An article on the Dark Horizons Web site about how The CW (the new network being formed by a merger of The WB and UPN) didn't pickup The WB's "shoe-in"
Aquaman pilot made by the
Smallville creators likens its failure to get a pickup to the situation with the 2004 DS pilot:
When The CW announced its new Fall shows line-up on Thursday, no sign of the show (alternately titled "Mercy Reef" or simply "The Reef") existed - only one 'family on the run' drama entitled "Runaway" made it into the final line-up. A surprise but not unexpected, a high concept genre series like "Aquaman" is expensive to produce which is not a welcome idea for a smaller network.
Its also not the first time this has happened either, two years ago The WB developed much talked about pilots for contemporary updates of 60's vampire series "Dark Shadows" and sci-fi classic "Lost in Space" and yet when the Fall line-up was announced neither show made it, the network opting only for its disastrous family drama "The Mountain".
Those 'Shadows' and 'Lost' pilots may have been quietly buried (and having seen the awful 'Lost' one for good reason, have yet to see 'Shadows' though would love too), "Aquaman" isn't going so quietly into the good night. This weekend saw a 2.5 minute preview with scenes from the pilot emerge onlineHowever, the
Aquaman situation is definitely a bit different from that of the DS pilot. The DS pilot was competing with other WB pilots -
Aquaman was competing with the other WB pilots as well as the UPN pilots. Certainly not the greatest of odds - especially when The CW was already trying to merge the most successful shows from the two other networks into one schedule.
I also wonder, if The WB DS pilot had gone to series in 2004, if we might be lamenting its failure to make the cut to The CW just as the fans of such WB series as
Everwood are now? Though, of course, that's something we'll never know...
Anyone interested in reading the entire article can check out:
"Aquaman" Early Look Goes Online