This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

A television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot studies serve as precursors to start of larger activity. Networks use pilots to discover whether an entertaining concept can be successfully realized. After seeing this sample of the proposed product, networks will then determine whether the expense of additional episodes is justified.^[1] They are best thought of as prototypes of the show that is to follow, because elements often change from pilot to series. Variety estimates that only a little over a quarter of all pilots made for American television succeed to the series stage,^[2] although the figure may be even lower.^[1] Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... A pilot light is a small gas flame, usually natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, which is kept alight in order to provide an ignition source for a more powerful gas burner. ... A pilot experiment is a precursor to a full-scale study. ... A precursor is something that existed before and was incorporated into something that came later. ... For other uses, see Prototype (disambiguation). ... Variety is a daily newspaper for the entertainment industry. ...

As distinguished from "first episode"

There is somewhat of a divergence between the way the television industry uses the term, and the way that viewers do. Viewers frequently consider the pilot to be the first episode available for their consumption. They therefore assume that the episode which comes first in broadcast order is also the episode which sold the series to the network. For instance, the episode Invasion of the Bane was not a pilot for The Sarah Jane Adventures because the BBC had in fact committed to the entire first season prior to seeing any filmed content^[3]—yet it is routinely referred to as a pilot.^[4][5] Invasion of the Bane is the first episode of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. ... The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British television series, produced by BBC Wales for CBBC, starring Elisabeth Sladen and created by Russell T. Davies. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

Sometimes, too, viewers will assign the word "pilot" to a work that represented the first appearances of characters and situations later employed by a series—even if the work was not initially intended as a pilot for the series. A good example of this is Love and the Happy Days, an episode of Love, American Style which featured a version of the Cunningham family. It was in fact a failed pilot for the proposed 1972 series, "New Family in Town", not a successful pilot for 1974's Happy Days.^[6] So firmly embedded is the notion of it as a Happy Days pilot, however, that even series actor Erin Moran views it as such.^[7] Opening theme of Love American Style Love, American Style was an hour-long television anthology which originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974. ... For other uses, see Happy Days (disambiguation). ... Erin Moran (born October 18, 1960) is an American actress, best known for the role of Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days and its spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi. ...

On other occasions, the pilot is never broadcast on television at all. Viewers of Temple Houston, for example, would likely have considered The Twisted Rope its pilot because The Man from Galveston was only publicly exhibited in cinemas four months later. Even then, Galveston had an almost completely different cast, and its main character was renamed to avoid confusion with the then-ongoing series. Not to be confused with the 19th Century American lawyer, Temple Houston, on whom this series is based. ...

Types of pilot

Standard pilot

Production

Pilots are expensive to produce. Before a network commits to funding an entire pilot episode, it often requests a pilot presentation, a one-day shoot that, when edited together, gives a general idea of the look and feel of the proposed show. Some pilots can be just a few minutes long (ex: 10 minutes or less); however, such pilots will not be shown on the air unless more material is subsequently added to them to make them at least twenty-two minutes in length, the actual duration of a nominally "thirty minute" program (taking into account commercials). Occasionally, more than one pilot is commissioned for a particular proposed television series to evaluate what the show would be like with modifications. Star Trek, Stargate SG-1 and All in the Family are famous examples of this situation. The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... Children of the Gods (Parts 1 and 2) are the pilot episodes of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. ... All in the Family is an acclaimed American situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971 to April 8, 1979. ...

An example of change between the making of a pilot and the making of a series is To Tell the Truth in 1956. The original title of the pilot was Nothing But the Truth and the show was hosted by Mike Wallace. The program host was changed to Bud Collyer, and the title changed to To Tell the Truth. Nipsey Russell, Peggy Cass, Bill Cullen and Kitty Carlisle from the 1969-78 version. ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mike Wallace (born Myron Leon Wallace on May 9, 1918) is a former American game show host, television personality, and journalist. ... Bud Collyer on Beat The Clock, 1957 Bud Collyer (b. ...

