19 UNSOLD TV PILOTS OF THE 60s

Theme intros to mostly unsold sitcom pilots, along with several dramatic ones. All of them can be viewed in full on KZbin, while the last one, "Alexander the Great" with William Shatner, can be found on Daily Motion. Use either Google's or Bing's Video search to more easily find them.

[@malgremor85]

RIP Carol Channing Jan 15, 2019.

[@russg1801]

And to think, "My Mother the Car" DID get sold!

[@michaelrandall4862]

"My Mother the Car 1965-66 Jerry Van Dyke Ann Sothern and Avery Schrieber 30 episodesl.

[@johnerwin9024]

@@michaelrandall4862 Avery Schreiber was good whatever he did-

[@daleburrell6273]

...what's even MORE amazing is that I read that Jerry van Dyke turned down the role of Gilligan in "Gilligan's Island" to star in "My Mother the Car"!!

[@gintgotham]

I saw "Daddy-O" focus-grouped at 485 Madison Avenue in 1961. They gave us anything we ordered to eat, and a manicure set when we left. I still use the fingernail clippers in 2015. We all pretty much voted it down. But the entire episode is up on Praelinger archives.

[@KageMinowara]

Why didn't you like it, out of curiosity?

[@markfoster1520]

@@KageMinowara And from the shadows of time (much like this video), comes the reply! ....... Wait, the clippers survived 54 years!?

[@mizundersood]

😮 awesome!

[@RSEFX]

@Ringo Garvin Ah-ha!---Steve Allen's line when he TRIED to get serious, always started off with "all seriousness aside" folks! Very funny, and thanks for sneaking that in there!

[@fromthesidelines]

I know that James T. Aubrey, CBS' ruthelss president, wasn't going to schedule "DADDY-O"- regardless of what *any* focus group might have thought of it- because he didn't like "inside show biz" sitcoms- especially those that made fun of the kind of bland, insipid sitcoms he was scheduling on the network (he already had a vendetta against "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW", and tried to saboage it by placing it in the worst time periods during the first season; if it weren't for sponsor Procter & Gamble insisting it stay on the air for a second season, Aubrey would have cancelled Dick as he'd planned).

[@jubalcalif9100]

Hot Dawg ! This was lots of fun to watch ! Some of those unsold shows looked better than many of the programs that did get a network run ! That theme music for "The Ginger Rogers Show" (about at 3:50) was music from the soundtrack of the 20th Century Fox Cinemascope comedy/drama "Woman's World". Watching this compilation has certainly made my day & week ! THANKS so much for sharing ! CHEERS !! :-)

[@fromthesidelines]

"THE CAROL CHANNING SHOW" was the first sitcom pilot produced by Desi Arnaz (since his departure from Desilu in 1962), for the 1966-'67 season. No takers- but his NEXT pilot, "THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW", was sold {to Procter & Gamble and NBC}, in 1967.

[@DavidTSmith-jn5bs]

I believe Desi used two Lucy writers to create both shows: husband/wife team Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis. "Mothers" might have lasted a couple of years but it still looked like "recycled Lucy" to me back then...

[@fromthesidelines]

You believe right! Bob & Madelyn wrote most of the "MOTHERS-IN-LAW" scripts. In fact, when someone at either NBC or Procter & Gamble [the show's sponsor] wasn't quite satisfied with their scripts, they initally called them directly. Desi heard about that "end run" and went ballistic, informing the person who contacted them, "DON'T YOU EVER BOTHER THEM AGAIN!! You got a problem with the script? You call *ME* instead, and I'll handle it. DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!"

[@DavidTSmith-jn5bs]

@@fromthesidelines Hilarious and 100% believable. I've heard through interviews with people like Dick Martin that Desi was completely hands-on with the shows that he produced. Commendable if not always successful...

[@alexalex13131]

The Carol Channing Show seemed to have the best chance for success. I'm guessing it failed in the writing.

[@jamesdunn9714]

William Schallert, the character actor is featured in more than one of these pilots. A very busy man back in the day was William.

[@albertwells8503]

James Dunn William Shallert was very much in demand as a character actor. But he was never, ever a leading man. Not once was he ever offered the lead role. Only supporting roles.

[@krystalireland7951]

😄I also remember him in the 70s on the Nancy Drew show

[@recordman64]

The guy was a walking history of television. Check out the interview with him here. He was pretty sharp in his advanced age.

[@RSEFX]

I first remember him as a "mutant" in a Howard Hughes film called CAPTIVE WOMEN (aka 1,000 YEARS FROM NOW). He made a good evil villain in that, as well as in THE MAN FROM PLANET X. Versatile, very likable character actor who after his villainous start enhanced many shows and sitcoms.

