's who, lol. Kiersten Warren (best known for being the first human atomized in Independence Day but I knew her best from SBTB: The College Years), Kurt Fuller, Ben Savage and Christopher Castile?!

3 minutes ago, Vee said:

This is an absolute '90s who's who, lol. Kiersten Warren (best known for being the first human atomized in Independence Day but I knew her best from SBTB: The College Years), Kurt Fuller, Ben Savage and Christopher Castile?!

I had to double-check and make sure it was a real pilot, and not some sort of AI thing. Seriously, how much more random can we get?

From that same channel, Anything For Love, which failed to make NBC's 1985-86 schedule. With all due respect to Lauren Tewes and Vicki Lawrence, that this was under consideration seems less about their star power and/or chemistry and more that NBC wanted its own Kate & Allie. Still, kudos to Lauren for being rehabilitated enough in one year to already go on the comeback trail.

 

And here I thought I'd never think about Lauren Tewes again after her brief appearance in Twin Peaks Season 3.

I think one of the reasons that pilot didn't get picked up was because Vicki L was associated more with being Thelma Harper and playing older then she was playing her own age.  It was a blessing it didn't get picked up, or we would have been deprived of the syndicated era of Mama's Family.   Also, worth noting a Pre Night Court Marsha Warfield and pre Perfect Strangers Rebecca Arthur in the cast.  All talented women, but stuck with a bad script.

And the other pilot had a pre Fran Fine.. Fran Drescher as the best friend.  I think that pilot might have been picked up if Karen Valentine and Fran Drescher switched roles.

Edited May 31, 2025May 31 by Soaplovers

It's pilots like "Hurricane Sam" and "Anything for Love" that makes me so afraid to write professionally, because, my God, what if I actually tried and came up with something just as awful, if not worse (if that's even possible)?

42 minutes ago, Khan said:

It's pilots like "Hurricane Sam" and "Anything for Love" that makes me so afraid to write professionally, because, my God, what if I actually tried and came up with something just as awful, if not worse (if that's even possible)?

In my field (not that) I've written my share of dreck when it's what people wanted vs. something good. In the end what matters is the check. These pilots may not be great, but whether or not those writers intended otherwise they got paid.

Edited May 31, 2025May 31 by Vee

 

Some initial thoughts.

 

1) a Who's who back in the day with an assortment of well known performers.

2) Surprised Debra Messing would agree to play a conservative character

3) Not surprised a network didn't pick this up because showing a conservative that is human/likable is a no no in Hollywood LOL

A bunch of  pilots that played in the Summer of 78;

Some interesting concepts and names. And some that looked DOA based on the synopsis alone.

Snavely ABC
Harvey Korman, Betty White .Inept owners of a resort hotel mistake two salesmen as hotel inspectors (Remake of Fawlty Towers)

The Rag Business ABC
Conchata Ferrell Dick O'Neill Garment workers sew up a new dress for a co-worker's luncheon date, then fabricate a comical coverup when she returns too late for their boss to show the design to an important buyer.

Tom And Joann CBS 
Elizabeth Ashley Joel Fabiani .A divorced couple find that adjustment to a new relationship is not as easy as they had expected.

The Rock Rainbow ABC
Susan Bigelow Louisa Flaningham ,Ellen Greene Robert Alda .Three young backup singers form their own rock group. Based on UK series Rock Follies

Ship Shape CBS
Deborah Ryan An ambitious female ensign is assigned a group of misfits. 

Sparrow CBS
Randy Herman  Don Gordon Beverly Sanders Jeff Holland.A mailroom clerk yearns to play private eye.

Down Home CBS
Robert Hooks Madge Sinclair Beah Richards Lincoln Kilpatrick  Edward Binns Andrew Duggan Anne Setmour .A black family moves from Detroit to a small town in the South in their search for a different lifestyle.

Mother, Juggs & Speed ABC
With Ray Vitte, Joanne Nail , Joe Penny Harvey Lembeck A team of paramedics learn that the ambulance company they work for is about to lose its operating license.

Winner Take All CBS
Michael Murphy Joanna Pettet David Huddleston Signe Hasso Clive Revill .A police lieutenant and an insurance investigator team up to find a fortune in stolen emeralds.

Friends CBS
Micheal Tucci Darrell Fetty.Rock singers forsake the road to become staff songwriters for a slick Hollywood record company.

Wilder And Wilder CBS
Greg Mullavey Meredith McCrae .A married TV writing team discovers the pitfalls that often accompany the merging of marriage and identical careers.

The Plant Family CBS
Joyce Van Patten Norman Alden .An ex-taxi dancer who marries one of her best ex-customers and settles in a rundown house in a borderline neighborhood of a Southern California suburb.

Another rarely seen pilot was uploaded, shown once on CBS back in the day. Married to the Mob, with Suzie Plakson and Cynthia Stevenson, among others.

 

Oh my God.

11 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Another rarely seen pilot was uploaded, shown once on CBS back in the day. Married to the Mob, with Suzie Plakson and Cynthia Stevenson, among others.

 

OMG!  I thought it was a fever dream from when I was little.. but glad to get visual confirmation that this exists

 

 

Kate Jackson as a police chief in a small town.. a CBS pilot from the mid 90s.  It reminded me of those cozy mystery movies that Allison Sweeney did for Hallmark.. and I believe this was based on a mystery book series.

1 minute ago, Soaplovers said:

Kate Jackson as a police chief in a small town.. a CBS pilot from the mid 90s.  It reminded me of those cozy mystery movies that Allison Sweeney did for Hallmark.. and I believe this was based on a mystery book series.

Thanks. I never knew of this. Too bad for Kate it didn't go anywhere.