It’s ON ““ on The Other Network that is ““ where comical unaired TV pilots of past years find refuge and appreciation.
This year, The Other Network has found a place in Cinefamily’s Second Annual Comedy Festival to be held in Hollywood’s The Silent Movie Theatre this Tuesday, June 29, with two showings starting at 7:30 and 10:15 p.m.
“These pilots that didn’t get picked up kind of represent this alternate universe of television that could have been ““ that’s an exciting thing to show in the festival because it’s kind of a discovery,” said Mya Stark, a Cinefamily employee.
The unaired pilots were first discovered by comedian Beth Lapides and her husband Greg Miller, president of Un-Cabaret, a group dedicated to alternative comedy and the co-producer of Cinefamily’s event.
“It turned out that a lot of people had pilots that they were really happy with creatively, but for one reason or another they didn’t go on networks,” Miller said.
Miller described that after working in the world of television, he and Lapides met various writers, including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” creator Judd Apatow, who had several failures before their present-day successes.
“It’s very interesting to see the work that hasn’t necessarily gotten to be seen (on TV) because it was a different part of the journey,” Lapides said.
The unaired pilots include shows such as Judd Apatow’s “North Hollywood,” featuring comedians Amy Poehler, Kevin James and Jason Segel and Conan O’Brien’s pilot “Lookwell,” in addition to many others.
Steve Carrell adds a comic touch to David and Jerry Zucker’s unaired pilot “H.U.D.,” in which Carrell serves as an inept secret agent for the Housing and Urban Development squad.
“TV is a very collaborative medium, and you don’t usually get auteurs like you do in films, somebody who is really putting their vision forward. But these pilots … were so idiosyncratic and had so much of their own flavor ““ maybe that was one reason the networks didn’t decide to air them, but they make great pilots,” Miller said.
According to Lapides, while there are well-done shows on TV today, they are often just another version of something that has already been seen, but the pilots of The Other Network are originally conceived and executed.
“(The pilot producers) tell sort of war stories about what went right, what went wrong, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, what they would have done differently,” Miller said.
While it is heartbreaking to have a show fall apart, it is a part of the creative process of learning and growing and working on one’s personal vision, according to Lapides.
“The way that you’re funny in any medium is to be true to your own comic voice and vision,” Lapides said.
While the unaired pilots of The Other Network were unsuccessful in their time, their writers and producers continued on to have success with shows today, such as “Community,” “The Sarah Silverman Program” and even Judd Apatow’s popular films such as “Knocked Up.”
Lapides finds that truly creative work, such as the unaired pilots, represent authentic visions.
“Watch the best stuff you can … the goal is to reach high and go for the best and be your fullest and see the truly original stuff,” Lapides said.