[@albertwells8503]

scottbaino Yes. I agree with that.

[@christiansgrandma6812]

I recognize some of these stars from other shows, wow, thanks for sharing.🌹

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Bette Davis looked like Baby Jane on the beach!

[@cScottD]

Thanks for this! I'm a big fan of unsold pilots.

[@barryrivadue9228]

LiL Abner had horrible title music. No sense of anything! 😞

[@andypage9]

Alexander the Great with Captain Kirk and Batman. I understand why this one wasn't picked up. No one could handle that much awesome.

[@TheRealLaughingGravy]

No, the problem was they didn't have enough money in the budget for mustard to cover all that ham.

[@Serenadesong]

@@TheRealLaughingGravy Knocked that one out of the park!

[@ernestaguirre]

Krypton, home of a race of fine and noble humans far advanced over those of our own world..... yet they're still using torches to illuminate a room

[@BrianBattles]

Dirt City Chronicles And they launch rockets from inside the house

[@floydlooney6837]

humans??

[@IFHorus]

True, but they don't have brats screaming about carbon footprint.

[@wufongtanwufong5579]

Maybe it's an aesthetic thing? There's no accounting for taste.

[@coolbear6441]

Kinda reminded me of the special effects for Flash Gordon..

[@brandonburnsa.k.a.rowdyrou8534]

Would rather watch these failed TV Pilots then the reality shows that's on today.

[@christelheadington1136]

I do watch shows of the era that did make it, rather than "reality"...they're more real.

[@SmithMrCorona]

Yeah. Fox News is awful. Bring on Superboy.

[@jdinhuntsvilleal4514]

There are some of these I would definitely have watched, such as "Li'l Abner". I'll watch Jeanine Riley anywhere, anytime.

[@johnerwin9024]

@@jdinhuntsvilleal4514 don't know her, whatever else she did-

[@jdinhuntsvilleal4514]

@@johnerwin9024 She wasn't super famous. She was the first Billie Jo Bradley on "Petticoat Junction", was on "Hee Haw" for years, and mostly did guest spots on other shows. I remember seeing her on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." once.

[@edbrown4218]

Random thoughts. 1. The Nut House was Laugh In about four years before Rowan & Martin. 2. William Shallert must have had the best agent in Hollywood. 3. Why the heck we never got a TV show with Adam West and William Shatner together is a crime of the first degree. 4. Russell Johnson finally got off of that island.

[@brettmiddleton7949]

@Sean Wilkinson I'd swear that WAS a MAD Magazine artist, though his name escapes me at the moment, and his work was featured in a couple of other animated TV intros of the era.

[@randyjordan5521]

Well c'mon, I would have swam off of that island if I knew that I had Jane Powell waiting for me.

[@anthonyperdue3557]

@@brettmiddleton7949 Sergio Aragones.

[@usmale4915]

@Sean Wilkinson I think you mean: Jay Ward of Rocky The Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle. Also Fractured Fairytales. But what would a 71 year old know...mmmmm?

[@patriciahayes7315]

I think that was before Russell Johnson booked passage on the Minnow. ;)

[@TheApoohneicie]

William Shatner AND Adam West in a sword and sandals show?! Why did this not get picked up?! It’s a travesty!!!

[@hankbern]

are there any actual clips from this ? it would a novelty now to see .

[@malthuswasright]

And John Cassavetes!

[@rpannier]

@@hankbern They released it as a made for TV movie (1967?), so it's probably out there on line

[@brendaproffitt8520]

great t.v.shows awesome job on all of them THANK YOU

[@mrengulfeddirector]

OH my god i am instantly fascinated with so many of these.

[@dariowiter3078]

The professor in a unsold pilot?!? That's amazing! =)

[@kingbee1500]

Yes...Russell Johnson (d; 2013) was one of the busiest young actors in TV before his "Gilligan" days, especially in westerns. He, like many actors, probably worked in dozens of pilots.

[@BushcraftingBogan]

Dick Tracy Producers: Hey kid, you have 5 minutes to write our theme song! What ever you got were running with it. 10 Year Old: I got u fam

[@Pittmail88]

Wow! Capt, Kirk & Batman in Alexander the Great. How could they go wrong?

[@DavidTSmith-jn5bs]

They looked better in tunics, slacks, tights and capes than they did in togas?

[@stevenpilling5318]

I actually saw that pilot a long time ago. Too ambitious for a TV series.

[@theworcesterchurch1875]

If Alexander had succeeded, then Star Trek and Batman might have failed without them.

[@randyjordan5521]

@@theworcesterchurch1875 Well, Jeffrey Hunter was the original captain in the Star Trek pilot.

[@fromthesidelines]

"ALEXANDER THE GREAT" was produced for the 1964-'65 season. It was finally "burned off" in 1968 on ABC's anthology series, "OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD".

