Comments on: 6 Backdoor Pilots (and why they belong at the back door)

By: G-dawg

G-dawg — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:34:40 +0000

I’m not sure if it qualifies as a back door pilot, but in Season 3 of Supernatural, there’s an episode titled “Ghostfacers” which follows a group of nerdy, Ghosthunter-wannabes trying to film a TV pilot of their own. Sam and Dean (the Supernatural leads) only feature lightly in the second half of the hour. Ghostfacers (so far) hasn’t come to TV, but there were a string of “webisodes” a season or ago.

By: Dark Wonder

Dark Wonder — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:00:13 +0000

Wow— was it really necessary to mention that you had to correct people’s errors?

And who really cares if a conversation about spin-offs is sparked by an article about back door plots. It’s all basically the same thing, one TV show leading to another, or one character appears on another show.

Must people be so critical of other people’s comments. It’s not like we are publishing a paper in the New York Journal of Medicine here.

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:47:38 +0000

I remember reading in a book about the 1966 Batman show, that the episode with Batgirl was originally shot as a pilot, but by that time Batmania was coming to an end and they eventually just worked her into the show. Can anyone confirm this?

By: Wow

Wow — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:16:42 +0000

Soo many getting things wrong on the internet…I must…correct…them…

This article is about “Backdoor Pilots”, NOT spin-offs of existing characters/plotlines…Example: there was no episode of “Friends” which centered on Joey contemplating moving to California without any of the other friends involved, “Joey” was simply a spin-off.

“The Critic” was already on the air as a stand-alone series when Jon Lovitz’s character guest starred on the Simpons…this was simply a cross-over (in hopes to bring more viewers to “the Critic” I am sure”)

“Las Vegas” had an episode where most of the cast met up with their New Orleans counterparts and fought cheaters/crime/etc in the bayou…I thought it was odd that they introduced so many new characters and were in a different city…that might have been a backdoor pilot that never caught on

By: jlm

jlm — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:33:04 +0000

The Joey Lawrence character from Blossom came from a previous series, Gimme a Break. Starred a loud no nonsense lady named Nell as a housekeeper for Joey and his younger brothers.

The Cosby show did a spin off of college kids called “its a different world”…

By: PartiallyDeflected

PartiallyDeflected — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:13:30 +0000

And more recently NCIS spawns their own spinoff thru a backdoor pilot that teamed them up with another NCIS unit.

By: Hastings

Hastings — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:11:32 +0000

HAHAHA, thank you band_nerd! I can’t believe it took the entire list for someone to mention the JAG/NCIS connection! I was/am addicted to both shows and distinctly remember the two part episode where Gibbs investigated Rab for the death of the (w)itchy lawyer no one liked (but was his wife in real life).

By: band_nerd

band_nerd — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:23:56 +0000

There was one episode of JAG where they had the future NCIS team investigate a murder. Lo and behold, NCIS started as a primetime show the next season.

By: sargelegg

sargelegg — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:43:46 +0000

There was one on CHIPs about a group of cops who were all martial arts experts. They all became ninjas and had to stop a mad scientist. I was hping it would become a series. You cant beat ninja cops in LA.

By: Bert

Bert — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:47:37 +0000

How about the episode of the Simpsons where Jon Lovitz guest-starred as the movie critic for the Springfield Film Festival? This went on to become “The Critic” which barely lasted a season, if I recall.

Great Simpsons episode though. “Scooby-Doo can doo-doo, but Jimmy Carter is smarter!”