The S1E1 Podcast
Join us every week where we’ll be picking a different sitcom and judging it solely on its very first televised episode. In doing so we’ll be challenging ourselves to erase any knowledge of future episodes so we can deliver an unbiased opinion. At the end of each show we’ll tell you if this is a show we would green light or cancel. Tune in to find out which mega shows wouldn’t make the cut, what forgettable mistakes we give a pass, and who started exactly where they should be.
Listen on:
Episodes
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
It's very rare when someone is able to star in back to back hit television shows but Melissa Joan Hart was able to do just that when shortly after wrapping up "Clarissa Explains It All" went on to star in this weeks episode, "Sabrina The Teenage Witch". The show chronicles the adventures of Sabrina Spellman, a girl who discovers on her 16th birthday that she is a witch. The show, which was based on the Archie Comics series of the same name was a near instant hit and ended up with a seven season run. So with that in mind a sitcom about a witch living in Massachusetts seemed like the perfect Halloween episode for this year. Will the boys give this one a green-light or are they just too far removed from when we were the target demographic. Listen as they review the pilot episode and find out.
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Starring: Melissa Joan Hart, Beth Broderick, Caroline Rhea, Nate Richert, Nick Bakay, Jenna Leigh Green. Michelle Beaudoin, Paul Feig, Penn Gillette, Teller, & Debbie Harry
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
In "Deadbeat" Tyler Labine plays a medium for hire named "Pac" who uses his actual ability to see ghosts to help them move on to the afterlife. And much like most mediums he does so with the aid of his drug dealer. Despite this very unique ability Pac possesses he still struggles to pay the bills.
Deadbeat first premiered in 2014 and marks the first Hulu original show we've covered. It earned itself 3 seasons which is amazing because it was all done without any of us even being aware of its existence.
Can Hulu dish out great original content? We aim to find out when review this show's pilot episode, "The Sexorcism".
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Starring: Tyler Labine, Brandon T. Jackson, Cat Deeley, Lucy DeVito, Samantha Bee, Danielle Dallacco, Paul Iacono
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
The Munsters is one of the most beloved shows to come out of the 60s... But we're not covering that show, we tackled that one last year (go back in the archives to listen). This week we're here to talk about "The Munsters Today"!
The Munsters Today is a revival of the original show where the family accidentally sleeps for over 20 years and then find themselves having to adjust to life in the 80s. The new version of the show is shot in color and has a whole new cast portraying the same characters we came to know and love in the original.
Despite being forgotten in time The Munsters Today actually produced more episodes than the original show. Is the show's 70+ episode run an indicator that they were able to recreate the same magic with this spin-off? Listen as we review their pilot episode, "Vampire Pie" to find out.
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Starring: John Schuck, Lee Meriwether, Jason Marsden, Hilary Van Dyke, & Howard Morton
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
What might be a surprise to many American television fans, "What We Do in the Shadows" was not the first spinoff show to come from the movie of the same name. Before it was "Wellington Paranormal". Jemaine Clement created this paranormal cop show mocumentary using the characters Officer O'Leary and Officer Minogue who were seen very briefly in the film he and Taika Waititi made.
The show focuses on a division of the New Zealand Police Department specializing in paranormal activity. Originally airing in its native country of New Zealand in 2018, the show would eventually find a second home airing in the United States on The CW network 3 years later.
Can Wellington Paranormal get the same perfect score that the S1E1 boys gave its sister sitcom? Listen as they review the pilot episode, "Demon Girl" to find out.
www.S1E1POD.com
Starring: Mike Minogue, Karen O'Leary, Maaka Pohatu, Thomas Sainsbury, & Erika Camacho
Thursday Sep 29, 2022
Thursday Sep 29, 2022
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of it first airing, it only made sense for us to cover "Cheers". Cheers was an absolute mega hit which will forever be remembered as one of the greatest shows of all time. Starring Ted Danson as the fictional former Red Sox pitcher Sam Malone, the show focuses on the day to day of a bar's staff and its regulars. The simple concept resonated with the viewers and became a ratings juggernaut landing a top 10 spot for 8 of its 11 seasons. Nearly 40% of the US population tuned in to catch the series finale. To this day the Boston bar that the show was based on remains a popular tourist attraction.
