# Movies and Pilots that were supposed to be a series but weren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 3, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650 "2020-11-03T15:08:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/21 "2020-11-03T17:13:57Z")
There was apparently a pilot for a TV series based on [_The Spirit_ comic strip](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094017/) which aired in the late '80s. I had no idea it even existed until I came across it on the DC Universe streaming service. It was…not very good, but it did have a sort of campy earnestness, and a few genuinely funny moments. It also had Sam (“Flash Gordon”) Jones as The Spirit, Bumper Robinson (at the beginning of his somewhat meteoric child/teen actor career) as his sidekick, and a pre-DS9 Nana Vistor as his love interest. I’m retroactively disappointed it never made it to series. At the time it would have aired, it would almost certainly would have been a favorite for me. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/22 "2020-11-03T17:37:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Considering that there was a huge stack of Doc Savage “novels”, I suspect that George Pal and his backers wanted to turn **Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze** into a series. It was given a theatrical release, but you can tell it was intended for TV. There are a couple of abrupt scene changes that are obnoxious in a theater, but would have worked well as bookends for a commercial break. The initial movie had a bigger budget than most kid’s shows of the era, but I think it would have made a good Saturday-morning series. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/23 "2020-11-03T17:43:55Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > There was apparently a pilot for a TV series based on [_The Spirit_ comic strip](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094017/) which aired in the late '80s. I never heard about this, either. I was underwhelmed with the movie adaptation – Will Eisner deserved better. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/24 "2020-11-03T18:06:05Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I mean, they sort of did it with Gibbs on JAG, where he was a supporting character included in a couple of episodes before NCIS launched, That “pilot” turned me off NCIS forever. I mean, look at it: Gibbs is supposed to be this genius investigator, but he can’t see that Rabb is (Obviously!\*) not guilty of the crime, and (as I remember it) came across like a jerk as he was fumbling through the so-called investigation. Who’d want to watch that guy week after week? not me! \*sure, you say, we KNOW Rabb isn’t guilty, because we know the lead of the show won’t be. But since he actually WASN’T guilty, you’d think a hot-shot investigator would have caught on. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/25 "2020-11-03T18:06:56Z")
Honestly, I think he also deserved better than that 80s pilot, but it was a lot closer in, well, spirit to Eisner’s work than the theatrical movie was. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/26 "2020-11-03T18:34:54Z")
Married with Children did this with an episode titled “Radio Free Trumaine”, starring Keri Russell as a college student who started a radio show. IIRC, the tie in was that Bud lusted after her, but it was 95% non-MWC characters. MWC also had a spinoff starring Matt LeBlanc. He had been in several episodes as one of Kelly’s idiotic boyfriends (his character was even dumber than Joey), and after his father appeared in an episode they gave them their own show. It got 2 7 episode seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/27 "2020-11-03T18:52:49Z")
_Northwest Passage - Book One: Rogers’ Rangers_ (1940) From IMDB: “The subtitle “Book One: Rogers’ Rangers” shows that MGM and [King Vidor](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0896542) intended to complete the story in a second film, which was never made due to the lengthy production obstacles that plagued this film. This explains why the characters never actually make it to the Northwest Passage.” _The Sword of Doom_ (1966) From IMDB: "The abrupt ending of the film is due to the fact that it was originally intended to be the first part in a trilogy of films based on a lengthy Japanese novel. Nakazato Kaizan’s 41 volume historical novel focused on the Edo period in Japanese history… There are at least three other versions of the same story, all of them trilogies. I have seen one other version (_Satan’s Sword_ I-III, 1960-61) and the first movie of that series has an even more abrupt finale. _Flash Gordon_ (1980) - Serialized in the ‘40s, but alas, no sequels came from this one. _The Rocketeer_ (1991) - I have just now discovered there was a Disney Jr. TV series that used the comic book and movie as a point of departure. I am not sorry I missed it. _The Shadow_ (1994) – Multiple movies based on the character were made in the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, but this one didn’t make enough $$$. _Master and Commander_ (2003) – A sequel may yet materialize…. _Green Lantern_ (2011) – I haven’t seen this and may never in this lifetime, but it seems obvious that sequels were intended. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/28 "2020-11-03T19:17:11Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > _Master and Commander_ (2003) – A sequel may yet materialize…. I’d actually love to see some follow-on Hornblower movies. Now that Ioan Gruffudd is older, he’s right to play say… Captain, Commodore or Admiral Hornblower. ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/29 "2020-11-03T19:22:50Z")
