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For Sale Apr 9, 2026 at 5:26 AM

What backdoor pilots didn’t pan out?

Posted by Beneficial_Crow_3142

Not talking about shows that had episodes and failed but obvious ones they seem to try something else and it just never got off the ground. My example would be Stranger Things with the weird crew of misfits. Seems like they were trying to make a new show but it got possibly the worst ratings from fans so they gave up.
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Safe-Reason1435 Apr 9, 2026 +2025
Throw a dart at The CW.
2025
TheTresStateArea Apr 9, 2026 +772
Supernatural had at least three backdoor pilots and none of them made it
772
PnPaper Apr 9, 2026 +402
The one with the supernatural mafia families were the Winchesters more or less ran away as fast as they could was so hilariously obvious.
402
Chucky_In_The_Attic Apr 9, 2026 +45
That was such a shit episode, I couldn't get into it when it aired and have never rewatched it.
45
edgeplot Apr 9, 2026 +47
Which were they?
47
TheTresStateArea Apr 9, 2026 +319
I was wrong, just two. Bloodlines (Season 9, Episode 20): This episode explored "clashing hunter and monster cultures in Chicago". It focused on new characters, including Ennis Ross, and saw Sam and Dean taking a backseat, which contributed to poor reception and it not being picked up. Wayward Sisters (Season 13, Episode 10): Centered on Sheriff Jody Mills and a group of young women orphaned by supernatural tragedy, this pilot was better received by fans than Bloodlines. Despite strong fan support and a petition, The CW did not move forward with the series.
319
MicooDA Apr 9, 2026 +246
Wayward Sister was helped by mostly starring characters that were already around before that episode. I think it deserved more despite the fact I don’t trust the supernatural writing team with a show starring all girls
246
Safe-Reason1435 Apr 9, 2026 +84
Happy cake day! I think Wayward Sisters was just poorly timed. At that point, Supernatural was already being held together only by the sheer chemistry of the brothers and the Other World stuff was kind of handled poorly, especially the girlfriend/spear girl.
84
LochNessMansterLives Apr 9, 2026 +79
Wayward Sisters felt much more natural a setup than Bloodlines. I really liked Sheriff Mills.
79
TheTresStateArea Apr 9, 2026 +22
Same. It was a miss to let it go
22
burritoman88 Apr 9, 2026 +25
No you were right. They had plans to do one for Samuel Colt, since his demon killing gun was a big plot device in the earlier seasons.
25
RigasTelRuun Apr 9, 2026 +22
There was the found footage werewolf episode in like season 7 or 8. That really gave backdoor pilot vibes even though no one one production has ever claimed it to be.
22
IvyGold Apr 9, 2026 +28
Bloodlines was absolute c***. It was so bad that I was actually angry about it: the whole thing was conflict upon conflict built upon even more conflict. That entire society needed to have all of the great SPN hunters, the Brits, and even every single angel available to combine to slaughter the entire cast, salt their remains, and be done with it. Maybe add a human intervention to nuke whatever was left from orbit? Wayward Sisters was actually very good. I was disappointed it didn't get picked up. It was a little flimsy, but had some interesting and promising stories perfectly set up to tell.
28
adaminc Apr 9, 2026 +23
I would've liked to see a young Rufus and Bobby spinoff, like 3 seasons, 12 episodes each. David Oyelowo could be Rufus.
23
el_palmera Apr 9, 2026 +51
I really wish covid hadn't killed the spinoff prequel of the 100. That one had legit potential
51
Senor_Turd_Ferguson Apr 9, 2026 +32
That AWFUL Jess episode of Gilmore Girls.
32
cnhades Apr 9, 2026 +13
The Dawson’s Creek one, Young Americans, actually got made into a show, but I’m pretty sure they had the show shot first, and then tried to insert it into DC to get people to watch. It didn’t work.
13
skippiington Apr 9, 2026 +6
The freaking Arrow one they threw into the last season introduced a cliffhanger, that they continued into the Flash. And even THEN they still didn’t resolve that storyline since the Flash was also ending
6
acasualfitz Apr 9, 2026 +272
That one episode of Gilmore Girls where Jess went to California. That was supposed to be a backdoor pilot that they didn't pick up.
272
Fun_Floor06 Apr 9, 2026 +118
I couldn’t stop thinking about how he wore a leather jacket on a sunny day at the beach. It put me off right away!
118
deliciousmonster Apr 9, 2026 +41
I was waiting for someone to challenge him to a waterski shark jumping contest.
41
mfball Apr 9, 2026 +11
It is a very "teenager" thing to do though.
11
phdinseagalogy Apr 9, 2026 +8
With a hoodie under it! He looked legitimately unhinged standing there on the beach like that while normal children built sandcastles all round him. How that shot printed I'll never know.
8
kingsupreeth97 Apr 9, 2026 +1113
Supernatural: Bloodlines (2014) — Monster crime families running Chicago like the mob. Dead on arrival. Supernatural: Wayward Sisters (2018) — The CW passed on it for the Vampire Diaries spinoff Legacies. Arrow: Green Arrow and the Canaries (2020) — Oliver’s daughter takes the mantle in a future Star City. Agents of SHIELD: Most Wanted (2016) — Adrianne Palicki and Nick Blood as ex-spies on the run. They wrote both characters permanently off Agents of Shield for a spinoff that never happened. The Office: The Farm (2013) — Dwight inherits a farm, meets his weird family. NBC didn’t bite.
1113
TheTresStateArea Apr 9, 2026 +432
I was so mad about Most wanted because I loved those characters and they should have brought them back
432
ew73 Apr 9, 2026 +223
On the plus side, it meant Palicki was available for *The Orville*.
