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darth_stitchBecause the Internets is a lovely place and videos are all over, I found the 30 minute pilot that was commissioned by CBS for Moonlight - then going by the name of "Twilight."
So yeah, if you guys are going to search for the thing in the You-Know-Where *coughcough* - you'll have to look for it as "Twilight." I'm sure y'all understand why I'm reluctant about doing actual linkage. Apparently, this was released by CBS as one of a set of pilots on a DVD set that contained all of their pilots ordered to series. I'm guessing the DVD set wasn't sold to the public. Ceiling Cat bless whoever it is that got it out for the rest of the world to see.
I actually LOVE this rendition - except for Alex O'Loughlin, the cast was replaced by the actors the rest of the world is familiar with and I'll get to the comparisons in a little bit. But here's what I liked, what I was little iffy on and what made me go OMGWTFHBBQ.
a. Alex, of course. He's younger here but still as hot. I liked the slightly shorter hair and the general look he adopted as modern Mick. St. John - less too much sideburns. There's signs of the slightly funnier sensibility he'd be bringing to the role when the series took off. And of course, he does tortured and angsty very well.
b. The Vampire Design - in this, I liked the final vampire design that we see in the series that actually aired. The Vampire Design they used here leaned towards the scary demon-esque Buffy type and while this was pretty scary, it did render the actors completely unrecognizable. Some of the other vampire effects and powers were pretty cool though - the hypnosis powers thing was done pretty well, without being an outright ripoff of the Forever Knight shtick. I liked the fact that Mick could influence animals and could tell who were "undead" by the lack of warm body temperature. Also liked the fact that he could, apparently, digest normal food.
c. The Obligatory Flashback Scene - Someone in the make-up department should be told to STOP IT with the hideous upswept do they slap on Alex whenever they show him in the 1940's era. It ages him 20 years and dude's supposed to be 30 when he got turned. Look, the man is pretty. I realize that it's the 1940s but surely there was something there that was more flattering to Alex, especially since we had a wealth of good-looking 1940s era actors back then? Be glad that he's pretty and work with it, for Ceiling Cat's sake.
d. The Actors:
The Beth was actually sweeter-looking and younger than Sophia Myles. I think they were working somewhat closer to how Linda Hamilton was in Beauty and the Beast and the Beth here was a lot more sweet, slightly more naive, and a little less pushy. But still, of course, trouble-prone. I actually like the fact that four-year-old Beth (and the child actress they used here was a lot better than the one we ended up seeing) helped a struggling Mick out by getting him the gun and then scooting back underneath the bed. The kid related a lot better to Mick than the one we ended up seeing and I actually went off into the tangent of: "Well, what if Mick and little Beth remained friends and he'd been her sort of friendly vampire guardian angel all her life?" Fan fiction fodder for sure and perhaps it would be interesting to map out how you could move the relationship from friendly to romantic without going into "Ew! Creepy!" territory.
The Coraline was a lot older in this pilot and while the fight scene with Mick here was better staged, I can see why they had to recast her. She did look very 1940s femme fatale but ultimately, once you paired her with a very young looking Alex, it just didn't gel right. Poor baby would look like a gigolo next to her Norma Desmond - lol. It was interesting to see that she apparently had some sort of relationship with Old! Josef.
Old! Josef - Again, I can see why they ultimately went with Jason Dohring and how Young! Hip! Josef would work better. Old! Josef is interesting though - the older mentor character archetype could've been useful and utilized in another fashion, maybe brought in later as a Mysterious Old Mystical Guru rather than Mick's best friend.
e. Story & Setting - I actually LOVED New York as the setting and the underlying mystery for me was better than the cheesy wannabe Professor vampire with the Goth groupies. It was very reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast and honestly, the whole "vampire wandering in sunny L.A." tended to put me off at times. It would've been wonderful to have a Beauty and the Beast crossover too - lol. There was slightly less cheese in this rendition too - you guys can't imagine how hard I laughed when I heard "My Immortal" being played as Mick carried young Beth to safety.
The Might-Have-Beens would have been fun to imagine. I would have loved to see Moonlight done in the way this show began, with Young!Josef, Old!Josef-with-a-Different-Name, Young!Coraline and Pilot!Beth. Keep the current Moonlight vampire designs because they were, frankly, a lot hotter than the design this pilot used but it would've been nice to see flashbacks of Mick watching over young! Beth. Of course, we could do with less of the creepy pedo stalker vibe though - lol.
