Pilot Study

"Reno 911!," the cult "Cops" spoof, is the subject of Episode 68 of Pilot Study. This begins a dive into some of the more memorable programming choices in the history of Comedy Central. Chris and Grimes talk the unaired pilot and the program's history at Fox, using the "blurry face" to their advantage, and more. Note: The pilot is available at the Comedy Central website. Note 2: "The State" ran for 4 seasons ('93-'95).

"Alex, Inc.," the (loose) adaptation of Alex Blumberg's "StartUp" podcast, is the newest series opening to be dissected on Pilot Study. Chris and Grimes discuss Zach Braff's return to network TV, the utilization of real-life investor Chris Sacca, and Pilot Study categories like Most Pilot-y Moment and MVP. Note: You can watch the pilot through ABC.go.com for free.

Pilot Study returns with a look at "Mulaney," the John Mulaney Fox pilot that was cancelled following its first season. Chris and Grimes discuss a poorly written female lead, botched sitcom stereotypes and the Pilot Study categories of Title Talk, Pilot Study MVP, Name Change and Most Pilot-y Moment. Note: The Griffin Newman part from the previous pilot was not just recast. He was originally cast as someone named "Seymour." Courtesy of Deadline Hollywood: "Gould and Pedrad will reprise their roles, while Smith's character Motif will now be one of John's roommates, replacing Seymour, played in the pilot by Griffin Newman. Zack Pearlman has been cast for a newly conceived character that wasn't in the pilot." And they even have an old cast photo: https://tinyurl.com/yd34gepo Note 2: Of course that's Ice T in the title sequence. Confirmed. Book it. Note 3: The first

On its 10-year anniversary, the Pilot Study crew talks "Breaking Bad" and its depiction of Walter White's first steps into anti-hero territory. Assisted by Andrew Bloom (The Andrew Blog, Consequence of Sound), we talk the show's inception and pitch process, some casting what-ifs, and wonder if "Wipe Down This" would be an appropriate title change for this episode.Special Guest: Andrew Bloom.

"It's a show for no one." The newest episode of Pilot Study takes on the short-lived Fox drama, "Profit." An attempt at Peak TV before Peak TV, the title character of Jim Profit (really giving away his goals with that fake moniker) attempts to scheme his way up the corporate ladder. Oh...btw, he makes out with his stepmom a bunch and sleeps in a cardboard box.Special Guest: Brock Wilbur.

Podcasts aren't the thing. They're the thing that gets us to the thing. The spiritual successor to AMC's "Mad Men" wasn't a ratings bonanza, but grew into a critically-adored, cult hit. The pilot for "Halt and Catch Fire" is the next to be dissected on Pilot Study, including talk on its beautiful title sequence, the "Power Move Power Rankings" of Joe MacMillan, and much more.

Tonight, on a "very special" Pilot Study. Chris and Grimes welcome comedian and writer Brock Wilbur to the program to discuss the pilot of "Clone High." From its all-timer of a theme song, to the crazy circumstances surrounding its cancellation, we dive deep into the MTV animated program. Correction: Bill Lawrence was not involved in "The Drew Carey Show" (but he was a creator on "Spin City"). We apologize for the error.Special Guest: Brock Wilbur.

If you're gonna rip off X-Files, you better do it right. Craig Robinson and Adam Scott get their long-awaited "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" reunion (thank you IMDB trivia) in "Ghosted," the new Fox half-hour comedy. Alan Miller, horror superfan joins us, helping deliver....well, it's not exactly a love fest.Special Guest: Alan Miller.

You better listen to this podcast....by sundown. On the newest episode of Pilot Study, Chris and Grimes talk "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the long-running, recently restarted HBO comedy. Beginning with the mockumentary before the show, the hosts also talk the program's music and the magic of its improvised nature. Listen to this podcast. The relationship's at stake.

Step into a world where twins cannot simply look alike, but where twins have the exact same mustache. Step into the world of "The Deuce." Chris and Grimes talk the newest HBO drama from David Simon, along with the idea of Franco twins, a pilot without the show's hook, and of course, the half-smoke sausage. At the end, we name our Pilot Study MVP for the episode.