223
TheTresStateArea Apr 9, 2026 +79
I can't believe that show started airing in 2017.
79
ew73 Apr 9, 2026 +67
COVID really kind of fucked up everyone's idea of "how long ago" things were. That shit lasted like 2 - 3 years, depending on how you count.
67
FlyingWeagle Apr 9, 2026 +39
A quote from a friend around that time > It's been February for the last two years
39
sexandliquor Apr 9, 2026 +29
2020 doesn’t feel like 6 years ago but it damn sure was. There’s already talk about whatever the PlayStation 6 is gonna be and how, if console generation timelines of 7 years hold true, then we’ll be seeing PS6s next year, and it’s like—the f*** you mean? Literally feels like the PS5 just came out still
29
dbbd70707 Apr 9, 2026 +131
All I remember from The Farm is it gave us Dwight's family covering The Decemberists' "Sons and Daughters."
131
HomsarWasRight Apr 9, 2026 +33
Apparently that was intended to be a recurring thing on the show. They’d do folk country covers every episode. I mean, just give me that and leave off the rest of show.
33
SteveFrench12 Apr 9, 2026 +9
On rewatch, it actually has the bones of a solid show. But i understand why we all hated it at first
9
crimson777 Apr 9, 2026 +46
Wayward Sisters could actually have been pretty damn good. I was bummed it didn’t get a shot.
46
TheSadPhilosopher Apr 9, 2026 +73
>Agents of SHIELD: Most Wanted (2016) — Adrianne Palicki and Nick Blood as ex-spies on the run. They wrote both characters permanently off Agents of Shield for a spinoff that never happened. Wasn't there also going to be a Ghost Rider spinoff too, starring Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes?
73
palebrowndot Apr 9, 2026 +49
I think it was planned to be on Hulu before all the shows were absorbed into Disney+.
49
christopher1393 Apr 9, 2026 +47
I think they tried to create a horror part to the MCU tv shows. It was such a weird time for the MCU with tv before Disney+. We had all these MCU shows on different channels and different networks seemed have different kinds of shows. You had ABC with the more standard MCU/superhero stuff with Agents of Shield, Agent Carter and the Inhumans. Netflix with the 6 more adult shows focusing on the Street Level Defenders. Freeform with Cloak and Dagger and Hulu with Runaways. They were all connected and would reference each other and occasionally crossover with each other. Hulu tried to focus more on the horror side of Marvel with a specific Marvel brand/banner under Adventure Into Fear. The cancelled Ghost Rider spin off was part of the plans. There was meant to be more shows and they were allegedly planned to have a crossover show like The Defenders did but this all got cancelled and the Disney+ stuff started happening soon after. But Hulu actually made one of their planned Adventure into Fear Marvel shows called Helstrom about the children of a demon. The history of MCU TV prior to Disney+ is actually quite fascinating.
47
frowoz Apr 9, 2026 +25
Inhumans was sooooo bad. Who greenlights a show about legally-distinct-mutants where literally every single legally-distinct-mutant has an entirely different annoying handicap that prevents them from using their powers? Make it make sense!
25
roiki11 Apr 9, 2026 +14
Ike Perlmutter.
14
christopher1393 Apr 9, 2026 +12
Oh there is such a history to that. I don’t know how much of it is actually confirmed, but Marvel were REALLY pushing for the Inhumans around that time. Marvel sold off movie rights to their characters in the 90’s as they were I believe approaching bankruptcy. Which is why Sony has Spider-Man, Fox had the X-Men/F4, etc. So when the MCU took off Marvel could not use a lot of their most popular characters. The X-Men being the big ones. So they really tried to push the Inhumans, who were already part of Marvel comics, just not as popular as the X-Men, in the early 2010’s to essentially have a replacement for the X-Men they could not use in movies. They were being way more heavily featured in comics, big parts of crossover events and the X-Men, while still important, were less featured in comics in that time. The push for Inhumans was simply greed. They were an interesting and unique part of Marvel but Marvel tried to push them as a replacement for mutants, so they could have their own version of mutants in the MCU. They pushed it so hard. Originally it was meant to be a movie, then it was decided it would be a tv show. Even other MCU properties started bringing them in. Agents of Shield HEAVILY featured Inhumans particularly after the reveal of Skye being the Imhuman Quake. Whole seasons were dedicated to Inhumans and they remained a constant presence throughout the show. And that is probably the only good thing that came out of all this because Shield incorporated them very well inti the entire series overall plot. Then it all just flopped horribly. Its a shame because while the show was dog-shit, they cast it incredibly well and Lockjaw, the Inhuman’s giant teleporting dog was amazing
12
diego_simeone Apr 9, 2026 +50
I’m not sure i would call most wanted a back door pilot, they wanted to spin off those characters but there was never an episode of agents of shield that was basically a most wanted episode. A back door pilot is more like the shrute farm episode of the office where the usual formula/characters are ignored.
50
jbrowder24 Apr 9, 2026 +13
Correct - there was a pilot for it but it was unaired, versus a backdoor pilot like the other ones mentioned for Supernatural, Arrow, & Office.
13
PhairPharmer Apr 9, 2026 +10
I watched the superfan episode of Thr Farm last night. It was actually better than I was expecting with how they set everything up.
10
jersace Apr 9, 2026 +583
That's So Raven: Goin' Hollywood, what ended up becoming Hannah Montana
583
andwhatnowthough Apr 9, 2026 +191
That’s So Raven’s S4E6 The Road to Audition was the prototype to High School Musical
191
Hot_Porking Apr 9, 2026 +10
She really could see the future!
