Question about Sherlock

[mrv3000]

OMG A POST ABOUT SHERLOCK. HOW SURPRISING.

I'm curious about the Pilot. Why does it exist? I haven't actually seen it, but I have seen screencaps and clips. From what I can gather it's the same basic plot as A Study in Pink, but with a much smaller budget (sets, clothes, poor Sherlock's flat hair), and characters that haven't really been rounded out yet.

1. Its existence: why?

2. Was there anything vastly different about it? Mycroft doesn't exist?

I'm not sure I've ever seen a show do this before. (Have they? Is this a BBC thing?) It's like they filmed the dress rehearsal, and the director thought it was all crap and changed everything. Maybe it's a good thing - the characters did seem to hit the ground running in Pink.

Comments

[captaintish]

I think originally they were going to make a slightly longer season of normal length episodes. Then for some reason, they decided to do the three long episode thing instead.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Oh huh! Well, I'm glad they redid it. As far as I can tell, A Study in Pink looks WAY better than the Pilot.

[jacksrubberduck.livejournal.com]

Erm I haven't seen the pilot but if I recall correctly (and possibly slightly vaguely) the BBC did several pilots of various drama ideas which they showed on one of their digital channels to judge interest.
The successful ones got further development, Sherlock being one of these.
Being Human had a similar start.
It's a BBC thing I think, loads of shows start off on BBC 3 graduate to BBC 2 and wind up on BBC 1 if they become popular enough. Like Torchwood. :)

ETA: Of course it's worth saying that I may have imagined this entirely because my brain is a strange place.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

:D

Interesting! And presumably they upped their budget once they got approval.

[papilio-luna.livejournal.com]

It's a BBC thing. They commission pilots to see if they like the show, but it's not a matter of whether anyone else does because they don't have to sell ad time. So, they take a look at the pilot, say "We love it, but here's some notes." And then they go and make the series based on that, but the pilot get shelved.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. I'm glad they got money thrown at them - it looks like night and day.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

It's weirdly the same and different. No Mycroft, for one. Sherlock's a bit less... weird. The relationship between Sherlock and Watson is actually even slashier. Also, the way Sherlock solves the case doesn't make him look like a slow idiot like the aired version does. Stuff like that.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Sherlock's a bit less... weird.

I saw a short clip and yeah. He smiled or something and it was WEIRD. :D

The relationship between Sherlock and Watson is actually even slashier.

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? XD

Also, the way Sherlock solves the case doesn't make him look like a slow idiot like the aired version does.

MWAH.

[solielle.livejournal.com]

Lots of shows have pilots. In some cases (especially in the US), "Pilot" ends up being the title of the first episode of a series (That' what Futurama's Space Pilot 3000 is riffing on). Basically, a pilot is just a rough draft of the first episode of a TV show, so whoever is in charge can see its premise, how well it works, whether it fits whatever they want it to fit. I remember the Being Human (British version), they ended up re-casting two of the main leads and chopping out some of Annie's backstory (and sticking it in a later episode) to help the flow of the premise.

It's like they filmed the dress rehearsal, and the director thought it was all crap and changed everything.

Or that. Yeah, pretty much that.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I think what threw me is that they re-shot the whole thing. But I guess that's the way it probably works - they just usually don't air both.

[unfolded73.livejournal.com]

Buffy has an unaired pilot (which I've never seen), and I understand that the plot is similar to "Welcome to the Hellmouth" (the first episode to air). But Willow was played by someone else, I think? And there are other differences.

So I think regardless of whether it's the BBC or some one else, it sort of depends on how much needs to be changed after the network sees the pilot. Sometimes they say, "Brilliant! That's your first episode! Make some more!" and sometimes they decide that an actor needs to be replaced or some other major change needs to be made, and the first episode is reshot. Then you hear internet rumblings about the mysterious "unaired pilot" that exists somewhere in the ether.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I just can't imagine another Willow! That'd be strange.

I'm not sure who decided that lots of stuff needed changing with Sherlock, but they have my approval.

[jemster.livejournal.com]

OMG A POST ABOUT SHERLOCK. HOW SURPRISING.

Threw me for a complete loop...didn't know that you even liked the show. In fact, I think I need to lie down this little bit of info is so shocking. *snerk*

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Well, I have been pretty subtle about it, so it's understandable.

[nandamai]

OKAY. At this point I really want to watch this show. I just haven't found the time! :(

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

*POKES YOU*

[chloris.livejournal.com]

Everyone else has pretty well covered the BBC angle but I thought I'd mention that it's not uncommon for US shows as well. Pilots are redone all the time to make adjustments in actors and focus before it goes into production. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one I can think of off the top of my head. (I never saw the original pilot but I know they recast Willow.)

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I pretty much fail at fannish knowledge. :D

[principia.livejournal.com]

I've seen at least two or three other cases in British TV where they've done this - Being Human and the made-to-sell-to-the-US pilots for Red Dwarf.

I suspect it's more common than we might think - given that the BBC in particular has tighter limits on its spending than the average US entertainment company, they probably don't like to spend more than they have to on what is essentially a proof of concept, and would rather have to redo it properly than pay to properly do something that will never air.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that makes sense.