GREATEST SHOWS YOU NEVER SAW, THE (TV)

Summary

A television special showcasing television pilots that were never adapted into series, hosted by actress Faith Ford. Several shows began their life as drastically different pilots, such as the original pilot for "The Munsters," featuring Joan Marshall and Happy Derman in the roles of Phoebe (originally Herman Munster's wife) and a drastically different Eddie Munster respectively. The original pilot for "The Flintstones" featured different voices and different character designs than the ones which would eventually be used. A program about a talking horse, "The Wonderful World of Wilbur Pope," was retooled at the suggestion of George Burns into focusing more on the horse, resulting in the classic program "Mister Ed." Jonathan Daly starred in a sitcom pilot called "The Clumbseys," about an extraordinarily clumsy suburban family. The pilot for "The Alan King Show" featured King as a college professor and Sarah Jessica Parker as both is daughter and his student. Sherwood Schwartz, creator of such shows as "Gilligan's Island," created a pilot featuring Gilligan himself, Bob Denver, as the head of a daycare for unruly children in "Scamps," also starring Joey Lawrence as one of the children. Albert S. Ruddy, producer on "The Godfather," created "The Bellinis," the pilot for a sitcom about an Italian mafia family. Denver appeared again in the pilot for "The Invisible Woman," about a scientist who accidentally renders both his niece and a chimpanzee invisible. Before she was in "Cheers," Shelley Long was in the pilot for "Ghost of a Chance," about a newlywed haunted by the ghost of her first husband. "13 Thirteenth Avenue" was about an apartment complex inhabited by supernatural creatures, and also featured a young Wil Wheaton. There was also "Take Me To Your Leader," a show similar to "My Favorite Martian." "The Orphan & the Dude" was about the relationship between a gas station attendant and his wisecracking friend. Judge Reinhold portrayed a chauvinist on "Never Again." Ford was paired with Bill Maher on a backdoor pilot in "Murder, She Wrote" as a husband and wife detective duo. Max Baer, Jr. starred in a pilot for "The Asphalt Cowboy," about a Wild West-esque cop with "Dirty Harry" sensibilities. Evel Knievel starred in a self-titled series featuring him as a motorcycle-riding crime-fighter. "Samurai" featured Joe Penny as a truck-riding katana-wielding hero. Shelley Fabares starred as the leader of a group of housewife detectives in "Suburban Beat," and "Nick Derringer, P.I." featured a dwarf detective. "Fuzz Brothers" starred Felton Perry and Louis Gossett Jr. as a street smart African-American police duo. Vincent Price and Peter Lorre teamed up as detectives/antique dealers in "Collector's Item." Before he created "Star Trek," Gene Roddenberry created "Police Story," which featured DeForest Kelly as a hard-nosed police medical examiner. "Crisis" featured the exploits of a team of people on a crisis hotline, while "Men of the Dragon" was a pilot for a kung-fu series. Ed O'Neill appeared in the pilot for "Popeye Doyle," based on the character played by Gene Hackman in the film "The French Connection." A spoof cop show called "Lookmore" featured Adam West as a washed-up actor operating under the delusion that he was a real cop. Jeff Daniels starred as a smarmy beach police officer in "Catalina C-Lab." Telly Savalas played a gritty lawyer in the pilot for "Hellinger's Law," while William Shatner also played a similar character on "Indict & Convict." 1970's "Lost Flight" featured Lloyd Bridges in a series about a plane crash-landing on a desert island, billed as an "adult 'Lord of the Flies.'" A similar program called "Stranded" also had a pilot, starring Jimmy McNichol. "Crash Island" had a similar premise, but it was about an "island utopia" and starred basketball player Meadowlark Lemon alongside a group of children. Ricardo Montalban was the star of a pilot called "Tonight in Havana," and Bennett Cerf hosted the pilot for "Varsity U.S.A.," wherein he would go to a different college each week to showcase their varsity entertainment. Orson Welles attempted to pitch his own series, "The Orson Welles Show," which would feature adaptations of literary works. It was rejected for being too sophisticated for audiences. Notorious film director Ed Wood attempted to pitch "Crossroad Avenger," a western series about the "Tucson Kid," a gunslinging insurance investigator. Teri Garr and Darren McGavin starred in a pilot for "Law and Order," wherein Garr portrayed a mother and ex-prostitute. "Quick as a Flash" was a game show pilot that failed due to being ironically slow-paced. Another failed game show pilot was "It's Up to You," wherein a team of "Junior Achievers" would pitch product ideas and then try to guess which one of two mystery guests was either a corporate manager or a movie star. "Silent Partners" was a game show pilot with an inexplicable concept, remembered for featuring a go-go dancer. Bette Davis starred in "Madame Sin," where she played the ruthless head of a secret espionage organization dedicated to conquering the world. "The Man with the Power" was about a man who discovered he had telekinetic powers due to his extraterrestrial heritage. With the help of a college professor, he learns to harness his gifts for the betterment of mankind. "Northstar" featured Greg Evigan as an astronaut who received superpowers from a solar flare. In "Exoman," a physics professor paralyzed by hitmen uses a robot suit to fight crime. There was also a psychedelic pilot based on the magic-based comic book superhero "Doctor Strange." George Kennedy portrayed a barbarian king in the pilot for a fantasy series entitled "The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire." Another pilot was centered around the exploits of a group of cavemen, called "The Tribe." "The Clone Master" featured a doctor who accidentally cloned himself many times over, and Leonard Nimoy starred in "Baffled!," wherein a race car driver gets mysterious psychic abilities from an accident. Sammy Davis, Jr. starred as a demon in service to Satan, portrayed by Christopher Lee, in the fantasy/comedy "Poor Devil." "Shangri-La Plaza" was the pilot for a musical series set at a Los Angeles mini-mall, combining hip-hop beats with Broadway sensibilities. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: CBS
• DATE: February 7, 1996 10:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:46:37
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:42102
• GENRE: Specials
• SUBJECT HEADING: Specials
• SERIES RUN: N/A
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• George Zaloom … Executive Producer
• Les Mayfield … Executive Producer
• Lee Goldberg … Co-Executive Producer, Based on the book by
• Bob Rabkin … Co-Executive Producer
• Jean-Michel Michenaud … Producer
• Chris Cowan … Producer
• Michael Shevloff … Associate Producer
• Cheryl Johnson … Associate Producer
• Jack Perez … Director
• James McManus … Writer
• Daniel May … Music by
• Faith Ford … Host
• Max Baer Jr.
• Lloyd Bridges
• George Burns
• Bennett Cerf
• Jonathan Daly
• Jeff Daniels
• Bette Davis
• Sammy Davis Jr.
• Bob Denver
• Greg Evigan
• Shelley Fabares
• Teri Garr
• Louis Gossett Jr.
• Gene Hackman
• DeForest Kelly
• George Kennedy
• Alan King
• Evel Knievel
• Joey Lawrence
• Christopher Lee
• Meadowlark Lemon
• Shelley Long
• Peter Lorre
• Bill Maher
• Joan Marshall
• Darren McGavin
• Jimmy McNichol
• Ricardo Montalban
• Ed O'Neill
• Leonard Nemoy
• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Joe Penny
• Felton Perry
• Vincent Price
• Judge Reinhold
• Gene Roddenberry
• Albert S. Ruddy
• Telly Savalas
• Sherwood Schwartz
• William Shatner
• Orson Welles
• Adam West
• Wil Wheaton
• Ed Wood