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Unsold Television Pilots: 1955 Through 1988
Unsold Television Pilots is a detailed compilation of all the unsold television series concepts that, from 1955 through 1988, reached the development stage at the networks-but didn't sell. Pilots are listed by year and title and include production credits, plot synopsis and when applicable, air dates. The Introduction explains what a pilot is, and how the television marketplace works now and has worked in the past. An exhaustive index (actors, writers, directors, producers and pilots) and separate lists of pilots that are based on movies, pilots that are continuations of cancelled series, and pilots that are spin-offs of characters from other series are also included.
- GenresReferenceNonfictionTv
655 pages, Hardcover
First published June 29, 2015
About the author
Lee Goldberg
166 books2,292 followersLee Goldberg is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over forty novels, including Malibu Burning, Calico, Lost Hills (the first novel in his acclaimed "Eve Ronin" series), 15 "Monk" mysteries, five "Fox & O'Hare" adventures (co-written with Janet Evanovich), and the new thriller Ashes Never Lie, the second in his "Sharpe & Walker" series.. He's written and/or produced many TV shows, including Diagnosis Murder, SeaQuest, and Monk and he co-created the Hallmark movie series Mystery 101.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 18, 2015
Unsold Television Pilots: 1955-1989 by Lee Goldberg is a 2015 Adventures in Television publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Richard Dreyfuss as Yossarian, in catch 22? Michelle Phillips and Tanya Roberts as undercover cops? ( Ladies in Blue- 1980) Hulk Hogan as a private detective? ( Goldie and the Bears)
Oh my goodness, this book was great. I never could have envisioned a list style book with such rare information! There really is a lot to digest here, so it's even more impressive how detailed and organized the book is.
Beginning with the year 1955- The list is broken down into several parts. For example: ABC/ Comedy or ABC/Drama and so on.
Whenever possible, the author list for each pilot - the production company, the writers, directors, and producers , as well as the cast of characters and the actors/actresses who portrayed them, and a brief synopsis.
It was fun to see how television changed from the 1950's - 1989. I could see trends, changes in social mores, and how many ideas were hashed and re-hashed with remakes and revivals- such as “The New Leave it to Beaver”, which had several incarnations before it actually stuck around for a few seasons.
Although, presented in a list style formation, it is still like watching history unfold and as a pop culture enthusiast, I found this fascinating.
While, many would like to see a newer version on this list with pilots listed from 1990- to present day, myself included, I thought the decades explored here were very interesting and insightful, plus I learned a lot about television in the 50's and 60's which was before my time.
You will never find another compilation of television facts this comprehensive, nor will you find this information anywhere else all listed in one place. For those who are unaware, this book was a huge hit when it was originally published and was the basis of several television specials, and was featured on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.
This book can be a little bit of a time suck, if you aren't careful. Once I picked it up, an hour passed by before I knew it. Having said that, I would recommend reading it a little at a time, and it's not absolutely necessary to comb through it from cover to cover either, as it makes a great reference guide, and is perfect for the television zealot.
It is obvious the author is a television aficionado, having started to work on this list while he was still a child! So, it goes without saying this list was compiled with painstaking research, and took years to organize and complete. I am thrilled to see it now available in digital format, so I can carry it with me anywhere I go and impress the most fanatical of TV worshipers with my rare and unique knowledge.
Overall, I found this book very interesting and entertaining. It made for some interesting conversations with my family, and prompted a few “where are they now” internet searches. Again, I recommend this one to any student of television, to trivia and list lovers, to those who enjoy performance arts books, pop culture or nostalgia.
5 stars
Richard Dreyfuss as Yossarian, in catch 22? Michelle Phillips and Tanya Roberts as undercover cops? ( Ladies in Blue- 1980) Hulk Hogan as a private detective? ( Goldie and the Bears)
Oh my goodness, this book was great. I never could have envisioned a list style book with such rare information! There really is a lot to digest here, so it's even more impressive how detailed and organized the book is.
Beginning with the year 1955- The list is broken down into several parts. For example: ABC/ Comedy or ABC/Drama and so on.
Whenever possible, the author list for each pilot - the production company, the writers, directors, and producers , as well as the cast of characters and the actors/actresses who portrayed them, and a brief synopsis.