Broadcast

Pilots usually run as the first episode of the series, unless the series ended up being so different from the pilot that it wouldn't make sense (in this case the pilot, or portions of it, is often reshot or rewritten to fit the rest of the series). The pilot for Gilligan's Island, for instance, showed the castaways becoming stranded on the island. However, three roles were recast before going to series, with the characters either modified or completely altered to the point where the pilot could no longer be used as a regular episode. The series began with the second produced episode, with the characters already on the island. The story from the pilot was largely reworked into a flashback episode which aired later, although with several key scenes reshot. For the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) video game, see The Adventures of Gilligans Island. ...

There have been exceptions to this rule when a network or a producer has chosen to run the pilot at a later date. Series for which this has happened include the first Star Trek series, where the second, modified pilot ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") was aired as the third episode, and footage from the original pilot ("The Cage") was edited into newer footage to produce the two-part episode "The Menagerie". (However, at the time it was common for a series' episodes to be shown out of the order in which they were produced.) Previously many unsuccesful pilots were shown as episodes of anthology series that were popular in the 50's and early 60's. The more recent television show Firefly set a particularly curious example, where the series was officially cancelled before the pilot aired as the final televised episode. Critics of the Firefly move complained that airing the pilot out of sequence made it difficult for audiences to understand what was going on; when the series was subsequently released on DVD, the pilot became the first listed episode. The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... Where no man has gone before is a saying used in the introductory sequence of all but one of the episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. ... The Cage is the original pilot episode of the original Star Trek science fiction series and resulting franchise. ... The Menagerie is the first and only two-part episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series. ... An anthology series is a television series that features different stories, with a different cast of characters in every episode. ... Firefly is a science fiction television series that premiered on television in the United States and Canada on September 20, 2002. ...

Occasionally, pilots that fail to launch a series are nonetheless broadcast as TV-movies or as specials, usually as filler or as attempts by networks to recoup some of their investment in the production. Examples include the one-hour 1982 pilot for a never-produced Modesty Blaise series, and a 1986 pilot for The Saint in Manhattan, which had failed to launch a new series of Simon Templar adventures for television. Presumably, strong ratings for such broadcasts are capable of changing the network's mind, but this rarely occurs. On some occasions, a pilot film for a televised series will air separately long after the series itself has been cancelled. Such was the case with the pilot film for A Man Called Sloane, which featured a different actor in the title role. After it was not picked up for the 2006 fall season, the Aquaman pilot became available on the iTunes Store. Cover of the first Modesty Blaise novel. ... Simon Templar is a fictional character known as The Saint in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. ... A Man Called Sloane was an American secret agent adventure TV series that aired on NBC during the 1979-1980 television season. ... Aquaman is a television pilot developed by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar for The WB Television Network, based on the DC Comics character Aquaman. ... The iTunes Store is an online business run by Apple Inc. ...

The pilot episode of The A-Team features a different actor (Tim Dunigan) in the role of Face, the part that Dirk Benedict would become well known for in the following series. In fact, creators Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo had wanted Benedict from the off, after seeing him as Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica, but network executives insisted on a different actor in the role. Upon completion of the pilot (given the title 'Mexican Slayride' in syndication), they changed their minds, feeling that Dunigan wasn't right for the part, and the role was given to Benedict after all. For the 2008 movie, see The A-Team (film). ... -1... Lt. ... Dirk Benedict (born Dirk Niewoehner on March 1, 1945) is an American movie and television actor, perhaps best known for playing the characters Lt. ... Stephen Joseph Cannell, known professionally as Stephen J. Cannell (born February 5, 1941), (IPA pronunciation: ), rhymes with channel, is an Emmy award winning American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor from the United States. ... Frank Lupo is an American television writer and producer. ... Captain Kara Starbuck Thrace, see Kara Thrace. ... This article is about the original television series; for other versions, see the main Battlestar Galactica page or Battlestar Galactica (disambiguation). ... In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. ...

In addition to the occasional occurrence of a different actor or actress playing a lead character, the main set may be different — sometimes substantially — than the one used during the rest of the series. For instance, on The Cosby Show, the Huxtables' living and dining rooms in the pilot episode are different than the ones used in subsequent episodes. The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom starring Bill Cosby, first broadcast on September 20, 1984 and ran for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992. ...

