Unsold TV Pilots

Like my cousin Booksteve, one of my favorite books is Unsold TV Pilots by Lee Goldberg. Some did air as tv movies or as part of a series that they were to be spun off from. If you want more background on this wonderful book you should read Steve's post. What I am posting here is that some actors are more unlucky with pilots then others. Some are lucky enough to have one or two in their background. Others have more. Here are some that have one thing in common.

Questor (aka The Questor Tapes) – This was Gene Roddenberry’s second time at a TV series after his Star Trek series was canceled. Robert Foxworth is an android called Questor. He is searching the globe for the scientist who created him and the scientist may even be from another planet. Mike Farrell is a human scientist who helps him in his search. They meet a lot of people who they help. In their search Questor is exposed to complex human emotions.

The Stranger – Glenn Corbett plays Stryker who is an astronaut on a deep space probe that crash lands on Earth. Only to find out that it isn’t his Earth but a similar world called Terra. Everything is the same but this world is not free. It is run by a dictator that wants Stryker dead because he talks about freedom and the rights that he had on his Earth. The series would show how Stryker tries to escape death from the dictator and leave Terra to return home.

Johnny Risk- This series took place in the 1800’s on a gambling ship in the Yukon. It filmed in 1958 and starred a young Michael Landon with Alan Hale Jr. Mr. Landon said that “It was nothing but shots being fired. It just went on forever. Needless to say, it didn’t go.”

Now what actor did all of these have in common? Well I pulled one name out from all of these short descriptions. I am sure that you know that it was the actor show above. Lew Ayres. Mr. Ayres is an actor who gained fame in All Quiet on the Western Front and later in a series of Young Dr. Kildare movies. He passed away in December 1996.
Lee Goldberg, the author of the book, has this website.