[@districtline]

That "Filbert" credit sequence is pretty darned impressive.

[@johnerwin9024]

wasnt Joanna Barnes on The Andy Griffith Show, a spell?!

[@jrasicmark1]

But it didn't give me much of a clue what the show was about. I want to see the whole pilot.

[@anthonyperdue3557]

@@jrasicmark1 More than likely it was about a cartoonist and his comic strip/book character " Philbert" , probably in the same way The Tab Hunter Show was. Tab Hunter played a cartoonist who lived the experiences he depicted in his comic strip "Bachelor At Large". Joanna Barnes also appeared in an episode of The Tab Hunter Show.

[@fromthesidelines]

"PHILBERT" was aboit a comic strip artist and his relationship with his character who can come to life (in animated form)- who tries to insure that *nothing* comes between them.....including a woman who tries to date his creator, in the pilot episode.

[@geekoborabora]

Ye GAWDS that first shot of Carrol Channing... That was the most terrifying thing I've seen in weeks

[@robinjohnson8149]

Carol was a man.

[@brendaproffitt8520]

wow awesome t.v.shows clips and commercials too thank you so much

[@MisterUptempo]

@ 2:42 I wonder whether the producers of "Maggie" were hoping that audiences would remember Leon Ames and Margaret O'Brien, who play father and daughter in the pilot, had also portrayed father and daughter in the classic 1944 film, "Meet Me In St. Louis".

[@markfoster1520]

Oh, stunning! I didn't "like" you cause I didn't want the notice popping up 4 years later.

[@starey1]

most of these look pretty good; I'll have to look them up on You Tube one of these days.

[@lindaeasley4336]

8 year old precious Amy apparently has a 15 year old boyfriend . Can't imagine why that show didn't get picked up

[@uliuli8997]

These are Ex-#45's Kin Folk. Normal to them. She'll be 18 in 10 years according to G-Pappy Trump.

[@BainesMkII]

To be fair, the song said he'd be her boyfriend if only Amy had her way. So the premise was probably that Amy was crushing on Arthur, but Arthur wasn't interested.

[@GermanShepherd1983]

@@uliuli8997 I agree. trump is disgusting the way he always wants young women.

[@invisibleman1028]

@@GermanShepherd1983 What about currant President Biden sniffing all the young girls he meets with ? There are videos here on YT showing him doing it.Forget about Trump and worry about whats going on now.

[@ronaldjohnson7235]

I was pals with John Simpson in Coast Guard boot camp. I recall when he left for a few days to make the pilot for Archie in 1961. Decades later, I found a VHS tape of the pilot, which I still have. Unfortunately, we lost touch after a few years and I don't know much about his subsequent career. John appeared in movies such as The Night of the Living Dead and I think I saw him in a TV movie once.

[@windyhiller]

If someone like ME-TV etc. compiled all these unsold pilots (if they still exist) and showed them as a series, it would be a hoot.

[@annapaulikonis2433]

Or Riff Trax.

[@TheApoohneicie]

Oh god, I played Mammy Yokum in high school. The Lil Abner show was an unexpected trip down memory lane.

[@dflf]

Swingin’ together looks like an early van life KZbin video

[@luisfrau9810]

That last one, ‘Alexander’, was star studded. William shatner, Adam west and Joseph cotton. Wish they would have shown a few clips of each pilot. Would’ve loved superboy when I was a kid.

[@dj2bklyn]

I am so impressed with the themes and music for these shows

[@TheJohn201044]

They actually made Alexander the Great into a made-for-tv movie. I remember watching it on a Friday evening on ABC. I believe that it was 1967.

[@fromthesidelines]

It was presented on "OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD" {January 26, 1968}, in a slightly edited hour-long version [several scenes were eliminated from the original unaired pilot].

[@Laceykat66]

@@fromthesidelines Loved that show though nobody else I know remembers it. Saw a few "classic" films (split into two weeks), as well as I, am sure a number of unsold pilots like Mike & the Mermaid. Thanks for jogging my memory.

[@Laceykat66]

Imagine how TV would have been drastically changed if Alexander the Great had been picked up for a multi-season run. No Shatner for Start Treka nd no Adam West for Batman.

[@DMBall]

Can't quite see how you'd make a series of Alexander. He pillages a new city every week?

[@jimellison777]

GREAT VIDEO............ I would have watched about 5 or 6 of those shows!!!!!!!!!!

[@walkergillette3918]

Eve Plumb before The Brady Bunch

[@MokkaMatti]

Eve's Plumb before Vitamin C.

[@fromthesidelines]

The irony is, Eve (as "Bonny Braids") did not appear in the actual episode.

