Monday, August 15, 2005

Tommy Lee Takes Us to School

Tomorrow (Tuesday) you can watch "Tommy Lee Goes to College."

If you don't enjoy it that much, just think back to yesteryear. Instead of watching mediocre reality shows during the summer, the networks presented some of their busted pilots. At least networks are making an effort and are spending money on new entertainment rather than showing crap just to recover some sunk costs.

Speaking of busted pilots, if you want to know everything there is to know about older busted pilots you should check out the work of Lee Goldberg.

What about busted pilots since 1990? I won't include unsold pilots that were aired as movies since the networks really hedged their bets from the beginning on these shows. I'm only including pilots with running times of 30 or 60 minutes.

Clarifications
24 Aug 2005: I did not include busted backdoor pilots, such as "Boss Swap" and "Husband Swap," in this list.

Corrections (in italics or strikethrough)
24 Aug 2005: Corrected airing dates for ''Harlan & Merleen'' and ''The Omen.''
24 Aug 2005: Added ''We'll Take Manhattan.''
24 Aug 2005: Removed ''Fast Company.''
02 Sep 2005: Removed ''Greyhounds.''
07 Sep 2005: Added ''Flockens,'' ''Bodyguard,'' ''King of the Mountain,'' ''Project Tin Man'' and ''America Behind Closed Doors,''
07 Sep 2005: Added aka for ''Close Encounters.''
07 Sep 2005: Corrected airing date for ''Lookwell!''

