# The pilot and then the series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023 "2004-06-01T05:28:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/41 "2004-06-02T06:46:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Three of the Fab Five in the \*Queer Eye for the Straight Guy \* pilot were replaced for the series. Which three? ---
**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:** [June 2, 2004, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/42 "2004-06-02T10:15:02Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > _Lost in Space_: > > In the unaired pilot, the ship was called the Gemini XII and there was no Robot or Dr. Smith. I thought that in the pilot Dr. Smith ends up killing someone and stowing away on the ship. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/43 "2004-06-02T10:56:18Z")
_Grace Under Fire_: Noah Segan played Quentin in the pilot, an intense blonde kid with glasses. He was replaced by dark-haired Jon Paul Steuer in the series, and Steuer was replaced in the last season by Sam Horrigan (who looked like Steuer, but maybe four years older; Bret Butler, in a prescription drug-addled moment of poor judgment, flashed Steuer during a rehearsal and his parents hauled him out of there permanently). Basically, Grace had four children, who were played by seven different actors over the course of the show. Two of them, Dylan and Cole Sprouse, went on to star in _Big Daddy_ and were featured on _Friends_ as Ross’s son Ben. I like this show a lot, although virtually no one else does. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/44 "2004-06-02T11:24:29Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > I thought that in the pilot Dr. Smith ends up killing someone and stowing away on the ship. > > Marc Nope. The ship hits the meteor shower and gets “lost in space” w/o the good doctor. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/45 "2004-06-02T12:37:50Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Wally Pipp is the legendary Yankees first baseman who begged off one day because he had a headache, only to be replaced by … Lou Gehrig, who kept the job and went on his famous games-played streak. My analogy wasn’t PERFECT, since Pipp voluntarily gave up his spot and Regan obviously didn’t, but it was close enough. Just as another bit of trivia – Pipp was also present the day Gehrig **ended** his consecutive game streak. He was in the stands for the game. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/46 "2004-06-02T15:02:32Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > "Three of the Fab Five in the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy pilot were replaced for the series. " > Which three? [Fan site](http://www.panfandom.com/nuke/modules.php). Charlie, Sam, and James could not make the move from Boston to New York, and were replaced by Kyan, Thom, and Blair, who was subsequently replaced by Jai (and is now suing). ---
**Author:** ![Shirt\_Ninja\_13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@Shirt\_Ninja\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirt_Ninja_13)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/47 "2004-06-02T16:28:00Z")
> [@Wasabee](#): > > I am interested in hearing some examples of differences between TV show pilots and the rest of the series. > > Stuff like: > > Cast changes. Like Alex Bornstein playing Sookie in the GmoreGs pilot but only playing a minor supporting character in the series. (Couldn’t get out of her Mad TV contract apparently) There was a show called _Mantis_ that had a really well-done pilot, a long time ago. It was a batman-esque show about a man who was paralyzed below the waist who built a suit that allowed him to walk, as well as improving his strength and speed, and allowing him to fire paralyzer darts, as he refused to use lethal force. The main character was black, and had a couple of African techs/butlers who helped him with his stuff. He had a number of run-ins with street gangs, as well. The series came out, and the butlers/manservants (although one was a woman, I think) were replaced by this British guy and a bike messenger, and I don’t think he had much to do with the gangs in his area at all. It was pretty sad. I really enjoyed the pilot, but the series was…less than impressive. I didn’t see why they needed the British guy, honestly. Does anyone else remember this series or pilot? _bamf_ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/48 "2004-06-02T16:30:06Z")
I remember the name, but I never actually saw it. ---
**Author:** ![Wasabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@Wasabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wasabee)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/49 "2004-06-02T16:34:59Z")
I remember MANTIS…unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/50 "2004-06-02T17:25:52Z")
> [@Murcielago](#): > > Legend has it that Sipowicz was originally set to die from the gunshot wounds he received in the pilot of _NYPD Blue_. I did not begin watching the show until it was into the Bobby Simone years. After seeing the first season in syndication, I can’t imagine what it would have been like without Dennis Franz. He was far more interesting both as an actor and as character than the presumptive lead in the show, David Caruso as Kelly. IIRC, this is also what happened with the characters of Bobby Hill and Andy Renko on _Hill Street Blues_; the two were shot and presumably killed in the pilot, but resurrected for the series. I recall once seeing (perhaps on TVLand) the pilot for _Leave it to Beaver_ with different actors playing Ward Cleaver and Wally. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/51 "2004-06-02T18:35:08Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > I don’t believe you do RC, Gargoyle. According to Wikipedia and confirmed by several other reliable resources, only one episode contains anybody being shot on camera and even then it wasn’t the A-Team who did it. Dang, memory must have been polluted by too many Manimal episodes. I must be confusing it with the GI Joe episode where a cobra airplane actually blew up without a pilot parachuting from it. Surely I can’t be imagining that one also? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/52 "2004-06-02T19:21:10Z")
