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NBC‘s Mockingbird Lane pilot is coming to primetime earlier and in a different form than originally planned. The hourlong pilot, written by Bryan Fuller and directed by Bryan Singer, will air as a Halloween special on Friday, October 26, at 8 PM, leading into a Halloween-themed episode of supernatural drama Grimm. NBC’s Friday 8 PM slot became vacant when the network this week decided to hold back comedies Community and Whitney. “This exciting new take on a memorable series will definitely blow out conventional wisdom and create its own legacy,” said NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke. “Teaming this new show with a terrifying episode of Grimm makes the perfect pre-Halloween fright-fest.”
Related: NBC’s ‘Munsters’ Reboot ‘Mockingbird Lane’ Unlikely To Go Forward
NBC brass decided to air the pilot as a special in lieu of giving the Munsters reboot a series pickup. The big-budget pilot stars Jerry O’Connell as family patriarch Herman Munster, Portia de Rossi as his wife Lily, and Eddie Izzard as Grandpa. It has been lauded for its visual style but the overall consensus was that it didn’t quite pull off the high-concept premise of a contemporary hourlong show about a family of “monsters” based on the 1960s sitcom. The project had been in the works at NBC for a couple of seasons, originally developed by the previous regime during the 2010-11 development cycle. Fuller’s script was one of very few Bob Greenblatt kept in play when he took over the network in January 2011. It was redeveloped and, in November 2011, ordered to pilot around the same time another Fuller-written drama, Hannibal, landed a script-to-series deal at NBC.
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I wish it could get 2.0 in demo. If it would maybe NBC would give it series order but sadly without any promotion at all and being aired on Friday it won’t even get 1.0. Shame NBC didn’t even give it a chance. But I’m sure I’m gonna love this “special”!
Why doesn’t Jerry O’Connell’s Herman looks like a Frankenstein?
Because it’s “Once Upon a Time . . . on Mockingbird Lane.”
And why does Eddie Izzard’s Grandpa look more like an aging drag queen than a grandfatherly vampire?
And don’t get me started on Lily Munster.
Did the two Bryans ever watch the original series? Perhaps, it was before their time. In the original series, the greatest irony – and long-running gag – was that Marilyn Munster always felt self-conscious because she was considered the ugly relative. How would this make any sense, considering the handsome portrait?
This Herman may not look like the famous Universal Studios version of Frankenstein, but he looks closer to the original novel’s idea of a reanimated corpse.
I think Izzard definitely resembles the actual Prince Vlad,personally.
If they aren’t going to pick it up to series they might want to release the cast from their holding deals.
A series does not have to be fine. Just lucky.
Hopefully the pilot does well and it can stay alive.
It might be a nice companion to Grimm, but I guess the cost would have to be considerably lower for it to air on Fridays.
Airing it on a Friday night almost kills the chance it could get ratings strong enough to create talk of a mid-season pick-up.
The fact they completely ditched the original look basically told us they didn’t quite know what they were doing. If you can’t wrap your brain around don’t drastically change it to try and make it fit.
I do wish that NBC tried airing the terrible Wonder Woman pilot as a special. I think it would’ve gotten more viewers than most current NBC shows. The lack of quality would’ve tanked the show but that again was another example of a creator who didn’t understand the source material and how to translate it.
This special is just going to tank miserably in the ratings and Salke needs to stop consuming the NBC rah-rah kool aid or stop listening to people who are feeding her this line of bullcrap.
I think this is an incredibly wise move. I will be watching, as I’m intrigued.
This is a great idea! I wish all networks would air pilots they passed on. It would be interesting to see how they would rank with audiences and what the online reaction would be.
It would seem to make sense- the network has already spent the money so why not show these pilots as ‘specials’?.. especially since the nets hate doing reruns (cuts into DVD sales and difficult with serialized shows).
This is an excellent way to give this production exposure!
Too bad for all the people dying for a Munsters reboot. Oh well, all three of them can watch something else instead.
sure it will. Grimm seems to be doing great for NBC Friday night so paired together I’m sure Halloween episode will get extra promotion. maybe they will pick it up.
Good. Maybe it’ll shock w/ some decent #’s. Let the viewers make the call.
(Though I do remember a Ronald Moore pilot called “Virtuality” in ’09 that tried this & failed miserably)
Smart of NBC. Kills a lot of birds with one stone. Keeps the producers happy, keeps the fans happy and just might hedge their bets in case it performs. Not exactly rocket science but surprisingly doesn’t happen more often.
They should air it on Sunday night the 28th right after NFL in the west and right before NFL in the east. That would be smart but this is NBC so they do the dumb thing and air it on a Friday night. If they aired it on Sunday night it would get a giant audience and it might actually be a hit and they’d have to order it to series. NBC is by far the dumbest network in history. They deserve to remain in last place forever for their stupidity.
I’m sure the NBC affiliates would love that.
If NBC really gave a damn about it succeeding then they’d preempt a timeslot after The Voice. Instead, they’re dumping it on Friday night, which should tell you everything.
At least it’s going to air. Most pilots don’t.
I truly find it hard to believe that this project ever gave off the scent of being a “winner” at any stage of its production. Despite the association of some very talented people this one stunk of bad idea from the start. To bad there wasn’t a ‘morning-after’ pill available when this one was first green lit.
Saw the pilot and fell in love, I’m glad they’re giving it a chance – even if it is on a Friday
NBC BADLY wanted this show to work. The fact that they didn’t pick it up to series tells you all you need to know. Swing and miss
NBC can call this a “Halloween special” all they want, but those over a certain age might use “Failure Theater” or “Burnoff Showcase”.
Awesome.
While they’re at it, maybe NBC could finally get around to scheduling that BSG: Blood and Chrome pilot. It was supposed to air on SyFy, “Sometime this year.”
Well, it’s October.
As a child I loved the Munsters, and still do!! However, this is a very dark reimagining of the original, and although I absolutely loved it, I can see why it’s not going to series – it’s too subversive, and it doesn’t cause a warm fuzzy feeling like the NBC execs want. They’re actually talking about and showing a lot of what the original series only hinted at. Too bad. If NBC execs had any cojones, they’d order 13 episodes. This one’s a winner, and because of my fielty to the original series, I was all set to hate it.
Missed the airing on the 26th will NBC air the show again
You can view it on NBC’s website and in the NBC app for iPad.
Loved loved loved the show. Great re-imagining.
I loved the pilot. I’d really like to see it as a series with the cast from the pilot.
I haven’t watched the original Munster’s.