Monsignor Martinez live action pilot (lost King of the Hill spin-off; 2000)

The titular character as he appears in King of the Hill.

Status: Lost

Monsignor Martinez was a live-action pilot commissioned by Fox in 2000. It was based on the in-universe show of the same name from King of the Hill and starred Ivo Cutzarida in the titular role.

The pilot, titled "In the Beginning", was written by Mike Judge, Greg Daniels (co-creators of King of the Hill), and Jim Dauterive (who served as executive producer and writer for the aforementioned animation), though it was ultimately declined by Fox, who opted out of airing it. The reason they suddenly decided not to greenlight it isn't fully known, though actor David Herman, who voiced John Smith in the pilot and who is known for voicing a number of characters in King of the Hill, suggested that, while he thought it was a very good show, Fox didn't want it due to the fact that a priest was "going around shooting at people" in the pilot.

Availability

The pilot is not available, although Dauterive claimed that it was posted on Youtube at one point, but then taken down due to a copyright claim. Additionally, at least one person has claimed to have been sent a VHS screener copy of the episode shortly after it was produced, although the said claim has never been verified and the pilot, as of this writing, remains lost.

External Links

• IMDb thread from July 18th, 2010, in which a user claims to have seen the episode via a screener VHS tape. Archived 11 Feb '17.
• IMDb page on Monsignor Martinez. Retrieved 11 Feb '15.