US version of Ultraviolet

I understand that Madchen Amick starred in an unaired pilot for a US show titled Ultraviolet. Apparently if picked up it was to appear on the Fox Network in the 2000/2001 season. The pilot was filmed in Toronto in March and April of 2000 over 13 days.

While the word "Vampire" was never mentioned in the original UK miniseries there were fears that the US version was going to turn into a "Vampire Soap" due to some information given in interviews given by Howard Gordon and Chip Johannessen.

"We had to reconceptualize the series for American TV. Mainly the British series pushed a mythology about what the vampires were up to. That aspect of the story was not so interesting to us. We were interested in the more human side of this story, the idea that Leeches are still dealing with normal kinds of people's problems."

In May 2000, Fox issued a press release which detailed their new shows for the 2000/2001 season, amongst which were Dark Angel, The Lone Gunmen, Fearsum (later renamed Freakylinks) and Ultraviolet.

"ULTRAVIOLET - The one-hour series ULTRAVIOLET is a compelling and visually arresting blend of science fiction and drama from the former producers of "The X-Files," "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "My So-Called Life." New York City Police Lieutenant JOHN CAHILL stumbles upon a world he never knew existed when his best friend and partner, VIGGO BARTOLI, back from a two-year undercover assignment, disappears on the morning of his wedding to his fiancée NEALY JESSUP. Viggo's disappearance only proves more bizarre when federal evidence on the very case Viggo handed to the police vanishes. As the NYPD builds a compelling case against him, John's search for his partner uncovers a shocking, sexy and provocative world of vampires living among us. There, an underground war is being fought between the "leeches" and a government agency led by DR. LISE MATTHEWS and VAUGHN SHEPPARD, whose mission is to destroy them. While John attempts to clear his partner's name, he discovers that the "leeches" have seduced Viggo into fighting for their survival and may even have turned him into one of them."

Some time after thisUltraviolet was dropped from the schedule. Apparently no offical reason was ever given but but Howard Gordon recently admitted in an interview that, "frankly we screwed it up and it just didn't come out that well."

To date the pilot hasn't been broadcast and like the US version of Red Dwarf is now sitting in an American vault.

Maybe it will see the light of day somehow like the unaired Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot episode.