[@jerrymodjeski1273]

The musical group playing the Dick Tracy instrumental backing: THE VENTURES!

[@therainmakerinsider]

4:49 This actor needed a 3 hour tour to be on a successful TV show.

[@saphirus1able]

"Don't be absurd, everybody needs a decorator!" 😊

[@38ddkelly]

+g dc Bette Davis must have needed money badly.

[@saphirus1able]

Kelly02895 I bet you're right!

[@fromthesidelines]

Aaron Spelling ASKED her to appear in the pilot, as he was the producer. He also wanted her to be the "star" of "HOTEL", 18 years later....but she only appeared in that two-hour pilot episode.

[@GFPunch]

with Mary Wickes that could have been a hoot!

[@vsgfilmgroup]

I'M BROWBEATING SMALL CHILDREN INTO UNQUESTIONING ACCEPTANCE OF MY DESIGN CHOICES! ...it just sounds insane, on the surface.

[@major600]

A show starring William Shatner AND Adam West??? You've got to upload at least part of the "Alexander the Great" pilot!

[@patriciahayes7315]

William Shatner and Adam West would have been an interesting match-up. I would like to see it myself if there are any clips of it.

[@alcoholic2412]

Alexander the Great is on youtube if you search for it. I've seen it (don't expect too much)

[@terrylong8894]

Let’s all just take a moment and think about the fact that Captain Kirk and Batman were ALMOST in the same series.

[@WalterDWormack214]

It just goes to show us how far Television has come. When these 'shows' were 'pitched' to networks, television sets, could actually be TRADED IN for a new model. And the salesman could actually SELL your trade-in set. Hell! Back in the early 60s, local TV stations actually WENT OFF THE AIR at 10:30pm and didn't start broadcasting again until 6:00am the next morning!

[@caspence56]

Holy cow! I never knew Bette Davis and Ginger Rogers both had TV pilots that were rejected. Must have been quite a blow to their egos.

[@markfoster1520]

"The Small Screen don't need you two. We find stars on the cheap!"

[@walkergillette3918]

yet they approved, my mother the car, go figure

[@williamwingo4740]

Then there's the classic exchange from "Get Smart": Maxwell Smart [to injured bad guy]: Help is on the way. Bad Guy: I'll never make it. But do me a favor? Max: What? Bad Guy: Tell me "My Mother the Car" is coming back on TV. Then I won't mind dyin' so much.

[@reiterated]

The intro to the Carol Channing Show is one of THE most Sixties things I have ever seen in my life.

[@RIXRADvidz]

6:14, the Patridge Family Bus before they bought it, it already had a musical background. how apropos.

[@jrasicmark1]

That title, "Swingin' Together" implies something completely different today, though ;D

[@cornjobb]

looks a bit like "everyone loves amy" was an attempt to turn "the bad seed" into a weekly laughfest.

[@jrasicmark1]

Yes, or maybe a girl version of Dennis the Menace.

[@fromthesidelines]

Exactly. CBS produced the pilot, in the hopes that "LITTLE AMY" would be the female equivalent of "DENNIS THE MENACE". However, the Leo Burnett ad agency, in their overview of various 1962-'63 network pilots, said this one was "unbelievably bad". I've seen it - and believe me, it *is* .

[@taurinecat]

"Diiiick Tracy! He's a good cop." Brilliant.

[@markfoster1520]

The theme songs tells it all!!

[@johnerwin9024]

LOL !!!!

[@tyrssen1]

Wow ... as a kid in the 60's, I think I'm glad that most of these were never inflicted on the public. Although "Superboy" (clearly modelled on George Reeves' "Superman") didn't look too bad. Some of these were probably killed off right from the jump, by really awful theme music.

[@baberoot1998]

@13:56...Eve Plumb, co-starring in 'Dick Tracy'. Remember Eve Plumb? Jan...from the 'Brady Bunch'.

[@winstonelston5743]

The best I can say is that at least somebody looked at these and passed a reasonable judgement.

[@zapkvr]

Thats Leon Ames at 0:300 from Mr Ed. Id know that voice anywhere. He was also in By the light of the silvery moon and On moonlight bay

[@tomryan914]

Unmistakable voice!

[@jimbobago]

Alexander the Great- can you believe the stars? Kirk and Batman in one show?

[@MisterUptempo]

Exactly! There wouldn't have been enough scenery for the two of those hams to chew up.

[@rafaelramirez3180]

Jim Rasmussen WOW!!! I would of loved to watch this show,always loved William Shatner👍👍

[@BELCAN57]

Enter William Shatner 1968 Alexander the Great into KZbin. It's a RIOT !

[@rafaelramirez3180]

Lewis57 thanks Lewis👍👍

[@recordman64]

Plenty of ham there. All you need is mustard and a loaf of good rye bread!

