And with that we conclude Pilot Palooza '11. I've had a blast and I really congratulate myself (yeah, I'm that guy) on the brilliance of this idea. We watched 8 pilots and while they weren't all hits with Mike, they were all fun to share with my friend.
The winners are...
#1 - Everwood
#2 - TIE: Veronica Mars & Gilmore Girls
#3 - Life As We Know It
He's decided to watch Life As We Know It first though since it's only a measly 13 episodes long, then tuck into Everwood. I'm sure he'll occasionally tweet his thoughts and I can't wait.
I'm compiling my list for next time already!
Showing posts with label Pilot Palooza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pilot Palooza. Show all posts
May 28, 2011
Pilot Palooza - Round Eight
Our Pilot Palooza event concludes with Gilmore Girls.
Mike loves Lorelai's delightfully sarcastic personality.
He is thrilled to see Jared Padelcki though it's weirding him out that after all these years of seeing him as Sam Winchester, he's suddenly Dean.
I keep getting distracted by the differences between some of the pilot sets and the sets from the rest of the series. Original Luke's throws me for a loop and that shot where you can see "across the street" behind Lorelai when she's standing on her parents' front porch? Yeesh!
"It's over already? Boo!" This one's a winner.
This one gets 8 out of 10 from Mikey.
Lorelai is his favorite thing about the show.
Mike loves Lorelai's delightfully sarcastic personality.
He is thrilled to see Jared Padelcki though it's weirding him out that after all these years of seeing him as Sam Winchester, he's suddenly Dean.
I keep getting distracted by the differences between some of the pilot sets and the sets from the rest of the series. Original Luke's throws me for a loop and that shot where you can see "across the street" behind Lorelai when she's standing on her parents' front porch? Yeesh!
"It's over already? Boo!" This one's a winner.
This one gets 8 out of 10 from Mikey.
Lorelai is his favorite thing about the show.
Pilot Palooza - Round Seven
Ready, set, SLAY! Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a slightly jarring follow-up to Everwood, so we took a dinner break in between.
Mike jumped once even before the credits. Good start. Followed by continued jumping and gasping when the dead kid falls out of the gym locker.
I always forget how much I love Cordelia.
Minute 16: "Are you going to hate me forever if I say this is horrible so far?" Uh oh.
Buffy: "Oh come on, this is Sunnydale. How bad an evil can there be?"
Mike: "She had to ask."
Mike thinks Angel is hot. I can't believe Angel is wearing a crushed velvet blazer.
Michael just said he hopes a vampire gets Cordelia. Our friendship is hanging by a thread.
His opinion of the show has been upgraded - "horrible...but pretty fun."
Sad news in the ratings department. He gives it only a 5 out of 10.
He HATES the special effects. He liked SMG and Alyson Hannigan.
Disappointment.
Moving on.
Mike jumped once even before the credits. Good start. Followed by continued jumping and gasping when the dead kid falls out of the gym locker.
I always forget how much I love Cordelia.
Minute 16: "Are you going to hate me forever if I say this is horrible so far?" Uh oh.
Buffy: "Oh come on, this is Sunnydale. How bad an evil can there be?"
Mike: "She had to ask."
Mike thinks Angel is hot. I can't believe Angel is wearing a crushed velvet blazer.
Michael just said he hopes a vampire gets Cordelia. Our friendship is hanging by a thread.
His opinion of the show has been upgraded - "horrible...but pretty fun."
Sad news in the ratings department. He gives it only a 5 out of 10.
He HATES the special effects. He liked SMG and Alyson Hannigan.
Disappointment.
Moving on.
Pilot Palooza - Round Six
When the main menu of the Everwood disk came up and the theme song started to play, Mike said "oh my God, even this song makes me want to cry." Buckle up, my friend, it's going to be a weepy ride.
I have never watched that death notification scene without crying. Never.
Mike is curiously quiet through this show. Just a chuckle or two so far. No tears yet though. For him that is, I've cried at least once.
He's getting pretty tired of the 'tude Ephram keeps copping with Andy. "Alright, that's enough ya little dick! Can't a dad change?"
He loves Edna. He's a fan of crabbily funny people.
