Unaired Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot

The non-broadcast pilot episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was produced by 20th Century Fox in 1996 to pitch a series to networks. The twenty-five-and-a-half-minute production was written and directed by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, and was expanded upon and re-shot for the first episode of the series. It is notable for featuring a different actress in the role of Willow, Sunnydale High is Berryman High and a different actor as Principal Flutie.

After having burned down her school gym and been expelled from a school in L.A., Buffy Summers has moved to Sunnydale with her mother. Buffy goes to school for the first time at Sunnydale High and meets new people: Cordelia, Willow, and Xander. Willow is lured by a vampire into a trap. Buffy shows up with Xander and kills all the vampires except one; the surviving vampire reports the incident back to The Master.

Plot synopsis

A couple breaks into a deserted school. The girl is a beautiful blonde, and she follows the guy to the theater stage. She stops, seemingly afraid that she has heard something. He assures her that there is nothing to be worried about, but the girl, whose identity is later revealed to be Darla, turns towards him with a monstrous face and bites his neck, killing him.

Television pilot

A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode) is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its creation, the pilot is meant to be the testing ground to gauge whether a series will be successful, and is therefore a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity.

Television networks use pilots to discover whether an entertaining concept can be successfully realized. After seeing this sample of the proposed product, networks will then determine whether the expense of additional episodes is justified. They are best thought of as prototypes of the show that is to follow, because elements often change from pilot to series. Variety estimates that only a little over a quarter of all pilots made for American television proceed to the series stage, although the figure may be even lower.

Birds of Prey (TV series)

Birds of Prey is a television drama series produced in 2002. The series was developed by Laeta Kalogridis for The WB and is loosely based on the Birds of Prey DC Comics series. Despite the series debut garnering ratings of 7.6 million viewers (at the time, the network's largest premiere in the 18–34 demographic), the series was canceled after ratings fell sharply in subsequent weeks. Thirteen episodes were produced in total.

Plot outline

The series is set in New Gotham City, several years after it has been apparently abandoned by Batman. In his absence, Oracle (Barbara) and the Huntress (Helena) have taken over his war on crime. The two are joined by Dinah (after she assists them in defeating Larry Ketterly, a telepath with abilities similar to Scarecrow); Alfred Pennyworth, who serves Helena as she is heir to the Wayne estate; and Detective Jesse Reese, a police officer confronted with crimes and abilities he cannot explain.

A central feature of the series is the concept of metahumans: individuals born with powers that cannot be explained. No two metahumans have the same abilities (unless hereditary), and there exists a whole subculture of metahuman society that the outside world knows nothing about.