Unsold TV Pilots: The Greatest Shows You Never Saw

by Lee Goldberg

  Cast: Cornelia Sharpe (as Linda Allen), Jayne Kennedy (Monique Lawrence), Don Galloway (James Andrews), George Lazenby (Michael), Vince Edwards (Russell Bradner), Jerry Douglas (Fritz Porter), Michael Baselson (Paul Reynolds), Don Johnson (Johnny Wilson), Ellen Travolta (Ziggy), Sean Garrison (Sven), Bill Overton (Football Player).

  14. Crash Island. NBC 4/11/81. 60 minutes. Universal Television. Director: Hollingsworth Morse. Producers: Don Nelson and Gino Grimaldi. Writers: Don Nelson and Arthur Alsberg.

  Yet another in Universal's endless stream of "stranded-on-an-uncharted island" pilots and, by far, the worst of the lot. Greg Mullavey and Meadowlark Lemon are charter airline pilots flying a fifteen-member Y.M.C.A. coed swim team to Hawaii when, suddenly, the weather started getting rough, the tiny plane was tossed . . . you get the idea. Stranded on an uncharted isle, and aided by a Japanese soldier (Pat Morita) who has been a castaway there for thirty years, they form their own society and try to cope with their plight. Variety called it a cross between Gilligan's Island and The Bad News Bears, and "the resultant silliness was highly unpromising."

  Cast: Greg Mullavey (as Happy Burleson). Meadowlark Lemon (Meadowlark). Jenny Sherman (Ceci), Warren Berlinger (Coach Bundy). Sheila DeWindt (Tina), Pat Morita (Kali Yamamora), Penelope Sudrow (Sandy), Lisa Lindren (Kris), Heather Hobbs (Heather), Elizabeth Ringwald (Susan), Paul Jarnagin, Jr. (Chubby), Jeffrey Knootz (Harry), Gregory Knootz (Larry), Bradley Liberman (Brett), Rusty Gilligan (Fred), Danie Wade Dalton (Mark), Cjon Damitri Patterson (Angie), Jeff Kirkland (Jeff).

  15. Cro-Magnon (aka The Tribe). ABC 12/11/74. 90 minutes. Universal Television. Director: Richard A. CoIla. Producer: George Eckstein. Writer/Creator: Lane Slate. Music: Hal Mooney.

  The adventures of a Cro-Magnon family fighting for survival—and against Neanderthals—in Europe at the end of the last Ice Age. Victor French played the leader of the family, Adriana Shaw was his wife, Mark Gruner his son, and Henry Wilcoxon was the wise elder. Shot in Beaumont, California.

  Cast: Victor French (as Mathis). Adriana Shaw (Jen), Henry Wilcoxon (Gana), Warren Vanders (Gorin), Stewart Moss (Cato), Sam Gilman (Rouse), Tani Phelps Guthrie (Sarish), Mark Gruner (Perron), Meg Wyllie (Hertha), Nancy Elliot (Ardis), Jeannine Brown (Orda), Dominique Pinassi (Kiska), Jack Scalici (The Neanderthal), Paul Richard Narrator).

  16. Danger Team. ABC 1990. 30 minutes. Lorimar Television. Director: Helaine Head. Executive Producer: Tom Greene. Producers: David Bleiman and Ken Pontac. Writers: Michael Wagner, Harley Peyton, and Tom Greene.

  Kathleen Beller plays a bookkeeper-turned-private eye who solves crimes with the help of three animated clay figures and the latest high-tech equipment.

  Cast: Kathleen Beller (as Cheryl Stinger), Steve Levitt (Chris), Steven Gilborn (Mr. Weidner).

  17. D5B—Steel Collar Man. CBS 8/7/85. 60 minutes. Columbia Pictures Television and Cypress Point Productions. Director: James Frawley. Executive Producers: Gerald Abrams and Dave Thomas. Producer: David Latt. Writer/Creator: Dave Thomas. Music: Tom Scott.

  Like ABC's J.O.E. & the Colonel, this is the story of a government-created robot soldier (Charles Rocket) that can think for itself—which isn't exactly what the government ordered when it financed the experiments. The government wants it destroyed. The scientist (Dorian LoPinto) who created D5B helps the robot escape and they team up with a truck driver (Hoyt Axton). Together, the robot, trucker. and scientist roam the country, helping people and running from an obsessed government agent (Chuck Connors). The proposed series would mix adventure with comedy.