Audible Gasp Alert! Mike did NOT appreciate it when Bright made the comment about when Ephram's mom "bought it" - "PUNCH HIM!" Now he's just really hoping that Amy actually does like Ephram and isn't a dick like her brother.
The father/son fight in the street: "that was intense. My chest got kinda tight."
Edna continues to amuse him and he loves the constant surprises that everyone seems to be related to crabby Dr. Abbott.
"Awww. God, I fuckin' love this show!" I am so happy right now!
He just double checked the cheat sheet I made him: "it's ludicrous that this show was only four seasons!" He's not wrong.
TEARS! At the 46 minute mark.
He rates this one 11 out of 10.
His favorite thing about it is that it's a perfect little mix of everything.
I have never watched that death notification scene without crying. Never.
Mike is curiously quiet through this show. Just a chuckle or two so far. No tears yet though. For him that is, I've cried at least once.
He's getting pretty tired of the 'tude Ephram keeps copping with Andy. "Alright, that's enough ya little dick! Can't a dad change?"
He loves Edna. He's a fan of crabbily funny people.
Audible Gasp Alert! Mike did NOT appreciate it when Bright made the comment about when Ephram's mom "bought it" - "PUNCH HIM!" Now he's just really hoping that Amy actually does like Ephram and isn't a dick like her brother.
The father/son fight in the street: "that was intense. My chest got kinda tight."
Edna continues to amuse him and he loves the constant surprises that everyone seems to be related to crabby Dr. Abbott.
"Awww. God, I fuckin' love this show!" I am so happy right now!
He just double checked the cheat sheet I made him: "it's ludicrous that this show was only four seasons!" He's not wrong.
TEARS! At the 46 minute mark.
He rates this one 11 out of 10.
His favorite thing about it is that it's a perfect little mix of everything.
Pilot Palooza - Round Five
Up next: Felicity. This one is a life-changer.
Right off the bat, I'm struck by how young Keri Russell looks and Mike says "she looks way too old to be graduating high school." Perspective, I guess.
First Noel sighting: "This is going to be one of those 'who's she going to end up with' things, isn't it?" Not as big a TV virgin as I thought, this one.
Mike says Ben has "Stefan hair" and suddenly I wonder why it never occurred to me that Stefan has Ben hair. Maybe because Ben only has this hair in the pilot? Hmmm.
Audible gasp when Ben tells Felicity that he's into Julie.
Cue the Sarah McLachlan.
Sally! Of all the things I miss about Felicity, and the list is long, Sally's voice overs are what I miss most. Mike is very disappointed to find out we never meet Sally: "what?! That's bullshit!"
He gives this one 7.5 out of 10. Lower than I expected.
His favorite thing about it is that it's set in New York. He's a Ben guy, "Noel is cute and he obviously gets cuter but...Ben is hot. Really fuckin' hot."
Right off the bat, I'm struck by how young Keri Russell looks and Mike says "she looks way too old to be graduating high school." Perspective, I guess.
First Noel sighting: "This is going to be one of those 'who's she going to end up with' things, isn't it?" Not as big a TV virgin as I thought, this one.
Mike says Ben has "Stefan hair" and suddenly I wonder why it never occurred to me that Stefan has Ben hair. Maybe because Ben only has this hair in the pilot? Hmmm.
Audible gasp when Ben tells Felicity that he's into Julie.
Cue the Sarah McLachlan.
Sally! Of all the things I miss about Felicity, and the list is long, Sally's voice overs are what I miss most. Mike is very disappointed to find out we never meet Sally: "what?! That's bullshit!"
He gives this one 7.5 out of 10. Lower than I expected.
His favorite thing about it is that it's set in New York. He's a Ben guy, "Noel is cute and he obviously gets cuter but...Ben is hot. Really fuckin' hot."
Pilot Palooza - Round Four
We're gettin' our Greek on!
Five minute mark, he's laughing already. But he's also mentioned that it's suffering for directly following Veronica Mars. That was bound to happen.
First Cappie sighting: "Yum." Second Cappie sighting: "no, not yum."
So far? Not a Casey fan.
He just called Calvin "Smash Williams" then I made him laugh and he almost spit sangria everywhere. We're cookin' now.
"Kick his ass, Rusty!" There was actual cheering from Mike when Rusty clocked Evan with the pledge paddle.
