Back Door Pilots Of Shows

[Newname]

How it ended implied that it was all a dream. In the end, Robin Williams shows up as a
country hick, asking Richie for directions to wherever he's going.

As I recall, nothing was cut from the ending, but rather the brief new clip with Mork getting his instructions for his next assignment in Boulder CO was just tacked onto the end for the repeat broadcast. (They probably just cut out a few seconds somewhere eariler in the show to make it all time out correctly). To me, this led to a clumsy plot contradiction: the bit where RW comes to the door delivering pizza is supposed to imply that the whole episode was Richie's dream, yet that is immediately followed with the new tag making it pretty clear that Mork really WAS an alien. But I suppose ABC was just looking to plug their hot new star/series wherever they could, and continuity was not the first thing on their minds. (Hard to see clearly through dollar signs...)
[/quote]

I remember the 'Richie dreaming' bit, but I thought there was a scene afterward where everybody was at Arnold's talking about having a similar dream?

 

[Newname]

NBC seemed to be good for doing this.


I bet Diff'rent Strokes probably had one. I wonder about Family Ties?


Not sure if it was a 'BDP', but I remember during 1988-89, they had some interaction on 'Ties' with cast members of 'Day By Day', which followed 'Ties' that season. I can't remember if that series (about a yuppie couple running a daycare center in their home) had been introduced on 'Ties' the year before; it may have just been a ratings play(sort of like NBC tying in 'Golden Girls' and 'Empty Nest' with 'Nurses', in that 'hurricane in Miami' thread.)

 

[WMC2006]

Facts of Life IS a spinoff of Diff'rent Strokes. Mrs Garrett was the Drummonds' housekeeper to begin with although I have no idea how Mrs Garrett was actually spun off.

IMDB.com considers "Hello Larry" a spinoff of DS. Producers decided to have Larry Alder and Phillip Drummond be old army buddies. As far as I'm concerned, the best thing about "Hello Larry" was Kim Richards. ;D ;D ;D

It also mentions that DS characters appeared occasionally on "Silver Spoons" but doesnt call SS a spinoff of DS.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

Facts of Life IS a spinoff of Diff'rent Strokes. Mrs Garrett was the Drummonds' housekeeper to begin with although I have no idea how Mrs Garrett was actually spun off.

IMDB.com considers "Hello Larry" a spinoff of DS. Producers decided to have Larry Alder and Phillip Drummond be old army buddies. As far as I'm concerned, the best thing about "Hello Larry" was Kim Richards. ;D ;D ;D

It also mentions that DS characters appeared occasionally on "Silver Spoons" but doesnt call SS a spinoff of DS.

That was likely a "cross-over" special that was done between the two series similar to the previously mentioned "Golden Girls"/"Empty Nest"/"Nurses" episodes.

On The Golden Girls, they had an episode that focused on the girls's neighbor Harry Weston, played by Paul Dooley and his family with wife Rita Moreno and daughters, with David Leisure. But when Empty Nest debuted, is was very different...don';t know if this counts though.

I know there was an episode where a neighbor's wife had died and the girls tried to help him through his grief. I'm almost certain the neighbor was 'Harry Weston.' Perhaps this is the same episode or was it part of a story-arc?

Don't know if this counts as a back-door, but I recall a "Growing Pains" episode where Mike's high school coach is fired and he stages a sit-in to protest. At the end of the episode, the coach and his family pack-up and leave which becomes the series "Just The Ten Of Us" which aired on ABC's TGiF block.

 

[Stanislav]

I think there's an apples and oranges confusion here. I think a true "back door pilot" is when it really IS a pilot -- i.e., a test episode of a proposed series that has not been picked up -- and involves characters that are not normally on the main series. (For example, all three of the Married With Children episodes mentioned qualify.)

Something like the spinoiff transition episodes of Growing Pains--->Just the Ten of Us or Andy Griffith--->Gomer Pyle or All in the Family--->The Jeffersons aren't really pilots, back door or otherwise -- it's just a convenient way to phase those characters out of the series with logic and continuity (instead of just having them disappear). The spinoff series in each case was already sold and ready to start production, so no formal "pilot" was needed.

Also, I think it has to be INTENDED as a pilot to qualify -- for instance, I don't think the episode of Make Room For Daddy that took Danny to Mayberry was written with the idea of being a pilot. Andy Griffith was just starting to hit the big time then between his comedy records and then his role in "No Time For Sargeants" so he was starting to be sought after as a guest star on many shows -- sometimes, a show just has a breakout character or guest star that they later decide to build a series around because of audience reaction. (Same deal with Happy Days and Mork.)

 

[KS-IL-IA]

I think the "definition" of BDP has to be something that takes the focus completely off the leads of the show, and makes a noticeable change in the format for one episode only. The leads become supporting players, a la the Kelly's Kids ep of Brady Bunch.