Can’t believe I’m going to mention this - in the Pilot of **Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman** , the barber was played by Colm Meany, and by a different (much skinnier) fella in the series ---
**Author:** ![Wasabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@Wasabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wasabee)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/53 "2004-06-02T19:30:30Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Dang, memory must have been polluted by too many Manimal episodes. I must be confusing it with the GI Joe episode where a cobra airplane actually blew up without a pilot parachuting from it. Surely I can’t be imagining that one also? 😉 Nope. In the original GI JOE miniseries there are quite a few instances of Cobra planes blowing up in ways where there’s no chance the pilots could have bailed. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/54 "2004-06-02T20:59:23Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Geordi La Forge was the pilot of the starship (him being a blind pilot was supposed to be ironic) but was transferred to Engineering as the Chief Engineer with no comment made in the second season. And when he was promoted, Chief Engineer Argyle (Get it? They’re so clever!) was disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/55 "2004-06-02T21:03:17Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > IIRC, this is also what happened with the characters of Bobby Hill and Andy Renko on _Hill Street Blues_; the two were shot and presumably killed in the pilot, but resurrected for the series. > > I recall once seeing (perhaps on TVLand) the pilot for _Leave it to Beaver_ with different actors playing Ward Cleaver and Wally. Coincidentally, Ward Cleaver’s character was supposed to die from the gunshot wounds he received in the _Leave it to Beaver_ pilot, and the Beaver was going to spend the first season tracking down and punishing the evildoers with the help of his morally questionable bounty hunter friend Eddie Haskell. But then they decided that would be a real downer and changed their minds. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/56 "2004-06-02T23:10:43Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > In the _NewsRadio_ pilot, there was a white chick instead of Khandi Alexander, and Joe Rogan was not the electrician. Actually, Ella Joyce (who isn’t white) played Catherine Duke in the pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/57 "2004-06-03T17:08:07Z")
In the pilot for The Handler (which CBS apparently cancelled in January, who knew?), the premise was that Joe Pantoliano was the head of an undercover division but now he has to deal with his recently paroled brother, who’s living with him. The brother is never seen again and the show switches to straight undercover police work. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/58 "2004-06-03T19:22:48Z")
> [@](#): > > posted by Baker: > In the pilot for Forever Knight Nick Knight was played by Rick Springfield. In the series Gerant Wyn Davies had the role. _Nick Knight_ was a TV movie starring Rick Springfield. When they made the series, they re-cast EVERY role (except for the sidekick, Detective Schanke), moved from L.A. to Toronto, then used the same script to make an almost shot-for-shot remake with the new actors, which became the pilot episode of the new series. _Lost In Space:_ In the first pilot, the spaceship crashlands on an alien planet. The family abandons the ship :eek: , and spends the rest of the episode exploring the planet in a high-tech RV. The first pilot had no Dr. Smith, no Robot, and no comedy. And not much plot, either. It was mainly a series of Random Monster Encounters. I think its main purpose was to showcase the special effects artists. \*T.R. Sloane \* was a TV movie starring some actor whom I don’t remember. They replaced him with Robert Conrad, and turned it into the series _A Man Called Sloane._ The movie was straight action/adventure, while the series had more laughs. In the pilot episode of _The Powers of Matthew Starr_, the lead character’s first name was David. The sidekick (played by Louis Gossett, Jr. in the series) was some white guy with a prosthenic hand. And the series had an entirely different tone than the pilot. Man, I need to get a life. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/59 "2004-06-03T19:41:06Z")
I thought ER and the A-Team both began with a MOVIE OF THE WEEK instead of a pilot. ---
**Author:** ![SilentButDeftly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@SilentButDeftly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SilentButDeftly)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023/60 "2004-06-03T19:53:25Z")
The first episode of _Six Feet Under_ had mock commercials for various undertaking products, like brand-name embalming fluids and caskets and such. They never pop up again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilot-and-then-the-series/248023.md?page=4)