8 TV Shows That Made Dramatic Changes From Their Pilot Episodes
2. The Inbetweeners: Pitched As An '80s-Set Show
Some of your favourite TV shows had terrible names when they were first conceived. Case in point, E4's coming-of-age comedy The Inbetweeners was originally called Baggy Trousers, a name it retained until virtually the last minute.
A pilot episode was filmed under that moniker and it was wildly different to the show Inbetweeners would eventually become. Although the premise was similar, focusing on the lives of four youths in suburbia, the story took place in the '80s.
The main characters were Will, Neil, Simon and Lee, who was replaced by the foul-mouthed Jay in the commissioned show. Different actors played Will and Simon, while James Buckley - who portrays Jay in the Inbetweeners - was due to play Neil.
There were other hints of the show Baggy Trousers would become in there. Kevin Sutherland, who plays Neil's dad in the E4 show, featured in the pilot in unidentified role, and Carli D'Amato is listed as one of the main characters.
Although Baggy Trousers has never been aired, footage, stills and the script for the pilot have leaked online over the years, and there's evidence to suggest scenes were recycled for The Inbetweeners. For instance, an extract from the screenplay confirmed that Simon spraypaints 'I love Carli D'Amato' on her drive, just as he does in the Season 1 episode Bunk Off.