Lost TV Sanctuary: The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfieffer (UPN 1998)

The 5 unaired episodes of this show are #2 on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media.

It was controversial and yes, it was as stupid as everyone says.  But so was everything on late 90’s UPN (think Shasta McNasty, another show I watched every week).

Chi McBride was hysterical in this.  His character of Desmond was the only smart & sane person around.  That’s almost all the jokes right there - but it stays funny.  And the rest of the cast - equally awesome.  Especially Christine Estabrook, who steals every scene she’s in as Mary Todd Lincoln.

After 4 episodes aired (out of order and not even starting with the first episode due to protests), the show was pulled.  That left 5 taped episodes unaired.  I saw the live taping of what I think was the last episode taped.  I’m not sure if it was “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” (unaired) or “Once Upon a Mistress” (the 4th episode aired).  But either way, I’d love to see those remaining 5 episodes including the original pilot.

I transferred the 4 aired episodes years ago, but saw someone else has already uploaded them to YouTube...

 

Lost TV Sanctuary: Woops! (FOX 1992)

Dr. Who’s missing episodes are obviously the biggest lost TV media.  But to me, the ultimate Holy Grail of Lost TV Media is the 3 unaired episodes of Woops!...

• Episode 9 - The Nuclear Family
• Episode 11 - The Littlest Pathologist
• Episode 13 - Daydreams Come and Me ‘Wan Go Home
  

Another similar show from around the same time from Witt / Thomas / Harris (Good & Evil) recently showed up complete with originally unaired episodes, so maybe that’ll happen with this Witt / Thomas show soon.

Once again, this proves that early FOX shows were just absolutely bonkers & awesome.  The scene in the Thanksgiving episode with the giant turkey coming towards their house has forever stuck in my head as one of the weirdest things on a regular network TV show.  And somehow things get even stranger after that.  I really wish this show had a chance to continue.  It was like Gilligan’s Island 2.0 or an early Walking Dead sitcom with random people replacing zombies.

I transferred the 10 aired episodes years ago, but saw someone else has already uploaded them to the Internet Archive.  So check them out there…

 

Lost TV Sanctuary: Good & Evil (ABC 1991)

This was Soap with different characters.  But unlike Soap, this show was hurt by both low ratings and protests.

The protests were the result of the character of George.  He was blind and continuously destroying everything in his path.  It was slapstick, but that didn’t go over well.

Only 6 episodes aired on ABC originally.  The remaining 5 episodes were nearly impossible to find - until recently.  A couple months ago, all 11 episodes popped up on YouTube.  Watch them quick before they disappear!

Lost TV Sanctuary: Brother's Keeper (ABC 1998)

This was on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media up until just recently when I saw the full series is already on the Internet Archive.  By a user named Desmond Pfieffer (another show high on my list to find).

Brother’s Keeper was part of ABC’s TGIF in the 1998 season (the lineup went Two of a Kind, Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch & Brother’s Keeper).

I wanted to write for this show, but it went away before I could try.  I did get to watch some of the tapings at least.

Bess Meyer (who played Dena on this show) also showed up on one of my other short-lived favorites Normal Life.

Here’s the link to the Internet Archive page...

Lost TV Sanctuary: The Charmings (ABC 1987)

This is my favorite TV series ever.  For years, it was #1 on my Holy Grail of TV Lost Media (episodes or shows I’d most like to see but doubt will ever be available).  I did have all the episodes, but most were edited or the quality wasn't great.

Then, out of nowhere, they all showed up on YouTube in perfect condition about a year ago.  Who knows how long they’ll remain there though.

Here's the full playlist of all 21 episodes.  And this is episode 1...