# 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:** 6
**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 22, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/101 "2020-11-22T21:59:50Z")
> [@eburacum\_45](#): > > Since we are talking about failed pilots, there was a failed pilot spin-off from Doctor Who, as well as two successful ones. K9 had a failed pilot in 1981 called ‘K-9 and Company’, with Sarah-Jane Smith as one of the characters. > > That came to nothing, but Sarah-Jane got her own series several decades later, as did Jack Harkness. As, indeed, did [K-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-9_(TV_series)), eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/102 "2020-11-24T16:09:10Z")
Paul Williams as a program about a kiddie show host named [Marvin the Martian](https://badger16.imgur.com/all) . ---
**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 25, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/103 "2020-11-25T00:21:26Z")
[_Stormbreaker_ aka _Alex Rider: Stormbreaker_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormbreaker_(film)) was meant to be the first installment in a franchise based on the Alex Rider YA novel series (basically James Bond, Jr.). It was a box office bomb, and the franchise died on the vine. There is now, however, a [streaming series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rider_(TV_series)) based on the novels, on the IMDbTV channel (which is somehow a thing that exists - it’s a streaming channel on Amazon Prime run by the Internet Movie Database website). ---
**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:** [November 29, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/104 "2020-11-29T07:43:33Z")
> [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](#): > > The last episode of season 11 of “My Three Sons” is a backdoor pilot called “Three of a Kind”. Robbie (Don Grady) loses his job as an engineer in an aircraft company but quickly gets one in San Francisco. When the triplets were born, they were already testing the waters for some kind of sequel, or continuation, or whatever, when Fred MacMurray eventually refused to do the show anymore, and Ernie was too old to be a kid, because the last line of the episode on which the triplets are born, is Robbie saying something about his wife “and my three sons.” Kinda like on _Mom_, currently, when it was pretty obvious that either Anna Faris, Allison Janney, or both were mumbling about leaving, when Kristen Johnston joined the cast and her character moved in with Marjorie-- the two are now poised to become a surrogate mother & daughter so there’s still a “Mom” relationship. They even brought in Marjorie’s estranged son in for a reconciliation. And Jill has been trying to have a baby for seasons; now she has a very serious boyfriend. I’m predicting that now that Faris is gone, Janney will either leave as well, or fade to the background, but everyone else will either be a mom or a daughter in some way. ---
**Author:** ![TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiberiusNeroClaudius)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/105 "2020-11-30T03:30:33Z")
> [@epbrown](#): > > episode. Originally there was supposed to be a fourth installment of “The Mummy” series with Brendan Fraser. It is certainly set up at the end of “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” where Jonathan leaves for Peru “where there are no mummies” only with a on screen note that the following year mummies were discovered in Peru. But the next installment “The Mummy:Rise of the Aztec” was never filmed. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/106 "2020-11-30T03:42:15Z")
To elaborate on the Die Another Day example, apparently they got so far as to write the script and cast the film before the plug was pulled due to the truely horrible critical reception to the film, they were fully expecting fans to love the movie so much they’d buy into Halle Berry’s NSA Spy. It also explains why Michael Madsen has so much screen time as Halle Berry’s boss for such a nothing roll. In addition they were planning on two more Bond films with Pierce Brosnan before that film also torpedoed his own Bond career. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/107 "2020-12-10T15:30:49Z")
Tuesday’s FBI Most Wanted had the stench of a backdoor pilot. A new character was introduced who the main cast seemed to already know, who was “quirky” and “in-teresting” and always got there ahead of the main characters. Combine that with the fact it was the stupidest episode of the entire series and seemed to be written by people that had never watched the show, and maybe it _was_ a pilot. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/108 "2020-12-10T17:31:58Z")
