Dead Pilots Society

It’s the after show for Big Wishes written by Kristen Bartlett (Head writer of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee)! Andrew sat down with Kristen to discuss her dead pilot, her arduous journey into comedy and her day job in standards and practices for a few major television networks. She opens up about the passing of her father, how she cultivated the mentality: “F*ck you, I’m doing my own thing…” and...

Another great pilot for you this month! It’s called Big Wishes written by Kristen Bartlett (Full Frontal, SNL) Her pilot is called Big Wishes . It follows Karla, a guilty pushover, and her best friend Hyacinth, brash and full-of-life despite having Stage 3 breast cancer, as they form a Make-a-Wish Foundation for adults. Together, Karla and Hyacinth set out to grant the strange, occasionally selfis...

We have a very special bonus episode for you! Andrew sat down with Ty Burrell (Modern Family) to discuss the dead pilot he produced, Yours, Mine and Paul’s written by Julia Meltzer. In their interview they discuss breaking new voices, what exactly that entails, what Ty looks for in specs from green writers, and the effort his company puts into finding them. He told us the story about how Julia’s p...

Have you listened to Julia Meltzer’s pilot Yours, Mine and Paul’s yet? Throw it on while you’re whipping up your Thanksgiving meal! Then listen to Andrew's interview with Julia, one of comedy’s next great writers! Joined by her supervisor Abraham Higginbotham ( Modern Family ), Julia tells us about how she went from being Ty Burrell’s development assistant to attaching him as a producer on her pil...

A first-time writer hits it out of the park in this month's dead pilot! The pilot is  Yours, Mine and Paul’s  written by Julia Meltzer. It centers around Lauren, a woman who agrees to be a surrogate for her best friend, Paul, and his husband, Xander. There’s just one problem: Lauren and Xander hate each other. Oh, also Paul dies in the cold open. Some great  Will & Grace  vibes here. It was develo...

If you haven’t listened to The End written by Lindsey Shockley then you have to do it before Halloween or you might turn into a zombie! This episode is the After Show! In it, Andrew sits down with Lindsey to discuss her career and the development of her pilot The End. You'll get the story of how he hired Lindsey as the writer’s assistant for one of his shows, and as a writer on another one. Lindse...

This month’s pilot is definitely going to put you in the halloween spirit! It’s probably our goriest script yet and without a doubt one of our funniest. It’s The End written by Lindsey Shockley (Black-ish), is a genre-bending comedy about an adorably neurotic woman who gets engaged on the same day zombies take over the world.  But even more terrifying?  Meeting her new in-laws. It was set up at Sh...

Dead Pilots Society and The Greatest Generation got together to celebrate MaxFun Block Party! If you enjoyed this conversation we had with hosts Benjamin Ahr Harrison and Adam Pranica, be sure to subscribe to The Greatest Generation and the Greatest Discovery! Thanks to Christian Dueñas for editing! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joindead...

Have you listened to the table read of  Everything’s Under Contro l written by Megan Gailey (Conan) and Aaron Burdette (Man Seeking Woman)? If not, get on that! This episode is the After Show! In it, Andrew sits down with Megan and Aaron to talk about the development of their brilliant and heartwarming pilot. They open up about their experience dealing with grandparents who suffered from Alzheimer...

This month’s pilot is a real doozy! It’s called  Everything’s Under Control  written by Megan Gailey (Conan) and Aaron Burdette (Man Seeking Woman). It centers around a working-class Midwestern family who are just barely keeping it together  when their grandmother develops Alzheimer’s. It was developed during the 2019-2020 pilot season. It was set up at ABC Network with the late Jamie Tarses and A...

We hope you had a chance to listen to the table read for Middle of Somewhere written by Andrew Reich (Friends) and the WellRED crew aka Trae Crowder, Corey Ryan Forrester, and Drew Morgan. In this episode, Andrew sits down with the guys for a deep dive into the development of this pilot, including an expansive conversation about some of the more controversial story ideas that the studio and networ...

Our pilot this month is called Middle of Somewhere written by Andrew Reich (Friends), Trae Crowder (Well Red), Corey Ryan Forrester (Well Red), and Drew Morgan (Well Red). This is an ensemble comedy about three best friends in the rural south and the women in their lives. Middle of Somewhere was set up at ABC with The District and ABC Studios attached to produce. Middle of Somewhere stars Trae Cro...

We have a great after show interview for you! It’s an enlightening conversation with Hilary Winston (My Name Is Earl, Community) & Mat Harawitz (Angie Tribeca, Will & Grace) writers of last week’s episode, Common Areas. Hilary spills some life changing advice she got from Kerry Washington in college and tales from her first staff writer job on The Orlando Jones Show. Mat tells us about his most em...

