UNSEEN TV.('The Other Network')( theater showing of failed TV pilots)(Theater Review)

Only one force could forestall the completion of Mozart's Requiem or Fitzgerald's "The Last Tycoon": death. And only one force could forestall the completion of Ben Stiller's television series "Heat-Vision and Jack": Fox. Back in 1999, executives at the Fox network examined Stiller's pilot episode about an ex-astronaut with a superheated brain and his buddy the talking motorcycle, and then, confoundingly, left the show off their fall schedule. The world could only imagine what might have been.

In August, however, the cabaret producers Beth Lapides and Greg Miller, who are married, began showing "Heat-Vision and Jack" and other legendary unaired pilots at a West Hollywood night club, billing the evenings as "The Other Network." They recently brought their show to Manhattan, where it played at the Knitting Factory for three sold-out nights.

On the second evening, Lapides began the proceedings by declaring that what doesn't get on television is often better than the focus-group-approved pabulum that does. The goateed crowd murmured approvingly. "We love TV!" Lapides said. "And we just think it should be fucking better! It's not quite as good as rock and roll or painting, but, still, it's widely available."

The first pilot on the program, "The Funkhousers," was preceded by a videotaped introduction from its creators, Josh Weinstein and Bill Oakley. They explained how much the executives at ABC had loved their concept: a seemingly dysfunctional family (daughter wears eye patch; uncle lives in bomb shelter) that turns out to be pretty darn functional after all. Sort of like "The Addams Family." Sort of exactly like "The Addams Family." The audience laughed often enough, as they watched the pilot, but seemed to want something fresher--as, in the end, had ABC.

Lapides and Miller then discussed "The Couch," their own 1998 talk-show pilot for MTV. The concept was to interview two guests at once, setting the scene for true spontaneity. Lapides, the show's host, said that the one suggestion the network gave her was to "wear a bra." The pilot ...