  Cast: Charles Rocket (as D5B), Dorian LoPinto (Dr. Constance Fletcher), Hoyt Axton (Red), Chuck Connors (J.G. Willis), Paul Dooley (Don Liddle), Chuck Mitchell (Big Jake), David Wohl (Weasel), Robert O'Reilly (Johnny), Jeffrey Josephson (Tino), John Brandon (General), Kevin Scannell (Trooper), John Lystine (Trooper #2), John Furlong (Security Guard), BHT Yeager (Truck Driver #1), Scott Perry (Truck Driver #2), John C. Reade (Truck Driver #3), Ebbe Roc Smith (Salesman). John Solari (Cashier), David Dunard (Bob), Kelly Jcan Peters (Bob's Wife). Barry Kivel (Attendant). Dan Barrows (Al).

  18. The Disciple. CBS 3/16/79. 60 minutes. Universal Television. Director: Reza Badiyi. Executive Producer: Ken Johnson. Producers/ Writers: Nicholas Corea and James Hirsch.

  Aired as an episode of The Incredible Hulk. An Irish cop (Rick Springfield) resigns from the force after his father is killed and studies with an ancient Chinese philosopher. The ex-cop uses these new skills of self-discipline as a private eye whose cases often bring him into conflict with his brother (Gerald McRaney), who is still on the force. Guest stars include Mako, Stacy Keach, Sr., and George Loros.

  19. Divided We Stand. ABC 7/21/88. 60 minutes. Don Brinkley Productions and Aaron Spelling Productions. Director: Michael Tuchner. Executive Producer: Aaron Spelling. Producer/Writer: Don Brinkley. Music: Artie Kane.

  This pilot offers an unusual format for telling a traditional story. The proposed series would focus on Cody (Seth Green), a ten-year-old boy whose parents (Michael Brandon and Kerrie Keane) are divorced but share joint custody. In television land, that means Daddy gets Cody for the first half of the show, and Mommy gets him for the second half. In the pilot, Cody tries to reunite his parents on what would have been their fourteenth wedding anniversary. The "Gibbs" became the "Dobbs" in the final pilot.

  Cast: Michael Brandon (as Bryan Gibbs), Kerrie Keane (Katie Gibbs), Seth Green (Cody Gibbs), Madge Sinclair (Hattie Wickwire), arena Ferris (Topaze), Diane Stilwell (Rachel).

  20. Doctor Franken. NBC 1/13/80. 2 hours. Titus Productions, Janus Productions, and NBC Productions. Directors: Jeff Lieberman and Marvin J. Chomsky. Executive Producer: Herbert Brodkin. Producer: Robert Berger. Writer: Lee Thomas, from a story by Jeff Lieberman and Lee Thomas, from the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Music: John Morris.

  In the television world, a man with special powers either becomes a secret agent or a fugitive. The latter is the case in this pilot, a weird rehash of Frankenstein, set in modern-day Manhattan. Dr. Victor Franken (Robert Vaughn) is a descendant of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein, and creates a creature of his own when he revives a dead accident victim by rebuilding him with organs and limbs from the hospital medical bank. The result is a creature (Robert Perrault) with a mind of his own—but also with the memories, convictions, and emotions of the people whose "parts" he now has. In the proposed series, he'd seek out those associated with the people who gave him organs to learn more about himself and would inevitably get involved in their lives. He is pursued by police and scientists out to destroy him, but he stays one step ahead of them, thanks to Dr. Franken. Composer John Morris, coincidentally, did the score for Mel Brooks' spoof Young Frankenstein, which costarred Teri Garr, a guest star in this pilot.