It was fun to see how television changed from the 1950's - 1989. I could see trends, changes in social mores, and how many ideas were hashed and re-hashed with remakes and revivals- such as “The New Leave it to Beaver”, which had several incarnations before it actually stuck around for a few seasons.
Although, presented in a list style formation, it is still like watching history unfold and as a pop culture enthusiast, I found this fascinating.
While, many would like to see a newer version on this list with pilots listed from 1990- to present day, myself included, I thought the decades explored here were very interesting and insightful, plus I learned a lot about television in the 50's and 60's which was before my time.
You will never find another compilation of television facts this comprehensive, nor will you find this information anywhere else all listed in one place. For those who are unaware, this book was a huge hit when it was originally published and was the basis of several television specials, and was featured on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.
This book can be a little bit of a time suck, if you aren't careful. Once I picked it up, an hour passed by before I knew it. Having said that, I would recommend reading it a little at a time, and it's not absolutely necessary to comb through it from cover to cover either, as it makes a great reference guide, and is perfect for the television zealot.
It is obvious the author is a television aficionado, having started to work on this list while he was still a child! So, it goes without saying this list was compiled with painstaking research, and took years to organize and complete. I am thrilled to see it now available in digital format, so I can carry it with me anywhere I go and impress the most fanatical of TV worshipers with my rare and unique knowledge.
Overall, I found this book very interesting and entertaining. It made for some interesting conversations with my family, and prompted a few “where are they now” internet searches. Again, I recommend this one to any student of television, to trivia and list lovers, to those who enjoy performance arts books, pop culture or nostalgia.
5 stars
January 27, 2016
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.5 of 5
Unsold Television Pilots 1955-1989 is an expanded version of author Lee Goldberg's book The Best TV Shows That Never Were (reviewed yesterday). Yesterday's book focused on, as the title suggests, the best shows that were never made. This book is ALL the shows not made between 1955-1989. It is not a simple read. But it is fascinating!
This is a great peek at how Hollywood thinks. Compare the shows that made it to these shows that didn't even get past the pilot stage, and you can start to see what the Hollywood TV makers think of the television consumer. But you can also look at some of these pilots and wonder what the heck ever made anyone think it might be a good idea.
The book is broken down into chronological order by year and within each year it is broken down by studio and type (comedy or drama). There is a comprehensive list of producers, writers, and actors along with the general story plot for the pilot. In some cases the intended story arc for the potential series is also presented.
For those of us with a fascination with television history, this is a gold mine. Whether it's seeing actor names like Harrison Ford in a pilot where James Farentino plays a defrocked priest (The Possessed, 1977) or Dwayne Hickman is the only male teacher in an elementary school (Hey Teacher, 1964); or writers like Earl Hamner (The Waltons) come up with ideas like that in which young veterinarians live in the mountains with a huge tiger and a pair of orangutans (Tiger, Tiger, 1969), this book is filled with little gems.
Although I read this chronologically, cover to cover, this is easily the sort of book that one could pick up and thumb through and look at any year. Any producer.
Though it has little useful information for daily use, for those of us who love trivia and pop culture and television, this book has so much to offer.
The down side is that it only goes up to 1989. An entire generation (or even two) of television watchers won't see the failed pilots from their viewing years. But I can understand how much more difficult it gets as more and more networks begin producing their own shows. And with companies such as Amazon and Netflix also making original programming, just keeping track of these things becomes more and more complicated.
This book is clearly a labor of love by author Lee Goldberg. That he is a fan of the business, as well as an insider, is obvious. I would like to have seen a little stronger hand in the proof-reading. I recognize that there are a LOT of names in this 800+ page book, but there were times when the errors (not all of them typos) seemed a little too much. Stor Trek instead of Star Trek is an example, and in a 1979 inclusion of The Return of the Mod Squad, character of Lincoln ('Linc") Hayes is twice referred to as "Line" Hayes. Note that my copy of the book was an advance reading copy and that perhaps some corrections were made before publishing.
All in all, I really like this book and will most certainly reference it in the future.
Looking for a good book? Unsold Television Pilots: 1955-1989 by Lee Goldberg is a great look at pop history from a point of view that we don't often see ... the things that don't make it to the public eye.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Unsold Television Pilots 1955-1989 is an expanded version of author Lee Goldberg's book The Best TV Shows That Never Were (reviewed yesterday). Yesterday's book focused on, as the title suggests, the best shows that were never made. This book is ALL the shows not made between 1955-1989. It is not a simple read. But it is fascinating!