The television show Even Stevens had a unique way of airing its pilot. The original pilot was made two years before the show was picked up so the actors looked younger than they did when the series eventually aired. Taking advantage of this, Even Stevens' tenth episode used the pilot as a flashback for when the characters were much younger. Newer footage was mixed in to show the main characters daydreaming about the events in the pilot while being trapped on a ferris wheel. The pilot originally contained inconsistencies too, such as the Stevens' last name being the Spiffys. Because of this, some dialogue was overdubbed before it aired. Even Stevens is an American comedy television program which originally aired on Disney Channel. ...

Demos

Since the mid 1990s, television producers and networks have increasingly used presentation tapes called "demos" in lieu of full-length pilots.^[1] These demos tend to be substantially shorter than a standard episode, and make limited use of original sets and post-production elements. The idea is merely to showcase the cast and the writing. These types of pilots are rarely broadcast, although the material is sometimes partially retrofitted onto a future episode of the resulting series. Post production is the general term for the last stage of film production in which photographed scenes (also called footage) are put together into a complete film. ...

Examples of series sold using demos

• One Tree Hill
• Saul of the Mole Men
• Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge
• Charmed
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer

This article is about the American television series. ... Saul of the Mole Men is a live action show created by Craig Lewis, writer on The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends. ... Knowing Me, Knowing You. ... For other uses, see Charm. ... For other uses, see Buffy the Vampire Slayer (disambiguation). ...

Backdoor pilots

A backdoor pilot is a "pilot episode filmed as a standalone movie, so it can be broadcast if not picked up as a series".^[8] It is distinguished from a simple pilot in that it has a dual purpose. It has an inherent commercial value of its own while also being "proof of concept for the show, that's made to see if the series is worth bankrolling".^[9]

A historically important venue for backdoor pilots has been the anthology series. They have variously been used as a place to show work still being actively considered for pickup, and as a venue for completed work already rejected by the network. With the decline of anthology series, backdoor pilots have increasingly been seen as episodes of existing series, one-off television movies, and mini-series. As backdoor pilots have either failed to sell or are pending the outcome of the broadcast, networks will not advertise them as pilots. It is thus often unclear to initial viewers of backdoor pilots that they're seeing a pilot of any kind—unless they have been privy to knowledgeable media coverage of the piece. An anthology series is a television series that features different stories, with a different cast of characters in every episode. ... A television movie (also TV movie, TV-movie, made-for-TV movie, telefilm, etc. ... A miniseries, in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ...

Examples of mini-series or movie pilots

• The ABC mini-series Dinotopia was turned into a short-lived series.

• The 4400 on USA Network was initially broadcast as a miniseries, and was later picked up as a full series on the same network.

• The reimagined Battlestar Galactica was initially broadcast as a miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel, and enormous popularity caused it to be picked up by the network.

• The Cartoon Network series Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends and Samurai Jack debuted as television movies and were later picked up as series.

• The Doctor Who telemovie was to serve as a backdoor pilot for a new series with the Eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann. The series was not picked up, but the series was later revived in 2005 by BBC Wales. Prior to that, McGann would reprise his role for a series of Big Finish audio adventures licensed by the BBC, as well as performing the role for an independent series produced by BBC Radio.

Dinotopia: Land Apart From Time by James Gurney Dinotopia is a fictional utopian place created by author and illustrator James Gurney. ... The 4400 is a science fiction television program produced by the USA Network and Sky One. ... The Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, which began as a 1978 TV series, was reimagined in 2003 into the TV miniseries. ... SCI FI (originally The Sci-Fi Channel, sometimes rendered SCI FI Channel when part of a longer phrase) is an American cable television channel, launched on September 24, 1992, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal programming. ... For Cartoon Network outside of the United States, see Cartoon Network around the world. ... Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends (sometimes called Fosters for short, and abbreviated as FHIF/FHFIF) is an Emmy Award-Winning American animated television series created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios by animator Craig McCracken, who also created The Powerpuff Girls. ... Samurai Jack is an American animated television series created by animator Genndy Tartakovsky that aired on Cartoon Network from 2001 until 2004. ... This article is about the television series. ... The Eighth Doctor is a fictional character, the eighth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... Paul McGann (born November 14, 1959 in Liverpool) is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... BBC Wales (Welsh: ) is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. ... Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces audio plays based on British cult science fiction properties. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. ...