[@scott12xu]

Candy Moore (“Time Out for Ginger”) was the Vargas model on The Cars album “Candy-O.” (Thank you Wikipedia.)

[@markfoster1520]

There are a couple of "o"s in her name......

[@krystalireland7951]

She was also the daughter on The Lucy Show. The one where Lucy and Viv are widows.

[@anthonyperdue3557]

@@krystalireland7951 And you can also see her in the One Step Beyond episode "Goodbye Grandpa" that's on youtube.

[@voodoo49]

@@krystalireland7951 That's where I saw her. Thanks for clearing the brain fog.

[@mk202]

The pilot of ‘The Decorator’ is here on KZbin, and it’s very good. I wish it had been developed into a series. It was probably too expensive- cause it had every thing else going for it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@richhard2723]

So are the Archie and Superboy pilots, and maybe more since the copyright is long over.

[@scottlarson1548]

Of course they weren't sold. They weren't westerns!

[@tonygiorgianni3746]

Scott Larson Thank God we were spared.

[@daveerhardt1879]

Great point. Westerns were all over tv in the 50's and the early 60's.

[@jubalcalif9100]

@Ralph Goober How right you are, Ralph ! I read somewhere years ago that there was a TV season in the late 50s or early 60s where MOST of the prime time shows were Westerns ! Even when I was a kid in the 60s there were still many on the air...as we got into the 70s, TV westerns lost their popularity and they began to dwindle down to just a few.

[@johnerwin9024]

@@daveerhardt1879 100's of Westerns made 50's & 60's, maybe the 'most over used' TV theme-

[@RSEFX]

@@jubalcalif9100 An SF-starved generation then jumped on to STAR TREK, among the few sf projects that were starting to finally make major inroads into tv programing at the time. I recall that Roddenberry used to describe the potential series in its formative days as a kind of "Wagon Train to the stars" or some such to network executives in order to get the production green lit. Still selling concepts via the western brand.

[@voluntaryismistheanswer]

Nice to see a Judy Canova sighting (Corinne on Soap's mama)

[@howardkerr8174]

With some of the stars and/or guest stars featured on the credits for these shows it looks like production costs would have been astronomical. Bette Davis? Ginger Rogers? Jane Powell? Seems like they would have been expensive as regular stars. (I would have liked to see Russell Johnson...Jane Powell's "husband" AKA Professor in Gilligan's Island.)

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it’s probably not that expensive, they were in severe decline or trying to remain relevant so took the jobs to get money and people talking

[@starey1]

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY was a failed attempt at a sequel to THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN after George Reeves died.

[@DavidTSmith-jn5bs]

star trek They even recycled scenes from the first Superman episode in the opening sequence! Talk about cheap AND shameless!

[@undergroundwarrior70]

I did see the entire pilot episode of The Adventures Of Superboy here on KZbin. Not bad for the time period, but I do agree that George Reeves death was just too close to air it on TV.

[@SuperWolsey]

Prequel

[@williamwingo4740]

The rocket at 0:36 is a German V-2; and the one at 0:41 is from the 1952 serial "Zombies of the Stratosphere." There was also a "Superboy" comic book in the 1950's.

[@jondoe8889]

Wow - they spared no expense on these intros! But imagine showing these long things today! Or even bothering to clearly list the actors - and who they play! Today, it's a guessing game, and you need IMDB handy.

[@theworcesterchurch1875]

Well, Carl Reiner's "The Man Of the House" was a whole full episode. It was turned down, but changed into The Dick Van Dyke Show.

[@thnd3rb1rd]

From what I remember of TV in the 60s, two or three of these wouldn't have done too badly.

[@judithmcvey4499]

Hot Damn, I would have loved to have seen the rock& roll band series with Bobby Rydell, I had forgotten how cute he was and he was a very good singer and performer. I am disappointed that there were no pictures of Shatner and West in their battle gear , I will have to it on Bing or Google's video. I really enjoyed watching this video, saw a lot of familiar faces of many of the great character actors, that are no longer with us.

[@MrEab2010]

a lot of these pilots were reworked into other series, e.g., The Partridge Family, The Green Hornet, Gidget, etc., with varying degrees of success. The consensus seems to be that Alexander the Great with Shatner and West among other heavyweight scene-chewers was a missed opportunity. Oh well.

[@shibolinemress8913]

But hey, at least we got Batman and Star Trek as consolation prizes! 😉

[@laurabeane8862]

"Little Amy" would be the female counterpart to Billy Mumy's "Twilight Zone" character 😀😀😀

[@paulbacchus1015]

Some of these shows look very good and its sad they never became long running tv shows. Paul Bacchus esa

[@tubeblack35]

The music for these failed pilots is better than today's top 40.