10
zowietremendously Apr 9, 2026 +43
Is that gonna be in Raven's book?
43
MC_JACKSON Apr 9, 2026 +59
We did get Corey in The House though
59
totcczar Apr 9, 2026 +14
So, when Miley mentioned in her Disney+ special that there was someone else auditioning, I guess I have an idea who it might have been now.
14
araggedymuffin Apr 9, 2026 +29
iirc that was Daniella Monet who later went on to be Trina in Victorious
29
UHeardAboutPluto Apr 9, 2026 +388
The Farm - The Office
388
mike10dude Apr 9, 2026 +224
a lot of people seem to think that was backdoor pilot but it wasn't They made a regular pilot that was around 60 minutes long and than very early on during the last season of the office news came out that it was not being picked up But they decided to go and use 12 minutes if it to create a regular office episode this old article kind of talks about what I wrote about https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a434211/the-office-spinoff-not-picked-up-by-nbc-says-rainn-wilson/?imdb
224
HardcoreKaraoke Apr 9, 2026 +52
Source on that 12 minute part? The article you linked doesn't mention it and in that article there's [another article](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/rainn-wilson-nbc-passes-office-spinoff-farm-384214/) about the pilot which doesn't mention it either. They just say they're going to air the pilot with the final season of The Office, not cut it down from around 60 to 12 minutes. >While NBC has yet to officially confirm that the spinoff is not moving forward, the episode will air as an installment of The Office, a representative tells THR.
52
mike10dude Apr 9, 2026 +51
https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-office-the-farm-spin-off-would-have-wrecked-dwight-and-angelas-ending/ that is a better explanation
51
MoreGaghPlease Apr 9, 2026 +38
Bullet dodged
38
liquidhavok Apr 9, 2026 +360
I think the list of successful backdoor pilots might be easier…. I feel like whenever a backdoor pilot is done everyone watches hates that episode and then when they try to make a show- surprise- no one likes it either.
360
Jombafomb Apr 9, 2026 +257
All in the Family had like 5 back door pilots that worked, same for Hapoy Days. Maybe people were more forgiving in the 70s
257
DazzlingCapital5230 Apr 9, 2026 +193
They had a lot fewer options lol.
193
d3photo Apr 9, 2026 +51
Happy days was a spin off too
51
minnick27 Apr 9, 2026 +81
Not really, but kind of. It was shot as a pilot that wasn’t picked up. Love, American Style was an anthology show that sometimes used unsold pilots in place of original stories. One week they used the Happy Days pilot. A few years later American Graffiti hit and the network remembered the Happy Days pilot and greenlit it as a series.
81
m_Pony Apr 9, 2026 +17
Thank you. That explanation makes more sense than the others I've heard.
17
BeneathAnOrangeSky Apr 9, 2026 +28
I was just listening to the Robin Williams audiobook bio and had no idea that Mork and Mindy came about bc ABC was like PLEASE GIVE US SOMETHING because they needed new shows and Garry Marshall made it up on the spot during a phone call.
28
majornerd Apr 9, 2026 +6
And Robin wasn’t planned for the role. Their Mork had backed out/had a conflict and Robin was busking on the street.
6
BeneathAnOrangeSky Apr 9, 2026 +9
The whole thing was fascinating because it absolutely worked. And apparently it all started because Garry asked his kid what he wanted to see next on Happy Days and he said aliens lol.
9
StoneGoldX Apr 9, 2026 +38
Or Norman Lear was just a goddamn genius.
38
Mr_SunnyBones Apr 9, 2026 +15
He was very good in the 70s at picking UK shows to remake for the US as well.
15
Chancevexed Apr 9, 2026 +38
Typically it's because it comes out of nowhere. You're experiencing a narrative flow of the show you want to watch, and it pauses for a week so you can get a story of a show you're not the least bit interested in. I think backdoor pilots would be far more appreciated if they were a bonus episode after the season finale.
38
nikukuikuniniiku Apr 9, 2026 +34
Star Trek Discovery had a young Spock for a season, then shipped him off to the Enterprise, where we meet the crew of Strange New Worlds. I'd say SNW had a better reception than DIS. Discovery also spun off Section 31 and Starfleet Academy, though I don't think there were any in-season pilots for them. And did The Lone Gunmen have a pilot in an X-Files ep? I don't recall.
34
SeekingTheRoad Apr 9, 2026 +11
> And did The Lone Gunmen have a pilot in an X-Files ep? The other way around. Obviously the characters originated on the X-Files but there was never an episode specifically designed as a pilot for a spin-off. After Gunmen was canceled they did a "finale" on X-Files proper.
11
cobo10201 Apr 9, 2026 +34
NCIS is probably the most successful spinoff in TV history, then it had its subsequent spinoffs that all did fairly well. Edit: I take it back. Law and Order: SVU is probably the most successful ever.
34
thewholebottle Apr 9, 2026 +7
Poor Frasier.
7
cobo10201 Apr 9, 2026 +12
Frasier was successful but NCIS and SVU are both still running to this day lol
12
everyplanetwereach Apr 9, 2026 +21
I loved the Vampire Diaries episode that turned into a pilot for The Originals.
21
geek_of_nature Apr 9, 2026 +61
The Flash had back-door pilot of sorts in Arrow that worked pretty well. Grant Guston appeared in a couple episodes that ended with him getting struck by lightning, and was meant to return for a proper back-door pilot later on in the season. But the first few episodes he appeared in were so well receieved that they decided to just go straight to a full pilot.
