It’s fall and if you’re a television fan that means you know that we are on the cusp of dozens — or these days maybe even hundreds — of new shows hitting the TV airwaves. And every new TV show starts with a pilot… an episode that introduces you to the show and tries to convince you to keep watching. But how effective are these pilots? What makes a pilot good or bad? How much does it have to do with the rest of the series? And should you really make your decision to continue watching the show based on it? Hannah, Mav and Wayne are joined by Dan and Jen Greenwald, the hosts of the Pilot Season Podcast, to talk about how TV pilots work and discuss some of their favorites, least favorites and what makes a good one. Give it a listen and let us know what you think.
Citations and Links:
- This episode’s Call for Comments
- “The 50 Best TV Pilots of the 21st Century” by Valerie Ettenhofer
- “The 15 Best TV Pilots of All Time” by Matthew Jackson
- “The Pilot Script Checklist” by Priyanka Mattoo
- “The Anatomy of a Great TV Pilot” by Sophia Stewart
- “4 Things You Must Include in Your Tv Pilot” by Britton Perelman
- “Damon Lindelof Explains His Vision for HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ in Heartfelt Letter to Fans” by Graeme McMillan
- The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Seppinwall
- Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme
- Listen to Jen and Dan on the Pilot Season Podcast
- Also check our Dan on the Comic Book Pitt Podcast
- Follow Hannah on Twitter: @hannahleerogers
- Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick
- Follow Mav’s Personal Blog: http://chrismaverick.com
- Follow Wayne’s Personal Blog: http://wayne-wise.com
- Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast
- Follow us on Instagram: @voxpopcast
- Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/voxpopcast
- Make sure you subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever podcasts are found and please leave us a review!
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LOVED this episode. Do the same with Comics? ?
Mark MovieKing hmmm. We have been talking about doing a show on the golden age of comics. But I don’t think you mean that. You’re talking about issue ones in general but sort of different from our origin stories ep?
Chris Maverick right, not a focus on where and why a hero was created but instead, like this, looking at if characters were spot on out the gate or if they blossomed or were revamped. Opinion, Spider-Man Stan nailed it first pass, X-Men took Claremont 17 years. Could weave w/ iterations, relevancy, the idea that certain struggles and dramas strike cords at different times.
I won’t even judge a series based on its first season (Buffy the Vampire slayer, parks and rec I’m looking at you). But I also generally won’t stick with a show through a shitty first season unless there is already a better, second season already out.
There is always the rare show like star trek which was given a second pilot to retool.
Great concept! ?
@romanholiday85 thanks. We like to try and make each episode’s cover art indicative of the topic.