Yes, screenshot of Mick St. John in "Twilight." You're welcome. XD
So yeah, if you guys are going to search for the thing in the You-Know-Where *coughcough* - you'll have to look for it as "Twilight." I'm sure y'all understand why I'm reluctant about doing actual linkage. Apparently, this was released by CBS as one of a set of pilots on a DVD set that contained all of their pilots ordered to series. I'm guessing the DVD set wasn't sold to the public. Ceiling Cat bless whoever it is that got it out for the rest of the world to see.
I actually LOVE this rendition - except for Alex O'Loughlin, the cast was replaced by the actors the rest of the world is familiar with and I'll get to the comparisons in a little bit. But here's what I liked, what I was little iffy on and what made me go OMGWTFHBBQ.
a. Alex, of course. He's younger here but still as hot. I liked the slightly shorter hair and the general look he adopted as modern Mick. St. John - less too much sideburns. There's signs of the slightly funnier sensibility he'd be bringing to the role when the series took off. And of course, he does tortured and angsty very well.
b. The Vampire Design - in this, I liked the final vampire design that we see in the series that actually aired. The Vampire Design they used here leaned towards the scary demon-esque Buffy type and while this was pretty scary, it did render the actors completely unrecognizable. Some of the other vampire effects and powers were pretty cool though - the hypnosis powers thing was done pretty well, without being an outright ripoff of the Forever Knight shtick. I liked the fact that Mick could influence animals and could tell who were "undead" by the lack of warm body temperature. Also liked the fact that he could, apparently, digest normal food.
c. The Obligatory Flashback Scene - Someone in the make-up department should be told to STOP IT with the hideous upswept do they slap on Alex whenever they show him in the 1940's era. It ages him 20 years and dude's supposed to be 30 when he got turned. Look, the man is pretty. I realize that it's the 1940s but surely there was something there that was more flattering to Alex, especially since we had a wealth of good-looking 1940s era actors back then? Be glad that he's pretty and work with it, for Ceiling Cat's sake.
d. The Actors:
The Beth was actually sweeter-looking and younger than Sophia Myles. I think they were working somewhat closer to how Linda Hamilton was in Beauty and the Beast and the Beth here was a lot more sweet, slightly more naive, and a little less pushy. But still, of course, trouble-prone. I actually like the fact that four-year-old Beth (and the child actress they used here was a lot better than the one we ended up seeing) helped a struggling Mick out by getting him the gun and then scooting back underneath the bed. The kid related a lot better to Mick than the one we ended up seeing and I actually went off into the tangent of: "Well, what if Mick and little Beth remained friends and he'd been her sort of friendly vampire guardian angel all her life?" Fan fiction fodder for sure and perhaps it would be interesting to map out how you could move the relationship from friendly to romantic without going into "Ew! Creepy!" territory.
The Coraline was a lot older in this pilot and while the fight scene with Mick here was better staged, I can see why they had to recast her. She did look very 1940s femme fatale but ultimately, once you paired her with a very young looking Alex, it just didn't gel right. Poor baby would look like a gigolo next to her Norma Desmond - lol. It was interesting to see that she apparently had some sort of relationship with Old! Josef.
Old! Josef - Again, I can see why they ultimately went with Jason Dohring and how Young! Hip! Josef would work better. Old! Josef is interesting though - the older mentor character archetype could've been useful and utilized in another fashion, maybe brought in later as a Mysterious Old Mystical Guru rather than Mick's best friend.
e. Story & Setting - I actually LOVED New York as the setting and the underlying mystery for me was better than the cheesy wannabe Professor vampire with the Goth groupies. It was very reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast and honestly, the whole "vampire wandering in sunny L.A." tended to put me off at times. It would've been wonderful to have a Beauty and the Beast crossover too - lol. There was slightly less cheese in this rendition too - you guys can't imagine how hard I laughed when I heard "My Immortal" being played as Mick carried young Beth to safety.
The Might-Have-Beens would have been fun to imagine. I would have loved to see Moonlight done in the way this show began, with Young!Josef, Old!Josef-with-a-Different-Name, Young!Coraline and Pilot!Beth. Keep the current Moonlight vampire designs because they were, frankly, a lot hotter than the design this pilot used but it would've been nice to see flashbacks of Mick watching over young! Beth. Of course, we could do with less of the creepy pedo stalker vibe though - lol.
Yes, screenshot of Mick St. John in "Twilight." You're welcome. XD