  Cast: Robert Vaughn (as Dr. Franken), Robert Perrault (John Doc), David Shelby (Dr. Mike Foster). Teri Garr (Kelly Fisher), Josef Sommer (Mr. Parker), Cynthia Harris (Anita Franken), Addison Powell (Dr. Eric Kerwin), Takayo Doran (Claire), Claiborne Carey (Jenny). Nicolas Surovy (Martin Elson), Rudolph Willrich (Arthur Gurnesy), Sam Schracht (Lt. Pearson), Conchetta Tolman (Reporter), Theodore Sorel (Gerald Blake), Sylvia Loew (Mrs. Parker), Penelope Paley (Technician), Roger Til (Anesthesiologist), Myra Stennett (Hello Woman), Ed Van Nuys (Bartender), William Huston (Cop), Ralph Driscoll (Doorman), Norman Parker (Morgue Attendant), Florence Rupert (Woman).

  21. Dracula. NBC 1979. 60 minutes. Universal Television. Executive Producer/Writer/Creator: Kenneth Johnson.

  A spin-off from Cliffhangers, a short-lived series made up of three continuing twenty-minute serials each week, one of which was Curse of Dracula. Michael Nouri is Dracula who, in this reworking, teaches a night course in history at a San Francisco college so he can meet chicks. He was a bad guy, and was killed off in the serial, but in the proposed series he's alive and well and wants to be cured. He has fallen in love with a woman (Carol Baxter) whose mother he also loved—and killed- decades ago. The series would follow his efforts to find a cure, withstand the urge to kill his
beloved, and avoid those who are chasing him. Three one-hour pilots were being developed but apparently never came to fruition.

  22. Dusty. CBS 7/24/83. 60 minutes. Lorimar Productions. Director: Don Medford. Executive Producers: Lee Rich and Marc Merson. Producer: Stuart Cohen. Writers: Ron Leibman and Marc Merson. Creator: Ron Leibman. Music: Jerry Goldsmith.

  Saul Rubinek is a Los Angeles cabbie who dreams of being a private eye—and gets his chance when he picks up a legendary detective (Gerald S. O'Loughlin) and is ordered to "follow that car." An uneasy alliance develops, and the cabbie finds himself moonlighting as a P.1.

  Cast: Saul Rubinek (as Dusty), Gerald S. O'Loughlin (Tim Halloran), Nancy McKeon (Slugger), Hank Garrett (Lt. Harry Beathoven).

  23. Earthbound. NBC 1979. 90 minutes. Schick Sunn Classic Films. Director: James L. Conway. Executive Producer: Charles E. Seiner, Jr. Producer/Writer: Michael Fisher.

  The adventures of a kindly old man and his orphaned grandson (Todd Porter) who befriend an extraterrestrial family (Christopher Connelly, Meredith MacRae, Marc Gilpin, and Elissa Leeds) when the aliens' flying saucer crash-lands in a nearby lake. The alien family does its best to fit into American society, but their super-strength and psychic powers cause problems, and could betray them to the military man (Joseph Campanella) who is searching for them. Burl Ives replaced Ken Curtis as the star early in the making of this pilot, which Leonard Matlin, in his book TV Movies, lambasted as "trite, dumb, (and) idiotic." This was released as a feature film before it was broadcast on television.

  24. Ebony, Ivory and Jade. CBS 8/3/79. 90 minutes. Frankel Films. Director: John Llewellyn Moxey. Executive Producer: Ernie Frankel. Producer/writer Jimmy Sangster, from a story by Ann Beckett and Mike (M*A*S* H) Farrell. Music: Earle Hagen.

  A Charlie's Angels rip-off. On the surface, Ebony Bryant (Debbie Ilen) and Ivory David (Martha Smith) are a Las Vegas song-and-dance team, managed by slick guy Nick Jade (Bert Convy)—but they are actually three crack secret agents.

  Cast: Bert Convy (as Nick Jade), Debbie Allen (Claire "Ebony" Bryant), Martha Smith (Maggie "Ivory" David), Claude Akins (Joe Blair), Donald Moffat (Ian Cabot), Nina Foch (Dr. Adela Teba), Clifford David (Grady), Nicolas Coster (Linderman), Lucille Benson (Mrs. Stone), Ji-Tu Cumbuka (Thurston), David Brenner (Himself), Frankie Valli (Himself), Ted Shackelford (Barnes), Bill Lane (Heyman), Ray Guth (Conductor), Cletus Young (Plant Cop).

  25. Escape. ABC 4/6/71. 90 minutes. Paramount Television. Director: John Llewellyn Moxey. Producer: Bruce Lansbury. Writer/creator: Paul Playdon. Music: Lalo Schifrin.

