Take Us to the Pilot

There are more secrets to uncover with this week's pilot, Pretty Little Liars, which combines teen drama with murder mystery.

This week, our murder mystery series takes a vindictive turn with the pilot of Revenge, yet another soapy drama with a large cast of suspicious characters.

We're taking a stroll down Wisteria Lane in the pilot of Desperate Housewives, the mega hit series known for its memorable characters, dark comedy, and intricate mysteries. 

The premiere of Veronica Mars introduced a 2000's take on the noir genre and debuted Kristen Bell as a lead actor playing a teenage private eye.

This summer, we're looking to find clues and solve cases in female-led mystery shows, starting with the pilot of Murder, She Wrote, which leaned into the genre's classic framework.

The final mark in our series on TV killers is Barry, the darkly comedic crime drama, which earned widespread acclaim for co-creator and star Bill Hader.

Our next fictional TV killer narrates in the second person as he stalks his victim in the pilot of You.

The pilot of Mindhunter begins a journey into the psychology of serial killers, framed through the vision of director David Fincher.

This week we're up north for the pilot of Fargo, the (sort of) anthology series that captures the same blend of drama, absurdity, and dark humor as its film counterpart.

We're checking in to the pilot of Bates Motel, the A&E drama that expanded the world and fleshed out the backstory of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

The series Hannibal expanded the limits of broadcast programming while serving a fresh new depiction of its namesake cannibal.

We're back with a whole new slate of pilots, this time focused on the serial killer genre. First up is the iconic Showtime drama Dexter, which blends several tones while putting viewers in the mind of its bloody lead character.

We're debriefing our final entry in the drug crime genre, last year's gritty and character-driven drama Task.

The premiere of Snowfall juggles three storylines while delivering an intoxicating blend of fact, fiction, and flash.

The Ozark pilot focuses on the money laundering part of the drug trade, as well as the family theme common in the crime genre.

We are heading to South America for the pilot of Narcos, the Netflix series that hooked viewers with a dramatic flair on a true crime story.

We're riding along with the Sons of Anarchy pilot, which took the crime genre to a new locale while establishing a franchise with a lot of mileage for FX

Next in our lineup is the pilot of Weeds, which highlights creator Jenji Kohan's signature mix of dark humor and social commentary.

Take Us to the Pilot is back, and this year we’re focusing on the crime genre! The first several shows in our lineup are related to the drug trade, and what more iconic series to kick off the category than Breaking Bad. For this pilot, creator Vince Gilligan engineered the perfect chemistry for groundbreaking TV.

Take Us to the Pilot has officially reached 100 episodes! To mark this milestone, we're discussing the fictional pilot of Jerry. As the focus of Seinfeld's fourth season, the show-within-a-show arc was self-referential in a way never seen on a sitcom before.

Happy Halloween! We're wrapping up our month of witchy TV pilots by discussing Mayfair Witches, which adds to the mythology of AMC's Immortal Universe.

Our witchy pilot this week, Charmed, features three times the magic and demonstrates the power of sisterhood.

The pilot of Sabrina the Teenage Witch not only revitalized the Archie Comics character but also updated the fantasy comedy genre for 90s family television.

It's October, so we're getting in the Halloween spirit by discussing shows about witches! Our first witchy pilot, Bewitched, is a classic from the era of 60s fantasy comedies.

We wrap up our series on new technology with the pilot of Severance, whose surreal setting and central concept give a new meaning to the idea of work/life balance.