Podcast listeners. Take your position in our roped off "Podcast Listeners" section. In the newest Pilot Study, the crew talks David Lynch and Mark Frost's "Twin Peaks" follow-up, "On The Air." Alan Miller joins to talk the quickly canceled sitcom, what Lynch finds funny (hint, he LOVES communication breakdowns), and fan-favorite Blinky. We also do some reviews and a round of "Spin-off." Note: There's some background noise in the first 10-15 minutes. It's not too distracting, but we apologize. Also, Miguel Ferrer's last name is actually pronounced "Fa-rare."

The Pilot Study chums, joined by Nick Spacek (From & Inspired By), talk the newest iteration of "The Tick," which recently premiered its first 6 episodes on Amazon. The Flag 3 compare it to the previous Fox live action series, talk the increased attention on Arthur and mental health, along with much more. NEAT!

Chris and Grimes dive into South Park's debut episode, "Cartman Gets An Anal Probe." It begins with a story about Grimes' high school popularity (it was very situational, let's be honest), while then getting into the program's history, some of the weird moments present, and a dismissive Hollywood Reporter review.

The Pilot Study crew discusses the newest addition to the "Wet Hot American Summer" mythology, the "10 Years Later" Netflix sequel. Here we talk how successful each character has become in their "Wet Hot" lives (and if that's a good thing), we obsess over JJ's video store, and Chris tries to compare the show to "The Hobbit."

Pilot Study is back with an episode on the long-running CBS series "How I Met Your Mother." We dig into the first 20 minutes for the 5 main characters, tackling who gets the best pilot and why Ted is so annoying. As usual, you'll get some history of the show's development and reviews.

Today's episode features our discussion on the 1974 "Land of The Lost" pilot. We talk its unexpectedly required theme, if the show is weird enough to actually revisit, and much, much more. This concludes our "Saturday Morning" theme month.

We continue our "Saturday Morning" theme month with a look at CBS's animation version of the Bill & Ted franchise. The two season show, starring the real Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, begins with an episode titled "One Sweet and Sour Chinese Adventure to Go." On the back end, we continue our extended Saturday Morning talk, discussing our favorite Pop-Tart flavors. Watch the pilot here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60kqk0Z_cWM

We continue our "Saturday Morning" theme month with a look at NBC's "Saved By The Bell." We talk the history of the show, and its beginnings with "Good Morning, Miss Bliss," along with the pilot's Zack/Jessie relationship and of course, some title talk. On the back end, we continue our extended Saturday Morning talk (27:52), discussing discontinued cereal products.

Today we kick off both season 3 and our "Saturday Morning" theme month with "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." Joined by guest Michael Escanuelas (@missingartwork), we talk the show's numerous connections to "Zyuranger," Zack's constant dancing and of course, the terrifying-as-hell putty patrol.

The newest episode of Pilot Study and our season finale features talk on both "The Life & Times Of Tim" and "The Leftovers." In this finale, the co-hosts each suggest a show for one another, while Chris and Grimes then talk the pilots. Will either of them continue on to episode 2? See you in season 3, beginning on May 23.

The newest episode of Pilot Study and our finish of "Heightened" theme month centers on the FX series "Louie." We discuss the lead-up to the show, how the stand-up is cleverly worked into the plotlines, and the program's music. Stay tuned next week for our season finale.

Our SXSW live episode talks both "Flight Of The Conchords" and "Tenacious D." We discuss how each show looks in 2017 — with Flight on its 10-year anniversary and Tenacious on its 20th — and how music assists narrative in each. We end with a live round of the IMDB Game. Michael Escanuelas of Missing Artwork/The Modern Vinyl Podcast guests.Special Guest: Michael Escanuelas.

The newest episode of Pilot Study takes on "Maron," in our first entry of "Heightened" theme month. We discuss the WTF podcast origins, being afraid of silence, and the title sequence/blues riffs. We end with a round of "Spin Out" where Grimes pitches an animated show that kinda has to happen.