61
xboxpants Apr 9, 2026 +38
I still remember when that early Flash pilot leaked. We were so damn hyped. People liked Arrow, but it felt low-rent compared to like, The Avengers. Most superhero media was still afraid of faithful adaptations and colorful costumes, it was mindblowing to see a show like Flash. Superhero TV expectations were like, Agents of Shield. The Netflix MCU shows didn't come out 'til the next year I think? And even they kept things low-key. But Flash wasn't embarrassed about being a superhero show at all. Fans ate that shit up.
38
NotTobyFromHR Apr 9, 2026 +43
Flash started really good and interesting. But typical to CW, everyone got powers, everyone hooked up, no one was dead, everyone had an evil doppelgänger. But this time, it was fast.
43
geek_of_nature Apr 9, 2026 +8
Yeah i tuned out in the second or third season, but kind of followed what was going on through clips, and then just the annual crossovers. I was very confused when Joe had a girlfriend who had also suited up. My read on that was that they felt bad for all the other actors not getting to suit up so gave them powers they didn't need.
8
Flimsy_Big7991 Apr 9, 2026 +7
With 23 episodes season the only thing that didn't move fast was the plot
7
Carnivile Apr 9, 2026 +18
Bones' the Finder comes to mind, though it was only successful in getting one season before being axed.
18
coldblade2000 Apr 9, 2026 +12
The Bad Batch was moderately successful I'd say. Pretty crazy because the episode itself was largely the same as it was before Disney even bought Star Wars.
12
Dramatic-Ad-2133 Apr 9, 2026 +94
Basically every latter episode of Facts of Life was a failed spinoff: a Cloris Leachman vehicle that nobody ordered, a George Clooney showcase that the network somehow still passed on, and at least three episodes where a new girl showed up with a whole backstory and then was never mentioned again.
94
missesthecrux Apr 9, 2026 +32
It was constant in the Facts of Life. The boy’s school, Tootie’s cousin in an interracial marriage.
32
bmcthomas Apr 9, 2026 +16
Jo’s tomboy cousin (played by Megan Follows) who had a bunch of brothers and they all worked at a car repair shop.
16
mrcorndogman33 Apr 9, 2026 +82
my favorite was Married With Children's "*Radio Free Trumaine".* I watched it live and had no idea what the hell was going on. 3 new college kids at a radio station who we didn't know at all. No Bundy family at all. Just plain weird.
82
StoneGoldX Apr 9, 2026 +34
Bud was there a bit. He was trying to bang Felicity.
34
mattevil8419 Apr 9, 2026 +26
Married with Children also had the short lived spinoff Top of the Heap with Joseph Bologna ,Matt LeBlanc, Joey Lauren Adams, and Rita Moreno. That apparently got six episodes though but I only saw the spin-off episode on Married reruns.
26
scrambles57 Apr 9, 2026 +8
I remember that episode. I always wondered why I was supposed to care about those people
8
MissMat Apr 9, 2026 +76
The Nanny- The chatterbox A new girl in town needs a job and Fran tells her that the Chatterbox(a hair salon) is hiring. The chatterbox is run by a single dad and he has a son. Btw the son is played by JD Daniels, who was on two episodes on the Nanny. Once as a child actor and the second time as the son of the salon’s owner. Apparently the chatterbox was too like the nanny
76
L82The_Party Apr 9, 2026 +30
The salon crew overacted a lot which was a feat on The Nanny.
30
stephentrendy Apr 9, 2026 +24
This was the first one I thought of - the salon characters were dialed up to 11 in quirks and energy and there wasn't really any grounding character. The Nanny worked because she was "the lady in red when everybody else is wearing tan." - the Chatterbox didn't have anybody wearing tan, so to speak...
24
Finito-1994 Apr 9, 2026 +180
The good doctor had an episode called the good lawyer. It was actually not bad all things considered. But never got its own season
180
detourne Apr 9, 2026 +41
That's kind of funny. The Good Doctor is based on a Korean drama of the same name, and a few years ago there was an excellent Korean show about an autistic lawyer (Extraordinary Attorney Woo Young Woo) but I don't know if it had any connection to the Korean Good Doctor.
41
Jester-252 Apr 9, 2026 +119
Wait The Good Doctor isn't part of The Good Wife/Fight universe?
119
Familiar-You-6577 Apr 9, 2026 +151
I believe the shared universe is called the Good Place?
151
CollinsCouldveDucked Apr 9, 2026 +30
It's more of a bad Santa, bad teacher, bad judge type situation 
30
ShelfordPrefect Apr 9, 2026 +29
Most ambitious crossover since Snow White And The Seven Brides For Seven Samurai 
29
_james_the_cat Apr 9, 2026 +32
Halfway through that episode I was like 'hang on, I bet this was a backdoor pilot' and checked the ep name which confirmed it. I would have watched it as a series, but her tics were already Shaun-level annoying by the end of the episode.
32
keepitupstairs2 Apr 9, 2026 +274
Gilmore Girls did one about Jess and his dad.
274
daevard Apr 9, 2026 +96
GGs completely fumbled Milo.
96
Omatzus Apr 9, 2026 +60
Nah, they found a lot of young talent before they broke out. Melissa McCarthy is the big one. Adam Brody, Krysten Ritter, Rami Malek, Chad Micheal Murray, Nick Offerman, and Jon Hamm had minor roles. All three Rory love interests later carried their own shows. It's not that they fumbled these actors, it's just that they frequently launched other plotlines by entering and exiting the story. Credit goes to the casting director.