[@ftsjr]

The actor who played Superboy actually looks like a young George Reeves. Who knew that Eve Plumb was in a show before the Brady Bunch? I think that Dick Tracy was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Batman, since they were both produced by William Dozier. I wish I could view most of these unsold pilots in their entirety.

[@starey1]

the intro to the video says all these pilots are available on you tube.

[@zapkvr]

ftsjr I just found out Alison Hanigan was in Free spirit back in the early days before HHIMYM. She looks like a baby

[@zapkvr]

ftsjr who knew that Eve Plumb thought she was a serious actress? She even played a hooker in Dawn:Portrait of a teenage runaway. It was awful. And not in a good way

[@stevenpilling5318]

Jan Shutan... who became an iconic Trek Babe!

[@hoppysport2872]

Superboy was played by John Rockwell, who became Lakers owner Jerry Buss' best friend and sidekick.

[@oregonwanderer]

Some of these did eventually get sold. I remember some of them on TV.

[@fromthesidelines]

"MUNROE" [9:19], was a projected "spin-off" of a character [a K-9 dog] that was introduced on the last episode of "McKEEVER AND THE COLONEL" {"McKeever Meets Munroe", April 14, 1963}, and submitted to NBC for its proposed 1963-'64 schedule.

[@stevenpilling5318]

I remember "McKeever and the Colonel". It was a sitcom about cadets at a fictional junior military academy called Westfield.

[@devileaterinthahowse]

That Time For Ginger show seems like it got its ideas from Gidget but the latter show seemed to overshadow it.

[@fromthesidelines]

"TIME OUT FOR GINGER" (1960) was based on a play by Ron Alexander; Jack Benny starred in a live adaptation of it as a "SHOWER OF STARS" special in October 1955.

[@devileaterinthahowse]

@@fromthesidelines Didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

[@fromthesidelines]

You're VERY welcome.

[@rah62]

Poor Margaret O'Brien, one of the most famous child stars ever. Her adult career crashed and burned.

[@jeffking4176]

RAH520 I was thinking along the same line. Incredibly talented. But everyone looked at her as a little girl. They did not want to accept her in adult rolls. I really wish they would have picked up her Pilot show. A lot of times [ back then], a Pilot may be excellent but just not what the Network Executives want.

[@johnerwin9024]

@@jeffking4176 attractive, should a been given a shot at it-

[@ToughXArmy69]

Outstanding. I am surprised The Carol Channing Show didnt make the networks. Channing was a true star and Desi was a TV Pioneer with Desilu. Arnaz filmed this pilot at Desilu but that studio had no ownership in the Channing show. I would like to see the failed pilots both Desilu shows, The Long Hunt of April Savage" with Robert Lansing and "Frank Merriwell"

[@gcfifthgear]

I watched the intro to the Carol Channing pilot and the only thing I could think of was "Lucy Show, Phase II." Same goofy expressions and zany faces, only, I suspect, with Carol Channing's voice instead of Lucille Ball's. Interesting that Richard Deacon ended up replacing Roger C. Carmel in "The Mothers-in-Law."

[@tammanyfields3583]

Swinging Together's opening is Hwy 138 in the High Desert of California.

[@eddietucker3334]

Dang, where was I when Ginger showed up (2:30)? Prolly smacking a tetherball in the back yard.

[@rotceridjc]

You know I worked In Hollywood for over forty years, mostly on sitcoms. Every spring I would work on at least three or four, but there were many more than that done. I always thought that it would be a good series to air a few of these each week.

[@faerieSAALE]

WOW - Margaret O'Brien - famous child star - in a sitcom that didn't sell? Russell Johnson? the Professor from Gilligan's Island? In a leading role with Jane Powell? Bette Davis? In a sitcom??? Mel Torme" in a musical sitcom? Carol Channing with Richard Decon? William Shatner and Adam West in Alexander the Great?

[@LovesGreatness]

Archie should have been a show.

[@GypsyFairy85]

Why not its been a comic books for a million years.

[@fromthesidelines]

It HAD been a radio show (1943--1953)- ironically, usually heard on Saturday mornings.

[@paulmeinart2851]

Infowarslove I know.....hell yeah.. that and Maggie.

[@ladyi7609]

They seem to have done a unique spin on it with this new TV show you might've heard of called "Riverdale".

[@theworcesterchurch1875]

With all respect to William Schallert, he did not look like Archie's dad from the comic strip.

[@petercrowl9467]

Nut House had a run as a "Summer Replacement" I was a kid but recall it being on and my parents - older siblings likes it. Primordial sketch comedy

[@undergroundwarrior70]

Didn't show who created Nut House, but from the animation it was Jay Ward of Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle (and the other cartoon characters on that show) fame as well as Fractured Flickers that was hosted by Hans Conried.

