The Pilots You Won’t See on TV This Fall, But Maybe You Should

By Rueben | January 21, 2014

Pilot season is, once again, upon us and what better way to celebrate this annual “event” than by spotlighting the pilots you won’t see on network or cable TV but that maybe you should.

As we here at NiceGirlsTV have been doing for FIVE years now, here are some pilots we think would be great fun to see on TV this coming season. Please keep in mind none of these pilots are actually real or under consideration by any of the networks, but maybe someday they will be:

1. The Golden Girls – This revisionist tale of the classic 80’s-90’s comedy will follow four former college friends, who are reunited in sunny Southern California when a long-held secret from their past is resurrected by a mysterious young woman. Think of this as a much darker version of the sitcom with hints of Revenge and Desperate Housewives spliced into the storyline. The cast includes Margaret Colin (Independence Day) as small-town girl turned high-powered attorney Rita Norland; Linda Hamilton (Terminator and Beauty and the Beast) as Deidre Panache, the LA native who inherited the Fortune 500 company created by her recently deceased wealthy parents; Jamie Leigh Curtis (Freaky Friday and NCIS) as Sandy Kincade, the pride of Brooklyn, New York who made it big on Broadway and the big screen and is now a much-in-demand public speaker and Michelle Pfeiffer (I Am Sam and Dark Shadows) as Southern belle and former beauty queen Barbara “Bebe” Dubois, the reigning Queen of fashion and beauty thanks to her international company The Dubois Way.

TAGLINE: “What happens in your past doesn’t stay buried forever.”

2. Desperado – This late 1980’s TV western movie franchise would still be set in the Old West with fugitive do-gooder Duell McCall, this time played by Ryan Kennedy (Smallville, Caprica and Hellcats), still drifting from town to town. While attempting to track down the notorious Whitlock brothers who committed all the crimes for which he was accused, Duell strives to help those he comes across who are in need. Duell is also haunted by dreams of the woman, Nora Malloy (Hallee Hirsh from JAG and ER), that he had to leave behind in his hometown on that fateful day that the Whitlock’s rained havoc and turned his life upside down. Patrick Fabian (Veronica Mars and Joan of Arcadia) will play Nora’s dad Hank.

TAGLINE: “You can’t outrun fate”.

3. Facts of Life – This modernized tale of the students (both boys and girls) at St. Sebastian, one of the top private schools in the country located in Peekskill, New York, will only have hints of comedy with plenty of drama and intrigue. It will focus on the following students, most of whom have parents in the highest echelon of the world’s government, making them all easy targets for a nefarious eco-group set on changing the world:

Bailee Madison (Once Upon a Time) as Blair Ward, the daughter of Senator Jack Ward and Dr. Patricia Ward;

Colin Ford (Under the Dome) as Jake Mayfield, the direct descendent of Mayflower passenger Augustus Mayfield, and son of Secret Service agent Candace Mayfield;

Joey King (White House Down) as Joanna “Jo” Pollack, the daughter of hard-working parents Gerald and Elise Pollack (they work at the White House as part of the staff), who is a scholarship student;

Madeline Carroll (Flipped and Mr. Popper’s Penquins) as Anastasiya “Sasha” Grinkov, the daughter of the Russian ambassador to the United States; and

Maxwell Perry Cotton (Brothers & Sisters) as Blake Grandley, the only child of the Attorney General Ronald Grandley and his second wife Barbara Cole, Washington D.C. news anchor.

Among the faculty at St. Sebastian will be Percy Daggs III (Veronica Mars) as Principal Ed Garrett, Jason Gedrick (Dexter and Luck) as football coach (and former Heisman trophy winner) Thomas “Tommy” Badalicki and Lindy Booth (October Road and Copper) as Guidance Counselor Megan Wright.

TAGLINE: “Be careful who your parents are”.

4. Murder, He Wrote – Ignore the fact that Murder, She Wrote is in production with Oscar winner Octavia Spencer in the lead role, as that pilot has yet to be picked up to series by NBC. This version would find well-known, but rather reclusive, British mystery novelist James Horn (Dougray Scott from Ever Afer) reluctantly moving to the United States. He ends up in the picturesque (and fictional) town of Santa Maritz, California (think Santa Barbara combined with Cabot Cove) where he encounters the myriad of unique inhabitants and all the unbelievable mysteries and murders all the while trying to complete his long-awaited 12th novel in his long-running award-winning mystery novel series. Diane Lane (Man of Steel) will play the town doctor Jacqueline Carter while Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Eureka) will play Sheriff Amy Topper.

TAGLINE: “Murder and mayhem ARE strange bedfellows”.

Just like all of the other pilot lists we have provided over the last few years, none of the above are actual television pilots under consideration by any of the major or cable networks. And while they are based on actual shows from the past, they are completely fictitious ideas created by yours truly. But wouldn’t it be great fun to see these classic shows brought back? If only Hollywood were listening, right?

What past TV shows would you like to see rebooted? Please share your thoughts below.