#24 - Puppetman: Unsold Pilot

I got to witness "The Muppets" during the first part of the first season of Saturday Night Live, I say this just to prove as much as I love Jim Henson and those Muppets, I know for certain not everything he touched turned to gold I was also aware from a Jim Henson biography that in 1987 he produced a show titled Puppetman that went unsold and was about the goings on behind the scenes of a puppet show (but not like The Muppet Show, I mean the actual puppeteers).

It's best to say my opinion on Puppetman is mixed, anything involving the puppets is pretty good and there is some nice Muppet characters that wouldn't be out of place elsewhere but... the plot about Gary (Fred Newman) looking after his son and finding out the mother is going be away for 6 months (they've split) is so generic that you just want the scenes too move along.

I don't know if this was the first thing that Henson produced that took away the illusion of the Muppet characters but that might have some explaniation to why it was never picked up, but there is a spark there with the behind the scenes (though it's not exactly Larry Sanders Show).

Overall I've seen worse make it to series and go on years but next to some other Jim Henson work it's just not in the same league.

#22 - Coming To America: Unsold Pilot

I like to think I have a pretty good knowledge of shows based on films, even the ones that failed or only made it as far as an unsold pilot, but I have to admit the existence of an unsold pilot for Coming To America passed me by.

So a year after the films release, a television pilot was produced in 1989 which rather then Eddie Murphy (who would have been way too expensive - but he stayed on executive role) we get Tommy Davidson playing Prince Tariq (you'll recall Murphy played Prince Akeem). Davidson about a year later would go onto to appear in sketch show In Living Color.

While Akeem set off to find a woman who loved him for him and not his money, Tariq as being exiled to America by his brother to attend college and has blown through his allowance in only 9 days. While Murphy was charming in the role, Davidson is nothing like that even other female character which p-off's his aide Oha (Paul Bates - who is the only actor to appear from the people, he has the same name but it's unclear if he was mean't to be the same character) and to make money get a job at their landlords diner (not McDowells).

It's not very good, but if it had gone to series and made it to show in 89, I would have probably regularly watched it. Another thing that stood out with the pilot was the randon excuses for Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson impressions.

Overall, more of a curio then anything and easy to see why there wasn't a series to follow.

#19 - Clerks: Unaired Pilot

Dante? Randall? I'm not sure it even matters who is mean't to be which

TV shows based on films whether you love or hate them usually have some link, something indentifial about them - MASH, Clueless, Limitless, Buffy The Vampire Slayer etc. - the shows might not always be completely linked to the movie, but like I said you can just tell...

Which is not really true at all about the 1995 unaired pilot based on Kevin Smith's debut and breakthrough movie which I believe the movies' Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) auditioned for and even got turned down for (seriously you'd think you'd want the films actors reprising there roles) and it's not just the lack of actors or any involement from Kevin Smith, it... just feels nothing like Clerks.

It's not even because it's not in black and white or it's recorded in front of a studio audience... it... it just doesn't capture anything of the film, take away the Clerks title and it's just a generic sit-com about the employees of a convienence store.

Dante and Randall are here (Andrew Lowery and Jim Breuer) which where quite interchangeble as far as I'm concerned, notably absent is the films most iconic characters Jay and Silent Bob (unsurprisingly Kevin Smith had zero to do with this) which is even if they did recast and softened them up for TV you have to question why they are not there (or similar obvious replacement characters).

Some of the cast you might end recognizing from other work including Breuer who went on later the same year (1995) to be on Saturday Night Live and there's a small-role for Keri Russell who has had a decent career.

Overall just watch it as a curio because even without the Clerks. connection it's just a generic comedy pilot that would have fizzled out quickly if it made it to air. .