We tried to think of similar examples and came back stumped.
For two weeks now, since Din Djarin (Din is also known by the name “The Mandalorian”) showed up on The Book of Boba Fett, I’ve been racking my brain to come up with a comparable example to what we saw play out here. For two full episodes the title character of the show was absent for one full episode, then appears as basically a cameo in his own show in a second. (In the season, or series, finale, Fett is back in what could be described as a co-lead. Also, I do want to point out a few weeks ago I joked that Grogu should join Boba Fett’s team, “Maybe Boba Fett should recruit Grogu to be part of his team. I bet Grogu could come in handy during an underworld fight.” I did not actually think this would happen.) The best example I could think of was a season three episode of The Facts of Life titled “Jo’s Cousin.” In the ’80s, backdoor pilots were fairly common, and also, for the most part, pretty terrible. In an era where there weren’t that many options for people’s viewing selections, most backdoor pilots worked as far as people actually watching them. By the time viewers realized they’ve been tricked, there were only 15 minutes left anyway and, who knows, maybe the cast of characters we tuned in to see will actually show up after all. In “Jo’s Cousin,” Jo Polniaczek (played by Nancy McKeon), leaves her boarding school in Peekskill, New York, to visit (you probably can guess where this is going) her cousin in New Jersey. So, that day, viewers tuning in did not get to the further adventures of Tootie, Blair, and Natalie. Instead, they spent a half an hour with Jo’s Uncle Sal at his New Jersey gas station, with his wiseacre son Paul and daughter, Terry (played by a young Megan Follows). These are Jo’s cousins. I only bring this up because, at the time, it was equally as confusing and for 30 minutes, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out who these people were or why this New Jersey gas station had anything to do with a prep school for girls. And there was no one on Twitter screaming, “what is going on!” or even anyone to explain what a backdoor pilot is to a seven-year-old kid. With that said, even “Jo’s Cousin” makes a little bit more sense because Jo was actually in the episode and the producers were hoping America would fall in love with Jo’s family and it would become its own show. (Spoiler: America did not fall in love with Jo’s family who owns a gas station in New Jersey.) So even this example is flawed because The Mandalorian isn’t a backdoor pilot.