Many I don’t know about but I was big into Remo Williams books and was happy when the movie came out it was with the new PG-13 because I was 13 and could go see it. I enjoyed it then but saw it recently and only liked it with nostalgia. I am bummed nothing else ever happened with it. That could be a fun Netflix series now. I really liked The Shadow movie with Alec Baldwin. Again, a big Shadow fan, read the books and what comics I could find, then read the comic series that was new at the time. I still think it’s watchable. I think what I would like is a movie set in the 20s or 30s but with a group that has better tech, however it is explained. Maybe not to smart phone level but computers, satellites, and better tech. I don’t know why and in the end, it probably wouldn’t work well. I think of this because it could be fun to find out the Shadow is more like a high tech gadget guy than mesmorist. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/30 "2020-11-03T19:30:06Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > > [@CalMeacham](#): > > > > Considering that there was a huge stack of Doc Savage “novels”, I suspect that George Pal and his backers wanted to turn **Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze** into a series. > > It was given a theatrical release, but you can tell it was intended for TV. There are a couple of abrupt scene changes that are obnoxious in a theater, but would have worked well as bookends for a commercial break. > > The initial movie had a bigger budget than most kid’s shows of the era, but I think it would have made a good Saturday-morning series. I saw that movie as a Saturday matinee in the local theater when I was 8 years old. To an 8-year old, it was a great movie and absolutely terrifying. The green death gave me nightmares for weeks. Thinking back, it still makes me nervous…but I haven’t seen the movie since then. I’d probably think it was totally corny now. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/31 "2020-11-03T19:31:54Z")
I can’t find any indication that they wanted to make a series of this, but considering that there were 11 novels and one collection written by George MacDonald Fraser, it seems likely that _someone_ was thinking of making a film series out of the _Flashman_ books. I never read the books, but I saw the 1975 film **Royal Flash** , and can understand why it flopped. Even if you’ve got an antihero at the heart of your story, you’d like him to have some redeeming features so the audience can identify with him. As it was, the film got terrible reviews overall and left the author “…so embarrassed by it that he spent the whole time with his head in his hands.” according to his daughter. > **[Royal Flash (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flash_(film))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Royal Flash is a 1975 British adventure film based on the second Flashman novel (of the same name, 1970) by George MacDonald Fraser. It stars Malcolm McDowell as Flashman. Additionally, Oliver Reed appeared in the role of Otto von Bismarck, Alan Bates as Rudi von Sternberg, and Florinda Bolkan played Lola Montez. Fraser wrote the screenplay and the film was directed by Richard Lester. > Though it received good reviews for its performances and a... ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/32 "2020-11-03T19:43:30Z")
I’ve read comics of various eras, listened to a lot of the old radio shows and seen the Baldwin film. I thought the heart of the character was hypnotic powers backed up by twin pistols. Back To The OP White Dwarf- it was a pilot about an odd far off world where it alway day on one half and night on the other. The writing had its moments. The acting was good. The special effects and make up were great. It got shown a few times on different channels and I always thought somebody would pick it up. Nobody ever did. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/33 "2020-11-03T20:05:35Z")
Ralph Bakshi never made the second half of his animated **Lord of the Rings** adaptation. The **Percy Jackson** books. Obviously they had designs on filming the complete series - they hired the director of the first two Harry Potter films, they aged up the characters to be teenagers so as to avoid the aging child actor issues that forced the HP franchise to film at such a rapid rate. The first one underperformed and got weak reviews. A few years later, they tried the second one, which performed even worse. Apparently there will be attempt to reboot as a Disney+ series. There was another popular YA book series that originated as a Harry Potter fanfic. Instead of “Deathly Hallows” it was “Mortal Instruments”. Sequels were announced before the first film was even released, but cancelled after the first installment bombed. Do **The Chronicles of Narnia** count? So far we’ve had an animated made-for-TV version that never had any follow up, a BBC series that got as far as Book 4 of 7, and the big budget film series that petered out at 3. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/34 "2020-11-03T20:07:16Z")
