Section 2 of five · THE PILOT
It was a television show first, and it shows
What ABC rejected and what StudioCanal paid for.
Trucks on a backlot street. The pilot was shot to a television schedule, for a slot it never got.
3 pieces in this section
ABC Paid for It, Watched It, and Passed
The 1999 pilot was shot for television and turned down. The network's objections — pace, ambiguity, a lead too old — are documented, and they describe exactly the qualities the film is now admired for.
French money finished what American television abandoned
StudioCanal put up the funds to shoot new material and turn the pilot into a feature. That decision is why the last forty minutes exist at all.
You can see the join if you know where to look
Which scenes came from the pilot and which were shot in 2001 is largely on the record — and the seam explains several oddities of structure.