Frogmen (lost unaired NBC pilot featuring O.J. Simpson; 1994)

Rare cast picture from the project.

Status: Lost

The Frogmen is an early 1994 pilot movie intended for the NBC Network for an action series entitled. The story, which was described as being akin to "The A-Team", concerned a crack team of Navy SEALS often on special government assignments from their headquarters in Miami. Notably, O.J. Simpson was cast as the team's leader, John "Bullfrog" Burke.

Despite the pilot being completed, plans for airing it was halted indefinitely after Simpson was arrested for allegedly murdering his ex-wife Nicole and restaurant waiter Ronald Goldman.

As preparations for Simpson's trial began, there was a sense of interest in utilizing the footage as evidence. Simpson's character was portrayed as an expert with knives and Simpson underwent some knife fighting training in preparation for the role. Also, during a break in filming, co-star Todd Allen accompanied Simpson to the Ross Cutlery store, where Simpson would later supposedly revisit and purchase a knife that the prosecution believes could have been the murder weapon which was never recovered.

Photo of the "knife scene" from the unaired pilot.

Los Angeles Police had come across a 25-minute sales tape for the program in Simpson's residence while searching it. The tape in question was reportedly free of any such scenes that could be interpreted as incriminating. Although the prosecution managed to successfully argue for the right to enter the tape into evidence, it was never used. (Simpson was eventually acquitted.)

Eventually, the rights for the pilot went back to Warner Bros, where it was then stored in a vault, never to be seen again. In 2000, a source in possession of the 25-minute presentation tape allowed reporter Brian Lowry to view it as research for an article he was writing for the Los Angeles Times, but would not allow it out of their possession. The footage remains unseen by the public to this day.