And a gasp when Heath and Calvin came out of the room. "This just went up a rating number!"
He only gives this a 6 out of 10. I'm disappointed, but I persevere.
His favorite thing about the show: "Calvin was born this way...like me!"
Five minute mark, he's laughing already. But he's also mentioned that it's suffering for directly following Veronica Mars. That was bound to happen.
First Cappie sighting: "Yum." Second Cappie sighting: "no, not yum."
So far? Not a Casey fan.
He just called Calvin "Smash Williams" then I made him laugh and he almost spit sangria everywhere. We're cookin' now.
"Kick his ass, Rusty!" There was actual cheering from Mike when Rusty clocked Evan with the pledge paddle.
And a gasp when Heath and Calvin came out of the room. "This just went up a rating number!"
He only gives this a 6 out of 10. I'm disappointed, but I persevere.
His favorite thing about the show: "Calvin was born this way...like me!"
Pilot Palooza - Round Three
Going into today, Mike thought he'd end up choosing Veronica Mars as his next project so he's very excited to start Round Three. Here we go...
"Rob Thomas created this?!?!" Common exclamation from non-TV addicts, I'm sure.
So far, he's not terribly fond of "psychotic jackass" Logan. Then again, who was? He thinks Wallace is adorable and he loves Keith.
Veronica's pilot hair is giving me a traumatic flashback to Rose's terrible 'do from The Vampire Diaries.
"Is the sheriff's last name 'Lame'?" Mike thinks they missed an opportunity there.
At 35 minutes in, Mike thinks they should make a Veronica Mars movie.
The show finishes to a round of applause from Mike.
He gives it a perfect score - 10 out 10.
His favorite thing about Veronica Mars? "Everything."
Pilot Palooza - Round Two
Moving on to Joan of Arcadia.
Already, Mike's a big fan of Cute Guy God. That's a good sign. On the other hand, "I don't like that he doesn't fucking answer her questions!" he tells me.
"The priest isn't so bad looking either." You guys, the smiting is imminent.
Mike thinks Jason Ritter looks like Jared Leto. I have no idea what to do with that.
He just full-on screamed when Sammy snuck up behind Joan and startled her while she was running from the creepy serial killer man. I laughed at him. I know you're all riveted by my play-by-play.
"That's why God wanted her to get a job!" By Jove, I think he's got it.
Mike rates this an 7 out of 10.
His favorite thing is "God. Not Lunch Lady God. Cute God."
Already, Mike's a big fan of Cute Guy God. That's a good sign. On the other hand, "I don't like that he doesn't fucking answer her questions!" he tells me.
"The priest isn't so bad looking either." You guys, the smiting is imminent.
Mike thinks Jason Ritter looks like Jared Leto. I have no idea what to do with that.
He just full-on screamed when Sammy snuck up behind Joan and startled her while she was running from the creepy serial killer man. I laughed at him. I know you're all riveted by my play-by-play.
"That's why God wanted her to get a job!" By Jove, I think he's got it.
Mike rates this an 7 out of 10.
His favorite thing is "God. Not Lunch Lady God. Cute God."
Pilot Palooza - Round One
To start with, we've changed up the programming order - Mike decided he wanted to watch the shows starting with the shortest series and ending with the longest so we're kicking off Pilot Palooza with Life As We Know It.
The first thing Mike said was that while Dino (Sean Faris) is good looking, he prefers Jonathan (Chris Lowell). I've always been partial to Ben (Jon Foster) myself.
Mike also noted, during the scene where the boys are playing hockey in the house, "no mom in the world would walk in on that and not scream at them to get out of her house with that shit."
Thirty minutes in: "I like this show a lot so far."
He gives it "a solid 8 out of 10."
"It was good. It was not what I expected."
Mike's favorite thing about it is the friendship chemistry between the boys.
First round: Success!
The first thing Mike said was that while Dino (Sean Faris) is good looking, he prefers Jonathan (Chris Lowell). I've always been partial to Ben (Jon Foster) myself.
Mike also noted, during the scene where the boys are playing hockey in the house, "no mom in the world would walk in on that and not scream at them to get out of her house with that shit."
Thirty minutes in: "I like this show a lot so far."
