# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/61 "2015-02-24T06:15:25Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > What about the “Wojo’s Girl” episodes of “Barney Miller”? ["Barney Miller" Wojo's Girl: Part 1 (TV Episode 1979) - Trivia - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0519156/trivia) Worst. Episode. Ever. Actually, to be fair, it was written and presented with the same quality & style as the rest of the series. It’s just that what made \*Barney Miller \*so funny was the ensemble cast. This episode (part two at least) seemed too much like a Max Gail vanity project (he directed some episodes of BM) and was too serious. None of the (very few) episodes of _Barney Miller_ that took place outside the squad room were all that great. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > 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. Lucas?!? Ewwwww! Although Hugh Laurie’s Dr. House character could certainly be a selfish, manipulative jerk, he was always suave, likeable, and right. Lucas was a greasy, weaselly, creep! > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > 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 just saw this on a late night rerun _ **and** _ I watched \*The Ropers \*originally as a kid, but I still wasn’t sure so I had to look it up. It originally was not a backdoor pilot, but Wiki says regarding _The Ropers_ first episode - _“This episode is sometimes included in “Three’s Company” syndication.”_ ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/62 "2015-02-25T04:16:03Z")
It’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen it, but wasn’t the Green Hornet episode of the '60s Batman show a backdoor pilot? ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/63 "2015-02-25T16:48:22Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > It’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen it, but wasn’t the Green Hornet episode of the '60s Batman show a backdoor pilot? No. The Green Hornet TV series debuted in September 1966, and the Batman crossover first aired in March 1967. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/64 "2015-02-25T16:56:24Z")
Wasn’t an episode of \*Cannon \*used as a backdoor pilot for _Barnaby Jones_? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/65 "2015-02-25T20:26:30Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Wasn’t an episode of \*Cannon \*used as a backdoor pilot for _Barnaby Jones_? Not really. They were both Quinn Martin (clink) productions. Frank Cannon appeared in the first _Barnaby Jones_ episode but it was standalone. There were crossover episodes later on. Behind the scenes, Barnaby Jones was going to appear on _Cannon_ first and be spun off. But the series was picked up before that happened so the _Cannon_ script was turned into the _Barnaby Jones_ pilot. Now, excuse me. I’ve got to “take care of” a nosy old man.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/66 "2015-02-25T22:10:47Z")
I just recalled that the _Gunsmoke_ episode, “Pike,” was a pilot for the short-lived series _[Dirty Sally](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070983/)_ with Jeanette Nolan and Dack Rambo. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/67 "2015-02-25T23:12:28Z")
People have already mentioned Diff’rent Strokes and Married with Children, but each show has a backdoor pilot that no one has mentioned yet. MWC had an episode called “Enemies” that was going to be a pilot for a show that would be the anti-Friends, much like MWC was the anti-Cosby show. Diff’rent Strokes had an episode that was going to be a pilot for a show called “Almost American” ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356/68 "2015-02-26T01:35:44Z")
There are two episodes from the fourth season of “The Untouchables” that focus on Barbara Stanwyck as Lt Agatha Stewart of Missing Persons. Edward Asner plays her assistant. I don’t know if they were made with spin-offs in mind but they seem like it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backdoor-pilots/713356.md?page=3)