The newest episode of Pilot Study takes on "Riverdale," and its "Archie Got Hot" tagline. Chris is joined by Modern Vinyl staffers James Cassar and Meghin Moore, while they discuss the Ms. Grundy conundrum, Josie & The Pussycats, female friendship and much more.

The newest episode of Pilot Study takes on "Legion," the new FX series set within the "X-Men" universe. Noah Hawley (Fargo) serves as showrunner and the cast is led by Dan Stevens (The Guest). Garth Watson of Film Brew guests and plays a round of The IMDB Game. https://soundcloud.com/filmbrew

The newest episode of Pilot Study is our first "Pilot Preview" episode. Here, we look at "Greenmount," a 14-minute proof of concept that stars Shane Kippel and Samantha Munro (Degrassi: The Next Generation). You can watch the pilot, here: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.prior.58/posts/1428728183827663. You can donate to their GoFund Me, here: https://www.gofundme.com/greenmount-television-series

The newest episode of Pilot Study takes on the recent premiere of "The Young Pope" on HBO. We talk the opening dream sequence, the "meme culture" surrounding the show, and how the present day Pope affects this show.

The newest episode of Pilot Study takes on the first of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," a show now unexpectedly lasting into its 12th season. We talk the original, $200 pilot, how that evolved into the FX show, along with how the show's structure hasn't changed all that much. Timeline 1:21, The show's music 3:05, Plot summary/What surprised us 6:44, Quiet comedy/teasing what's to come 9:30, The “$200 Pilot” 18:35, Random Notes

We continue "Murder Month" with an hour-long discussion on True Detective. We dive into the Rust/Marty dynamic, some of Rust's more memorable musings on life, along with much, much more. Timeline 2:30, Specs for “The Long Bright Dark” 7:08, Title Talk 9:55, Structure, Shortcuts 18:40, Plot breakdown Identifying with Rust 23:40, Marty and Rust Dynamic The dinner scene 28:06, Line-O-Rama 34:30, Random Roles Michelle Monaghan 37:30, Random Notes + Reviews 49:00, Casting + Season 2 52:42, Reviews continued

The beginning of "Murder Month" is all about "Dexter," the Michael C. Hall-led show that hit its 10-year anniversary earlier in 2016. We discuss if this show represents peak anti-hero in concept, how it'd be seen today and introduce a couple new segments: Guess The Rent & Random Roles. Next week: "True Detective." Timeline 1:50, A finale coloring an entire series 3:55, “Guess The Rent” 9:15, Talking the cast Dexter as peak anti-hero Mistrust in the system 20:10, Preference in pilot wrap-up 23:55, Michael C. Hall thoughts 29:20, “Random Roles” 35:18, Notes/Spoilers (we warn you) 47:30, Reviews

Finishing up our ____ & ____ theme month, we talk the cult favorite "The Adventures of Pete & Pete." The Nickelodeon program, along with its indie scene roots, is explored by way of history, modern day comparisons, and the road trip concept being used in a pilot. Next up? Murder month.

Continuing our ____ & ____ theme month, we talk the pilot episode of "All That" spinoff, "Kenan & Kel." We get into the Coolio-penned title sequence, Kel's changes from episode 1 to 2, and the comedic stylings of '90s live action Nick. Timeline 2:14, Episode Specs “All That” spinoff 4:40, Title talk 6:50, “Kel Stuff” 12:00, Episode plot “Chappelle ripped off Kenan Thompson” 17:40, In Chicago wearing a Knicks jersey

Continuing our ____ & ____ theme month, we talk the pilot episode of Dharma & Greg. From its charming first few minutes, to the avalanche of plot that follows, we come out with relative enjoyment of the '90s laugh track sitcom and its very '90s title sequence. Stay tuned to the end for a preview of next week's episode.

Episode 35 of Pilot Study takes on the cult-favorite Adult Swim show, "Rick and Morty." It's show 1 in our Blank & Blank theme month (aka shows with two characters in the title). We start with its history and "cease and desist" inspiration, along with the ending message and what it possibly says regarding learning disabilities. We'll continue the theme month in the next episode.

