''Lookwell'' was a

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other dis ...

written and produced by

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' ( ...

and

Robert Smigel Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his ''Saturday Night Live'' "TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Do ...

, the latter of whom would become a primary creative voice for O'Brien's late night show. It starred Adam West. Despite being a "personal favorite" of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

chairman

Brandon Tartikoff Brandon Tartikoff (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was the president of NBC from 1981 to 1991. He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as ''Hill Str ...

(who had left that position by the time the pilot aired and was replaced by

Warren Littlefield Warren W. Littlefield (born May 11, 1952) is an American television executive. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Littlefield attended Montclair High School and graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where he was awar ...

), the pilot was not picked up as a series. It was broadcast on

on July 28, 1991, in a summer weekend timeslot reserved for

burning off In American broadcast programming, "burning off" is the custom of quickly airing the remaining episodes of a television program, usually one that has already been or is planned to be cancelled, without the intent to attract a large number of vie ...

pilots which the network had passed on. The pilot has since become a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

Plot

A washed-up TV action hero—who at the peak of his career was ceremonially deputized by local law enforcement—falsely believes he can solve crimes in real life. His student Jason (played by

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for directing three feature films: '' In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and '' Tár'' (2022). He has received three Academy Award no ...

) becomes his sidekick.

Cast

* Adam West as Ty Lookwell *

as Jason *Ron Frazier as Detective Kennery *Ann Weldon as Hyacinth *

Bart Braverman Bartley Louis Braverman (born February 1, 1946, Los Angeles) is an American actor, best known as "Binzer" during the entire run of the ABC prime time series ''Vega$'' (1978–1981). Braverman has also guest starred on many television shows. Earl ...

as Alberti *

Deborah Richter Deborah Richter, also known as Debi Richter, is an American actress. She appeared in the films ''Cyborg'' (1989), ''Square Dance'' (1987), '' Winners Take All'' (1987) and ''Hot Moves'' (1985). She also appeared on TV in ''Hill Street Blues'' (a ...

as Miss Royster *Brian Bradley as Alex *Jeff Austin as Desk Sergeant * Chris Barnes as Rental Agent * John Capodice as Phil *Molly Cleator as Casting Director *Brixton Karnes as Actor #2 *Sal Lopez as Manny * John Riggi as Ben * Steve Schubert as Policeman #1 *Audree Chapman as Receptionist *Sip Culler as Pimp *Tom Dahlgren as Partygoer *Jack Yates as Racing Official *Ami Rothschild as Suzanne *Stephen Prutting as Doorman * Rif Hutton as Policeman #2 * Michael Milhoan as Policeman #3 *Terry Beaver as ??? *

Daniel Roebuck Daniel James Roebuck (born March 4, 1963) is an American actor and writer. His best known roles include Deputy Marshal Robert Biggs in ''The Fugitive'' and its spinoff film ''U.S. Marshals'', Jay Leno in ''The Late Shift'', and Dr. Leslie Arz ...

as Cop (uncredited)

Production

Development

The pilot was filmed as a single-camera comedy, which was uncommon for the time it was being developed. Writer Robert Smigel later expressed doubt that the project could sustain itself as a full-fledged television series, questioning if "viewers would really want to view that every week? I'm not so sure they would have." Smigel recollects main star Adam West being enthusiastic for the role, despite poking fun at his acting style:

Initial reception

The pilot was scrapped, despite NBC chairman Brandon Tartikoff taking interest in developing the pilot. O'Brien jokingly stated that when the pilot aired, it "was the second-lowest rated television show of all time. It’s tied with a test pattern they show in Nova Scotia." Nielsen rated it 92nd out of 92 shows (2.3 million homes) for the week July 22–28. Smigel expressed his opinion on pitching for television in an interview with '' The A.V. Club'', in that a "pitfall that you always face when you do any project for television, or in movies ... s thatif it takes any amount of time to develop, there's a good chance that the person who put it in motion is going to get fired, or quit, and the next person isn't going to want to do it." West expressed disappointment with the network's decision, and would bring up resurrecting the pilot over the years. In an interview with ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'', West said that he has done "like 12 pilots, and ''Lookwell'' is really my favorite ... It’s the funniest pilot that never got sold."

Cult status

The episode has been described as having an " underground following" over the years, and was popular on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

for a time before being made available as a video file, due in part to the resurgence of cult popularity for Adam West. The version in general circulation on the Internet is not the original as-aired episode. It comes from a later showing on Trio (a cable station) which, for unknown reasons, has a few cuts and a few alternate jokes/takes inserted. One major difference may be due to music rights issues. A version of the original episode as aired on NBC was known to be circulated by tape traders. However, due to the age, high-quality copies are difficult to find. In a 2016 appearance on late night talk show Conan, actor and comedian

Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), '' Shallow Hal'' (2001), '' Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ' ...

stated that Conan was "one of the most kick ass writers in Hollywood" and encouraged the audience to check out Lookwell because "it was funniest thing ever". Comedian

Bill Maher William Maher (; born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is known for the HBO political talk show '' Real Time with Bill Maher'' (2003–present) and the similar ...

has also expressed how much he liked ''Lookwell''. According to ''The A.V. Club'', "''Lookwell'' has since earned a reputation in comedy circles as one of the all-time great failed pilots, a brilliant premise too damn weird to ever make it to series."

Live screenings

Smigel's preferred version of ''Lookwell'' (with Adam West busting through the police tape at the beginning) has also screened at The Other Network, a festival of un-aired TV pilots, featuring live and taped intros by Smigel and an extended interview with O'Brien, produced by Un-Cabaret.

Notes

References

Books

Interviews

* *

External links

* {{Conan O'Brien NBC original programming Television pilots not picked up as a series 1991 American television series debuts Works by Conan O'Brien Films directed by E. W. Swackhamer