Here's the mostly-complete list of busted pilots that aired on network TV since 1/1/1990 (in backwards chronological order):
''R.L. Stine's Ghosts of Fear Street'' (ABC, 7/31/1998)
''Extreme Blue'' (UPN, 12/11/1996)
''The Colony'' (ABC, 7/4/1996)
''Adam'' (ABC, 7/3/1996)
''The Bureau'' (ABC, 6/29/1996)
''Long Island Fever'' (ABC, 6/27/1996)
''Guys Like Us'' (ABC, 6/26/1996)
''Pier 66'' (ABC, 5/25/1996)
''Real Funny'' (ABC, 4/6/1996)
''American Bounty Hunter'' (UPN, 3/5/1996)
''The Nerd'' (NBC, 3/2/1996)
''A Perfect Life'' (UPN, 12/26/1995)
''Family Values'' (UPN, 12/26/1995)
''Shadow-Ops'' (UPN, 12/25/1995)
''Trial by Jury'' (UPN, 12/11/1995)
''Divas'' (Fox, 9/19/1995)
''Fast Company'' (NBC, 8/14/1995) (aired as 2-hour show)
''The Omen'' (NBC, 8/8/19958/9/1995)
''Grownups'' (ABC, 8/2/1995)
''Time Well Spent'' (ABC, 7/29/1995)
''Kansas'' (ABC, 7/27/1995)
''The Last Days of Russell'' (ABC, 7/22/1995)
''Bodyguards'' (ABC, 7/6/1995)
''Philly Heat'' (ABC, 7/1/1995)
''Mystery Dance'' (ABC, 6/29/1995)
''The Best Defense'' (ABC, 6/19/1995)
''Dark Eyes'' (ABC, 6/8/1995)
''First Gentleman'' (CBS, 8/27/1994)
''Arly Hanks Mysteries'' (CBS, 8/20/1994)
''Couples'' (ABC, 7/2/1994)
''Related by Birth'' (ABC, 7/2/1994)
''Black Sheep'' (Fox, 6/30/1994)
''Police File'' (ABC, 6/25/1994)
''Greyhounds'' (CBS, 6/24/1994) (aired as 2-hour show)
''Locals'' (Fox, 6/23/1994)
''The Wyatts'' (Fox, 6/19/1994)
''Profiles'' (ABC, 6/2/1994)
''Friends and Lovers'' (NBC, 3/5/1994)
''New Year'' (ABC, 7/17/1993)
''Buddies'' (NBC, 7/14/1993)
''Harlan & Merleen'' (CBS, 7/13/19937/12/1993)
''Country Estates'' (ABC, 7/10/1993)
''The Circle Game'' (ABC, 7/7/1993)
''Partners'' (ABC, 5/27/1993)
''1775'' (CBS, 9/5/1992)
''The Boys'' (ABC, 8/29/1992)
''Driving Miss Daisy'' (CBS, 8/21/1992)
''Just Desserts'' (ABC, 8/15/1992)
''America Behind Closed Doors'' (CBS, 8/6/1992)
''Ultimate Revenge'' (CBS, 7/22/1992)
''Moe's World'' (ABC, 7/19/1992)
''The Streets of Beverly Hills'' (ABC, 7/13/1992)
''Crow's Nest'' (ABC, 7/9/1992)
''Jumpin' Joe'' (ABC, 7/9/1992)
''The Witches of Eastwick'' (ABC, 7/3/1992)
''Up to No Good'' (ABC, 7/3/1992)
''Yesterday/Today'' (NBC, 7/3/1992)
''Firehouse'' (Fox, 2/14/1992)
''Angie, the Lieutenant'' (ABC, 2/1/1992)
''Perfect Crimes'' (CBS, 11/8/1991)
''Rewrite for Murder'' (CBS, 9/14/1991)
''Mimi & Me'' (CBS, 9/7/1991)
''Acting Sheriff'' (CBS, 8/17/1991)
''Passion'' (CBS, 8/17/1991)
''Claws'' (CBS, 8/10/1991)
''Vidiots'' (CBS, 8/10/1991)
''Coconut Downs'' (ABC, 8/6/1991)
''Big Deals'' (CBS, 8/3/1991)
''The Owl'' (CBS, 8/3/1991)
''Howie and Rose'' (ABC, 8/2/1991)
''Deadline'' (ABC, 7/31/1991)
''The Julie Brown Show'' (NBC, 7/28/1991)
''Lookwell!'' (NBC, 7/25/1991)7/28/1991)
''Miss Jones'' (ABC, 7/12/1991)
''Sunday in Paris'' (NBC, 7/8/1991)
''K-9'' (ABC, 7/6/1991)
''The Silver Fox'' (ABC, 7/6/1991)
''Belles of Bleecker Street'' (ABC, 7/5/1991)
''Danger Team'' (ABC, 7/3/1991)
''In the House'' (NBC, 7/1/1991)
''K-9000'' (Fox, 7/1/1991)
''Maverick Square'' (ABC, 6/29/1991)
''Five Up, Two Down'' (CBS, 6/5/1991)
''Clippers'' (CBS, 6/3/1991)
''Our Shining Moment'' (NBC, 6/2/1991)
''Tag Team'' (ABC, 1/26/1991)
''The Brotherhood'' (ABC, 1/2/1991)
''Hammer, Slammer & Slade'' (ABC, 12/15/1990)
''Partners in Life'' (CBS, 8/31/1990)
''Anna'' (NBC, 8/25/1990)
''Steel Magnolias'' (CBS, 8/17/1990)
''Ladies on Sweet Street'' (ABC, 8/16/1990)
''Ghost Writer'' (Fox, 8/15/1990)
''Piece of Cake'' (CBS, 8/15/1990)
''I'm Home'' (Fox, 8/8/1990)
''Mulberry Street'' (CBS, 8/8/1990)
''The High Life'' (ABC, 8/3/1990)
''Lola'' (CBS, 8/1/1990)
''The World According to Straw'' (Fox, 8/1/1990)
''Shangri La Plaza'' (CBS, 7/30/1990)
''The Knife & Gun Club'' (ABC, 7/30/1990)
''Project Tin Man'' (ABC, 7/30/1990)
''King of the Mountain'' (Fox, 7/28/1990)
''Close Encounters (a.k.a. Matchmaker)'' (CBS, 7/27/1990)
''Just Life'' (ABC, 7/26/1990)
''Hollywood Dog'' (Fox, 7/25/1990)
''Hurricane Sam'' (CBS, 7/25/1990)
''Checkered Flag'' (ABC, 7/23/1990)
''The Bakery'' (CBS, 7/20/1990)
''Poochinski'' (NBC, 7/9/1990)
''Turner & Hooch'' (NBC, 7/9/1990)
''Dad's a Dog'' (ABC, 7/6/1990)
''Bar Girls'' (CBS, 7/5/1990)
''Beanpole'' (ABC, 7/4/1990)
''Be Careful What You Ask For'' (NBC, 7/2/1990)
''The Jackie Bison Show'' (NBC, 7/2/1990)
''Charlie'' (ABC, 6/28/1990)
''Bodyguard'' (NBC, 6/22/1990)
''Dr. Ruth's House'' (ABC, 6/22/1990)
''We'll Take Manhattan'' (NBC, 6/16/1990)
''Flockens'' (ABC, 6/15/1990)
''Where's Rodney?'' (NBC, 6/11/1990)
''Sisters'' (CBS, 5/24/1990)
''Anything for Laughs'' (ABC, 5/6/1990)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. A kindred spirit!

Lee Goldberg

Anonymous said...

What about "American Embassy" set in London?

dr. tv (mike vicic) said...

American Embassy aired four (of six) eps in 2002. It only seemed like it was gone after one episode.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic list. I've always had a strange interest in busted pilots. Thank you for compiling this!

dr. tv (mike vicic) said...

No worries. Just happy somebody else shares my strange interests:)