Examples of pilots within other series

• An episode from February 1960 of The Danny Thomas Show served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. In the episode, Danny Thomas' character is arrested by Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) of Mayberry, North Carolina for running a stop sign. The Andy Griffith Show was retooled from this episode and debuted on October 3, 1960.
• In 1976, the character of Huggy Bear (Antonio Fargas) had become so popular in Starsky & Hutch that producers considered giving him a spin-off. The second season episode "Huggy Bear and the Turkey" (which would have been the name of the proposed series) saw Huggy paired with former Sheriff "Turkey" Turquet (Dale Robinette) as Private Investigators. The idea flopped and the series was never made.
• Two second season (1979) episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, "Jude Emery" and "Mason Dixon's Girls", served as backdoor pilots for would-be series. The former concerns a Texas Ranger, and the latter is about a traveling Private Investigator and his beautiful assistants; both were written by Dukes creator Gy Waldron in hope of launching new shows, but neither episode led to a series being commissioned.
• The first season (1981) episode of Magnum, P.I. titled 'J. Digger Doyle' presented the character of security expert Joy "Digger" Doyle (Erin Gray) of the episode title, in hope of launching her own series, but the idea didn't follow through. The third season (1983) episode 'Two Birds of a Feather' again served as a potential pilot for a new show. After playing the very similar character of pilot Grady Dancer in two episodes of Magnum co-creator Donald P. Bellisario's 1982-3 series Tales of the Gold Monkey, William Lucking was introduced as ace pilot Sam Hunter, a treasure hunter like Grady. Again a series wasn't picked up (although Bellisario went on to rework the 'adventures of an ace pilot' concept in Airwolf).
• The feature-length (later airing in two parts in syndication) second season (1984) Knight Rider story "Mouth of the Snake" (a.k.a. "All That Glitters") introduced Charles Taylor as bionically enhanced David Dalton (the story is notable for little inclusion of series leads Michael Knight and K.I.T.T., or few other series regulars or locations). On this occasion, the concept actually was picked up, leading to several TV movies featuring Dalton in 1986; However they were not successful and a full series did not appear.
• The first two seasons of the original Twilight Zone had several instances of backdoor pilots, none of which were successful in establishing a new series. The Twilight Zone itself was a development from a backdoor pilot ("The Time Element") written for Playhouse 90 but finally airing as an installment of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse: the cover page of the shooting script refers to "The Twilight Zone". The airing of a second, more conventional, pilot episode ("Where Is Everybody?") followed 11 months later and served as the first official episode of the legendary series.[1] Two episodes of the series were intended as backdoor pilots, both (possibly) coincidentally about guardian angels. One was called "Mr. Bevis," which starred Orson Bean as a down-on-his-luck man; the other was called "Cavender Is Coming," which starred Carol Burnett as a down-on-her-luck woman and Jesse White as her angel. Neither were picked up, and neither were particularly well-received by Twilight Zone fans. Producer Buck Houghton has expressed particular disappointment with "Mr. Bevis."
• Star Trek provides a famous example of the latter "backdoor pilot"-type with the episode "Assignment: Earth" where the crew of the Enterprise encounters Gary Seven, a character with his own agenda with the planet in a story that was intended to introduce the character and the premise of his adventures in a proposed spin-off series.
