Here’s an interesting segment from a 1993 episode of Entertainment Tonight, previewing a new sitcom on ABC. It’s called Related By Birth.
Except, there’s very little info about this show, which is surprising for a network sitcom in the 1990s.
That’s because it aired only one episode, as part of the summer dump by ABC. It was a failed pilot, given a big push for some reason by ET.
Not only is it a pilot, it’s a pilot for a re-tooled version of another struggling sitcom.
Sibs.
Brace yourself for a tonal shift that might give you whiplash as the start of this clip.
Sibs was created by Heide Perlman, and came on just after Roseanne in 1991. In spite of this strong lead in, the show struggled, and of the 22 episodes made, only ten ever aired. Wednesday evenings were billed by the network as The Hump (yes, The Hump), and also included Home Improvement, Dinosaurs, The Wonder Years, Doogie Howser MD, Anything But Love, and the short-lived sitcom Good & Evil.
After the cancellation of Sibs, Perlman re-worked the show, removing one of the sisters, and focusing instead on the characters played by Jami Gertz and Margaret Colin. It retained Dan Castellaneta but not Alex Rocco. The pilot was not picked up, but it did reach the air.
