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TV Pilots

made-for-TV movies and short that spawned a series (or not). Note: Most do not depict airplane or boat pilots.
by enriquemadera • Created 5 years ago • Modified 1 month ago
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  • 1 - 250
  • 667 titles
  • Jerks of All Trades (1949)

    1. Jerks of All Trades

    194921mNot RatedTV Short
    6.4 (310)
    Television pilot for a Three Stooges situation comedy, where the Stooges are painters and paperhangers and completely wreck a hapless couple's home.
    DirectorGeorge CahanStarsLarry FineMoe HowardShemp Howard
  • 2. Dale Evans: Queen of the West

    195027m
    Dale snaps the first picture ever of "Notched Ear Jackson" and then the chase is on. This Pilot became the Precursor to the Roy Rogers Show.
    DirectorWalter ColmesStarsDale EvansForrest TaylorLane Bradford
  • 3. The Last Half Hour: The Mayerling Story

    195130mTV Movie
    A dramatic t.v. pilot that tells the story of the tragic, mysterious "love deaths" of Crown Prince Rudolf and his mistress, Baroness Marie Vetsera at Mayerling in 1889.
    DirectorRichard OswaldStarsDan O'HerlihyMarjo HarrisGertrude Michael
  • The Andrews Sisters (1951)

    4. The Andrews Sisters

    195130mTV Movie
    Boring failed pilot revolving around the Andrews Sisters consisting primarily of them mouthing to already recorded songs with some mediocre comedy bits from a loose plot, sandwiched in between.
    DirectorJean YarbroughStarsBuddy EbsenMarvin KaplanClaude Stroud
  • 5. For the Defense

    195430mTV Movie
    This is a pilot TV movie for a series about a former police captain turned eager defense attorney.
    DirectorJames NeilsonStarsEdward G. RobinsonJohn HoytAnn Doran
  • 6. The Challenge

    195530mTV Movie
    5.8 (43)
    A school bus driver (Jack Warden) is fired by the local school board when he refuses to sign a loyalty oath. This was a pilot for a proposed anthology series that didn't sell.
    DirectorSidney LumetStarsMichael AllenArthur CassellAndrew Duggan
  • 7. Calling Terry Conway

    195630mTV Movie
    Pilot for a proposed series about the comedic adventures of a Nevada casino's public affairs director.
    StarsAnn SheridanUna MerkelPhilip Ober
  • Destination Nightmare (1958)

    8. Destination Nightmare

    19581h 40mTV Movie
    5.1 (56)
    Pilot film for an anthology series called "The Veil."
    DirectorsPaul LandresHerbert L. StrockGeorge WaggnerStarsBoris KarloffDenise AlexanderWhit Bissell
  • Jacques Tourneur in Cool and Lam (1958)

    9. Cool and Lam

    195830mTV Movie
    6.0 (38)
    Light-hearted pilot for a proposed CBS detective series featuring characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner (under the pseudonym of A.A. Fair). Penny-pinching, rotund Bertha Cool runs a detective agency while her diminutive junior partner Donald Lam provides the legs and padded expense account. In the pilot, Lam's investigation of infidelity leads to murder.
    DirectorJacques TourneurStarsBilly PearsonBenay VenutaMaurice Manson
  • 10. Teenage Idol

    195830mTV Movie
    7.2 (13)
    Pilot for a sitcom about a family caught up in the craze over the latest teenage rock-and-roll sensation.
    DirectorIda LupinoStarsDarrell HowePatrick WayneIda Lupino
  • 11. The Ten Commandments

    19591hTV Movie
    7.0 (15)
    Pilot for a proposed anthology series where each story revolved around the meaning of one of the Ten Commandments in modern times. The theme for this story was the third commandment: "Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain."
    DirectorJack SmightStarsRichard ErdmanAnne FrancisMargie Graner
  • 12. Doctor Mike

    195930mTV Movie
    Pilot for a proposed medical series set in a large metropolitan hospital. A woman must have an operation to save her life, but her husband refuses to authorize the procedure. Dr. Grant must learn why and convince him to allow the life-saving operation.
    DirectorOscar RudolphStarsKeith AndesLewis MartinMary Adams
  • 13. Johnny Guitar

    195930mTV Movie
    Pilot for a proposed western series about a footloose, guitar-strumming cowboy who helps folks with their problems. In the pilot episode, Johnny is hired to provide music for a wedding and discovers that the bride is an unwilling participant in the proposed nuptials.
    DirectorRobert M. LeedsStarsWilliam JoyceFay SpainRegis Parton
  • 14. Ben Blue's Brothers