• The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Disaster" featured isolated groups of the primary and supporting cast in semi-standalone stories throughout the ship. One of these, featuring Chief O'Brien and Ensign Ro, was intended to test the characters' chemistry and ability to hold audience interest, in preparation for the planned series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Ultimately, Michelle Forbes, the actor who played Ensign Ro, did not sign on for the series, and her character was replaced with Major Kira.
• Robin Williams appeared as "Mork" on the series Happy Days. His overnight success led to his own series, Mork and Mindy.
• The military investigative drama NCIS began as a two-part episode of JAG.
• CSI: New York began as an episode of CSI: Miami, which itself began as an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Both spin-off series featured crimes being investigated by the CSI units from both cities/series.
• Top of the Heap, a short-lived television series starring future Friends cast member Matt LeBlanc, began as an episode of Married...With Children.
• The pilot episode of Private Practice (a spin off from Grey's Anatomy) was first shown on May 3rd 2007 in a special two hour episode of the main show.
• Boston Legal, a spin off from The Practice, was introduced through a six episode story arc that saw James Spader's character being fired and the collapse of the firm from The Practice.
• In season 4 of Seinfeld, there is a two-part episode called "The Pilot". Instead of being the usual pilot-within-the-series, this fake pilot served as a self-parody of the show.
• When the TV series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch was in its heyday, a backdoor pilot featuring a witch and her two daughters (also witches, played by Sabrina actress Melissa Joan Hart's real life sisters) fell in love with a mortal man with two sons. The show was never picked up.
• An episode of Diff'rent Strokes featured a woman who taught a class of immigrants a course on English. The show was never picked up.
• In the first season of The Cosby Show, the Huxtable family spent the weekend at a youth center run by a young Hispanic man played by Tony Orlando and his girlfriend/wife. This show, too, was never picked up.
• An episode of the The Cosby Show also served as a pilot for the Spin-off (media) series A Different World (TV series)
• On the Disney Channel series That's So Raven, a backdoor pilot featuring a young girl who acted on a fictional show about the 1950s called "Better Days" was shown. The series would have followed the girl's attempts to balance her acting career with her normal life as a middle schooler. The series was not picked up, but it did inspire the Disney show Hannah Montana
• The Fairly Oddparents had a backdoor pilot which starred Timmy Turner's television hero, Crash Nebula in 2004. The series was never picked up.
• The Brady Bunch also had a backdoor pilot called "Kelly's Kids" in which Ken Berry played a friend of the Bradys as he and his wife adopted not only a white orphan but also his black and Asian best friends as well, much to his bigoted neighbor's chagrin. This pilot was never picked up either.
• The popular show Xena: Warrior Princess had it's starting premisses on two episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (first season's "The Warrior Princess" and "The Gauntlet"). The two shows would also frequently share characters (Ares, Joxer, Autolycus, Callisto, Salmoneus among others) and have intertwining plots.
• An episode of The Golden Girls served as a backdoor pilot to the series Empty Nest (although the pilot had undergone a number of changes before the series aired).

