How I Met Your Dad
While we're happy and all for Hilary Duff's How I Met Your Mother spinoff, let's just say that another famous blonde did it first. Back in 2014, Lady Bird writer-director Greta Gerwig was announced to be starring in CBS spinoff sitcom How I Met Your Dad. The plot would have been a little bit different: instead of dating apps and millennial friend groups at the forefront, Gerwig's main character Sally would be struggling in a loveless marriage and contemplating divorce. The weighty plot line lacked the pep that test audiences were hoping for, and so Gerwig went on to bigger and arguably better (hey, some Oscar nominations don't hurt!) things.
Lizzie McGuire
Before Hilary Duff landed the new How I Met Your Mother spinoff, she was slated to return to her Disney Channel roots in a highly-anticipated Lizzie McGuire reboot. The first episode was filmed, fans were swooning over set pics, and all of a sudden a showrunner change-up meant the Disney+ series was shelved forever. Seems like our dreams for a Lizzie revival can't even be saved by Paolo's return.
Beverly Hills Cop
Eddie Murphy was supposed to reprise his famed '80s role as Los Angeles detective Axel Foley for the small screen. Seems like the perfect premise for a TV series, right? Wrong. The failed CBS procedural was reportedly deemed "too retro" (is there even such a thing?!), and the network believed Murphy's supporting presence took away from main character Foley's son, played by Brandon T. Jackson.
Delirium
Back when she was YA gold, Emma Roberts was expected to star in the adaptation of the Delirium sci-fi trilogy. The plot? Love is illegal, and all young would-be lovers are forced to undergo a procedure that makes it impossible for them to feel. It's basically next-level abstinence. Of course Roberts' character dares to fall in love, and must go on the run with her suitor before she's apathetic forever.
Super Clyde
It's Harry Potter meets Kickass...kind of. Rupert Grint was cast as an awkward fast food worker who has a superhero alter-ego. The sitcom series didn't fly, though.
Gothica
Lucifer's sultry Tom Ellis would have made the perfect Viktor Frankenstein—or at least that's what the minds behind 2013 pilot Gothica thought. The show was pitched as a Justice League of classic monsters and their hunters, including Van Helsing, Dracula and Dorian Gray. Alas the series hasn't proven to be undead just yet.
The Corrections
Based off of Jonathan Franzen's bestselling novel, The Corrections was slated to air on HBO and star Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper and Dianne Wiest. Even better? Franzen and director Noah Baumbach were credited as co-screenwriters. Hopefully whoever is in charge can correct this mistake and bring the famed domestic drama to life onscreen.
NCIS LA: Red
In our fantasies, Aidan has relocated to Los Angeles, given up furniture-making and used his carpentry skills to capture criminals. While the cancelled pilot NCIS LA: Red could have given us all of John Corbett's beachfront glory (surfing! car chases!), the show wasn't meant to be.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Inspired by the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie of the same name, this action series would have been a hit at ABC. Lead stars Jordana Brewster and Martin Henderson had sizzling chemistry in the pilot directed by Doug Liman, but the spinoff didn't pack enough punch to land at a network.
A new pair of married spies are now headed to Amazon, and this time they're played by Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Heat Vision and Jack
In an out of this world pilot directed by Ben Stiller, an astronaut (Jack Black) gets superpowers after being in an accident. His gift? Seeing a talking motorcycle, voiced by Owen Wilson. It's just trippy enough to be brilliant.