60
Hcysntmf Apr 9, 2026 +74
The worst episode in the entire show so I’m glad they didn’t bother :’)
74
New_Girl3685 Apr 9, 2026 +19
absolutely abysmal. have never gotten a good answer why they wrote him off....for that
19
ScyllaOfTheDepths Apr 9, 2026 +209
There's The Finder, a backdoor pilot introduced through Bones. It did actually get made, however, but it failed pretty early because they changed pretty much everything good about the show between the backdoor pilot and the actual pilot. 
209
Code_NY Apr 9, 2026 +105
It was such a blindingly obvious back door pilot too. Like they really shoved this new quirky character in your face. Bones was also tactless with its ads too though 😂
105
Shindo989 Apr 9, 2026 +67
“Did you remember to TiVo ‘sleepy hollow’ Angela?”
67
RumHamSommelier Apr 9, 2026 +20
I'll have to drive home using my toyota prius with built in navigation system to watch it tonight! I loved the show as a background show, but they loved the clunky product placement.
20
shaw_dog21 Apr 9, 2026 +11
The Toyota references always crack me up. The sienna holds all of my art stuff, let’s have a whole convo about the self parallel parking, etc. Although Angela and Hodgins playing with the lane correct resulted in them getting married so it did play some plot role lol
11
StardustOasis Apr 9, 2026 +28
Wait, so the show Sleepy Hollow exists within the universe Sleepy Hollow is set in?
28
Shindo989 Apr 9, 2026 +45
Yep, in one season someone asks Angela if she TiVo’d sleepy hollow, then a few season later the cast of sleepy hollow showed up in character to help solve a murder
45
ThePhantom0230 Apr 9, 2026 +20
so in the Bones and Sleepy Hollow verse, Fox made a show about the exploits of Sleepy Hollow. 
20
ScyllaOfTheDepths Apr 9, 2026 +26
Every episode of Bones had a 3-5 minute segment of an ad hastily inserted into the show. Booth: Hey Bones shouldn't you be watching the road more? Bones: No, the new Toyota Prius has active lane assist technology and reactive braking. Isn't that cool? Booth: Wow, that is pretty cool! And then they go to the scene of a gruesome murder. 
26
cinderubella Apr 9, 2026 +19
I'll f****** go to bat for that scene. Tell me you wouldn't discuss your new car with your co-worker when you're on the way to do your job that you do with your co-worker every working day of your life.  Oh, you'd just sit there looking grim and contemplative because you're on the way to a murder scene? 
19
FX114 Apr 9, 2026 +9
I fully thought it was just a crossover for the longest time.
9
crimson777 Apr 9, 2026 +28
I dunno, The Finder was a fun enough show. Teenage me had a big crush on the… I want to say sister, but I’m pretty sure she was just a random teen girl they basically adopted? Either way, it was fine, I thought it would find its footing with another season.
28
fishmongerhoarder Apr 9, 2026 +22
She was a Romani/Gypsy criminal that was on probation which (rip) Michael Clarke Duncan was supervising her.
22
crimson777 Apr 9, 2026 +9
That’s right and her uncle or cousin or something was some stereotypical bad Romani criminal. Woof forgot about all that until now.
9
WeeklyHanShows Apr 9, 2026 +6
The only thing being that it does not fit as it was given a full tv order. There is 13 episodes of that show.
6
Thatoneguy111700 Apr 9, 2026 +7
That and Michael Clarke Duncan passing away probably nipped any other chances of it continuing in the bud.
7
nowhereman136 Apr 9, 2026 +252
The Simpsons spinoff where Cheif Wiggum and Seymour Skinner move to New Orleans
252
Nakorite Apr 9, 2026 +74
Hey! that one actually had potential
74
OrangeBird077 Apr 9, 2026 +40
Fat Man and Skinny Boy!
40
devospice Apr 9, 2026 +26
"Look, Big Daddy! It's Regular Daddy!"
26
ImDonaldDunn Apr 9, 2026 +48
Look Big Daddy, its real daddy!
48
JDHannan Apr 9, 2026 +9
_regular Daddy_
9
kennedye2112 Apr 9, 2026 +180
The “Assignment: Earth” episode of Star Trek could have been an interesting sort of American Doctor Who if it had worked out.
180
MoreGaghPlease Apr 9, 2026 +45
Teri Garr’s first big role
45
IvyGold Apr 9, 2026 +15
Zank you Dr. Frankenstein.
15
PhilosopherFLX Apr 9, 2026 +9
That's Fronkensteen
9
shopdog Apr 9, 2026 +7
From what I understand, Garr was sexually harassed by a Trek producer and didn't want to have anything to do with them again.
7
DaveLambert Apr 9, 2026 +19
I came here to mention this one!! ALSO, the ‘70s fireman/paramedic/hospital series *Emergency!* had a backdoor pilot that failed. The fireman show was itself a spinoff of cop show *Adam-12*, which was a spinoff of detective show *Dragnet*…all three shows were backed by *Dragnet* star Jack Webb (though Webb had little to do with the day-to-day showrunning of *Emergency!*). In that tradition, Season 3 of *Emergency!* ended with an episode called “905-Wild” that focused on the (serious!) daily adventures of the Los Angeles department of Animal Control…48 years before the workplace sitcom starring Joel McHale! *Emergency!* cast (for the paramedics and hospital) showed up in “905-Wild” to keep it tied to the main show, but animal-related cast included MARK HARMON(!!!) in his second role ever (8 years before he was in *St. Elsewhere*), Albert Popwell (before he showed up as various characters in the different “Dirty Harry” franchise movies), Gary Crosby (Bing’s son, who recurred in *Adam-12* as “Officer Ed Wells”), and perennial character actor David Huddleston (*Blazing Saddles*, *The Big Lebowski*). There was a tiger in a supermarket and a goat being operated on by radio instruction and stuff like that. The “905” referred to a radio code about a loose wild animal that was threatening lives, by the way. Honestly, one of my least favorite *Emergency!* episodes over the many seasons. Followed by the Season 4 premiere that has Roy and Johnny saving a heart attack victim on an airplane flight, one of my favorites. Lose some, win some.
