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 Apr 21, 2022
Thursday Apr 21, 2022
Trailer Park Boys is the byproduct of a couple independent films written and directed by Mike Clattenburg. In said films we are first introduced to the acting duo of Robb Wells and John Paul Tremblay, who will eventually come to be known as Ricky and Julian. The two portray two ex-convicts living their day to day lives in a trailer park which happens to be filmed documentary style. Also joining the show was Mike Smith's "Cart Boy" character which was also a product of a past Clattenburg project, now going by the name Bubbles. The show, which was was being filmed at actual Trailer Parks spent the majority of its years on the Canadian network Showcase. In 2013 the 3 main actors purchased the rights to the show from the original producers and created their own internet streaming network, "Swearnet". Soon after new episodes were in development and were distributed on Netflix. After a few years there the 3 now self produce content that they release exclusively to Swearnet. Listen in this week as the S1E1 guys review their pilot episode from 2001, titled "Take Your Little Gun and Get Out of My Trailer Park".
www.S1E1POD.com
Thursday Apr 14, 2022
Thursday Apr 14, 2022
The Chicago Tribune listed "Cavemen" as one of the 25 worst TV shows ever, The New York Post declared the show "extinct on arrival", & TV Guide listed it at #22 on their list of 25 Biggest TV Blunders. But in 2004 an advertising campaign for the auto insurance company GEICO featuring Cavemen living among us in modern day took the world by storm. After 3 years of continued success ABC gave a pilot order to turn the characters into a full fledged sitcom... And about a month after the show first premiered it was cancelled. 15 years later the show has basically been forgotten in time. But the show had one fan... And that person happens to host a show about sitcoms. So tune in this week as he forces 4 of his best friends to watch what was once described as, "a step back in the evolution of sitcoms". This week we watch episode 1 of Cavemen, "Her Embarrassed of Caveman".
www.S1E1POD.com
Thursday Apr 07, 2022
Thursday Apr 07, 2022
In real life Eddie Huang is a chef, a difrector, and an attorney just to name a few things. So as you'd imagine shortly after releasing his autobiography "Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir", studios were jumping at the opportunity to create a show based on his life. The rights eventually landed in the hands of ABC and 20th Century Fox Television. The show depicts a Young Eddie moving from DC to Orlando with his family in the mid 90s. Constance Wu and Randall Park were the first two signed on followed by Hudson Yang taking on the role of a young Eddie Huang. Does this show have what it takes to get green-lit by the S1E1 guys or will they kill it before it can get to an episode 2. Tune in to our review of their pilot and found out!
www.S1E1POD.com
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
At this point you'd have to be living under a rock (pun intended) to not know who Dwayne Johnson is. But in this NBC Sitcom we get a little insight as to who Dewey was before he became WWE Superstar and Box Office juggernaut, The Rock. From being a young kid watching his dad wrestle, to an overgrown teenager, to a standout collegiate football player at the University of Miami, Young Rock shows you what growing up was like for the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. Listen in as we review the their pilot episode, "Working the Gimmick".
www.S1E1POD.com
Thursday Mar 24, 2022
Thursday Mar 24, 2022
The idea behind the show "Roseanne" was to have a family sitcom that actually focused itself around a working mother. That idea took shape once show creator Tom Werner saw comedian Roseanne Barr performing on "The Tonight Show". The thought was her unique "in your face" voice was perfect for the lead role. Set in the fictional town of Lanford, IL Roseanne was married with three kids. On top of her duties at home she also spent her days as a line worker for a plastics company. Will the pilot episode of this classic catch the interest of the S1E1 guys? Listen as they review the pilot episode, "Life and Stuff".
www.S1E1POD.com
Thursday Mar 17, 2022
Thursday Mar 17, 2022
American Auto is a show that was originally in the works as early as 2013 when its creator Justin Spitzer, who had spent years as a writer and producer on "The Office" decided he wanted to create a workplace comedy of his own. This time however, he wanted to focus on upper level management. The show was sold to NBC but didn't end up getting the go ahead to create a pilot. After then Spitzer pivoted and created the hit show "Superstore". Then in 2019 went back to redevelop a pilot for American Auto. The show, focusing on the corporate side of the fictional company Payne Motors was eventually moved forward staring Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls). Do the S1E1 guys give this show the green-light or should NBC have stuck with their initial assessment? Listen and find out!
www.S1E1POD.com
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
Intelligence is a British workplace comedy set in the UK's Government Communications Headquarters. Created by one of the show's stars Nick Mohammed, Intelligence is centered around this cyber security agency bringing in an American NSA agent (David Schwimmer) to join the team. Intelligence originally aired on Sky One in England and is a Peacock original in the US. Listen in as the S1E1 guys review its pilot episode, "Episode 1.1".
Thursday Mar 03, 2022
Thursday Mar 03, 2022
Letterkenny is the first sitcom we've reviewed that originally got its start on YouTube. The web series, "Letterkenny Problems" was commissioned by Canada's Crave network to become a full blown television series. In 2016 the show that stars Jared Keeso (who also created, writes, and directs the show) debuted on the network. Will the guys give this show a green-light or will they feel it was better left on YouTube. Listen and find out.
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
In 1994, executives at the WB network approached "Married... with Children" co-creator Ron Leavitt and asked him to create a knockoff of his prior hit. The result was "Unhappily Ever After", which premiered in early 1995. There were some key differences with this show. To start, Jennie (Stephanie Hodge) & Jack (Geoff Pierson) Malloy were freshly divorced. Jack moves out of the house he shared with his wife and 3 kids (played by Kevin Connolly, Nikki Cox, & Justin Berfield). Another key difference, and one that made this show stand out was Jack often talked to his youngest son's stuffed rabbit "Mr. Floppy" (voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait), who would seemingly come alive whenever the two were alone due to Jack's schizophrenia. Is this a recipe for disaster or will the S1E1 guys enjoy this bizarre premise. Listen in as they review the pilot episode.
Thursday Feb 17, 2022
Thursday Feb 17, 2022
In 2015 former writer for "The Office" Justin Spitzer created a workplace comedy called "Superstore", featuring the employees of a fictional big-box store in St. Louis called "Cloud 9". In it we meet Jonah (Ben Feldman), a newly hired Cloud 9 employee who instantly gets on the bad side of his floor manager Amy (America Ferrera). Can this pilot win over the S1E1 guys or does this show's box set belong in the discount bin? Listen in to find out.