Book excerpt: Unsold Television Pilots is a detailed compilation of all the unsold television series concepts that, from 1955 through 1988, reached the development stage at the networks--but didn't sell. Pilots are listed by year and title and include production credits, plot synopsis and when applicable, air dates. The Introduction explains what a pilot is, and how the television marketplace works now and has worked in the past. An exhaustive index (actors, writers, directors, producers and pilots) and separate lists of pilots that are based on movies, pilots that are continuations of cancelled series, and pilots that are spin-offs of characters from other series are also included.