19
NinjaSimone Apr 9, 2026 +14
I still haven’t given up on the Assignment: Earth show being a thing. I’d watch it so hard. If you’re listening, Paramount, it’s never too late!
14
MiloTheMagnificent Apr 9, 2026 +96
Empty Nest was a spinoff of the Golden Girls but the back door pilot was very very different from how the show ultimately looked
96
TheDivine_MissN Apr 9, 2026 +32
Yep, I remember watching and liking Empty Nest but I did not like the back door episode of GGs at all.
32
georgecm12 Apr 9, 2026 +14
Literally the only three things they retained were the set, the name (slightly tweaked from "Empty Nests" to "Empty Nest"), and actor David Leisure (who ended up playing a totally different character in the actual show). If you want to stretch a bit, the male lead being a doctor was also retained, although it went from a psychiatrist in the pilot to a pediatrician in the show.
14
guitar_maniv Apr 9, 2026 +8
I remember watching that episode for the first time and then a few minutes into it I just go "Wait....where are the girls? And why do I care about these people??"
8
tinapay621 Apr 9, 2026 +117
Gossip Girl: It was going to be about Serena's mother and her time in the 80's.
117
_formalwalnut_ Apr 9, 2026 +38
I would have loved that show!! I thought that episode was so fun.
38
NovaScotiaaa Apr 9, 2026 +19
Really great episode, the only thing that bothered the heck out of me was Brittany Snow looking nothing like Lily. Not the actress’s fault but it really took me out of it lol
19
Kalamac Apr 9, 2026 +37
Xena - season 5, episode 16 Lifeblood. The Amazons are telling a story of a girl from modern times (played by Selma Blair), who appeared in the past and named the Amazons (and taught them to ride horses instead of using them as food). It was supposed to lead to a spinoff series called Amazon High.
37
SeanPatrickMcCluskey Apr 9, 2026 +76
The episode of *CHiPs* titled 'Force Seven,' in which they attempted a spinoff about the LAPD's secret unit of ninja cops.
76
Ake4455 Apr 9, 2026 +23
What a weird episode. Ponch and John were in it for like 30 seconds in the beginning, and then a totally different show
23
morosco Apr 9, 2026 +60
Kelly's Kids, staring Ken Berry. Mike and Carol Brady had friends that adopted a white kid, a black kid and an Asian kid. They got a Brady Bunch episode but that's it.
60
ColonelCrackle Apr 9, 2026 +13
Though Sherwood Schwartz later reused that same concept when he created Together We Stand (which was then re-tooled into Nothing is Easy). 
13
QueasyCaterpillar541 Apr 9, 2026 +32
When Miami Vice tried to introduce a young 21 jump street style show.
32
mgusedom Apr 9, 2026 +35
Back in 1974 The Brady Bunch did a back door pilot for a show that would’ve been called Kelly’s Kids about a couple who adopt three boys of different ethnicities. It never got picked up but the creator of the show (Sherwood Schwartz) held onto the idea for another decade before reusing it for the Elliot Gould/Dee Wallace show Together We Stand (also starring Ke Huy Quan)
35
wmike469 Apr 9, 2026 +55
Sabrina the teenage witch tried to get Emily Hart 2 spin offs 1 with Emily in witch school and one as a show with her mother marrying a mortal
55
Sailor_Chibi Apr 9, 2026 +19
The problem was that Amanda was just such a brat. Her character had none of Sabrina’s warmth and charisma. I always wanted Sabrina to win, but Amanda to fail. I loved STTW, I have the full series on DVD even, but I wouldn’t have watched a show featuring Amanda. They would’ve had to change her quite a lot.
19
MozeeToby Apr 9, 2026 +333
Stranger Things, the Chicago crew was obviously a backdoor pilot and absolutely no one gave a shit about any of those characters. 
333
callmekbro Apr 9, 2026 +92
I watched this again recently and it’s even worse than I remembered! It is so corny and like someone’s idea of punk/grime who grew up in a cozy suburban home and never ventured out. It takes Eleven out of the story for so long too, she’s apart from the main action all season.
92
edgeplot Apr 9, 2026 +118
So awful and tonally different. Glad this one didn't get picked up.
118
TheTruckWashChannel Apr 9, 2026 +50
The story they ultimately came up with for what happened to the other kids was much more compelling and true to the show anyways
50
the-mp Apr 9, 2026 +23
Murdering them all?
23
Kandiru Apr 9, 2026 +36
All numbers 1-11 had the same telekinesis powers, other than one girl who could make illusions. But she ran away in time to not get killed, and also doesn't appear in any memories of the time before everyone was killed.
36
Omatzus Apr 9, 2026 +15
OP provided that example
15
chloe-and-timmy Apr 9, 2026 +79
Crash Nebula spinoff of Fairly Oddparents. It honestly looked good though in-universe I always found the Crimson Chin stuff to be more compelling a parody.
79
Ninjassassin54 Apr 9, 2026 +21
I have always been sad about this one. I remember loving this episode as a kid and wanted more.
21
MecGuy2 Apr 9, 2026 +25
Pearson from Suits. Wrote the character off the show in season 6 and set up a crime-focused Chicago show. It got a season, but was canceled after that.