[@fromthesidelines]

"THE NUT HOUSE!!" was never a weekly series.

[@CoalDiamondandhisawesomeness]

I've always found it weird that The Adventures of Superboy has since been marketed as a spinoff of The Adventures of Superman even though it was made 3 years after The Adventures of Superman was cancelled and was made by different people.

[@fromthesidelines]

Whitney Ellsworth, who produced the original "ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN" series, also produced that "SUPERBOY" pilot. He was hoping to make a "prequel" series- but wasn't able to sell it.

[@kingbee1500]

I saw that "Archie" pilot from '63 or '64-it was darn entertaining and well written. Surprised someone didn't buy it from Screen Gems! Wouldv'e worked in syndication, even then.

[@tomservo56954]

I still don't know why William Schallert played Archie's dad, as he was committed to THE PATTY DUKE SHOW at the time.

[@LNSmithee]

For some reason, Archie has never experienced show biz success further than animation. I'm shocked at how popular it still is on the supermarket shelves.

[@kingbee1500]

Paul: I understand that United Artists TV, owner of "The Patty Duke Show" and "The Fugitive" on ABC, didn't want to commit more than a year at a time to shows on what was then perceived as a thiird-place net...as you know, both shows were hits. So Mr. Schallert (who is still with us in his 90s) reserved the right to work other pilots for other studios for future seasons...I believe "Archie" was Screen Gems, the big TV dog back then with MCA/Revue and Desilu. L.N.: My uncle owned a pharmacy for 30 years before CVS bought him out...I remember hordes of kids congregating in front of the store two days a month, when the new comics came in. Marvel and DC rack jobbers came in on the 15th-big crowds. But when Archie got there on the 17th, you couldn't step to the comic racks for the 4-deep lines of kids! I called "Unk" and asked him about it, and he said that he always double ordered Marvels-and triple ordered Archie Comics...within 3 days, sold out of both with only a few DCs left. Second order...same result later in the month.

[@kingbee1500]

L.N. Smithee L.N., a reply to you is included with Paul's reply. Typed them seperately on each of your comments, but it combined them....Hmmm, stuff happens!

[@LNSmithee]

King Bee Thanks, King, got it.

[@rightsbeforefeelings8232]

William Schallert was everywhere,,,

[@johnalanelson]

I'm surprised *_Little Amy_* didn't get picked up, it was just the kind of show people were into back then, but maybe the market was already oversaturated.

[@fromthesidelines]

According to Lee Goldberg- in "Unsold Television Pilots- 1955 through 1988"- the Leo Burnett ad agency, in their overall view of television pilots for the 1962-'63 season, said "LITTLE AMY" was "unbelievably bad". But CBS produced it, and Jim Aubrey was apparently determined to schedule it because it was *exactly* the kind of mediocre family sitcom he wanted on the network {a female "DENNIS THE MENACE", but not as skillfully written and produced}. In the end, though, he passed on it.

[@ferociousgumby]

Everything happens to Mel, except selling the pilot

[@fromthesidelines]

That was a 1955 effort. No takers.

[@PatrickNthedesert]

Wow that carol channing opening made me move my head back a little and I am using a 7” apple mini tablet now imagine that on a 70” screen...lol

[@MissMarinaCapri]

It would be really fun to actually see the pilot episode's. Where can we find?!

[@daveerhardt1879]

All these big name stars who had unsold pilots incredible! These pilots must have been real bad.

[@markfoster1520]

So, it takes quality scripts, you say? Quickly, to the Bat Cave!

[@donaldshaw764]

Dave Erhardt view

[@Evan.Arapis]

I would jump through hoops for The Phantom !

[@reuteratwork8983]

It is my understanding that Dick Tracy is a good cop...

[@donlebo6824]

The Dick Tracy pilot, may be forgotten, but MAN! that theme song is a serious ear worm, once you hear it, you'll be hearing it for days. "Diiiiiiiiick Tracy, he's a good cop"

[@Labor_Jones]

I'd love to see some of those 'test' for the time there were some really amazing names and combinations of actors. I think Scott is right... they weren't westerns.

[@richhard2723]

These didn't make it and now Fox has a reality series about Lego building

[@LRS905]

Philbert is the one I would watch, just based on that awesome animated intro.

[@nunyabizness6595]

I remember reading and enjoying The Phantom in the sunday funnies. Enjoyed the movie too. Lee Falk and Sy Berry wrote and drew the strip.

[@WytZox1]

Wow! Some of these rejected pilots might've had potential! ☺

[@tonymarsh4748]

I wish the Alexander the Great pilot had to end on to become a series. Shatner and West really sound goofily intriguing. Joseph Cotton too? Bring it..