He gives it "a solid 8 out of 10."
"It was good. It was not what I expected."
Mike's favorite thing about it is the friendship chemistry between the boys.
First round: Success!
May 24, 2011
Pilot Palooza - The Premise
My friend Vicki recently said, "I don't know why people don't just watch what you tell them to watch. You have excellent taste in television." You guys, she isn't wrong. That's not to say that I don't watch bad shows because I do. But I only ever recommend that people watch things I believe they'll genuinely love based on their own sensibilities and I have a very high success rate with these recommendations. Have I ever recommended that someone watch One Tree Hill? Yes. But I recommended it to people who enjoy bad, soapy melodramas as much as I do and they did, in fact, like it. I don't go around telling everyone they should watch One Tree Hill though, that would be ridiculous.
I do go around telling everyone they should watch Friday Night Lights and to-date I've convinced 12 people all of whom have loved it unabashedly and have gone on to convince others to watch it as well. FNL's universal appeal is the exception, not the rule.
Recently, I've had a run of success convincing people to take my advice and learn to love shows they should have been loving all along. My friend Mike is one of my pet projects. After turning him on to FNL, Gossip Girl, and The Vampire Diaries, he agreed to catch up with some old shows that would help him develop a better appreciation for the great shows of the past and better understand half of the references I make. He's nearly finished with The O.C. and now it's time to pick his next adventure. There are too many good ones to choose from so I was having a hard time figuring out what should be next. That's how we came up with Pilot Palooza.
This Saturday we will spend the entire day viewing the pilot episodes of the shows I've determined he's most likely to love. I've put them in a specific order taking into account the duration of the series (the longer the series, the harder it'll be for him to get through it since he's kind of slow) and the likelihood of him choosing it to be his next adventure. Most of them were chosen by me, some of them were added to the list at his request.
The Schedule
Veronica Mars
Everwood
Greek
Life As We Know It
Joan Of Arcadia
Felicity
Gilmore Girls
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
He's a smoker so we end up taking frequent breaks which means that while I could watch these 8 pilots in just over 6 hours, it may take Mike all day. Like I said - slow. However, if he's unable to make a choice based on the pilots alone, and we have adequate time, we will narrow it down and watch an additional episode of his top choices.
Come back here on Saturday and find out how this project is going or follow us on Twitter (@PhantomRat and @miaz169) for the random thoughts as they occur to us. And if you'd like to suggest other shows that you feel I've overlooked, I'm already preparing for Pilot Palooza II, leave a recommendation in the comments.
I do go around telling everyone they should watch Friday Night Lights and to-date I've convinced 12 people all of whom have loved it unabashedly and have gone on to convince others to watch it as well. FNL's universal appeal is the exception, not the rule.
Recently, I've had a run of success convincing people to take my advice and learn to love shows they should have been loving all along. My friend Mike is one of my pet projects. After turning him on to FNL, Gossip Girl, and The Vampire Diaries, he agreed to catch up with some old shows that would help him develop a better appreciation for the great shows of the past and better understand half of the references I make. He's nearly finished with The O.C. and now it's time to pick his next adventure. There are too many good ones to choose from so I was having a hard time figuring out what should be next. That's how we came up with Pilot Palooza.
This Saturday we will spend the entire day viewing the pilot episodes of the shows I've determined he's most likely to love. I've put them in a specific order taking into account the duration of the series (the longer the series, the harder it'll be for him to get through it since he's kind of slow) and the likelihood of him choosing it to be his next adventure. Most of them were chosen by me, some of them were added to the list at his request.
The Schedule
Veronica Mars
Everwood
Greek
Life As We Know It
Joan Of Arcadia
Felicity
Gilmore Girls
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
He's a smoker so we end up taking frequent breaks which means that while I could watch these 8 pilots in just over 6 hours, it may take Mike all day. Like I said - slow. However, if he's unable to make a choice based on the pilots alone, and we have adequate time, we will narrow it down and watch an additional episode of his top choices.
Come back here on Saturday and find out how this project is going or follow us on Twitter (@PhantomRat and @miaz169) for the random thoughts as they occur to us. And if you'd like to suggest other shows that you feel I've overlooked, I'm already preparing for Pilot Palooza II, leave a recommendation in the comments.
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