25
BlazingInfernape2003 Apr 9, 2026 +26
Phineas and Ferb had two in the final season. The first was about Dr Doofenshmirtz becoming a science teacher and the second was about Dr Doofenshmirtz becoming a secret agent
26
bahumat42 Apr 9, 2026 +25
The darkwing duck episodes in the recent ducktales
25
JerryLawlerr Apr 9, 2026 +20
Martin had one where Pam got a job at a music label. I think married with children had one with Joey from friends starring.
20
NossB Apr 9, 2026 +19
The Rockford Files had a couple. A Blaxplotation spin off featuring the characters Gabby & Gandy, and another about two low level criminals trying to make it in the New Jersey Mob. Whilst the Mobster spin off wasn't picked up, it did lay the groundwork for The Sopranos as both the Rockford Files episode and The Sopranos were written by David Chase.
19
Sloppykrab Apr 9, 2026 +37
The Rookie: Feds If the main character wasn't flawless and had consequences, oh and wasn't annoying as f***, the show would have been great.
37
re_me Apr 9, 2026 +13
They made that show didn’t they?
13
NocturnoOcculto Apr 9, 2026 +12
That one was a victim of the strikes that occurred. Had a buddy that worked on it.
12
Daikey Apr 9, 2026 +16
The rookie's charm is all in its characters. Their flaws, goofyness and virtues. I don't know many who watch it for the plot, which is often the weakest aspect of it.  Feds had nobody worth following. Somehow they made a show where the main character is insufferable. 
16
lethal_penguin Apr 9, 2026 +19
Season three episode 12 of DuckTales (2017), titled “Let’s Get Dangerous!”, was a backdoor pilot for a spinoff Darkwing Duck series that never happened. It was to focus on Darkwing/Drake Mallard along with his sidekicks Goslyn and Launchpad McQuack. Now they’re moving forward with the unrelated reboot from Seth Rogan, last I read a few days back at least.
19
StareyedInLA Apr 9, 2026 +37
Criminal Minds had two: Suspect Behavior and Beyond Borders. Suspect Behavior was cancelled after one season and Beyond Borders in two.
37
MissusLunafreya Apr 9, 2026 +15
There’s this episode of “F is for Family” called “R is for Rosie” that focuses entirely on the titular character and his family. Not only do none of the Murphy family show up in it at all (save for Frank, but only at the end), but it also has a different intro than usual. Going off all this, I think the creative team made this to test the waters for a possible Rosie spinoff, but it was never picked up. I don’t know if that’s really the case, but that’s the vibe I got from it.
15
TheDeltaOne Apr 9, 2026 +12
House MD had one with the PI guy. It never got picked up and the character wasn't all that interesting outside of his relationship with House.
12
rage1026 Apr 9, 2026 +12
The Farm being attempted near the end of The Office.
12
KortasEE Apr 9, 2026 +11
The 100 had that flashback episode in the last season that was supposed to be a backdoor pilot on how the grounders came to be and the cadogan cult and stuff. They didnt make the new show as the last season wasnt received well.
11
mstermind Apr 9, 2026 +10
The 100 became a bargain bin Stargate in the last season.
10
oateyboat Apr 9, 2026 +33
The most egregious one I've ever seen is Green Arrow and the Canaries from Arrow. Spoiler alert for the final season of Arrow if you haven't seen it. But thanks to Arrow eventually becoming part of a larger DC universe, the final season was unconventional to say the least, with a lot of it involving time travel and multiverse shenanigans to prepare Oliver for the big mega blockbuster crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths, where one episode from each show would make the full story. Because of the way this is set up, Oliver Queen dies in Crisis with two episodes left of his own show. The finale ends up being focused on his funeral with some flashbacks and reveals about what changed in the universe following the event. But the penultimate episode was a back door pilot called Green Arrow and the Canaries. It was set in the future and focused on Oliver's adult daughter (who he had met in aforementioned shenanigans) and his now grown son (who has been in the show for five seasons as a child and we have seen as an adult in weird flash forwards). The entire premise and inciting incident of the show is that Oliver's son gets kidnapped and goes missing so his daughter as the new Green Arrow tried to find him. It has barely anything to do with the show's story to this point as it's years after, and because it never got picked up the penultimate episode of Arrow's full eight season run is essentially a flash forward after his death to show that his son gets kidnapped and his daughter will try to find him but we'll never see that happen.
33
DaveShadow Apr 9, 2026 +16
I loved the Arrowverse, and watched it all religiously. But when Ollie died, I just….lost energy. I kind of stuck with stuff for a while, but I think I never finished Flash or Legends. Didn’t help that both rotated their teams so heavily that they felt so different by the end too, imo.
16
Digifiend84 Apr 9, 2026 +10
Legends was cancelled on a cliffhanger anyway, so it's last season is a waste of time.
10
coolhandjennie Apr 9, 2026 +6
People always talk about how bad the last few seasons of Arrow were (I tapped out around 4 or 5) but I hadn’t heard ANY of those details, holy shit.
6
RainbowTardigrade Apr 9, 2026 +46
It's never been confirmed but: There's an episode of the X-Files called Hell Money that is pretty good, however it doesn't follow the show's usual format at all. The case is not paranormal, Mulder and Scully are kinda on the sidelines the whole time, and the focus is mainly on BD Wong's character. This has led people to wonder if at some point during the writing process this was briefly thought of as a possible backdoor pilot, but it ultimately didn't pan out.
46
OrangeBird077 Apr 9, 2026 +24
They did later have one backdoor pilot that worked with The Lone Gunmen at least.
