Too Much Sunshine Will Make Him Explode.

April 6, 2008 4:56 AM

I'm baffled why these science fiction tv pilots never made it to series... especially Leonard Nimoy's Baffled!.
posted by fearfulsymmetry (30 comments total)

Hmm. I can't find any support for this on the 'net, but I'm about 80% certain that The Archer did indeed get picked up and broadcast for at least part of a season. I remember watching it (the Heartbow!) and begin disappointed when there were no more episodes.

Furthermore, I saw and enjoyed the TV-movie version of ExoMan back in the day. Conclusion? I am as old as the hills.
posted by The Tensor at 5:15 AM on April 6, 2008

Is that the one where Exoman had to become his butler?
posted by Dizzy at 5:35 AM on April 6, 2008

I almost hate to say it, but Clone Master actually looks kinda fun.
posted by Shepherd at 5:56 AM on April 6, 2008

I'd totally watch Clone Master. Somebody find the guy who greenlighted the Bionic Woman remake and let's get this thing off the ground.
posted by mmcg at 6:34 AM on April 6, 2008

You can watch Clone Master as the Michael Keaton remake Multiplicity.
posted by about_time at 7:08 AM on April 6, 2008

And The Man With the Power made it to air after its title was changed to The Greatest American Hero.
posted by Clay201 at 7:24 AM on April 6, 2008

I'd love to see these without that unfunny voiceover.
posted by nev at 7:33 AM on April 6, 2008

What are the odds. I *also* explode when exposed to too much sunlight.
posted by nax at 7:35 AM on April 6, 2008

Oh hey, Dr. Strange!
posted by beaucoupkevin at 7:41 AM on April 6, 2008

No, no, no Clay 201. The Greatest American Hero wasn't sired by aliens, they gave him the suit. See, it's totally different.
posted by localroger at 8:34 AM on April 6, 2008

Count how many of these concepts are found in Heat Vision and Jack. Okay, like one, maybe two. But y'know, still.
posted by George_Spiggott at 8:34 AM on April 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

Wait, too much sunshine will make him explode... unless he wears "special sunglasses"?

What about the rest of his body?
posted by Target Practice at 9:32 AM on April 6, 2008

...also, is it me, or does the narrator sound like Harlan Ellison?
posted by Target Practice at 9:34 AM on April 6, 2008

There needs to be more caveman-themed teevee, although their needs to be less GEICO cavemen-themed teevee.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:56 AM on April 6, 2008

I think there would be a market for releasing un-picked-up pilots on DVD. I know I'd rent them. But negotiating the DVD rights might be too prohibitively difficult and expensive.
posted by goatdog at 10:37 AM on April 6, 2008

*waves* Hi, Doc!
posted by bettafish at 10:55 AM on April 6, 2008

I thought Dr. Strange actually went past the pilot stage and became a real show.
posted by autodidact at 11:05 AM on April 6, 2008

Ha, these are great. I wish they had greenlighted them...
posted by spiderskull at 11:10 AM on April 6, 2008

"More caveman-themed teevee", you say? All you had to do was ask. It's About Time, too; this one's from Sherwood Schwartz, creator of Gilligan's Island.
posted by Smart Dalek at 11:28 AM on April 6, 2008

Driven by a need to know who starred in The Man with the Power (apparently poor Bob Neill's one shot at being a lead), I looked these all up on IMDB.

The Man with the Power with Vic Morrow and Persis Khambatta!
Northstar
Exo-Man
Dr. Strange with Jessica Walter as Morgan Le Fay!
The Archer with George Kennedy!
Clone Master
Baffled!
posted by Locative at 11:49 AM on April 6, 2008

best unaired pilot ever thats sort of sci-fi? the Elvira show! never have so many penis jokes been crammed into one show. also starring katherine helmond!
posted by sexyrobot at 12:27 PM on April 6, 2008

I want to see The Archer! The scenery chewing by George Kennedy alone would make it memorable. And it looks like it should have at least a little O'Keefe.
posted by Countess Elena at 12:31 PM on April 6, 2008

I'm sorry, Countess, a little O'Keefe won't do when miles O'Keefe is needed.

Here's the trailer though.
posted by Locative at 2:28 PM on April 6, 2008

Hmm...I don't know how torrents work, but this seems to be one for The Archer.

I should go outside now.
posted by Locative at 2:32 PM on April 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

There used to be a show on called "Strange Paradise" that aired immediately following "Dark Shadows" in the late 1960's or early 1970's. I loved it, and miss it terribly (as I miss "Dark Shadows").
posted by Chasuk at 3:01 PM on April 6, 2008

This post needs a mention of the Global Frequency.
posted by kowalski at 7:24 PM on April 6, 2008

...also, is it me, or does the narrator sound like Harlan Ellison?

Not nearly enough cursing for that.
posted by wildcrdj at 7:45 PM on April 6, 2008

I thought Dr. Strange actually went past the pilot stage and became a real show.

Not to mention a comic book!
posted by JHarris at 12:15 AM on April 7, 2008

My favorite obscure 1970s government-agent-with-a-special-ability is the almost-plausible Delphi Bureau, starring Laurence Luckinbill (!) as a spy with a photographic memory. Except he doesn't really know he's a spy, at first anyway, but begins to suspect. Something like that. You can see a bit of a scene that absolutely terrified me as a nine-year-old, a Hitchcockian encounter with an agricultural combine, in the ABC Fall Preview (10 min, that bit it at the very end). Anyway, watching that sort of suggested to me that the environment in which these stellar efforts faltered was not perhaps as challenging as one would have it. The whole thing starts with a breathless promo for Divorce His/Divorce Hers, with Burton and Taylor, which turns out to be IMDB's 49th-rated Richard Burton film.

I think there would be a market for releasing un-picked-up pilots on DVD. I know I'd rent them.

Yeah, I dunno why the long tail hasn't really served this market. I mean, just the one-season sitcoms alone at least have a built-in nostalgia audience. I never got to see half of All Is Forgiven, to cite one well-liked flop. And to this day, it rankles. It rankles, I say!
posted by dhartung at 2:08 AM on April 7, 2008

Oh, my god. I've been trying to track down the name of that Archer show for something close to forever. I distinctly remember being quite enchanted by the "heart bow" when I was a youngin. I don't think I ever knew the name of it though.

I hope that the torrent actually works when I get home tonight. I'm sure that I'll be disappointed now that I'm all grown up, but it would be worth it to scratch this overly persistent itch.
posted by willnot at 11:30 AM on April 7, 2008