WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've discovered another editing difference in the version of the pilot that's circulated online versus the version that's been shown at Fests:

I meant to mention that I find yesterday's quote in the slideshow -

Page 11 - Victoria: 'Only that he's troubled, and runs
through tutors like most kids run through socks.'

- to be one of the most amusing in the script. I did remember that, unfortunately, the amusing part regarding David going through tutors like most kids run through socks doesn't appear in the original cut of the pilot, the one that's been shown at Fests - only the part about David being troubled does. However, when I checked the online version to see if I could get a screen capture of the part where Vicki says David is troubled, I discovered even that part doesn't appear in the online version. In fact, the exchange between Vicki and Carolyn regarding David is very different.

The Fest version (which is very close to the script):

Carolyn
So...how much did they tell you about David?

Vicki
Only that he's troubled. And I read his psych evaluation on the trip up. According to his shrink, he's hyperactive and suffers from A.D.D...

Carolyn
Fascinating. David's problems go much deeper than that.
(A beat)
I hope I'm not scaring you. (laughs)

Vicki
(nervous laughter - regaining composure) He's a little boy, not the Boogeyman.

The online version:

Carolyn
So...how much did they tell you about David and his imaginary friend Sarah? I hope I'm not scaring you. One time, David drained all the blood from a squirrel. (laughs)

Vicki
(nervous laughter - regaining composure) He's a little boy, not the Boogeyman.

No mention of Sarah in the Fest version - and no mention of draining squirrel blood. And none of any of that is in the script, so quite possibly it was come up with on the day of filming - possibly even as an adlib...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I still have no idea why this was done and it irks me every time I'm reminded of it. 

I've mentioned this before, but for the life of me I don't understand why today's quote in the '04 Pilot Slideshow -

Page 36 - Roger (still suspicious): 'As long as I'm
not involved. Welcome to Collinsport.'

- was dropped in the YouTube version of the pilot. It completes the scene by letting the audience know Roger has given his permission for Barnabas to restore the Old House, whereas in the YouTube version Barnabas' request is left dangling. Weird. Plus, deleting any Roger material is a huge shame...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Rob Bowman left as director

It was bad enough that Rob Bowman's exit as director of the pilot in favor of his directing Elektra was likely a contributing factor to the pilot not going to series because the WB didn't like what P. J. Hogan had done as director (even though the WB hand picked Hogan), but now to learn that Jennifer Garner was basically forced to star in the movie -

Actors who were forced to play roles against their will: Jennifer Garner - Part 1
Actors who were forced to play roles against their will: Jennifer Garner - Part 2

- really makes Bowman's exit and the turn of events because of it sting. If Garner hadn't been forced to do the movie, perhaps there wouldn't have been no movie and Bowman never would have exited, so who knows what may have happened because up to P. J. Hogan taking over it was widely believed the '04 DS was a sure thing to go to series. But then, unless someone really can use I Ching wands to go back and change things, everything is moot at this point...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Actors who were forced to play roles against their will:

Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner

If only she hadn't done the movie, then perhaps Rob Bowman would not have exited the pilot to direct Elektra instead, and the belief that it was a sure thing that this pilot would go to series may have come to pass. But alas...

[The Doctor and K9]

Is the version that was shown at the Festival available anywhere?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   I wish. But if it is, I've never come across anyone providing a link to it. And when I finally got a chance today to search for it myself, I came up with zilch.

I did find some interesting things in my search, though:

While a link that's provided some posts back in this topic is still active, the pilot has disappeared from other places. Copyright issues? Perhaps not because:

The most interesting thing I discovered is the pilot is once again available on You Tube, despite having been posted and removed from there more than once in the past. It's been available again there since December 19, 2019. So, apparently enforcing WB's copyright is no longer as big an issue as it was back in 2017. Given that, perhaps one day the original edit of the pilot will show up online. Considering there's material in it that isn't included in the currently available edit, we should only be so lucky. (Though I'm still grateful for the currently available edit because there's material in it that isn't included in the original edit.)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I have no idea when they were added, but when I checked out the pilot's section on IMDb today I noticed that someone has added two stills that I've never seen before. Both feature Alec Newman and Marley Shelton and deal with Banabas taking Vicki to Josette's room. I believe one is even from from a deleted scene in the sequence.

Thanks for bringing the pilot up in another topic, Gerard , because otherwise it's not likely I would have gone to IMDb today...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   I just realized that another rare still, of Kelly Hu and Michael D. Roberts as Dr. Hoffman and Sheriff Patterson, has been removed. Who knows why?