We Judge a Show by its Pilot

Yeaaahhhh buddy! We are traveling back to the mysterious year of 2009 when Jeff had just moved back home and was trying to find his place in the world. He didn't find it but thanks to one of his best friends, he did find Jersey Shore. Considered one of the most popular American reality shows of all time, Jersey Shore created a cultural shift in the US. On today's episode, Jeff talks about his orig...

It's guilty pleasure week and we're continuing Jeff Month with a show he's never fully admitted he was a huge fan of... The Hills. Originally a spin-off of Laguna Beach, The Hills follows Lauren Conrad as she moves from the Orange County suburbs to Los Angeles with her bestie, Heidi Montag. On today's episode, Jeff explains why he became glued to this show. Jeff and Anna also confess their favorit...

We're continuing Jeff Month with his all-time favorite tv show: The Challenge. Originating as a spin-off to Real World and Road Rules, The Challenge is one of the first competition reality shows that pit former cast members of Real World and Road Rules against each other to compete for a cash prize. Today we are discussing the pilot for Season 19: Fresh Meat 2 which premiered on March 31, 2010 and...

For Jeff, this was the reality show that started it all for him. If you were a 90s kid that frequently watched The Disney Channel then you might remember Bug Juice, a reality show about kids at summer camp. Best described as "The Real World for middle schoolers", Bug Juice followed a group of young teens attending Camp Waziyatah in Maine. On today's episode, we discuss our favorite summer camp mov...

Put on your Sunday best, bring your best batch of corn puddin', but be sure to avoid the town's rapscallion! Why? Because today we're judging the pilot for Schmigadoon! A comedy that parodies the Golden Age of musicals, this series has a stacked cast including Keegan Michael Key, Cecily Strong, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, Kristin Chenoweth, Dove Cameron, and even Martin Short! When a couple on the...

If you could create a playlist that represented you, what would your theme song be? The song that hypes you up? The song you listen to when you're sad? The song that inspires you? We delve into that and much more while we discuss the pilot for Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.

I hope I get it! No, it's not that musical but it's the same vein. Today we are judging the pilot for Smash, a musical drama that has developed a cult following over the last 10+ years. As lovers of musical theater, we were very interested in seeing the behind the scenes world of developed a Broadway musical. Also as former theater kids, we share audition stories from our past. We also discuss unh...

Today we are judging the pilot for a show we both love but is unfortunately surrounded with controversy. At one point in time, Glee was one of the biggest shows on TV. Countless Top 10 singles on iTunes, international tours, and it turned a bunch of unknown young actors into superstars. Some of the cast have gone on to win Emmy's, Golden Globes, and Tony's. Today we discuss our love for the show,...

How do you like to vacation? Do you like to do stuff? Do you like to sit around and sit by the pool? We explore that and more on today's episode where we judge the pilot for one of the most currently popular shows on TV right now, The White Lotus. Along with the pilot, we talk about our honeymoon, vacationing with friends and their families, and much more! Enjoy!

We're traveling to Seattle to visit a hospital with the world's hottest staff. Today we are judging the pilot for Grey's Anatomy. Spanning over the last 2 decades with over 450 episodes and still running, Grey's Anatomy is one of the most popular tv dramas of all time. Along with the pilot we are discussing why we think the show is so popular, Anna talks about what got her into the show when it or...

WARNING: This episode might be too sexy for you. We try our best to keep a straight face for this episode but we can't help ourselves. We dive into the sexy, dramatic universe of Red Shoe Diaries, an erotic anthology series that originally aired on Showtime in the early 90s. We discuss our thoughts on why we think people are fixated on erotica, we give our opinion on open relationships and casual...

Thank you for being our friend! We've been waiting to judge the pilot for one of our favorite sitcoms and we're finally doing it. Today we discuss our love for The Golden Girls, an 80s sitcom that became one of the most popular shows on tv while discussing controversial topics in a comedic manner. Along with the pilot, we discuss our LEAST favorite tv theme songs, the first time we felt "old", tim...