This Episode also features our first guest! Dave from In A Pickle joins in to share his perspective as both a Cheers super fan and a long time bartender in the Boston bar scene. Check out his podcast focusing on the less glamourous side of sports at IAP RADIO.
With all of that in mind will the pilot Episode which only ranked 74th out of 77th when it premiered get the green-light from the S1E1 boys? Listen to find out as the review Episode 1, "Give Me A Ring Sometime".
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Staring: Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Nicholas Colasanto, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt, & John Ratzenberger
Thursday Sep 22, 2022
Thursday Sep 22, 2022
When Lisa McGee created "Derry Girls", it was mainly a collection of things that actually happened to her growing up. The show is a British teen sitcom based around five teenagers living in mid-1990s Derry while attending Our Lady Immaculate College, a fictional girl's Catholic secondary school based on the real-life Thornhill College, where McGee herself studied. The show was an immediate hit and managed to be its networks most successful comedy in years.
That being said will this be an easy green-light for the S1E1 guys? Listen and find out as they do a deep review of the show's pilot episode, "Episode 1"
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Starring: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, Nicola Coughlan, Dylan Llewellyn, Siobhán McSweeney
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
In many ways, "The Big Bang Theory" is what really brought nerd culture to the forefront after it became a fast breakout hit when it first debuted in 2007 A show about two scientist who enjoyed comic books, science fiction, role playing games, and so much more hadn't really gotten much love on prime time television. And certainly not as main characters depicted in such a positive light. The show pulled strong ratings throughout the entirety of its 12 season run which is no easy feat.
Four years after its final episode aired we look back at the shows pilot episode and try to better understand why you couldn't walk past a single kiosk at any mall without seeing a "Bazinga" shirt. Will the S1E1 boys green-light their pilot episode? Listen and find out.
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Starring: Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, & Kunal Nayyar
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
Thursday Sep 08, 2022
When it comes to "Rob", Jace Lacob of The Daily Beast described it as CBS's "worst new show" and wrote that it "offers a wafer-thin appreciation and awareness of Mexican culture". Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote "Some of this barrage of stereotypes might be passable if even one character were intelligently written and skillfully played". So with reviews like that clearly we needed to investigate.
"Rob" stars SNL alumni Rob Schneider as a middle aged man who recently gets thrown into a world of Mexican-American culture after getting married to a woman in a tight-knit family. The show was created by Schneider and former Saturday Night Live writer, Lew Morton.
Was this show as bad as advertised or was it not given a fair shot? Listen as we go back to 2012 to review Rob's pilot episode.
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Starring: Rob Schneider, Cheech Marin, Claudia Bassols, Diana Maria Riva, Lupe Ontiveros, Eugenio Derbez
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
One might wonder how Jim Belushi was originally chosen to be the lead on his own sitcom. But knowing their lineage may help put those pieces together. In 1979 Laraine Newman & John Belushi shared a stage as two of the founding cast members on the comedy staple "Saturday Night Live". 22 years later Laraine's sister Tracy develops a sitcom based around John's brother, Jim. From that, "According To Jim" was born. The show centered around Jim, a macho everyman living with his wife and 3 kids. The show was an instant success and found itself soon becoming the number two program on ABC. The show remained a popular show on the network for the entirety of its 8 season run, right up until its cancelation in 2009.
Will "According To Jim" also be an instant success with the S1E1 boys? Find out at they review the shows pilot episode.
www.S1E1POD.com
STARRING: Jim Belushi, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, & Larry Joe Campbell
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Debuting in first-run syndication on September 7, 1985, "Small Wonder" starred 10-year-old Tiffany Brissette as Vicki, a robot made to look like a girl who lives with her inventor and his family. Yes, you heard that right. And for as wild as a premise like that is, the show was very popular in its 4 season run. With that in mind it only made sense for us to look back at a show as wild in concept as this and see if something so strange could actually hold the test of time.
Almost 37 years to the day after it originally aired in homes across the country we revisit Small Wonder's pilot episode, "Vicki's Homecoming" to see if this show and Vicki needed to have their cords unplugged before it was too late.
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Starring: Tiffany Brissette, Jerry Supiran, Marla Pennington, Dick Christie, & Emily Schulman