The Pilot Thread

[DRW50]

Thanks. I had totally forgotten about this. It's not as bad as I had expected, although that's mostly down to the extremely likeable cast - the writing itself is about as basic as you can get, in spite of Zweibel's pedigree. 

You can really see Christine Baranski's charisma and likeability shine through here, in a great reminder of why she's managed to have such a long career.

Dan Vitale is a real trivia question. He was cast on SNL but barely seen all season because he was in rehab.

https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/dan-vitale-snl-interview.html

Edited June 19, 2024 by DRW50

[kalbir]

CBS Summer Playhouse, 1987-1989.

[Franko]

I'm guessing that Christine would have been recurring and possibly promoted to the main cast if the show got picked up.

My new goal is to find a pilot with another obscure SNL cast member, like Emily Prager. 

Edited June 19, 2024 by Franko
Combined two names.

[Franko]

Discovered today: Tickets, Please, from 1988 for CBS. About the staff and regular passengers of a Manhattan commuter train, with a cast including Cleavon Little, Marcia Strassman, David Marciano and Yeardley Smith. I would have liked more time with character dynamics among the weekly cast, even though Harold Gould is always a welcome presence.

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[DRW50]

Thanks @Franko . I am a fan of most of that cast so I will have to try it later. CBS had some interesting attempts at sitcoms in the late '80s, most of which didn't go anywhere.

[Soaplovers]

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I remember seeing this when I was a small child in the late 80s.. an unsold pilot that totally was inspired by Beetlejuice..imho

[Khan]

"Tickets, Please" sounds like a B'way musical that opened and closed on the same night in 1965.

"Shivers" could have worked well in first-run syndication or on FOX (before FOX decided to go mainstream).

[Khan]

I can't find it anywhere on YT, but I remember watching Christine Ebersole (who I still remember fondly from "The Cavanaughs") one night in a pilot called "Miss Jones" when I still was in elementary school.  IIRC, the pilot had something to do with sports agents?  And the actor who would go on to play Tim's brother on "Home Improvement" played one of her clients or something.

At the time, I thought it was going to be a series, so I was surprised to learn that, in fact, the network was just burning it off.

Edited June 19, 2024 by Khan

[DRW50]

Christine recently had an interview on The SNL Network if you want to see her (she couldn't remember most of her time on SNL but she could still sing the songs they wrote for her). I have thought highly of her talent ever since I saw her in those RH reruns on Soapnet, and am glad she pops up as often as she does.

This is another pilot she did, Kid Mayor (or The Mayor). Sadly, in spite of the strong cast (the kids [Ben Feldman and Anna Kendrick] would go on to sitcom and film success and most of the adults were long established), it reeks of the worst of culture in the early '00s. Prison rape jokes, sexual harassment as comedy, and just overall crudity and desperation.

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[Khan]

That pilot MUST have been for FOX, lol.

Poor Christine Ebersole.  Before "Bob Hearts Abishola" - which, for the record, I thought had its' moments - the closest she had ever come to achieving any success in TV was on SNL.  When I was a kid, I loved watching her and Barnard Hughes on "The Cavanaughs," because the father-daughter chemistry felt so real, but aside from the amazing cast, that show had so-so writing and very erratic scheduling.

[Paul Raven]

Christine Ebersole...Mrs Peter Bergman #1. On wiki it says she suspected 9/11 was a government conspiracy...

Semi Tough ABC aired Jan 6 1980'

Cast Josh Taylor,Mary Louise Weller, Doug Barr

Sitcom spin off of the Burt Reynolds movie.

[Soaplovers]

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One I wish had gotten picked up as a series... I think the pilot got lost in the shuffle during the mid 00s on ABC

[Khan]

Yeah, I know she's a bit of a wackadoo IRL, lol.  But I think she's basically harmless.  I just wouldn't talk about politics with her, lol.

To this day, I'm amazed at how no one at any network ever tried rebooting "Peyton Place" after "Desperate Housewives" became such a hit.  To me, it would have seemed utterly natural to try and revive that franchise.

[All My Shadows]

Any of y'all ever watch the pilot for Karen Valentine's post-Room 222 vehicle, The Karen Valentine Program? It was definitely an MTM derivative that didn't have enough of its own character to stand on its own, but I remember liking it when it was on YouTube maybe ten years ago. All that's available now are the opening/closing credits.

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It's annoying to me that it says "starring," Karen walks into the shot, and then nothing, but Mary was technically never credited on her show, either.

[te.]

It was by Chuck Pratt though, so you know it would've gone completely off the rails by episode three. Secrets of a Small Town actually had the cast options extended  so I wonder if ABC just started inquiring about future plans/plots on the show and just decided against it lol