Have you ever had to "dial back" who you are in order to fit in? That's a topic we discuss as we judge the pilot for the beloved sitcom, Black-ish. A sitcom that broke barriers by having serious, topical conversations while still being a funny series. Along with the pilot, Anna shares what it was like being an American with immigrant parents, we talk about sports/school activities we wanted to do...

It's our last episode of the month and our last Tuesday episode. After this we will be releasing an episode once a week on Friday's. We are closing out UK Month with a newer show that recently came out on Netflix... Dept. Q. The series centers around a brilliant detective that has been reassigned to a new department that works on cold cases. Morck, the detective, has recently dealt with a great de...

Casual dating. What does that mean exactly? How can you casually date? Well we explore that as well as other dating topics while we judge the pilot for the critically acclaimed UK series, Fleabag. The titular character is a young woman navigating single life in London. Along with the pilot, we discuss this year's Emmy nominations and of course, we tell stories from our casual dating era. 

Are you good at making friends? How do you go about it? That's our main topic today as we judge the pilot for the UK gem, The Inbetweeners. The series centers around a 16-year-old boy named Will who is starting his first day at a new school and he can't to stop standing out. As we discuss Will trying different ways to make new friends, we also discuss how we are at making friends and how we are wi...

Why do we make such a big deal about losing our virginity? As teenagers and young adults, we make it this life affirming event but is it really that big of a deal? We explore this question while judging the pilot of one of Jeff's all-time favorites, Skins (not the U.S. remake that most people know about). Set in Bristol, England, Skins shows us a side of teen culture never really shown on TV in th...

Can a show that has been running for 14 seasons be considered underrated? We discuss that while judging the pilot for a show neither one of us had ever seen, Call the Midwife. Set in East End London in 1957, it is based off the memoirs of real life midwife Jennifer Worth as she experiences major culture while trying to adjust to a life of poverty. Along with the pilot, Anna talks about her life 1...

We're back and we're excited to share this episode with you! If you live in the US or the UK and you've never heard of The Office then I'm not sure where you've been for the last 20+ years. We're going back to the original. The Office U.K. was a sleeper hit and eventually became one of the biggest British sitcoms of all time. When it was adapted in the U.S., many thought it was going to flop but a...

Put on your fancy pants and your finest hat because we're heading to Downton Abbey to hang out with the Crawley's and their servants. A groundbreaking series that was both hugely popular in the UK and the US, Downton shows us the contrasting worlds of the high class aristocrats and the working class servants. Some of their problems couldn't be more different but other times the show reminds us tha...

Grab your Thunder Buddy, put on your finest suit, start playing the Flash Gordon theme song because we're talking about everyone's favorite living teddy bear, Ted. Starting out as a movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane, getting a sequel film, and then a prequel TV series, Ted has proven to have staying power. On today's episode we discuss the movie and the series, why we love it, but w...

Something that everyone seems to have an opinion on is parenting, even if they don't have kids. Today's episode we're judging the pilot of one of Jeff's favorite shows which is based on one of Anna's favorite movies, Parenthood. The movie was released in 1989 and it reflected the next generation of parenting (Boomers). Over 20 years later, Parenthood the series aired on NBC and that also represent...

One of the most iconic 90s teen movies of all times, 10 Things I Hate About You was the breakout movie for Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles as well as co-starring a Who's Who of Young Hollywood including: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union, David Krumholtz, Andrew Keegan, and Susan May Pratt (remember her???). Based on William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, 10 Things is a story of two very dif...

How do you feel about twist endings? How do you feel about spoilers? Well, that's our main topic of conversation for today's episode. We're continuing Summer Blockbuster month with Bates Motel, a "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film, Psycho. Psycho is considered to be one of the most famous and important horror movies of all time and has one of the most iconic twist endings ever. Along with the...

Is Johnny Lawrence the true karate kid? Is Daniel Larusso the real villain? Johnny was just minding his own business until some kid from New Jersey came to town and ruined his life. Johnny is the stereotypical guy that peaked in high school. Now working dead end jobs to make rent, Johnny finds himself at a crossroads... does he continue living in the past obsessing over his mistakes or does he ris...