The correct title is: _Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins_ which hinted to non-followers of the book, it was supposed to be part of a series. Ralph Bakshi’s _Lord of the Rings_ was supposed to the first part of of a two or three part series, followed by _The Hobbit_ “In 1975, Bakshi convinced United Artists executive Mike Medavoy to produce _The Lord of the Rings_ as two or three animated films,[[13]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)#cite_note-Robinson2-13) and a _Hobbit_ prequel.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)#cite_note-:20-14) Medavoy offered him Boorman’s script, which Bakshi refused, saying that Boorman “didn’t understand it”[[15]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)#cite_note-:19-15) and that his script would have made for a cheap film like “a Roger Corman film”.[[16]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)#cite_note-:82-16)” Source: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Lord\_of\_the\_Rings\_(1978\_film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)) _The Rocketeer_ was supposed to be a series of throwback films of the 40’s serials. “The film was released on June 21, 1991, and received positive reviews from critics.[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocketeer_(film)#cite_note-6) Plans for _Rocketeer_ sequels were abandoned after the film was a disappointment at the box office, grossing a relatively modest $46 million on a $35 million budget. However, a [television series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocketeer_(2019_TV_series)) based on the movie, premiered on [Disney Junior](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Junior) in November 2019” Source: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Rocketeer\_(film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocketeer_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/35 "2020-11-03T20:27:53Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > There was another popular YA book series that originated as a Harry Potter fanfic. Instead of “Deathly Hallows” it was “Mortal Instruments”. Sequels were announced before the first film was even released, but cancelled after the first installment bombed. There was a TV version called “Shadowhunters” that lasted 3-4 seasons on ABC Family/Freeform (forget which name the channel was going by at the time). There was another version of Stephen King’s Carrie made for one of the premium channels besides the two that were theatrically released. It features a change to the ending Carrie lives at the end because it was intended to lead into a series that never wound up happening. Similarly Cruel Intentions 2 was supposed to be a TV series based on the movie, but when it didn’t happen they added some nudity etc, and it became a direct to video “movie”. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/36 "2020-11-03T21:12:02Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > There was another popular YA book series that originated as a Harry Potter fanfic. Instead of “Deathly Hallows” it was “Mortal Instruments”. Sequels were announced before the first film was even released, but cancelled after the first installment bombed. I seem to recall a wave of movies based on YA novels hoping to be the next Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Games. For instance, the semicolonically named “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” which sank without a trace. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/37 "2020-11-03T21:16:23Z")
I’ll bet that studio people were going through the young adult fiction section of a bookstore or library hoping for the next big franchise. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/38 "2020-11-03T21:31:06Z")
[An episode of “Happy Days”](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0596190/) apparently was intended to be a backdoor pilot for a [genderflipped](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GenderFlip) Fonzie but evidently nobody thought highly enough of [the actual pilot](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249644/) to give the series a chance; there’s nothing on IMDb about it ever being on TV. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/39 "2020-11-03T21:56:28Z")
Gene Roddenberry produced three TV movies in the 1970s that were pilots for series that never got picked up-- _The Questor Tapes_, _Genesis II_, and _Spectre_. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/40 "2020-11-03T22:00:59Z")
Cannon Films was actually planning on making a sequel to it and a live action Spider-Man film but was in financial trouble and lost the licenses to both properties. They had already spent $2 million on costumes and sets for both films and ended up trying to using them to make a new film to recoup that money. That film was _Cyborg_ starring Jean Claude van Damme which ende being worse than the _Masters of the Universe_ film [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650.md?page=3)