I recently re-watched _I, Frakenstein_. It was a bad movie, but I actually liked it more than _Underworld_. Both were created by the same guy, Kevin Grevioux (who appears in both in small parts - he’s a big guy with an almost comically deep, gravelly voice). Like _Underworld_, _I, Frankenstein_ was intended as the first installment of a film franchise, and potentially a part of an Underworld Extended Universe. It bombed at the box office; despite that, the next installment was apparently in some stage of pre-production before the plug was pulled. Unlike its titular hero, it now appears to be not mostly dead but all dead. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/109 "2020-12-10T19:29:44Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > I recently re-watched _I, Frakenstein_ . It was a bad movie, but I actually liked it more than _Underworld_ . Both were created by the same guy, Kevin Grevioux (who appears in both in small parts - he’s a big guy with an almost comically deep, gravelly voice). Like _Underworld_ , _I, Frankenstein_ was intended as the first installment of a film franchise, and potentially a part of an Underworld Extended Universe. It bombed at the box office; despite that, the next installment was apparently in some stage of pre-production before the plug was pulled. Unlike its titular hero, it now appears to be not mostly dead but all dead. There was an abortive Frankenstein TV series back in the 1950s called **Tales of Frankenstein**. They made only a pilot episode, and never any others. The pilot’s in the public domain, and I’ve got a copy. > [@](#): > > Hammer and Columbia planned to produce a series of 26 episodes, with each studio handling 13 episodes.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Frankenstein#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMeikle200858%E2%80%9360-1) The producers wanted the series to be about Baron Frankenstein and his experiments. Director [Curt Siodmak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Siodmak) argued that “You cannot carry a whole show with nothing but Frankenstein stories.”[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Frankenstein#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWeaver2000308-3) > > [Michael Carreras](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Carreras) intended the series to introduce Hammer to America, and wanted to give it a good chance. He enlisted [Jimmy Sangster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Sangster), fresh off _[The Revenge of Frankenstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revenge_of_Frankenstein)_ , to write a pilot, “The Single Minded Black-Mailer”. Other writers provided five more scripts depicting an amoral Baron Frankenstein, in the Hammer style.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Frankenstein#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMeikle200858%E2%80%9360-1) > > Friction developed between the two studios because Columbia at that time held the TV rights to the [Universal Monsters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Monsters) film series through their [Shock Theater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_Theater) film package, and wanted to use that version of Frankenstein. Hammer, on the other hand, wanted to base the series on their own _[The Curse of Frankenstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curse_of_Frankenstein)_ . The only real input Hammer had was in the choice of [Anton Diffring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Diffring), who played Frankenstein very much like [Peter Cushing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cushing).[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Frankenstein#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMeikle200858%E2%80%9360-1) Diffring went on to star in Hammer’s _[The Man Who Could Cheat Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Could_Cheat_Death)_ the following year. > > … > > Though the series was never produced, Anthony Hinds commissioned several scripts that provided Hammer with material for their later Frankenstein films. In one story by [A.R. Rawlinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.R._Rawlinson), Frankenstein created a beautiful woman with no soul ( _[Frankenstein Created Woman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_Created_Woman)_ ); in another by [Peter Bryan](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Bryan_(writer)&action=edit&redlink=1) ( _[The Hound of the Baskervilles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hound_of_the_Baskervilles_(1959_film))_ ), Frankenstein hires a mystic to hypnotize the Monster ( _[The Evil of Frankenstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evil_of_Frankenstein)_ ).[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Frankenstein#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMeikle200858%E2%80%9360-1)[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Frankenstein#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMeikle2008139-5) The Monster depicted in the first episode did indeed have the neck-bolted flat-topped appearance of the Universal monster. But the series was as dead as Universal’s _Dark Universe_ franchise. > **[Tales of Frankenstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Frankenstein)** > > Tales of Frankenstein is an unsold TV pilot filmed in 1958. It was a co-production of Hammer Film Productions and Columbia Pictures. The film is a mixture of elements from both the Hammer and Universal Pictures versions of Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The episode title, which does not appear onscreen, is "The Face in the Tombstone Mirror". > The film is in the public domain. > Baron Frankenstein sends his servants away every night, even in... ---
