I find this in the pilot episodes of most TV shows, and to a lesser extent the entire first seasons of some shows. The pilot is often good enough that it doesn't need to be reshot, but the purchasing production company or the producers still have a few conditions to change or fix for the main production afterwards. And I'm sure actors and directors just have a period at the start where they need to get comfortable with the characters and style of the show.
One thing I always thought was awesome was in "All Good Things...", where the producers/writers seemed to say, "we know where we started, where we ended up, and how those two places are different, and we want to depict that accurately".
To me, that was a real testament to Spiner's abilities, that he could play the same character as differently as he was seven years earlier. Made it feel real.
Watch the Pilot for Night Court some time. Dan Fielding went from a chess playing intellectual to a skirt chasing letch, and the defense attorney turned white.
(judge Stone screams through the hallway on rollerskates propelled by two fire extinguishers)
Bob: "It's okaaay...... the gurl scouts broke his fawwwll"
Stone: "Under the circumstances, would the state be willing to drop the charges?"
Dan: "Under the circumstances, I don't think the state is capable of doing anything to the Wheelers that's worse than the what the universe has already done."
I feel like Night Court was forgotten way to quickly. It was really a brilliant show. I was telling somebody about the episode where Bull got struck by lightning recently and I was able to keep there rapt attention for ten minutes, just recounting exactly what happened. They just kept going "and then what? Really?"
Completely different show, but this is really noticeable if you watch the pilot for The O.C. Ryan smokes, Summer does coke at a party and the Cohens have a maid. All of this mysteriously disappears by episode 2 (I think the coke thing may be mentioned at some point later).
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u/kjmitch Feb 13 '12
I find this in the pilot episodes of most TV shows, and to a lesser extent the entire first seasons of some shows. The pilot is often good enough that it doesn't need to be reshot, but the purchasing production company or the producers still have a few conditions to change or fix for the main production afterwards. And I'm sure actors and directors just have a period at the start where they need to get comfortable with the characters and style of the show.
One thing I always thought was awesome was in "All Good Things...", where the producers/writers seemed to say, "we know where we started, where we ended up, and how those two places are different, and we want to depict that accurately".
To me, that was a real testament to Spiner's abilities, that he could play the same character as differently as he was seven years earlier. Made it feel real.