  Christopher George is an escape artist who, with his faithful sidekick Avery Shrieber, helps those who are wrongly imprisoned to escape their captors. In the pilot, he rescues a kidnapped scientist from a megalomaniac and saves the world.

  Cast: Christopher George (as Cameron Steele), Avery Shrieber (Nicholas Slye), William Windom (Dr. Henry Walding), Marlyn Mason (Susan Walding), John Vernon (Charles Walding). Gloria Grahame (Evelyn Harrison). William Schallert (Lewis Harrison), Hunts Hall (Gilbert), Mark Tapscott (Dan), George Clifton (Roger), Lucille Benson (Trudy), Lisa Moore (Vicki), Chuck Hicks (Carter), Ed Gail (Customer), Lester Fletcher (Designer), Merriana Henrig (Model), Caroline Ross (Photographer).

  26. The Exo-Man. NBC 6/18/77. 2 hours. Universal Television. Director: Richard Irving. Executive Producer: Richard Irving. Producer: Lionel E. Siegel. Writers: Martin Caiden, Howard Rodman. and Lionel E. Siegel, from a story by Martin Caiden and Henri Simoun. Creator: Martin Caiden. Music: Dana Kaproff.

  Created by the man who devised The Six Million Dollar Man. David Ackroyd is a psychics professor who, after apprehending a bank robber, is gunned down by hit men. Crippled. he creates a super "exo" suit that revitalizes his limbs and gives him superhuman strength—and enables him to not only catch the hit man, but wage a continuing battle against crime. Caiden says the pilot "was destroyed by the marketing people at Universal. They said 'You have to build the suit this way, so it'll be easier to mass-produce toys.' They killed the damn thing, turned it into cardboard. We had a great show planned, but execution was pffft.”

  Cast: David Ackroyd (as Nick Conrad), Anne Schedeen (Emily Frost), A Martinez (Raphael), Jose Ferrer (Kermit Haas), Harry Morgan (Travis), Kevin McCarthy (Kamensky), Jack Colvin (Martin), Jonathan Segal (Rubenstein), Richard Narita (Yamaguchi), John Moio (Dominic Leandro).

  27. The Eyes of Charles Sand. ABC 2/29/72. 90 minutes. Warner Bros. Television. Director: Reza S. Badiyi. Producer: Hugh Benson. Writers: Henry Farrell and Stanford Whitmore, from a story by Farrell. Creator: Henry Farrell. Music (Uncredited): Henry Mancini.

  Charles Sand is a man who can see, very unclearly, the future. In the pilot, he helps a woman prove her brother was murdered. A composer's strike prevented Warner Bros. from commissioning an original score and instead it pirated Mancini's soundtrack for Wait Until Dark.

  Cast: Peter Haskell (as Charles Sand), Joan Bennett (Aunt Alexandra), Barbara Rush (Katherine Winslow), Sharon Farrell (Emily Parkhurst), Bradford Dillman (Jeffrey Winslow), Adam West (Dr. Paul Scott), Gary Clarke (Raymond), Ivor Francis (Dr. Ballard), Owen Bush (Gardner), Donald Barry (Trainer), Larry Levine (Groom).

  28. Generation. ABC 5/24/85. 2 hours. Embassy Television. Director: Michael 'l'uchner. Executive Producer/Writer: Gerald DiPego. Producers: Bill Finnegan and Pat Finnegan.

  The adventures of a typical American family, The Breeds, in the year 2000. Alan Breed (Richard Beymer) is an inventor for a large corporation, which frequently alters his creations for their own profit. His brother (Drake Hogestyn) is a gladiator in a national sport not unlike Rollerball. Alan's wife (Marta Dubois) is the host of a self-help television show. Hanna Cutrona is Kate and Alan Breed's daughter. Bert Remsen and Priscilla Pointer are the grandparents, who fight to retain the values of the 1900s .

