6 TV Show Storylines That Almost Happened But Didn’t

Behind the scenes, there is a lot of pressure to keep a successful TV Show interesting and popular. Among those feeling the pressure are series creators, producers, and writers. For the TV Show Writers, it is their job to make sure that they can create and produce great content with their TV Storylines. As writers pitch many TV Storylines for future TV Show episodes and seasons, not all of their potential TV Storylines go through. Those involved in many popular TV Shows have revealed some of the proposed TV Storylines for their shows that ended up not happening. With that being said, here are 6 TV Show Storylines that almost happened but didn’t:

1. Lost – Jack’s Death:

Lost is amongst one of the greatest shows of all time for its cast and amazing TV Storylines. Throughout the show’s entire run, it received 54 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations, winning 11 of them. Four of Lost’s 11 Primetime Emmy wins alone were for the show’s pilot episode. However, the show’s original TV storyline for the pilot episode could have changed the trajectory of the series completely if it had happened.

Initially, Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), the lead character in Lost, establishes himself as the leader of the plane crash survivors stranded on the island, only to be killed halfway into the pilot episode. Jack’s early death in the pilot episode of Lost would teach viewers that none of the characters are safe. In addition, fellow survivor Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) would become the leader of the castaways.

Like other almost TV Storylines that ultimately didn’t happen, this TV Storyline was abandoned and changed after ABC Executives feared a potential backlash from viewers should they grow attached to the character of Jack. ABC Executives were also concerned that the character’s early demise could lead to viewers not trusting the show at all.

2. Friday Night Lights – An Affair:

The NBC Drama was loved by fans and critics alike for its TV Storylines and the chemistry between Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his wife Tami (Connie Britton). One of the TV Storylines that writers pitched involved one of the Taylors having an affair. However, this TV Storyline was scrapped and abandoned after Chandler and Britton shot down the idea.

A couple of years after the series ended, Britton revealed in an interview that the reason the affair storyline didn’t happen was due to a pact she and Chandler made before Friday Night Lights began production for its first season. Both actors wanted to portray the relationship between Coach Taylor and Tami as faithful and as “two people that need each other and also really love each other”.

3. Friends – Elizabeth’s Pregnancy:

Throughout the ten seasons of Friends, Ross ‘s relationships and failed marriages were the butts of many jokes and most fans weren’t happy when he began a relationship with Elizabeth, one of his students, during Season 6. While the romantic relationship between the professor and student ran longer than expected, it was supposed to have a shocking twist as well!

A potential TV storyline for the Season 6 finale was that it would end in a cliffhanger with Ross discovering that Elizabeth was pregnant. This meant that Elizabeth, a character introduced during season 6 of Friends, would be featured on the hit sitcom the following season (none of the characters introduced in Season 6 ended up reappearing in any future season of the Emmy-Award winning sitcom).

While planning the TV Storylines for Season 7 of Friends, Ross’s main story arc was initially going to be him dealing with Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Another twist to the proposed storyline would be Ross discovering during the Season 7 finale that the baby wasn’t his.

4. Buffy The Vampire Slayer – Tara Comes Back to Life:

Fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer were outraged and furious with the TV Storyline of Tara (Amber Benson) (on the left) being killed off during the end of Season 6. The reason for their angry reactions was due to them adoring Tara’s relationship with Willow (Alyson Hannigan) (on the right), which was one of the show’s focal points.

Series Creator Joss Wendon revealed in an interview that due to the intense backlash the show received for Tara’s death, he wanted to bring the beloved character back to life. Of the proposed TV storylines, the one for this to happen would involve Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) using her one wish to bring Tara back to life. Unfortunately, like other TV Storylines that almost happened, this one didn’t happen as Benson didn’t want to come back to Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The reason for the actress not returning was that she had moved to other acting roles and projects.

5. Breaking Bad – Jesse’s Death:

During the early stages of Breaking Bad, creator Vince Gilligan didn’t anticipate how huge of a hit the show or its main characters would be when it started to air in 2008. One of the rejected TV Storylines for Breaking Bad was that Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) was going to be killed in a drug deal gone wrong at the end of Season 1.

However, Gilligan changed his mind after he was impressed with Paul’s performance as Jessie in the show’s second episode. The series creator quickly realized that it would be a colossal mistake to kill Jesse off. If this TV storyline happened, the odds of Breaking Bad being successful would be pretty slim as Jesse is one of the show’s most important characters.

Paul would go on to win 3 Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Jesse. This is the most wins by any actor in this category. Paul shares this record with Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage.

6. ER – Carol’s Death:

The original TV storyline for the character Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Marguiles) was that she was going to die of a drug overdose in the pilot of ER. However, the pilot was rewritten and Marguiles’s character was promoted to be a main character after test audiences loved the chemistry between Carol and Dr. Doug Ross (George Clooney).