 

[LKellerIII]

"Also, I think it has to be INTENDED as a pilot to qualify -- for instance, I don't think the episode of Make Room For Daddy that took Danny to Mayberry was written with the idea of being a pilot. Andy Griffith was just starting to hit the big time then between his comedy records and then his role in "No Time For Sargeants" so he was starting to be sought after as a guest star on many shows -- sometimes, a show just has a breakout character or guest star that they later decide to build a series around because of audience reaction. (Same deal with Happy Days and Mork.)."

My memory RE: Mork - though it may not have been a "pilot" in a strict sense, I belive Gary Marshall had every intention of building a show around Robin Williams when he stuck the character into Happy Days. Williams was getting very big, and probably had his choice of a number of TV development deals at that time. Comedy or not, the sudden injection of science fiction in a show meant to evoke nostalgia for the early 60s was very odd. So I suspect Marshall and his writers put the idea together very quickly.

Similar with Andy Griffith - I don't think Sheldon Leonard and Danny Thomas were thinking pilot when they shot the Mayberry episode, but they were very smart producers and it probably didn't take long after that for the Andy Griffith Show's concept to be written. At that time, Griffith also appeared frequently on variety shows doing his "stand-up" act. I was young, but if I'm remembering correctly,he didn't tell jokes, but told funny stories - not unlike Bill Cosby

 

[gr8oldies]

Seems I recall reading a history of the Andy Griffith Show where Andy about backed out of the deal becasue all the shouting on the Danny Thomas show wasn't what Andy was all about..until Leonard assured him that Andy's own show would be built around him and his style, not Danny Thomas's.

 

[bpatrick]

Since I originally posted the Danny Thomas/Andy Griffith
episode, as well as the Happy Days/Mork episode, I think
I should defend my choices. Perhaps they were not intended
as pilots, but in retrospect they were pilots. We're calling
this "back door pilots," which implies someone sneaking in
through the back door. That, to me, would mean that the
episode did not scream "PILOT" but evolved subtly into a
series. I definitely think that's more true of Andy Griffith's
appearance on Danny Thomas's show than of Robin Williams's
on "Happy Days," but the fact is that both episodes led to
a series, which is not exactly the same as phasing characters
out of one show into their own show the following fall, nor am
I sure Garry Marshall was thinking about a series for Robin
Williams before the ratings came in.

What happened in both cases was an overwhelmingly favorable
response, and Sheldon Leonard and Garry Marshall (respectively)
took note and took the logical next step.

In sum: a back-door pilot doesn't have to be intended as a pilot;
it becomes one only in retrospect.

 

[ixnay]

Bobby Sherman (remember him?) had a short-lived
1971 sitcom on ABC, "Getting Together," which began
as an episode of "The Partridge Family."

Sure do remember Bobby. I saw him once or twice on the ABC horse opera "Here Come the Brides" whose theme song "Seattle" became a hit for Perry Como. According to Brooks and Marsh's book, Sherman was discovered on "Shindig", and in the wake of "Here Come the Brides" he had the hits "Little Woman" (a splendid tough minded blue eyed soul song) and "Easy Come Easy Go". Didn't see him on "Partridge" though (I hardly looked at that show, though I remember "I Think I Love You") or on "Getting Together".

ixnay

 

[FreddyE1977]

a more recent example was Navy NCIS being a BDP on JAG.
Style-wise it was disconcertingly different from the parent show....
the editing style, freehand camera work, quirky cast dynamics, etc.
I found it very disconcerting if you were tuning in for a well-known
show. Usually these pilots are not so abrupt.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

This is a pretty obscure example, and much more recent than the others being duscussed, but I was watching "Feasting On Asphalt" with Alton Brown on the Food Network, and one episode featured Brown investigating out-of-the-way places to eat with a cop named Chris Cognac, who then got his own show on FN called "The Hungry Detective".

 

[radiorob2.0]

Unless I missed it, there has been no mention of "Blansky's Beauties". Nancy Walker was introduced on an episode of "Happy Days" as a relation of Mr. C. However, "Blansky's Beauties" took place in the modern day (circa 1977) and characters from "Happy Days" made appearances. The concept of time travel was never mention and there were no signs of a DeLorean with the Flux Capacitor/Mr. Fusion option.

 

[bk77]

There was an episode of Emergency that Jack Webb used as pilot of another show.
Even though most of the cast of Emergency appeared most of the show was centered around some animal control guys played by Mark Harmon and Gary Cosby.

Two more things I remember about this episode. Watching Robert Fuller ( Dr. Bracket ) saving a goat at Rampart Hosptial and in another scene Julie London is seen in the Rampart doctors lounge smoking a cigarette. For the younger viewers at the time such as myself, we were like.... whoa !!!

A few years back when I was at the Lucy-Desi Festival in Jamestown, NY someone brought up the few episodes of The Lucy Show featuring Joan Blondell were actually made as a pilot to showcase her talents for a possible new show. But her and Lucy got into a screaming match on the set which ended with Blondell saying "f*ck you Lucille Ball !!". Well that pretty much right there ended that idea.

Most books about Lucille Ball do mention the fight between the two but I don't think any bring up Blondell's role on The Lucy Show as being a pilot or anything that was more than just a guest starring role.