[@kingbee1500]

Didn't one of the retro nets do a "Pilot Theater" a while back, featuring chosen and rejected shows with familiar stars? I remember one show featuring all Bill Schallert shows, including "Patty Duke Show" pilot footage with and without him in the same scene, and some of the "Archie" program shown here.

[@coolbear6441]

The Dick Tracy one by William Dozier a very prolific super hero producer:).....

[@fromthesidelines]

Dozier had ONE success as a "super hero producer"- "BATMAN". He tried producing a "WONDER WOMAN" demo reel in 1967 {featuring Ellie Wood Walker}, but that one was SO BAD, a complete pilot episode was never poduced. He tried to launch "BATGIRL" as a weekly series, but after *that* demo reel was produced, she became part of the final season of "BATMAN" instead. NBC just wasn't interested in a weekly "DICK TRACY" series.

[@jdinhuntsvilleal4514]

You can't really say that "Superboy" was unsold -- they simply put off making it for 25 or so years. And "Swinging Together" was obviously turned into "The Partridge Family."

[@baberoot1998]

In another parallel universe...all of these shows are now, pop culture icons.

[@markfoster1520]

And "our" shows.........never were!

[@anthonyperdue3557]

In a parallel universe Alexander The Great has conventions devoted to it.

[@dougfinlay7528]

And shows that succeeded in getting picked up by a network included Camp Runamuck, My Mother the Car, and perhaps the worst of all, Turn On, canceled by ABC the night it aired. I remember seeing it. It was difficult to make in through the full half hour. The Carol Channing Show was a Desi Arnaz effort after leaving Desilu. Though it did not sell, he did sell The Mothers In-laws, though the run was too short to deliver syndication revenue...

[@roberthaworth9097]

Yes, "Turn On!" is indeed a cult curiosity -- way too avant garde for this country at that time, or even for this planet at any time. Rumored to have been written under the influence of LSD (and it looks it); however, at least 20% was improvised on the spot on the basis of hastily-composed, very sketchy, and apparently internally-contradictory sheets of stage directions. Snippets of loud, poorly-modulated dialogue interspersed with bits of mime, quick and crudely-drawn animation, some disturbingly-frenetic, spastic movements by the hosts that were definitely NOT dancing, and random bursts of pyrotechnics -- "Turn On!" resembled nothing less than a "Laugh-In" episode as recalled a month later by stroke victims. Far-Western markets refused to even show it once the Midwest had gotten the feed from New York, and been tipped-off by telephone as to how awful it was. The suits in New York cancelled it before the broadcast was even done. A hastily-written apology card appeared on-screen instead, and that was, mercifully, it.

[@BrianBattles]

Superboy: from a planet so far advanced from ours that the still use huge flaming torches for lighting and wear togas like ancient Greeks....

[@fromthesidelines]

That was from a scene in the "origin" story on "THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN" {"Superman on Earth"}.

[@anubis1751]

Brian Battles Superboy as Clark looks like a hipster.

[@jimsteele9261]

But advanced enough to build a morphing rocket that changes from a giant cocktail shaker to a German V-2 and then Flash Gordon's ship. :-)

[@tomkelly9714]

Creative Minds..make believe !

[@visaman]

1950s version of Smallville!

[@justsayin502]

The "Uh oh!" at 7:12 was used on I Love Lucy nearly every time Lucy embarked on another crazy scheme.

[@patrixspringer2753]

+Just Sayin' Yes it was! It was in fact, Lucy's mother Dee-Dee...Recorded and added into the laugh-track of other later later shows....God knows why.... Sometimes you hear the exact same laugh over in over again too....

[@justsayin502]

+patrix springer Well, she gets my vote for All-Time Plot Spoiler. I would rather be surprised than have Old Lady Ball's "Uh oh!" alerting me that something wacky is about to happen!

[@patrixspringer2753]

Yeah, it's so latently fake....I guess it was meant to alert people to pay attention or something...lol...

[@fromthesidelines]

I heard it in a 1966 "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" episode {Tony is talking to Jeannie on the phone, who disguised her voice to sound EXACTLY like Dr. Bellows....until the REAL ONE walks into his office}.

[@patrixspringer2753]

It occured to me, that it may have been a way to keep old mother ball on the desilu payroll, I heard the oh-oh a couple weeks back in the mothers in law series with des i arnaz!

[@yaywhewclips242]

Later Davis was Madame SIN!! I had it on VHS.

[@fromthesidelines]

That was a pilot for a weekly series, with Bette as a female "Fu Manchu" trying to subjugate the world, yet failing miserably every week {"Curses! FOILED AGAIN!"}.