Tag: Pilots
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Test Pilot: File #57, The Unit
Test Pilot #57: The Unit Debut date: March 7, 2006 Series legacy: Professionally made CBS procedural Hey party people. Welcome back to Test Pilot. Hopefully you’ve enjoy this theme thus far (if you haven’t yet, please check out the files on Sleeper Cell and Over There). There are only four entries (as opposed to the now-fairly standard five) so we are […]
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Test Pilot: File #56, Over There
Test Pilot #56: Over There Debut date: July 27, 2005 Series legacy: A seemingly forgotten, only barely controversial look at soldiers’ lives in Iraq Welcome back to Test Pilot, friends and foes. We’re rolling through our latest theme on War on Terror television. Hopefully you enjoyed the piece on Sleeper Cell from last time. If […]
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Test Pilot: File #54, The Vampire Diaries
Test Pilot #54: The Vampire Diaries Debut date: September 10, 2009 Series legacy: An exciting show that became so good it went from “criminally underrated” to properly celebrated in relatively short fashion First impressions mean a lot in television, and that’s why writers, producers, studios, networks, etc. put more time, effort and money into pilots […]
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Test Pilot: File #53, Parks and Recreation
Test Pilot #53: Parks and Recreation Debut date: April 9, 2009 Series legacy: On the shortlist of great contemporary sitcoms First impressions mean a lot in television, and that’s why writers, producers, studios, networks, etc. put more time, effort and money into pilots than they do just about any other episode that could possibly be […]
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Test Pilot: File #52, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Test Pilot #52: Star Trek: The Next Generation Debut date: September 28, 1987 Series legacy: One of the most critically-acclaimed science fiction series in television history First impressions mean a lot in television, and that’s why writers, producers, studios, networks, etc. put more time, effort and money into pilots than they do just about any […]
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Test Pilot: File #51, Seinfeld
Test Pilot #51: Seinfeld Debut date: July 5, 1989 Series legacy: One of the biggest and greatest sitcoms of all-time First impressions mean a lot in television, and that’s why writers, producers, studios, networks, etc. put more time, effort and money into pilots than they do just about any other episode that could possibly be […]
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Test Pilot: File #50, The Bob Newhart Show
Test Pilot #50: The Bob Newhart Show Debut date: September 17, 1972 (series premiere); November 18, 1972 (this episode) Series legacy: A very popular and generally well-respected member of the MTM stable Number 50! Wow. Thanks to everyone who has co-wrote, read, RT’ed or commented on these pieces thus far. We have no intentions of […]
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Test Pilot: File #48, Aquaman
Test Pilot #48: Aquaman Debut date: July 24, 2006 (iTunes) Series legacy: As a series? None to speak of; Yet, one of the more high-profile “non-orders” in recent memory Welcome friends, to the second Test Pilot Special Theme Week. We had such great success with the week devoted to Joss Whedon-produced series back at the first […]
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Test Pilot: File #47, The Flash
Test Pilot #47: The Flash Debut date: September 20, 1990 Series legacy: Mostly forgotten and failed entry of superhero TV Welcome friends, to the second Test Pilot Special Theme Week. We had such great success with the week devoted to Joss Whedon-produced series back at the first of the year that I thought it would be fun […]
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Test Pilot: File #46, The Incredible Hulk
Test Pilot #46: The Incredible Hulk Debut date: November 4, 1977 Series legacy: A generally well-regarded adaptation Welcome friends, to the second Test Pilot Special Theme Week. We had such great success with the week devoted to Joss Whedon-produced series back at the first of the year that I thought it would be fun to take another […]
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Test Pilot: File #44, The Shield
Test Pilot #44: The Shield Debut date: March 12, 2002 Series legacy: One of the best cop dramas, and series, of all-time Hello, everyone. Welcome back to your favorite discussion of television pilots on the internet, Test Pilot. Today we conclude our survey of the contemporary police drama. Hopefully we have done a fine job […]
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Test Pilot: File #43, Boomtown
Test Pilot #43: Boomtown Debut date: September 29, 2002 Series legacy: A well-respected but barely-watched entry into the police procedural genre Good afternoon! Hey there, party people. Welcome back to the internet’s most popular discussion of television pilots, Test Pilot. We’re still chugging our way through an exploration of the contemporary police procedural. Before you […]
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Test Pilot: Open forum for upcoming themes and files
Good afternoon all. We are coming to the end of our already-established Test Pilot themes and files, which means it is time to select some new ones. I have a slew of random notes and ideas scattered around, but I always like asking you folks what you would like to see covered in this space. […]
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Does a series’ ultimate failure negate a great pilot?
I hope everyone enjoyed the Awake pilot last night (or over the past few weeks, thanks to NBC releasing it online fairly early). If you haven’t read my review, please consider doing that. But amid all the beaming reviews and superlatives for Awake, big questions remain: Is it a series? Can the story be maintained […]
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Series Premiere Review: Awake
There is a lot of baggage that comes with the premiere of Awake. Its creator, Kyle Killen, also guided FOX’s Lone Star to the airwaves last year. That series’ pilot is one of my favorite of all-time, so of course, Lone Star was canceled after just two episodes because of terrible ratings. I also […]
CB, PhD 