Yahoo News 7 TV shows with TOTALLY different pilot episodes
TV shows don't always get commissioned, filmed and put on air straight away. Sometimes, there's a long development process where niggling issues are ironed out.
Usually this occurs before the cameras get involved, but often pilot episodes are filmed to a lukewarm reaction at best.
These are the times where whole episodes were shelved and re-made, whether it was to replace underwhelming actors, shift the tone, or change the whole concept altogether.
(We almost included Sherlock – you can see the pilot on the DVD box set – but it's not substantially different, just shorter.)
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Joss Whedon had already written the 1992 movie of the same name, which had a much lighter tone than the TV series version. But he also self-financed a pilot episode to sell to Fox, though the network made some noticeable (and necessary) changes.
Firstly, Sunnydale is known as Berryman High School. Then you have Riff Regan playing Willow rather than Alyson Hannigan. Buffy is a brunette. Giles's library is HUGE.
While the grainy episode is available to watch in bootleg form, Whedon has stressed that it will never be officially released "while there is strength in these bones", because it "sucks on ass". Fair on enough.
2. The Big Bang Theory
While the majority of the themes and plots of the Big Bang pilot remained in the final version, there are various elements which just don't feel right when watching it back.
It was weird enough in the actual pilot that Sheldon would even know how to deposit his sperm at a bank, let alone be fine with the idea. But in the original pilot, he's far more sexually aware, even being known as an "ass man" according to Leonard.
The pilot had two female leads, with Amanda Walsh as a Katie, and Iris Bahr as Gilda. Iris was a scientist colleague of Leonard and Sheldon's, and Katie is a woman they bump into after she breaks up with her boyfriend, and they invite her to share their apartment. There was no Penny, Howard or Raj at all.
Not only that, but the show's theme tune wasn't the familiar ditty by the Barenaked Ladies, but rather Thomas Dolby's 1980s tune 'She Blinded Me with Science'.
3. Game of Thrones
If you watch the first Game of Thrones episode, there are certain inconsistencies that are hard to ignore once you see them. For instance, Jon Snow and Robb Stark appear clean-shaven for half the episode, and Tyrion has a rather dodgy wig.
That's because the show had to re-shoot around 90% of its pilot episode. Producers have said that it'll likely never be shown, as it was rather shoddy in comparison to the slick production we know and love.
Test audiences apparently didn't understand the relationships between the main characters, including not realising that Jaime and Cersei were brother and sister, or that Tyrion was a Lannister. Daenerys Targaryen and Catelyn Stark were portrayed by completely different actresses (Tamzin Merchant and Jennifer Ehle), and Theon had a blonde wig.
4. Gilmore Girls
The pilot episode for Gilmore Girls was completely re-shot after some minor and major changes. Even the way the show looked was subtly different. For instance, the show is now known for its multiple takes to show different angles of each conversation. However in the pilot, there's no back and forth, and it's weird.
Lauren Graham plays Lorelai very differently in the pilot, and she doesn't across as cool or warm, wears a grey suit rather than her usual slacks, and is generally far too stuffy.
Sookie isn't played by Melissa McCarthy, but rather Alex Borstein, the voice of Lois in Family Guy. She wasn't allowed out of her MadTV contract at the time, and so had to be replaced. Jared Padalecki is also not around, as Dean was played by Nathan Wetherington, and he just comes across as a sk8er-boi dude rather than the laid back and dependable version we all know and love.
5. Seinfeld
When Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David first worked on what would become America's biggest-ever sitcom, it was originally called The Seinfeld Chronicles.
The original pilot episode was rejected by NBC, after focus groups labelled it "weak". The early version didn't have Elaine, Kramer was known as Kessler, Jerry and George hang out at Pete's Luncheonette, and the theme tune is... meh.
Seinfeld and David didn't see the memo stating the focus groups' negative reaction for several years, but after they did, they hung it in a bathroom on the set of the show. Seinfeld later said: "We thought, if someone goes in to use this bathroom, this is something they should see. It fits that moment."
6. Family Guy
Okay, the Family Guy pilot episode isn't that much different to the final product. But the animation is so shoddy (considering that the final version wasn't great either really says something), that it's really bizarre to watch back now.
It was created by Seth MacFarlane as a pitch for show to networks, only running at seven minutes in total. Lois is blonde, Chris has a deeper voice, Quagmire doesn't exist yet, and they're all nice to Meg, what heresy!
7. The Inbetweeners
Before The Inbetweeners first arrived on our screens in 2008, creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris first tested the show in 2006 under the title Baggy Trousers.
The series was completely different to what it eventually became. First of all, it was set in the 1980s, but it still would have followed four awkward teens.
A pilot was filmed with a totally different cast to The Inbetweeners, and a few other big differences. Foul-mouthed joker Jay is nowhere to be seen, replaced by another character named Lee. The pilot was never aired and has never been released in full.
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