As part of its 10-year anniversary, we welcome "Friday Night Lights" to the Pilot Study Hall of Fame. Chris makes his case for the honor, while we also talk the changing state of football, a thankless Tami Taylor pilot role, and monkey studies (don't ask). Coming up, we have the start of our _____ & _____ theme month. Timeline 1:30, Hall of Fame Induction 2:10, Our relationship to the show 7:20, Plot Breakdown 13:35, Kyle Chandler's next move 16:12, Best looking athlete on the show 19:00, Specs 25:00, Role models for the community 28:52, Football changing and the show 32:24, Staging of the football 39:08, The “Street Moment” 48:45, New York Times Review

As part of its 20-year anniversary, we welcome "Spin City" to Pilot Study. The Michael J. Fox series also stars Richard Kind, Connie Britton (more on her next episode), Carla Gugino and Alan Ruck, in a really stacked cast. We get into Fox's alternate career, had illness not been a factor, along with fancy camera work and much more. Timeline 1:10, Start of Spin City talk Alternate Michael J. Fox Timeline 5:30, Filmed in front of a live studio audience The camera work 9:06, Michael J. Fox bed flip 12:15, Major plot points Moving in/“What are you drunk?” 21:58, Reviews + More

The latest episode of Pilot Study is all about Donald Glover's new show, "Atlanta." Over at FX, Glover's put together something that avoids the Entourage "show about fame" pitfalls, gets by without using the musical talents of Childish Gambino, and that lives up to those Twin Peaks comparisons, for a couple very different reasons. The pilot was previously free on YouTube, but has since expired. You can find it now at the typical digital outlets.

"Unaired" month continues with a look at Kanye West's mysterious HBO pilot. The pilot has only been publicly displayed once, by co-star Wyatt Cenac, which makes for a fascinating dive into the history and lone 3 minutes available online. We talk its relation to "Curb Your Enthusiasm," director Larry Charles and somehow, Tom Cruise. Next week, we talk the new Donald Glover series, "Atlanta." Note: I'm sick. My apologies. HBO Kanye Clip Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcPXO2utRM

"Unaired" month continues with our look at the U.S. version of "The IT Crowd." Starring Joel McHale, the show attempts to transition the UK property, utilizing one of the original lead actors in the process. We talk McHale's casting, a terrible pratfall and Moss' glasses. Special guest Alan Miller (The Vinyl Crawl, real life IT guy) joins us and plays a round of The IMDB game.Special Guest: Alan Miller.

The newest episode of Pilot Study continues our "Unaired" month with "Revenge Of The Nerds," the movie to TV adaptation. It's racist, sexist and well, probably a show written by white dudes. All this, plus a plot that makes little to no sense, gave us the "worst pilot we've ever done." Special guest Nick Spacek (Modern Vinyl/From & Inspired By) joins us once again. Timeline 3:14, Title Talk 8:00, Movie vs. Show Plot 10:44, “The Worst Pilot We've Ever Done” 14:40, Privileged white people 19:25, “It just seems grimy” 24:08, “They used all the most boring parts” 30:00, Random Notes 38:30, IMDB Notes 40:40, Recommendations Want to sponsor the podcast? If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, you can contact us at advertising@modern-vinyl.com. It's very affordable and you get numerous mentions throughout t

We kick off our "Unaired" theme month with the previously lost pilot for Clerks, the sitcom (+ laugh track) adaptation of the Kevin Smith film. Jim Breuer makes a pre-SNL appearance, the writers can't use Jay or Silent Bob and Keri Russell even makes an appearance as typical '90s bimbo. Special guest Nick Spacek (Modern Vinyl/From & Inspired By) talks the show with us and impresses with his round of The IMDB game. Timeline 1:25, Introducing the theme month 2:00, Introducing Clerks/The Lost Pilot 5:40, Title Talk 11:52, The “Ice Cream Guy” 15:43, They “didn't go to school, but they knew what was UP.” 23:53, Wiki Facts 29:48, The IMDB Game Want to sponsor the podcast? If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, you can contact us at advertising@modern-vinyl.com. It's very affordable and you get numerous mentions throughout the show.