  Cast: Richard Beymer (as Alan Breed), Marta Dubois (Kate Breed), Drake Hogestyn (Jack Breed), Cristina Raines (Roma Breed). Hanna Cutrona (Bel Breed), Bert Remsen (Tom Breed), Priscilla Pointer (Ellen Breed), Kim Miyori (Teri Tanaka), Reid Sheldon (Raymond Wilke), Lorene Yarnell (Pal), Scott Paulin (Graff), Harrison Page (George Link). Liz Sheridan (Clara), Michael Young (Rick Tolmer), Grand L. Bush (Catt), Nick Corri (Scrad), Beau Richards (Edna), Stephen Lee (Mark Stein), Leigh Lombardi (Ann), Michael Lemon (Henderson), Paige Price (Gila), Bill Erwin (John), Kevin Sifuentes (Gang Boy), Dean Dittman (Taxi Driver).

  29. Genesis II. CBS 3/23/73. 90 minutes. Warner Bros. Television. Director: John Llewellyn Maxey. Producer/Writer/Creator: Gene Roddenberry. Music: Harry Sukman.

  Alex Cord is Dylan Hunt, a modern-day scientist experimenting with suspended animation in a secret base in Carlsbad Caverns when an earthquake buries him—and leaves him trapped in suspended animation. He is found—and revived---one hundred filly years later by the few civilized people left in our post-apocalypse world. Together with Isiah (Ted Cassidy), Isaac Kimbridge (Percy Rodrigues), Primus (Majel Barrett) and Smythe (Lynne Marta), Dylan Hunt travels on a subterranean bullet train bringing peace, knowledge, and order to this futuristic world. The pilot lost out to Planet of the Apes at CBS and was abandoned, although several scripts were commissioned. One became the pilot Planet Earth for ABC the following season. with John Saxon replacing Cord. When that failed, Warner Bros. developed, without Roddenberry's participation, Strange New World for ABC. Saxon starred as one of a team of astronauts who, after floating through space in suspended animation, return to earth one hundred fifty years later and find a—you guessed it—Strange New World. It flopped, too.

  Cast: Alex Cord (as Dylan Hunt), Ted Cassidy (Isiah). Lynne Marta (Harper-Smythe), Linda Grant (Astrid), Percy Rodrigues (Primus Isaac Kimbridge), Majel Barrett (Primus Dominic), Marlette Hartley (Lyra-a), Harvey Jason (Singh), Titos Vandis (Yuloff), Tom Pace (Brian), Leon Askin (Overseer), Liam Dunn (Janus), Harry Raybould (Stan-u), Beulah Quo (Lu-Chan), Ray Young (Tyranian Teacher), Ed Ashley (Weh-r). Dennis Young (General), Robert Hathaway (Shuttle Dispatcher), Bill Striglos (Dr. Kellum), David Westburg (St
ation Operator), Tammi Bula (Teenager), Terry Wills (Cardiologist), Didi Conn (TV Actress).

  30. Gladiator. ABC 2/3/86. 2 hours. Walker Bros. Productions and New World Television. Director: Abel Ferrara. Executive Producers: Jeffrey Walker, Michael Chase Walker, and Tom Schulman. Producers: Robert Lovenheim and Bill Bleich. Writer: Bill Bleich, from a story by Tom Schulman and Jeffrey Walker. Creators: Jeffrey Walker and Toni Schulman. Music: David Frank.

  Ken Wahl plays a secret vigilante who roams the roads of southern California fighting all sorts of vehicular crimes (reckless driving, drunk drivers, etc.) with his suped-up tow truck after his brother is killed by a psychopathic, hit-and-run driver. Nancy Allen is a radio talk show host who becomes romantically involved with the hero. When this pilot didn't fly, Wahl went on to become a cult figure as Vinnie Terranova in Wiseguy.

  Cast: Ken Wahl (as Rick Benson), Nancy Allen (Susan Neville), Robert Culp (Lt. Frank Mason), Stan Shaw (Joe), Rosemary Forsyth (Dr. Loretta Simpson), Bart Braverman (Man), Brian Robbins (Jeff Benton), Rick Dees (Garth), Michael Young (Reporter), Harry Beer (Franklin), Garry Goodrow (Cadillac Drunk), Gary Lev (Fast Food Manager), Georgic Paul (Elderly Woman), Mort Sertner (Elderly Man), Jose Flores (Policeman), Royce D. Applegate (Phil), Robert Phalen (Dr. Maxwell), Linda Thorson (Woman in Class), Stephen Anthony Harry (Man in Class), Jim Wilkey (Death Car Driver).