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Promoted shows that never aired

S

ShawnHill1

In the spirit of the "One Episode Wonders" thread, I got to thinking about shows that were promoting weeks ahead of its debut airdate, only to never make it on the air at all.

Case in point, I believe it was 1997 or '98 where Fox was promoting one of its upcoming fall sitcoms, this one starring Scott Baio and comedian Mystro Clark (who later became a host of Soul Train around this same timeframe) called "Rewind". The premise, from what I could tell from the promos, are the two guys who work together and want to re-live their teenage years. Fox promoted the show endlessly during that summer, only to pull it off the fall schedule just a few weeks before its scheduled debut, never to be seen.

I believe Fox did something similar maybe a year or two later with another one of their upcoming fall shows, only to pull it at practically the last minute. Can you ladies and gentlemen think of other examples?
 
In '78, CBS had second thoughts about changing the format of 'Maude'(after a storyline at the end of season 6, in which she became a congresswoman). The next season, the network revamped that idea for a series titled 'Mr Dugan', with Cleavon Little in the congressional-newcomer role. Members of the Congressional Black Congress were shown the pilot, but they objected to the stereotypical nature of Little's character. Although CBS had promoted the show's imminent premeire, they pulled it at he last minute. Ironically, whn the concept was revamped again, Bill Macy was the star, and the setting was now a university where a prominent jock alumnus had become chancellor. This version, 'Hangin' In', died after a month, in August 1979.
 
This show has been mentioned before: Snip, on NBC, was part of their Fall season until (gasp) there was word of a gay character--in a show about hairdressers, no less. ::)

Not quite the same thing here, but I can remember earlier that year, TV Guide actually had an ad for The Gong Show--with host John Barbour. Obviously, Barbour was replaced days before the first show by Chuck Barris. Barbour went on to co-host Real People.
 
The June 8, 1971 Dick Cavett Show never aired for an obvious reason: one of the guests, publisher J.I. Rodale, actually died DURING the show. He had made comments during his interview with Cavett such as, "I've decided to live to be a hundred", and "I never felt better in my life!" When columnist Pete Hamill came on, Rodale moved down, soon started making a snoring-type noise and was pronounced dead soon after.
 
BD Sullivan said:
This show has been mentioned before: Snip, on NBC, was part of their Fall season until (gasp) there was word of a gay character--in a show about hairdressers, no less. ::)
Click to expand...

The series was seen in Australia and gotten quite popular, to a point where viewers were disappointed to learn that there were no more episodes beyond the six made.

BD Sullivan said:
The June 8, 1971 Dick Cavett Show never aired for an obvious reason: one of the guests, publisher J.I. Rodale, actually died DURING the show. He had made comments during his interview with Cavett such as, "I've decided to live to be a hundred", and "I never felt better in my life!" When columnist Pete Hamill came on, Rodale moved down, soon started making a snoring-type noise and was pronounced dead soon after.
Click to expand...

One memorable quote was when Cavett called out to the audience, requesting for a doctor: "Is there a doctor in... the audience?", purposedly skipping the well-known line. A rerun was seen instead, with Cavett explaining the next night what have happened.
 
BD Sullivan said:
This show has been mentioned before: Snip, on NBC, was part of their Fall season until (gasp) there was word of a gay character--in a show about hairdressers, no less. ::)
Click to expand...

...by the same network that brought Paul Lynde and Alan Sues into America's living rooms for years ;D ...

azumanga said:
BD Sullivan said:
The June 8, 1971 Dick Cavett Show never aired for an obvious reason: one of the guests, publisher J.I. Rodale, actually died DURING the show. He had made comments during his interview with Cavett such as, "I've decided to live to be a hundred", and "I never felt better in my life!" When columnist Pete Hamill came on, Rodale moved down, soon started making a snoring-type noise and was pronounced dead soon after.
Click to expand...

One memorable quote was when Cavett called out to the audience, requesting for a doctor: "Is there a doctor in... the audience?", purposedly skipping the well-known line. A rerun was seen instead, with Cavett explaining the next night what have happened.
Click to expand...
...I used to work for a couple of ABC Radio affiliates in Wisconsin, and in that capacity I once met one of the engineers that worked at ABC's New York Technical Operations Center, at the time in a radio network capacity but earlier on the TV side. He swore up and down to me that, for years, the raw tape of the Rodale death on The Dick Cavett Show was used as a training tool by ABC to test the instincts of new hires at TOC...
 
Not sure if it eventually aired, but for a long time, a Richard Lewis appearance on "Later With Bob Costas" never aired, supposedly because Costas was laughing so hard at Lewis' shtick that he was literally on the floor (maybe the original ROTFLMAO...)
 
In October of 1977, NBC had scheduled a TV-movie biography on Lou Gehrig, but it got pre-empted by a baseball League Championship Game, of all things!

The TV-movie was rescheduled and was broadcast a few weeks later.

(To NBC's credit, newspaper and TV Guide ads for that movie did warn readers that there was a chance that the movie would be pre-empted due to a baseball playoff game)
 
In June, 1985, ABC heavily promoted a two-hour TV movie(animated) version of 'The Wind in the Willows'. On the Sunday it was scheduled to air, the TWA hijacking in Beirut came to an end as the hostages were released. ABC announced the cartoon would air 'at a later date', but I'm not sure when or if it actually was shown.
 
In June 2004 Jimmy Kimmel promoted an Episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the 2004 NBA finals where he said "If Detroit win, they will burn down the town". Both WXYZ and ABC would pull the the show for that night.
 
In 2006 Fox I believe was planning on doing an interview with OJ to promote his book If I Had Done It refering to the night of the killings but it and the book were pulled after much negative reaction.
 
chris12 said:
In 2006 Fox I believe was planning on doing an interview with OJ to promote his book If I Had Done It refering to the night of the killings but it and the book were pulled after much negative reaction.
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Thank God. Hasn't the term "the real killer" been relegated to satirical status?
 
chris12 said:
In 2006 Fox I believe was planning on doing an interview with OJ to promote his book If I Had Done It refering to the night of the killings but it and the book were pulled after much negative reaction.
Click to expand...
...actually, I think that may have been for a show on Fox News Channel rather than the broadcast network, although both entities may have planned on using it...
 
It was supposed to air on the Fox broadcast network, and re-aired on FNC; subsequently, a judge granted book publication rights to the Goldman family, who added their own reactions/rebuttals to the manuscript, and the book was issued under the title 'If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer'(note the word 'Real' was not used). The book cover design greatly reduced the size of the word 'If', placing it inside the second word, 'I'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Did_It
 
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