The newest episode of Pilot Study takes on the new Danny McBride/Jody Hill project, "Vice Principals." Chris and Grimes discuss whether we've hit "McBride Saturation" and if his character here deserves the same sympathy given to Kenny Powers. Grimes also talks getting in-school suspension for being a "high school bad boy." 2:20, Development of Vice Principals/Bill Murray 5:30, "McBride Saturation" and his performance 12:40, Guessing the season's plot/Goggins' motivation 22:49, Random Notes Great Music/The Teacher's Lounge/Best Lines 26:40, Our school suspensions 32:50, Vice Principals vs. Stranger Things 34:40, Reviews

Episode 26 of Pilot Study centers on "The West Wing," premiering in 1999 and taking home a slew of Emmy awards for its first season and beyond. The pilot, by itself, was responsible for three Emmy wins and another nomination (somehow it didn't win for writing). Guest Julio Anta (The Native Sound) brings in a long history with the show, and for that generosity, we punish him with a tough round of the IMDB game. I've left a couple time markers below, as we do get into some spoilers at the end. 42:49, Random spoilers start here 47:30, The IMDB Game

Pilot Study returns for its second season with a television endurance test of which no human should readily attempt. Yep, we're doing a "Full House"/"Fuller House" doubleheader. We talk the truly bizarre Olsen moment in the reboot, along with how both pilots are kinda, sorta the same script. We also finish with a new feature, The IMDB Game. I put the rules below, just in case my explanation was not sufficient. — 10 shows are given. — Player is tasked with naming anyone (actor name) in the top 5 of the IMDB list on that show (primarily sorted by how many episodes an actor/actress has been on). — For the top spot, you get 5 points; 2nd = 4; 3rd = 3; 4th = 2; 5th = 1. If you get the top spot, you get another guess on the same show and if you're able to guess all five in order, you can gain a maximum of 15 points. — If the player does not guess anyone in the top 5 on first try, we move on to the next show. — The top player at the

Episode 24 of Pilot Study (and the season 1 finale) has us inducting Lost into the Pilot Study Hall Of Fame. We talk the early script for the related Nowhere, the opening (expensive) beach scene and Michael Keaton turning down the lead role.

Episode 23 of Pilot Study hits on "Eastbound & Down," in honor of baseball signaling the (hopeful) approach of warm weather. We talk who Kenny Powers was possibly based on, the direction of Jody Hill and an early pilot script. Next week, we'll be inducting our first pilot into the Pilot Study Hall of Fame.

Episode 22 of Pilot Study looks to honor Garry Shandling with a look at his landmark achievement, "The Larry Sanders Show." We talk guest hosting in today's late night landscape, the greatness that is "Artie" and much, much more. And stick around for a preview of next week.

Episode 21 of Pilot Study is all about the newest addition to Hulu, The Path. Chris and Grimes discuss the stacked cast, why the journey needed to start elsewhere and what exactly the ending means.

Theme Month: Superheroes Is Bruce Wayne a pimp? Chris and Grimes discuss one of the greatest animated/superhero shows of all time, Batman: The Animated Series. The pilot, titled "On Leather Wings," introduces villain Man-Bat to a general audience and re-introduced a Batman cartoon following Burton's films. Note: On Leather Wings is actually the second episode to be broadcasted, but is still considered the pilot. It's also the first episode on the DVD volumes you can buy or stream on Amazon.

Theme Month: Superheroes Is parkour a power? Chris and Grimes discuss Daredevil on the newest Pilot Study (numero 19), the first in the Marvel/Netflix extended universe. We talk Daredevil's power, the hatred of Foggy Nelson and much, much more. Next week, we finish up Superhero month with a Reader's Choice. Only 5 more episodes in the first season!

Theme Month: Superheroes David Banner loves juice, The Hulk can't swim and everyone needs to change their damn tires. Today we're talking the pilot episode/TV movie for The Incredible Hulk, which premiered in 1977. And stick around to the end for a preview of the next episode.