    196030mTV Movie
    9.0 (13)
    In 1958, Ben Blue played all four brothers (the wealthy snob, the vaudevillian, the tramp and the average guy), in this comedy pilot for CBS. The network didn't exercise it's option and the pilot wasn't aired until 1965.
    DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsBen BlueRuth McDevittBarbara Heller
  • Leon Ames, Fay Baker, and Margaret O'Brien in Maggie (1960)

    15. New Comedy Showcase

    Episode: 

    Maggie

    (1960)
    196030mTV Episode
    6.8 (20)
    A famous Broadway husband and wife acting team moves into a staid old Connecticut town,anxious to fit in. Their scatterbrained daughter Maggie does her best to sabotage them with reporters and neighbors, including trying to convince the old lady next door that her hired man is in love with her.
    DirectorRod AmateauStarsMargaret O'BrienLeon AmesFay Baker
  • 16. McGarry and His Mouse

    196030mTV Movie
    Pilot for a situation comedy developed by CBS about the adventures of a gentle Irish-American beat cop and his non-confrontational methods of resolving neighborhood problems.
    DirectorNorman TokarStarsMichael O'SheaVirginia MayoLes Tremayne
  • The Comedy Spot (1960)

    17. The Comedy Spot

    Episode: 

    Tom, Dick and Harry

    (1960)
    1960–196230mTV Episode
    Pilot for a situation comedy about three war buddies who decide to chuck their individual careers and open a restaurant together.
    DirectorOscar RudolphStarsGene NelsonJoe MantellMarvin Kaplan
  • 18. No Place Like Home

    196030mTV Movie
    Unsold situation comedy pilot about the complicated lives of a show business couple, their kids and friends.
    DirectorWilliam AsherStarsSheila MacRaeGordon MacRaeKelly Smith
  • Unsolved (1960)

    19. Unsolved

    196027mTV Movie
    7.1 (19)
    Television series pilot for a proposed series that purported to show the circumstances behind a famous unsolved murder. The victim this time out is Martin 'Mugsy' Heidel, a West Coast underworld boss who loses all his Hollywood friends when he is accused of murdering a small-time bookie. He vows to create a fabulous hotel, casino and entertainment hot-spot just across the border in Nevada and make it so lavish that the men and women who snubbed him will crave his affection again. When Mugsy plows all the profits back into the hotel, his criminal bosses are not pleased and Heidel is 'retired' in a hail of bullets from an unknown assailant in revenge.
    DirectorCharles R. RondeauStarsSimon OaklandJoe De SantisLisa Gaye
  • 20. The Iron Horseman

    196030mTV Movie
    The adventures of a railroad detective in the old West were depicted in this unsold pilot for NBC- TV.
    DirectorLesley SelanderStarsBarry KelleyGrant WilliamsRush Williams
  • Westinghouse Preview Theatre (1961)

    21. Westinghouse Preview Theatre

    Episode: 

    The McGonigle

    (1961)
    1961– 30mTV Episode
    Pilot for an NBC series concerns the comedic adventures of two U.S. Navy seamen who try to wrangle a honeymoon for a shipmate and his bride.
    DirectorRalph MurphyStarsMickey ShaughnessyTom D'AndreaFrank Gerstle
  • 22. Monte Carlo

    19611hTV Movie
    6.4 (12)
    In this pilot for a proposed NBC adventurer series, Richard Anderson plays a worldly-wise American who is hired by the French national police to watch over American tourists and prevent them from getting in trouble.
    WriterDouglas HeyesStarsRichard AndersonJohn EricsonDiana Trask
  • Vincent Price in Famous Ghost Stories (1961)

    23. Famous Ghost Stories

    19611h 18mTV Movie
    6.2 (55)
    TV pilot masterminded by Bert I. Gordon and Herts-Lion International. Vincent Price hosts and plays a poltergeist while introducing the ghost story to follow, which turns out be an edited version of Gordon's "Tormented."
    DirectorBert I. GordonStarsVincent PriceRichard CarlsonSusan Gordon
  • 24. Ernestine

    196230mTV Movie
    Pilot for a situation comedy where Ernestine (Marie Wilson) is constantly getting her father, the president of a small loan company, in trouble.
    DirectorSidney SalkowStarsMarie WilsonCharles RugglesCharles Lane
  • His Model Wife (1962)

    25. The Comedy Spot

    Episode: 

    His Model Wife

    (1962)
    1960–196230mTV Episode
    Pilot for a situation comedy about the misadventures of a family consisting of a former model, a magazine publisher and two kids.
    DirectorNorman TokarStarsJeanne CrainJohn VivyanJimmie Lee Gaines

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