The Danny Thomas Show (known as Make Room for Daddy during the first four seasons ) was a sitcom which ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. // Danny Thomas played Danny Williams, a successful comedian and nightclub entertainer. ... The Andy Griffith Show is an American television series that aired on CBS from October 3rd, 1960 to April 1st, 1968. ... Not to be confused with Andy Griffiths. ... This article is about the British riot grrrl band. ... Antonio Fargas Antonio Juan Fargas (born August 14, 1948) is a tall African American actor famous for roles in Blaxploitation films of the early 1970s. ... Starsky & Hutch is a 2004 American comedy/action film directed by Todd Phillips. ... The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985. ... Gy Waldron is the creator of the movie Moonrunners, and the television series, The Dukes of Hazzard. ... Magnum, P.I. is an American television show that followed the adventures of Thomas Magnum (played by Tom Selleck), a private investigator living in Hawaii. ... Erin Gray (born January 7, 1950) is an American actress, perhaps best known for her role as Colonel Wilma Deering in the 1979–1981 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century // At the age of eight her parents separated, and she moved to California with her mother. ... Donald Paul Bellisario (born August 8, 1935 in North Charleroi, Pennsylvania) is an American television producer and scriptwriter. ... Tales of the Gold Monkey was a 1982 television show broadcast by ABC. The networks attempt to capitalize on the fame of the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark the previous year featured an ex-Flying Tigers Indiana Jones-like operator of an air cargo delivery service named Jake... William Lucking (June 17, 1941– ), also known as Bill Lucking, is an American film, television, and stage actor. ... This article is about the television series. ... For the American media company, see Knight Ridder. ... Charles Taylor may refer to: // Charles G. Taylor (born 1948), a former president of Liberia and Bentley College graduate Charles Taylor (Texas) (1805–1865), signer of Texas Declaration of Independence [1] Charles John Taylor, New Zealand politician of the 1850s Charles Taylor (UK politician) (1910–1989), British politician and MP... Knight Rider was a popular US 1980s television show. ... KITT on display at Universal Studios. ... The Twilight Zone title. ... Note, this page is about the television series and its two revivals. ... Playhouse 90 is the name of a 90-minute long dramatic television series that ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961. ... The Desilu logo, used in the 1960s. ... Where Is Everybody? could also refer to a Nine Inch Nails song on the album The Fragile. ... Mr. ... Orson Bean, born Dallas Frederick Burroughs (July 22, 1928 in Burlington, Vermont), is an American film and stage actor. ... “Cavender Is Coming” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. ... Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933 in San Antonio, Texas) is an Emmy Award-winning actress, comedian, singer, dancer, and writer. ... Jesse White (January 4, 1917 – January 9, 1997) was an American character actor who played many roles in television, film and on stage. ... Buck Houghton was a television producer for The Twilight Zone, as well as many other television programs from the 1950s through the 1990s. ... Assignment: Earth is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Gary Seven was the major character in Assignment: Earth, the last episode of the second season of the original Star Trek television series. ... Media spin-off is the process of deriving new radio or television programs from existing ones (see list of television spin-offs). ... The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ... Miles OBrien Miles Edward OBrien is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe, played by Colm Meaney. ... Ensign (later Lieutenant) Ro Laren is a recurring character on Star Trek: The Next Generation, played by Michelle Forbes. ... Space station Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or STDS9 or DS9 for short) is a science fiction television series produced by Paramount and set in the Star Trek universe. ... Michelle Forbes (born Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo on January 8, 1965 in Austin, Texas) is an American actress. ... Kira Nerys, played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ... For other persons named Robin Williams, see Robin Williams (disambiguation). ... Mork & Mindy was a sci-fi-based American sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on the American Broadcasting Company. ... NCIS is a CBS network show about a team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. ... For other uses, see JAG (disambiguation). ... CSI: NY (working title CSI: New York) is an American police procedural television series which premiered on September 22, 2004. ... CSI: Miami is a spinoff of the popular CBS network series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. ... CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a popular Alliance Atlantis/CBS police procedural television series, running since October 2000, about a team of forensic scientists. ... Matthew Steven LeBlanc (July 25, 1967 - May 25, 2007) is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated American actor, best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani on the TV sitcom Friends (1994-2004). ... Married. ... Private Practice is a spin-off of the popular television show, Greys Anatomy. ... This article is about the television series. ... Boston Legal is an American dramedy television series that began airing on ABC on October 3rd, 2004. ... The Practice was an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston, Massachusetts law firm. ... Seinfeld is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989 to May 14, 1998, running a total of 9 seasons. ... The Pilot, Part 1 is the sixty-third episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. ... For the comic book series, see Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Witchcraft. ... Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress who is best known for playing the title roles in two successful television series, Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. ... Diffrent Strokes is an American sitcom that aired on the NBC television network from 1978 to 1985, and on ABC from 1985 to 1986. ... The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom starring Bill Cosby, first broadcast on September 20, 1984 and ran for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992. ... Image:Tony Orlando main. ... The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom starring Bill Cosby, first broadcast on September 20, 1984 and ran for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992. ... Media spin-off is the process of deriving new radio or television programs from existing ones (see list of television spin-offs). ... A Different World is an American television sitcom which aired for six seasons on NBC (from September 24, 1987 until July 9, 1993). ... Thats So Raven is an American Emmy Award-nominated[1] sitcom television series broadcast on the Disney Channel. ... For other uses, see Hannah Montana (disambiguation). ... The Fairly OddParents is an American animated television series for children about the adventures of a boy who has two fairy godparents. ... Timmy Turner is a barbieand is a fictional character in the American animated television series The Fairly Oddparents. ... Crash Nebula is one of Timmy Turners favorite TV shows on The Fairly OddParents. ... The Brady Bunch is an American television situation comedy, based around a large blended family. ... Kenneth Ronald Ken Berry (born November 3, 1933, in Moline, Illinois) is an American dancer, and comedic actor. ... Xena. ... Hercules: The Legendary Journeys was a television series produced from 1995 to 1999, very loosely based on the tales of the classical culture hero Hercules. ... For the Hong Kong film, see The Golden Girls (1995 film). ... Empty Nest is a television sitcom that ran on NBC from 1988 to 1995. ...