This is a great peek at how Hollywood thinks. Compare the shows that made it to these shows that didn't even get past the pilot stage, and you can start to see what the Hollywood TV makers think of the television consumer. But you can also look at some of these pilots and wonder what the heck ever made anyone think it might be a good idea.
The book is broken down into chronological order by year and within each year it is broken down by studio and type (comedy or drama). There is a comprehensive list of producers, writers, and actors along with the general story plot for the pilot. In some cases the intended story arc for the potential series is also presented.
For those of us with a fascination with television history, this is a gold mine. Whether it's seeing actor names like Harrison Ford in a pilot where James Farentino plays a defrocked priest (The Possessed, 1977) or Dwayne Hickman is the only male teacher in an elementary school (Hey Teacher, 1964); or writers like Earl Hamner (The Waltons) come up with ideas like that in which young veterinarians live in the mountains with a huge tiger and a pair of orangutans (Tiger, Tiger, 1969), this book is filled with little gems.
Although I read this chronologically, cover to cover, this is easily the sort of book that one could pick up and thumb through and look at any year. Any producer.
Though it has little useful information for daily use, for those of us who love trivia and pop culture and television, this book has so much to offer.
The down side is that it only goes up to 1989. An entire generation (or even two) of television watchers won't see the failed pilots from their viewing years. But I can understand how much more difficult it gets as more and more networks begin producing their own shows. And with companies such as Amazon and Netflix also making original programming, just keeping track of these things becomes more and more complicated.
This book is clearly a labor of love by author Lee Goldberg. That he is a fan of the business, as well as an insider, is obvious. I would like to have seen a little stronger hand in the proof-reading. I recognize that there are a LOT of names in this 800+ page book, but there were times when the errors (not all of them typos) seemed a little too much. Stor Trek instead of Star Trek is an example, and in a 1979 inclusion of The Return of the Mod Squad, character of Lincoln ('Linc") Hayes is twice referred to as "Line" Hayes. Note that my copy of the book was an advance reading copy and that perhaps some corrections were made before publishing.
All in all, I really like this book and will most certainly reference it in the future.
Looking for a good book? Unsold Television Pilots: 1955-1989 by Lee Goldberg is a great look at pop history from a point of view that we don't often see ... the things that don't make it to the public eye.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
August 14, 2015
Again a really interesting book to read, I guess it is written in my era so I am familiar with the names in the book, but also of interest are the type of series that were thought to sell in those time. A wonderful journey through television history. Anyone who likes television history and facts would enjoy this, a book one could dip into many times especially when a new series come into show and see maybe some similarities.
August 9, 2015
This book covers a lot of ground on TV shows that never made it to air - either being cut during the script phases or after the pilots had been shot. It is interesting to see what never made it to the public sphere and leaves one to wonder which might have ended up having long runs if they had been given a chance. Recommended for TV fanatics.
February 7, 2016
Great collection of unsold pilots!
This book has a BUNCH of unsold pilots of the series. I personally think that if this book is read then the history might not be repeated.
This book has a BUNCH of unsold pilots of the series. I personally think that if this book is read then the history might not be repeated.
May 1, 2019
Fun book about tv that never came to be, or at least did not in its original intention. Spanning from 1955-1989, older pilots are so different from the newer ones. Even the 1980s ones seem a bit alien compared to television of now ( which isn't even on channels in some cases now.)
This comprehensive library has all genres, so if for example you're not interested in comedies, you can easily skip them over. Rather author (compiler? Editor?) offers an introduction and as much information as possible on each pilot., some went on to air in different ways than intended. This book can appeal to many people. Perhaps those working in or fascinated by the entertainment industry will have the most fun with it, but this is far from necessary in order to enjoy this book! The question I have is: if these pilots are all unsold wouldn't they technically now be sold to be part of the book? My deep thoughts of the day for you.
This comprehensive library has all genres, so if for example you're not interested in comedies, you can easily skip them over. Rather author (compiler? Editor?) offers an introduction and as much information as possible on each pilot., some went on to air in different ways than intended. This book can appeal to many people. Perhaps those working in or fascinated by the entertainment industry will have the most fun with it, but this is far from necessary in order to enjoy this book! The question I have is: if these pilots are all unsold wouldn't they technically now be sold to be part of the book? My deep thoughts of the day for you.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews