# Backdoor Pilots **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356 "2015-02-22T17:53:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/41 "2015-02-23T12:02:09Z")
How about Xena Warrior Princess where Xena debuted in Hercules The Legendary Journies? TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/42 "2015-02-23T12:03:22Z")
Or how about The Lone Gunmen from The X-Files? That might have been a spin off. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/43 "2015-02-23T12:07:43Z")
NCIS has been mentioned but the arguably more popular CSI introduced all the sister shows with back door pilots. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/44 "2015-02-23T13:16:54Z")
The last season of Highlander had episodes where the title character didn’t appear at all while they tried out ideas for a spin off series. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/45 "2015-02-23T14:50:17Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > The last season of Highlander had episodes where the title character didn’t appear at all while they tried out ideas for a spin off series. Most of the season was that way. It was terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/46 "2015-02-23T14:52:52Z")
I saw a movie called “Backdoor Pilots.” but that’s probably a different thread. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/47 "2015-02-23T15:09:56Z")
> [@RobotDevilDog](#): > > The other one was to be called _Charmed Lives_, with Fran Drescher and Donna Dixon, but was never spun off at all. Speaking of Drescher, her show \*The Nanny \*had an episode that revolved around Fran’s favorite beauty salon. Not much Drescher, but a lot of [Tracy Nelson.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625796/?ref_=nv_sr_1) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/48 "2015-02-23T15:22:01Z")
The Diff’rent Strokes family visited Mrs. Garrett at the Facts of Life school, but I don’t recall which show’s episode that was. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/49 "2015-02-23T16:07:22Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > I saw a movie called “Backdoor Pilots.” but that’s probably a different thread. 😛 You owe me a new keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/50 "2015-02-23T16:18:49Z")
There was one with Huggy Bear and some generic white detective that producers of Starskey and Hutch were looking to spin off into their own show. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/51 "2015-02-23T16:27:19Z")
It wasn’t quite a backdoor pilot, but they introduced that PI character on House with the intention of spinning him off into his own show. ---
**Author:** ![Osiris\_the\_1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Osiris\_the\_1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osiris_the_1st)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/52 "2015-02-23T17:15:12Z")
The last several episodes of _The Practice_ served as pilots for two possible spin-offs. One made it to series, _Boston Legal_. The other would have followed two of the charaters as they started a legal aid type practice. The concept seemed to be to have the two new shows highlight the differences between the high priced legal firms used by the wealthy versus the legal services available to the poor. ---
**Author:** ![Random\_Design](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58f4c7/32.png) [@Random\_Design](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random_Design)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/53 "2015-02-23T19:00:28Z")
Stargate SG-1/Atlantis? ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/54 "2015-02-23T19:02:11Z")
The majority of the final season of _Highlander_ was a series of auditions for the female lead of the spinoff. In the end, they punted on all of them and went with an established character from earlier in the series to spin-off for _Highlander:The Raven_ ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/55 "2015-02-23T20:10:42Z")
> [@Random\_Design](#): > > Stargate SG-1/Atlantis? Yep. They had a 3 part SG-1 arc that pretty much centered around Atlantis and that introduced Sheppard, Ford, Beckett and Tayla, IIRC. McKay and Weir were already known by that point, having been introduced in earlier SG-1 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/56 "2015-02-23T20:27:35Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > NCIS has been mentioned but the arguably more popular CSI introduced all the sister shows with back door pilots. > > TCMF-2L Those played more like cross-over episodes than backdoor pilots. The “backdoor” aspect of a backdoor pilot is that you tune in thinking you’re going to see a normal episode of your favorite show, and you see something else entirely. The CSI spin-off pilots were pretty well trumpeted, and you knew what you were getting; IIRC, they were both two-parters that involved characters from both shows in both episodes. I don’t what you’d call it: a “cross-over pilot”; a “front door pilot”? _Murder, She Wrote_ introduced a character named Harry McGraw played by Jerry Orbach, who appeared in several episodes, and who later got his own show called _The Law and Harry McGraw_. The MSW episode "The Skinny According to Nick Culhane is a backdoor pilot for TL&HM, supposedly, albeit, Jessica Fletcher still appears in the ep, and it plays much like a MSW ep., with the exception that Harry McGraw solves the case. TL&HM lasted only one season, and was technically a failure, which is a good thing, as far as I’m concerned, because it left Orbach free to play Lenny Briscoe a few years later. Harry McGraw had a lot in common with Lenny Briscoe. Briscoe was a little more world weary, and McGraw was a little less successful, but they were both wise-cracking crime-solvers. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/57 "2015-02-23T21:35:49Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > _Mork & Mindy_ in particular was not a backdoor pilot. In the original \*Happy Days \*episode featuring Robin Williams as Mork it was established at the end that the whole thing was Richie’s dream. But Williams’ character was so popular ABC green lit him a sitcom based on it. So right before the premiere of M&M they reran that episode of _Happy Days_ only this time they had filmed & added a new, tacked-on ending. Robin Williams is shown alone outside the Cunningham’s house where he does some Mork schtick and says how he in fact erased Richie’s memory, then he time travels ahead to the present day (the late 70s). > > Same for _Laverne & Shirley_. The two of them were a little ‘rough’ around the edges in their\* Happy Days\* introduction where they double date Richie & Fonzie. They actually get into an off-camera cat fight over a joke Laverne makes. Shirley was especially more blue-collar like Laverne. When they got their own show the creator, Garry Marshall, essentially made it a female \*Odd Couple \*(also his show) so Shirley was made into a female ‘Felix’… In [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18097248&postcount=57), I mentioned a _Happy Days_ spinoff that, IIRC, was indeed a backdoor pilot. The episode is “Fonzie Meets Kat” with Kat being essentially a female version of Fonzie. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/58 "2015-02-24T02:55:25Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Speaking of Drescher, her show \*The Nanny \*had an episode that revolved around Fran’s favorite beauty salon. Not much Drescher, but a lot of [Tracy Nelson.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625796/?ref_=nv_sr_1) I remember that episode. I wonder if any of the umpteen foreign remakes bothered to remake it. ---
**Author:** ![Garula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Garula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garula)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/59 "2015-02-24T03:17:35Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > Or how about The Lone Gunmen from The X-Files? That might have been a spin off. The Lone Gunman were longstanding secondary characters, so I don’t think they count. There was never an X-Files episode dedicated to establishing the setting or new characters for there spinoff, as far as I remember. They did have a backdoor finale, though, if you want to call it that. After the spinoff had been canceled they brought some of the characters from it to the X-Files and dedicated an episode to resolving some loose ends with minimal involvement from the FBI. Millenium got similar finale treatment, as well. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/60 "2015-02-24T05:57:56Z")
Oh, yeah, when the Ropers got their own show, wasn’t the pilot an episode of _Three’s Company_? It shows the Ropers moving into their new neighborhood, and meeting the neighbors (one was played by Patty McCormack, former child actress of _The Bad Seed_). It wasn’t so jarring, I don’t think, because, the show focused on the Ropers from time to time. I don’t really know, because the show was on after my bedtime during the school year, and I only got to see it in reruns, which were sort of hit and miss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356.md?page=4)