27 TV Shows That Couldn’t Get Past the Pilot Stage

Entertaining little flowers that were never able to blossom
27 TV Shows That Couldn’t Get Past the Pilot Stage
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Like us, when you see some of these entries, you’ll want to run to a TV network’s front door and scream, “Aw come on! Why wouldn’t you give them a chance?”

Of all the things to protest these days, this is clearly the most important cause. Think about how many hours of great television we missed out on!

Slice O’ Life

COMEDY NERD Marc Maron and Rainn Wilson were both going to do a sitcom called Slice O' Life. It'd be about a TV news show about human interest stories. Maron would be a producer's assistant while Wilson would be a sound guy. CRACKED.COM

Alligator Boots

COMEDY NERD Jordan Peele wrote Alligator Boots, a failed pilot from Kanye West himself. cy And it was a puppet show, of all things - and that was when Peele had just finished doing MadTV, and would soon start the Get Out script. CRACKED.COM

Susan 313

COMEDY NERD Sarah Silverman did a pilot loosely based on her life, Susan 313, that bombed. She ended up releasing it online for free much later and, looking back, she agreed that it didn't really work. CRACKED.COM

Marc Maron’s Pilot

COMEDY NERD In 2002, Fox agreed to produce a pilot for a show based on Marc Maron's act. It was supposed to be about Maron and his odd family, and the script got written but not made. CRACKED.COM

Chris Rock and Cardi B

COMEDY NERD Chris Rock wanted to make a comedy show with Cardi B, but it didn't take off. Не noticed her when she wasn't big yet, and thought she had great talent for comedy- but the show never got picked up. CRACKED.COM

David’s Situation

COMEDY NERD After Bob Odenkirk and David Cross made Mr Show, they shot a new pilot. THE It was called David's Situation, and it had David Cross as himself - but they both lost interest in the project pretty soon. CRACKED.COM

Heat Vision and Jack

COMEDY NERD We never got to watch a TV show with Jack Black and a talking motorcycle. ... 118 OCO OMIC It was called Heat Vision and Jack, and it was created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab-but the pilot was never made into a series. CRACKED.COM

High

COMEDY NERD Craig Ferguson and Zach Braff made a pilot for a TV show called High. ec со COMIC That was in 1989, and the cast included a young Gwyneth Paltrow, but the pilot never gained any traction. CRACKED.COM

Nathan Barnatt’s Pilot

COMEDY NERD Nathan Barnatt was supposed to do an Adult Swim comedy, but it didn't work out. It was called Youth Large, and it was going to be based on his character Keith Apicary. CRACKED.COM

Unemployable

COMEDY NERD Hannibal Buress did a pilot for a TV show about himself, called Unemployable. It would show just how totally unsuited he is to any job whatsoever besides being a comedian, but the network passed on it. CRACKED.COM

Chelsea Peretti’s Adult Swim Pilot

COMEDY NERD A comedy group that included Chelsea Peretti wrote an Adult Swim pilot in 2012. It was called Getting It Together, and it was about four women who somehow end up living in a tree house in Central Park. CRACKED.COM

Janeane Garofalo’s Pilot

COMEDY NERD We almost got to watch Janeane Garofalo as a professional gambler on TV. That was the premise of the TV show Deal!, in which Garofalo played poker player Annie Duke (a real person). CRACKED.COM

Amy Poehler’s Pilot

COMEDY NERD There's an Amy Poehler pilot in which she played a sassy suicidal patient. A psychiatric patient, specifically-it was called Sick in the Head, and it was about a psychiatrist and various people in his life. CRACKED.COM

Dot Comedy

Disastrous Comedy 2000 Dot Comedy As the internet was still this new and exciting thing, ABC tried to capitalize by having a terribly unfunny host show off silly computer products, like a mouse that doubles as a deodorant stick. It aired one episode and was canceled two days later. CRACKED

Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos

AUSTRALIA'S naughtiest HOME VIDEOS With DOHLS CANCELED RIGHT AWAY AUSTRALIA'S NAUGHTIEST HOME VIDEOS In 1992, this raunchier version of America's Funniest Home Videos included a boy eating maggots and a man spinning a basketball on his penis. It was pulled halfway through the first episode, and a Cheers rerun took its place. CRACKED

Breaking Boston

CANCELED RIGHT AWAY BREAKING BOSTON In 2014, Mark Wahlberg produced an A&E reality show about a group of young women working to change their lives in (you guessed it) Boston. It was canceled right away (although seven episodes were later dumped on Hulu). CRACKED

Comedians Unleashed

CANCELED RIGHT AWAY COMEDIANS UNLEASHED Not to be confused with Comics Unleashed, this was Animal Planet's attempt at a stand-up comedy show. Here's the kicker: It was only animal-themed jokes. They only aired one episode. CRACKED

Who’s Your Daddy?

CANCEL ED RIGHT AWAY WHO'S YOUR DADDY? WHO'S YOUR DADDY? In 2005, an adopted woman had to pick her biological father out of a lineup of men. If she picked right, she won cash; if she picked wrong, that man got the cash. The huge backlash from adoption agencies and adoptive parents had it canceled right away. CRACKED

Emily’s Reasons Why Not

CANCELED RIGHT AWAY EMILY'S REASONS WHY NOT ABC committed to a sitcom starring Heather Graham without even seeing its pilot. After the pilot aired, programming chief Steve McPherson said It's not going to get better, and immediately canceled it. CRACKED

Ford Nation

RD NATIO CANCELED RIGHT AWAY FOBP NATION In 2013, Toronto mayor Rob Ford and his brother Doug hosted a talk show on Canada's Sun News. It broke network viewership records, but the infamous video of Rob smoking crack got it canceled after one episode. CRACKED

Heil Honey I’m Home

CANCELED RIGHT AWAY HEIL HONEY I'M HOME! A British sitcom involving Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun not being able to get along with their Jewish neighbors aired one (1) episode, but everyone wondered how the highly offensive show ever aired at all. CRACKED

Lawless

CANCELED RIGHT AWAY LAWLESS In 1997, former Seattle Seahawks linebacker Brian Bosworth played John Lawless (an ex-special forces officer solving cases in Miami) for one whole episode. Even the original Aunt Viv, Janet Hubert, couldn't help the cause. CRACKED

Let’s Make A Love Scene

CANCELED RIGHT AWAY LET'S MAKE A LOVE SCENE In 2022, this British reality dating show had single contestants paired up to recreate sensual scenes from popular films. Like most love scenes, it was awkward for the cast and viewers alike. CRACKED

Quarterlife

CANCELED RIGHT AWAY QUARTERLIFE This vlog format show drew NBC's lowest ratings and smallest audience for that time slot in over 20 years. It aired at the same time as the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton debate, but NBC gave it no forgiveness. CRACKED

Secret Talents of the Stars

CANCELED RIGHT AWAY SECRET TALENTS OF THE STARS In 2008, this CBS reality talent show had celebrities compete by showing off their hidden talents. Its biggest stars were George Takei and singer M, and the extremely low ratings got it canceled after one episode. CRACKED

The Hasselhoffs

THE CANCELED RIGHT AWAY HASSELHOFFS This A&E reality series was an attempt to launch David Hasselhoff's daughters' music careers. They technically aired two episodes back-to-back, but the drop off in viewership after episode 1 was so steep that it was canceled before the night was over. CRACKED

Osbournes Reloaded

CANCE ED RIGHT AWAY OSBOURNES RELOADED On March 31, 2009, one episode of the Osbournes' variety show got such bad reviews that it was canceled right away. Local Fox stations aired it in early morning time slots, when it was actually a pretty raunchy show. CRACKED

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