Desi Arnaz right after I Love Lucy ended ( well actually The Lucy-Desi comedy hour ) wanted to do a spin-off show with the Mertzes but Vivian Vance refused. I heard over the years it was over money and/or she didn't want to deal with William Frawley ever again.

 

[ShawnHill1]

Desi Arnaz right after I Love Lucy ended ( well actually The Lucy-Desi comedy hour ) wanted to do a spin-off show with the Mertzes but Vivian Vance refused. I heard over the years it was over money and/or she didn't want to deal with William Frawley ever again.

Money may have had something to do with it, but it moreso she didn't want to work with Bill Frawley again, and of course it's well-known the two of them despised each other. Also, if I remember correctly, didn't Frawley and Vance work together on an episode of Playhouse 90?

 

[Markxxx]

Well "Hello Larry" was in no way or form a spin off of "Diff'rent Strokes." People tend to forget just how bad NBC was in the late 70s. It was a disaster of a network till Cosby.

Only Gary Coleman in Prime Time and Johnny Carson kept that network afloat. Remember when NBC spent all that money on the 1980 Olympics only to lose it all when the USA pulled out.

It's funny cause I recall NBC had a contest where as they ran "Love Sidney" against "Family Ties" and "The Duck Factory" (A VERY funny show with Jim Carrey and Teresa Gonzell) against "Night Court" and the two shows that had the higher ratings were kept.

NBC was really clinging onto anything.

"Hello Larry" was a very borderline show and NBC was desperate for any programing so they tied it into "Diff'rent Strokes" to keep it afloat another year. Remember this was the network that had given Joe Namath a show.

 

[BoscoGoldBear]

Well "Hello Larry" was in no way or form a spin off of "Diff'rent Strokes." People tend to forget just how bad NBC was in the late 70s. It was a disaster of a network till Cosby.

Only Gary Coleman in Prime Time and Johnny Carson kept that network afloat. Remember when NBC spent all that money on the 1980 Olympics only to lose it all when the USA pulled out.

I remember that era so well! Their own Saturday morning schedule (pre-"Smurfs") was so bad (i.e. "I Am The Greatest: The Adventures Of Muhammad Ali," "McDuff The Talking Dog," "The Bay City Rollers Show," "The Kids From C.A.P.E.R." and "Search And Rescue: The Alpha Team") that they had to purchase classic cartoons from CBS ("The Alvin Show" and "Batman And The Super 7" come to mind) and Hanna-Barbera (i.e. "Space Ghost," "The Herculoids," "Jonny Quest," "The Harlem Globetrotters" and "Frankenstein Jr."). Later on they stuck with their bombs for the full season (remember "Yogi Bear's Space Race," "Fred And Barney Meet The Thing AND The New Shmoo," "Casper And The Angels" and "The Super Globetrotters?") and even brought out new episodes of "Space Ghost" and "The Herculoids" strung together with Astro (Jetson) cartoons in what was supposed to be a superhero morning with "The Smurfs" sticking out like blue thumbs. We all know what happened instead, namely the start of NBC's rebirth which eventually made its way to prime time 3 years later (Cosby)!

 

[ixnay]

"The Duck Factory" (A VERY funny show with Jim Carrey and Teresa Gonzell)

I actually watched an episode of "Duck Factory" which I believe was set at an animation studio. The duck was named Dippy Duck (what a name! And when is R-I going to get an ROFL emoticon?) As I recall Dippy was retooled (temporarily) and renamed Star Duck. I didn't pay attention to who was in the show so I didn't know that one its stars was a superstar in the making (Mr. Carrey).

ixnay

 

[LKellerIII]

Well "Hello Larry" was in no way or form a spin off of "Diff'rent Strokes." People tend to forget just how bad NBC was in the late 70s. It was a disaster of a network till Cosby. NBC was really clinging onto anything.

What! How can you besmirch the memory of the great mind (Fred Silverman) who created Supertrain and Manimal? True TV classics that will only be appreciated by future more intelligent life on Earth.

 

[mleach]

Only Gary Coleman in Prime Time and Johnny Carson kept that network afloat. Remember when NBC spent all that money on the 1980 Olympics only to lose it all when the USA pulled out.

You can add "Real People" to the list of the very few NBC hits from this time.

A long time ago someone told me "That's Incredible" was actually a spin-off of "Real People". I think it was more of a copy. Didn't John Barbour or Sarah Purcell from Real People tried to sue Thats Incredible at one point? Several years ago the now-defunct CBS Eye on People channel actually showed reruns of Real People and in a few episodes I remember Barbour really, really slammed ABC-TV and from the looks on the faces of the other hosts, they weren't happy either. Since then I wondered what was up with that.

Skip Stevenson who was a co-host from Real People. He was one of those "could have been a star but....". Saw on another site where NBC actually considered him at one time as a contender to host the The Tonight Show once Carson retired. But he had drug & emotional problems ( more/less not unlike Jessica Savitch ) which turned off NBC. I don't think he had done any TV after Real People.

Stephenson died in the early 90s. Pretty much totally forgotten.