Examples of Pilots-within-Anthology-Series

For a complete list, see Shows that spun off from Anthology Series This is a list of television anthology series that have had episodes spun off into full-blown series. ...

Usually these anthology series were for one off-stories and the episode showed the potential for a series.

• British Cop Drama The Bill was originally an episode of the anthology series Storyboard[2] called "Woodentop".
• Rumpole of the Bailey first appeared on Play for Today.
• Popular British comedies Steptoe and Son, Til Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served?, and Last of the Summer Wine all began as episodes of the Comedy Playhouse strand.

In some cases, a series is created specifically to showcase pilots. This article is about the British TV series. ... Woodentop is the pilot episode of the long running British police series The Bill. ... Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by British writer and barrister Sir John Mortimer, QC and starring Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends any and all clients. ... The Play for Today logo, seen here in the opening title sequence from 1976. ... Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherds Bush, London. ... Til Death Us Do Part (also known as Till Death Us do Part)1 was a BBC television sitcom series written by Johnny Speight that ran from 1966 until 1975. ... All Gas and Gaiters was a popular British sitcom which ran on BBC from 1966 to 1971. ... The Liver Birds, co-written by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor, was the distaff answer to the popular Geordie series, The Likely Lads. ... Are You Being Served? was a long-running British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. ... Last of the Summer Wine (Originally The Last of the Summer Wine in the pilot episode), is a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke. ... Comedy Playhouse was an occasional BBC television anthology series of the 1960s and early 1970s, consisting of one-off plays with the potential to be turned into regular sitcoms. ...

• Both Prisoner and Escort (which led to Porridge) and Open All Hours first appeared as part of Ronnie Barker's Seven of One series.
• BBC2's series of comedy pilots which aired under the title Comic Asides spawned the series The High Life, KYTV, Mornin' Sarge and Tygo Road.

Porridge was a British BBC television sitcom (1974–1977), written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. ... Open All Hours was a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke which ran for four series (26 episodes in all) between 1976 and 1985, with a pilot episode from the Seven of One series in 1973. ... Ronald William George Barker, OBE (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005), popularly known as Ronnie Barker was an English comic actor and writer. ... Seven of One was a 1973 television comedy series featuring Ronnie Barker. ... The High Life is a DVD released by the ska punk band [spunge] on March 21, 2005. ... KYTV is a UK comedy spoof television show, the TV version of Radio Active. ...

Unintentional Pilots

While, as listed above, there are many telemovies or episodes within series intended as pilots, there are often telemovies or episodes within other series which are so popular that they inspire later TV series.

Put pilot

A "put pilot" is an agreement between a network and a studio, where the network will incur substantial penalties if the pilot episode is not aired. This is a virtual guarantee that a pilot will be picked up.^[10]

Pilot Season

In American television, pilots are generally sought at a specific time of year, called "pilot season". A phenomenon of the shape of the traditional broadcast season, pilot season occurs between mid-March and early May. During this time, the networks must decide what should go on the fall schedule. The networks look at the large pool of pilots, and then decide which ones they will keep for series. These are announced as part of the fall schedule or as mid-season replacements. Sometimes during pilot season it is not unusual for a pilot to be shopped to another network after it has been rejected. This article is about television in the United States, specifically its history, art, business and government regulation. ...

See also

• Channel 101 and Channel 102, venues for the public exhibition of demos

The Channel 101 logo Channel 101 is a short film festival (usually monthly) in Los Angeles created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab where participants submit a short film in the format of a pilot under five minutes in length. ... The Channel 102 logo, the logo is similar to TV Guides Channel 102 is a monthly live screening of five-minute-long TV shows in New York City, created by Tony Carnevale, with the blessings of Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab. ...

References