Take Us to the Pilot

Take Us to the Pilot

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to take flight with our hosts, JJ & Keith, as they help navigate you through the captivating skies of television history, taking you through the pilot episodes that have ignited our love for TV.

Episodes

June 24, 2025 72 mins
The Last of Us is the final remaining pilot in our survival mode series, having brought together fans of the video game and viewers new to the franchise.
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The next destination in our survival mode series is the Canadian Rockies, where a high school soccer team is left stranded in the pilot of Yellowjackets.
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June 10, 2025 76 mins
Survival mode takes shape as a high-stakes contest in the pilot of Squid Game, which won Netflix another hit franchise.
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June 3, 2025 66 mins

Survival mode TV pilots don’t always have to be so serious, as Will Forte proves when he’s having fun being The Last Man on Earth.

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May 27, 2025 78 mins
Survival mode continues for Take Us to the Pilot. We now find ourselves in a world overrun by zombies in the premiere of The Walking Dead, which grew to dominate TV viewership and continues to live on through its many spin-offs.
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May 20, 2025 82 mins
Take Us to the Pilot is entering survival mode, venturing into shows that frequently put their characters in life-or-death scenarios. Our first entry is the two-part premiere of Lost, which expanded the TV format to explore a new world of storytelling possibilities.
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May 6, 2025 89 mins
The final show we'll be discussing related to mass media is The Boys. The pilot quickly establishes a cynical tone, depicting superheroes as products marketed and sold by a corrupt media corporation.
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April 29, 2025 79 mins
The Morning Show pilot marked Apple's entry into original content, making use of a large budget to attract A-list stars and tackle current events through the lens of broadcast news.    
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April 22, 2025 87 mins
The Succession pilot introduced TV viewers to the Roy family, whose conflicting business strategies reflect the media industry's real-world state of flux.
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April 15, 2025 69 mins
Next in our lineup focusing on mass media is the pilot of Lifetime's UnREAL, a scripted drama that observes the manipulative and exploitative nature of reality television.
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April 8, 2025 88 mins
We're continuing with the mass media genre discussing the pilot of The Newsroom. In this series, Aaron Sorkin examines the workings of a cable news show fighting to improve the quality of TV journalism.
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April 1, 2025 86 mins
Our next batch of pilots centers around mass media, starting with the award-winning premiere of Mad Men. As AMC's first original series, this acclaimed drama cemented its network as a major player in the golden era of television.
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March 18, 2025 58 mins
We're wrapping up our series on female leads in comedy by discussing the pilot of Hacks. This series showcases multigenerational humor with a nod to the trailblazing women of prior decades.
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March 11, 2025 52 mins
Awkwafina's rise to fame in the 2010s culminated in the launch of her own TV series, Nora from Queens, which drew on her experience growing up in New York's Asian American community.
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March 4, 2025 71 mins
In the premiere of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, creator Amy Sherman-Palladino pushes the title character into the world of stand-up comedy while exploring themes of family, gender, and tradition.
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February 25, 2025 49 mins
When Broad City transitioned from YouTube to television, the series became an instant hit for Comedy Central and quickly cemented Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer as an iconic comedic duo.
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February 18, 2025 58 mins
Ellie Kemper's ability to convey innocence and strength inspired Tina Fey when developing Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, a comedy that emphasized how females are strong as hell.
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February 11, 2025 76 mins
When Ugly Betty premiered in 2006, the series stood out for its comedic take on telenovelas and propelled its star, America Ferrera, into becoming a household name.
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February 4, 2025 84 mins

The pilot of Gilmore Girls kicked off a long-running series that earned a dedicated fan base for its lovable leads, quirky supporting cast, and compelling family drama.

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January 28, 2025 61 mins

The animated sitcom Daria may have originated as a spinoff, but its sarcastic lead character stood on her own as a unique comedic voice that resonated with young viewers in the late 90s.

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