# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/41 "2020-11-03T22:09:01Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > 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_. Speaking of Roddenberry, even “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” was developed from a TV pilot (Star Trek: Phase II) that was greenlit because Paramount didn’t want to do a movie but then repurposed again into a movie when Paramount saw the success of movies like “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters”. So, it was born to start a film series, was repurposed to be a TV series that never happened, and then ended up starting a film series anyway. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/42 "2020-11-03T22:50:44Z")
Towards the end, they brought in a new character, a cousin named Oliver, which was presumably a setup for a spinoff, which also never happened. ---
**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, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/43 "2020-11-03T22:53:14Z")
I assumed cousin Oliver was there because the youngest Brady children were aging. (Sort of how in The Cosby Show a young grandchild was introduced when the youngest Huxtable child got too old.) The episode with Ken Berry was really obviously a backdoor pilot, even back in the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/44 "2020-11-03T22:57:45Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I assumed that _Jack Ryan_ would be a franchise, too. And I do wish _League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_ had been done right and led to a series. > > Oh, and how about that _Highlander_ movie… skipped right from the first movie to a TV series. ;~} It was done right, and quite well. The directors cut of H2 is decent. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/45 "2020-11-03T22:59:27Z")
Not to mention the next two books have little in the way of fun fantasy elements, and the **RELIGION IS EVIL** thing gets really tiresome, really fast. I give you _Doc Savage Man of Bronze_, where, _according to legend_, _Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil_ had been film (but not edited) and was just thrown away. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/46 "2020-11-03T23:03:05Z")
First season was decent. I expect it to get boring and canceled very quick for the next season. ---
**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, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/47 "2020-11-03T23:16:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The directors cut of H2 is decent. No, it’s still fairly awful, just different in some details (like immortals not being from another planet, but rather the “end of time”…) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/48 "2020-11-03T23:25:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Buckaroo Banzai** Funny you mentioned that first, because it was my very first thought when I read your thread title. Decades have passed since that movie was released, and I am STILL deeply disappointed that the sequel was never made. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/49 "2020-11-03T23:47:43Z")
One of the most recent, and biggest budget attempts is, the Universal Monster Universe, or whatever it was supposed to be called. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/50 "2020-11-03T23:56:41Z")
GL isn’t as bad as the (is there a single word for the opposite of hype?) might lead you to believe. I thought that Reynolds was spot on and that the major weakness was the heavy. Of course the bad guy is half of any super-hero movie. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/51 "2020-11-04T00:01:07Z")
**Supernatural** had a spinoff episode called Bloodlines. It was so poorly written and ignored so much canon lore that it went precisely nowhere. **Matlock** had an episode that was supposed to be a series starring George Peppard and Tracy Nelson, but Peppard died shortly after the episode aired. ---
**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 4, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/52 "2020-11-04T00:50:36Z")
If memory serves, Buckaroo Banzai And The World Crime League was released as a comic mini series a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/53 "2020-11-04T01:12:52Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > That film was _Cyborg_ starring Jean Claude van Damme which ende being worse than the _Masters of the Universe_ film I’m going to have to disagree with you there. While Cyborg wasn’t a good movie, it was much, much better than Masters of the Universe. Part of what made MotU so disappointing is that it had to live up to the toy line and cartoon. The biggest advantage Cyborg had was that it was its own thing and didn’t have to live up to anything. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/54 "2020-11-04T01:26:37Z")
Peter Clines has a multiverse book series and one of the characters is from a world where Star Trek has been forgotten, but Assignment:Earth was a long-running show followed by a bunch of movies. That was the first I’d heard of the pilot - I don’t think I’ve ever seen the episode. As for the thread subject, mine is SyFy’s “The Lost Room,” a mini-series that was clearly meant to be a new series but didn’t seem to get enough buzz. Thing is, it had enough TV big names in it that I thought they’d never stick around for a series on SyFy. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/55 "2020-11-04T13:00:55Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > One of the most recent, and biggest budget attempts is, the Universal Monster Universe, or whatever it was supposed to be called. This is what I came here to say. The Tom Cruise _ **The Mummy** _ was expected to be a glorious start to another MCU, but it was just a star laden turd. ---
**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 4, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/56 "2020-11-04T13:10:42Z")
I forgot about the 2004 movie “A Series of Unfortunate Events”. I mean, the word “series” is right in the title. ---
**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 4, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/57 "2020-11-04T14:06:41Z")
Netflix did turn that into an actual series a couple of years ago, but yeah, the move series stalled out after that first installment. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/58 "2020-11-04T17:54:06Z")
I imagine executives at Disney were hopeful that the 2013 film _The Lone Ranger_ would lead to a string of sequels, but the film was a critical and commercial bomb, so it never panned out: > **[The Lone Ranger (2013 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lone_Ranger_(2013_film))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > The Lone Ranger is a 2013 American western action film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Based on the title character of the same name, the film stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, the narrator of the events and Armie Hammer as John Reid, the Lone Ranger. The story tells through Tonto's memories of the duo's earliest efforts to subdue local villainy and bring justice to the American Old West. William... I actually rather liked it, especially the second half, but that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/59 "2020-11-04T19:13:04Z")
> [@epbrown](#): > > As for the thread subject, mine is SyFy’s “The Lost Room,” a mini-series that was clearly meant to be a new series but didn’t seem to get enough buzz. Thing is, it had enough TV big names in it that I thought they’d never stick around for a series on SyFy. I freakin’ _loved_ The Lost Room. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/60 "2020-11-04T23:00:10Z")
I could never tell if _History of the World, Part 1_ was an actual attempt at a series or just Mel Brooks mocking franchise movies. I mean, they even had previews at the end of part 1 for part 2… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650.md?page=4)