7 thoughts on “Original Pilots”

  1. Did you ever see the unsold Ben Stiller/Jack Black/Owen Wilson pilot for Heat Vision & Jack?
    Jack Black plays an astronaut who gets too close to the sun and gets special powers — whenever the sun shines he’s the SMARTEST MAN ON THE PLANET!! When it’s not out, he’s a dumbass. Well, that and Owen Wilson (his best friend) is shot by a special ray gun by the evil villain (Ron Silver playing NASA bad guy “Ron Silver”) and Owen Wilson morphs into Jack Black’s motorcycle — so now Jack’s motorcycle is a talking bike with Owen Wilson’s voice, a la KITT.
    Hilarious, and no wonder it never sold.

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  2. Unaired pilots are fun! Maybe you can help with this one. I know, I KNOW, I saw commercials for a pilot on NBC (series unsold, which was a surprise) for (as I recall) a half hour comedy series starring Robert Wagner as a horror writer ala Stephen King, complete with wife and adorable children. I KNOW I saw the commercials for it, but it was pre-empted at the last second due some breaking news in the Gulf War. As far as I am aware, it was never shown.

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  3. I’m one of the few folks who wasn’t wowed by HEAT VISION AND JACK. It’s always sounded funnier than it actually was in execution.
    I believe the Stephen King-esque pilot you’re talking about was called THE GHOST WRITER and starred Anthony Perkins. We tried to use a clip from it in our unsold pilot special but couldn’t clear the rights.

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  4. Hmmm…. I can’t really say one way or the other, but you may be right. Damned if I’m still not positive it was Wagner as the lead. There’s no trace of it anywhere, not on IMDB or RJ’s website. But dammit, I remember that.

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