24
fitzejunk Apr 9, 2026 +12
I know it doesn’t fit this thread, since it actually got made, but I really liked The Lone Gunmen spinoff. It never quite found its footing, but I enjoyed the hell out of it and was sad to see it go.
12
model563 Apr 9, 2026 +15
And Millenium.
15
MysteriousWon Apr 9, 2026 +12
I just watched this again a few weeks ago. I didn't get that impression at all. It seems like a fairly standard mid-tier MoW (though I personally like it more than that) for Mulder and Scully. BD Wong is a focus - due to his ties to the plot of the episode - but I wouldn't say Mulder and Scully are sidelined at all. To me, it never ready like it was ever any part of a backdoor pilot. I just don't see it.
12
AcceleratorTouma Apr 9, 2026 +20
All the Married with children ones
20
IceLord86 Apr 9, 2026 +11
Yeah, they had one that actually went to series, but at least 2 or 3 more that went nowhere.
11
HisDivineOrder Apr 9, 2026 +8
Supernatural had a couple. One seemingly built to be the female version of itself, for example. Person of Interest seemed to have one towards the end of its run about a new group of people fighting. Star Trek famously had that weird episode where the Enterprise just casually time travels like it's no big thing to show up on Earth and interact with some weirdo pretend version of The Doctor to build a pilot off it.
8
Apprehensive_War173 Apr 9, 2026 +10
The backdoor pilot in The Vampire Diaries that led into The Originals is one that actually worked, but I remember feeling like the setup in TVD was pretty clearly trying to test the waters for a new show rather than just being a normal episode. On the flip side, some of the planted spin off attempts feel a lot more awkward when they don’t go anywhere. There’s always that slight tonal shift where you can tell they’re trying to introduce a new corner of the world, but if it doesn’t land with viewers, it just sits there as a kind of odd detour. It’s kind of fascinating when you rewatch those episodes knowing what happened, because you can spot the intention behind them a lot more clearly.
10
usernamegoeshereG Apr 9, 2026 +10
I love the originals more than vampire diaries. Just hate how they ended it. It's obvious that they had to get rid of characters to explain legacies, otherwise it doesn't make sense why hopes parents aren't there. Not worth it. Wish they never bothered with legacies and made a fitting ending for the show. Also something similar happened to The 100. I never finished watching it and I'm glad I didn't. But they were trying so hard to set up a prequel that they butchered the characters and ruined the ending.
10
MrT735 Apr 9, 2026 +16
NCIS: Red, a backdoor pilot in regular NCIS, following an investigation team that moved around the country to take on different cases. Considering how many spinoffs NCIS has had now, this one never got past the pilot. Maybe someone pointed out that they'd be spending the first half of every show waiting for their fancy mobile office to turn up.
16
tlplc Apr 9, 2026 +17
Isn't NCIS itself a spinoff of JAG ?
17
rb2m Apr 9, 2026 +8
Yes. NCIS was introduced in one of the later seasons of JAG when Harm is suspected of killing his brother’s ex-girlfriend. Though, I think that would be considered a successful spinoff. 😂
8
vafrow Apr 9, 2026 +8
I remember Married with Children had a couple. There's a fairly famous one that had Matt LeBlanc right before Friends. But one that stands out to me was one about a college radio station. I remember watching as a kid being so confused as to why we're following these random characters around.
8
LJMLogan Apr 9, 2026 +15
The first half of iCarly's final episode was dedicated to being backdoor pilots for a Sam show and a Gibby show. There are plenty of leaked images and we have the entire script of the Gibby pilot but it never got greenlit. A lot of the ideas from "Gibby!" were recycled in Sam and Cat
15
ulong2874 Apr 9, 2026 +8
The Gibby pilot fully leaked recently actually, if you wanted to watch it it is on youtube.
8
Dreadwolf67 Apr 9, 2026 +6
Star Trek:TOS “Assignment Earth”. Enterprise travels to 1960’s and meets Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) and Roberta Lincoln (Teri Garr) protecting 1960s Earth.
6
GoodOmens182 Apr 9, 2026 +7
Might be easier to make a list of times where it did work out. The only one I can think of in recent memory that went anywhere is *The Flash* on CW. He was introduced and has his whole origin thing on *Arrow* before getting his own show that then outlasted the entire rest of the Arrowverse.
7
MidwestTroy92 Apr 9, 2026 +6
That Office farm episode with Dwights family. You could feel them trying to launch something and it just died right there.
6
Kairamek Apr 9, 2026 +14
The Incredible Hulk Returns was a tv movie sequel to Bixby/Ferrigno show and a backdoor pilot for a Thor show.
14
reverendmalerik Apr 9, 2026 +9
Followed by one for a Daredevil show
9
nightwing1979 Apr 9, 2026 +5
"Murder, She Wrote" had several backdoor spinoff episodes but the ones that kinda made it were with her friend Harry, a NY private investigator who was written as though the writers had once looked at the cover of a Dashiell Hammett novel and decided to make that his personality. It actually got one full series at least, "The Law and Harry McGraw". It's on YouTube, I need to watch it some time, maybe tomorrow....
5
OrangeBird077 Apr 9, 2026 +5
The Good Doctor tried doing a back door spinoff for a show called The Good Lawyer where a law firm defending Shawn Murphy had an autistic lawyer on hand, but it didn’t catch on.
5
BCCakes Apr 9, 2026 +5
The Brady Bunch had an episode called Kelly’s Kids, which was a backdoor pilot for a show that never happened. A decade later, the basic premise of that backdoor pilot was retooled and became a show called Together We Stand.
5
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