Our pilot this month is called Common Areas written by Mat Harawitz (Angie Tribeca) & Hilary Winston (Happy Endings). In cities where rents have sky rocketed, people are turning to micro-units in luxury buildings, where they can get a bedroom for the price of an apartment in any other city. These dorm residents are getting a lot more than just a tiny bedroom and athlete’s foot, they’re getting a c...

We caught up with the writers of Voice Of The People this week! Andrew sat down with Paul Scheer (The League, Black Monday) and Andrew Guest (30 Rock, Community) for their after show interview. They talked about the development process for Voice Of The People and where they saw the series going. They go in depth about the notes they received from HBO and what it was like to work with Adam McKay an...

We’re kicking off summer with a hot pilot! It’s called Voice of the People written by Paul Scheer & Andrew Guest. It’s a behind the scenes look at the cutthroat world of cable news punditry, where people treat the news like entertainment, in which one woman slowly loses her integrity as a journalist on her path to becoming an “expert.” It was set up at HBO with Adam Mckay’s company, Gary Sanchez a...

It’s week two of the Max Fun Drive! Thank you so much if you’ve already supported the show  by becoming a MaxFun member. Make sure you  let us know on twitter or instagram so we can properly thank you! For week two we caught up with Riki Lindhome (Knives Out, Another Period) and Monica Padrick (Community, Central Park) about their pilot Tails. They were so great to talk to. Monica told us about he...

Dead Pilots Society producer Ben Blacker chats with Janet Varney, host of MaxFun's The JV Club podcast. DPS fans will enjoy Janet (you know her from several of our episodes!), the funny and frank conversations about our most awkward years, and the celebrity guests. Don't forget to check the boxes for Dead Pilots Society and The JV Club when you become a MaxFun member! Please help support the littl...

Dead Pilots Society producer Ben Blacker chats with Hal Lublin and Mark Gagliardi, hosts of MaxFun's We Got This podcast. DPS fans will enjoy the comedy arguments, the silly decisions, and the celebrity guests of We Got This. Don't forget to check the boxes for Dead Pilots Society and We Got This when you become a MaxFun member! Please help support the little shows that can and do!" Mark and Hal s...

To keep in line with the spirit of #MaxFunDrive, we are feed swapping with fellow MaxFun podcast Mission to Zyxx. Dead Pilots Society producer Ben Blacker chats with Mission to Zyxx hosts/comedians Seth Lind and Moujan Zolfaghari. DPS fans will LOVE this podcast! Each episode features a special guest comedian who plays an inhabitant of the Zyxx Quadrant unlucky enough to encounter our crew. Episod...

The MaxFunDrive is here and we have a very special episode for you. It’s Tails written by Riki Lindhome (Knives Out, Another Period) and Monica Padrick (Community, Central Park). Tails follows Erika, a woman in her late 30s, who despite the pressure she feels from the world around her, refuses to settle in any area of her life. It was set up at Fox with Universal TV, Paper Kite Productions and 3 A...

In our episode today, we are feed swapping with Reading Glasses! Dead Pilots Society producer Ben Blacker chats with Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara, hosts of MaxFun's Reading Glasses podcast. This is a podcast all about book culture and literary life. No matter how much you read, you can listen to this show! Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara are joined this week by Rider Strong to discuss bad book ha...

In this week’s episode, Andrew sits down with with the writers of last week’s pilot Next Door, Steven Cragg & Brian Bradley (MadTV, Happy Endings). In their interview, Steven and Brian talk about how they met on MadTV and what the writing process for that show was like. They tell war stories about past pilots, their experience show running Uncle Buck , and a helpful tip for mining material. Steven...

Our pilot this month is called Next Door written by Steven Cragg & Brian Bradley (Mad TV, Happy Endings). It’s a multi-generational comedy about three diverse suburban couples, all at crossroads in their lives, who bond while investigating the murder of the worst person in their neighborhood. It was set up at Fox with Sony Pictures TV and Stoller Global Solutions attached to produce. Our table rea...

This week’s episode is a special tribute to Jamie Tarses. An irreplaceable force in the television business, Jamie was the producer of shows such as Happy Endings, My Boys, Franklin and Bash, The Wilds, Men at Work, and the upcoming Mysterious Benedict Society. She was a tireless and fearless supporter of writers, and Andrew interviewed 16 writers who worked with her to talk about what Jamie meant...