**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:** [December 10, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/110 "2020-12-10T19:30:27Z")
Tales of Frankenstein on YouTube [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/imZSgrH78Ks/hqdefault.jpg "Tales of Frankenstein (TV Short, 1958)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imZSgrH78Ks) ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/111 "2020-12-12T19:17:51Z")
I just finished re-watching [_The Losers_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Losers_(film)). It’s based on a DC comic, which was released through their “adult” Vertigo imprint. It’s a pretty straight forward action flick with some comedy (no supers). It was clearly meant to the be the first installment of a series if not a full franchise: the main bad guy gets away at the end, setting up the potential sequels. It had a fair amount of star power - Idris Elba, Chris Evans, Zoe Saldana, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It just didn’t seem to make an impression, and sank out of sight along with the series. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/112 "2020-12-13T06:29:34Z")
Agents of SHIELD was supposed to have a Mockingbird spinoff and a Ghost Rider spinoff (and possibly some others I’m forgetting about) but neither ended up happening. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/113 "2020-12-15T20:10:09Z")
Force Seven was a failed spin off of CHiPs. It’s described as “A secret LAPD unit is dedicated to the preservation of human life using martial arts.” ---
**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:** [December 15, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/114 "2020-12-15T20:25:15Z")
> [@Cumberdale](#): > > Force Seven was a failed spin off of CHiPs. It’s described as “A secret LAPD unit is dedicated to the preservation of human life using martial arts.” . Do they have five Foxy women, and every episode has a lame joke? Cuz that would be awesome! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/115 "2020-12-15T20:25:26Z")
I remember that one. LAPD ninjas. Even for CHiPs, it was goofy. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/116 "2020-12-15T20:33:40Z")
Sounds like that script should’ve been sat on for 15 years then retooled and handed to Chuck Norris; probably would have been perfect for his show, especially after [Disneyfication](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Disneyfication) set in. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/117 "2020-12-16T03:21:48Z")
Can’t find a link, but somewhere there’s a newspaper interview from 1993 in which Quincy Jones excitedly hypes up his new animated series, “Cool Like That.” Only one episode ever made it to air, in the form of a TV movie called “A Cool Like That Christmas.” ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/118 "2020-12-16T09:12:50Z")
Having your pilot episode be a Christmas Special to backdoor into a series is fairly common especially for animation, because it means even if it’s not picked up for a full series there’s a hope it will become a syndicated yearly Christmas special at least. The Simpsons famously started their run with a “Christmas Special” before officially starting a few months later. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2020, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/119 "2020-12-16T11:48:04Z")
Even earlier than that, **Mr. Magoo’s A Christmas Carol** lead to the prime-time animated series **The Famous Adventures of Mister Magoo** in 1964, in which the nearsighted hero of UPA cartoons was shoehorned into famous works of fiction in half-hour long productions . A sort of _Classics Illustrated_ on TV. Or a proto-“Wishbone” It flopped and lasted only one season. They hadn’t tumbled to the fact that it was a “Christmas” special that was the attraction, not that it was a prime-time TV cartoon. There were already several of those. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0tkNmb4M2lg/hqdefault.jpg "The Famous Adventures of Mister Magoo - Opening") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tkNmb4M2lg) > **[The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Adventures_of_Mr._Magoo)** > > The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo is an American animated television series produced by United Productions of America that aired for one season on NBC from September 19, 1964 to April 24, 1965. The television series was based on the original cartoon of the same name, with Jim Backus reprising the voiceover of the role he did on TV: while doing this show, he continued with the prime time TV show Gilligan's Island. This was a follow-up to the original Mister Magoo series which aired from 1960-1 Un... ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650/120 "2020-12-16T14:03:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Do they have five Foxy women, and every episode has a lame joke? Cuz that would be awesome! I wish someone had replied “Huh?” To this so you could say, “Catch up!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-pilots-that-were-supposed-to-be-a-series-but-werent/924650.md?page=7)