Happy Labor Day!
Sorry for this bleak reminder but, we’re going back to The Office. Turn in your WFH laptops and get a new ID card. This week we’re clocking in at Dunder Mifflin for our shift on the sales desk.
From the mind of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant comes an American re-imagining by now comedy power writer Greg Daniels. Admire the documentary film style that has its claws so deep in Hollywood studios you can hardly make a comedy show in a different style. We get a nobody-turned-somebody cast led by Steve Carrell and future stars John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, BJ Novak, Oscar Nunez, Leslie David Baker, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, Phyllis Smith, and Melora Hardin.
Could this show be made today? Let’s find out.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
That’s CHARLES to you buddy. And this Charles? Well… let’s just say he’s in charge!
It’s Chuck week babyyy everyone’s favorite cut of meat and probably some people’s favorite tv show. Chuck is the brainchild of Josh Schwartz (the OC, Gossip Girl) and stars Zachary Levi as a computer repair man who is brainwashed with government secrets. His world is flipped upside down when his ex roommate Matt Bomer is revealed to be a recently murdered spy. The series stars Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster and so many more. So if you don’t like this episode, have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
Cougar Town looks so beautiful, if only it were real… Get in, loser! We’re catching the next golf cart to a mythical town full of single older women!
From the big bad comedy brain of Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Shrinking, Ted Lasso) and dynamite performances by Courteney Cox, Busy Phillips, Christa Miller, Dan Byrd, Brian Van Holt, Ian Gomez, and Josh Hopkins.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
It’s August 7th so you know what that means! It’s Mother’s Day on TVPL!
We bring you the Chuck Lorre Big Bang follow up Moms! Starring Anna Farris, French Stewart, Allison Janney, Sadie Calvino, Matt Jones and more. Chucks next CBS multicam venture kept its network comedy dominance going for 10 years. We show you how it came to be, how many people watched, and how the script did at setting the scene, and establishing that all important sitcom patter.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
Pod save the Queen! Has that been done that one before? Join us as we dust off an E! Original Drama. Did you know those existed? Rich certainly didn’t.
This week it’s The Royals, imagine Riverdale but with the British Royal Family and get this! They’re HOT and DO DRUGS?? From the mind of Mark Schwahn (One Tree Hill), it’s a political drama framed around Hamlet.
So put down your Big Ben and pick up your Big Bong to watch Elizabeth Hurley, Williams Moseley, Alexandra Park, Tom Austen, Merritt Patterson, and Jake Maskall.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
Today’s burger of the day: The Waleed Mammoth?
It’s Bob’s Burgers week here at TV Pilots License, and we’ve got another friend manning the grill! Welcome to your ears Waleed Mansour, you know him from Dropout, you know him from Awesomely Awful, you’re about to know him from the We’re Dead podcast from him and Rekha Shankar (first episode available now!)
Bob’s Burgers of course is the FOX hit animated series now on its 15th season starring H. Jon Benjamin (see our Archer Episode for more), Kristen Schaal (see our What We Do in the Shadows episode) Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman and John Roberts. Join us as we talk pilot structure, early character development, the history of the show, and of course, what Waleed loves most about the show!
Hosts:
Waleed Mansour
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
What do a first generation American kid, starting high school, developing your first crush, losing a parent, and an 80s tennis legend all have in common? Well, nothing unless you’re Mindy Kaling!
Welcome to beautiful Sherman Oaks California! Go Fighting Gallerias! It’s Never Have I Ever. The coming of age Netflix teen comedy.
Enjoy this Mindy’s Project with us as we talk high school awkwardness, comedy writing forms, the search to find Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and the 1981 Wimbledon Men’s Finals!
Strap on your backpack, prepare your bully insults in the mirror, and get ready for your journey to popularity.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
Unlock TV's secrets with the TV Pilot's License Podcast! Geoff, Max, and Rich dissect pilots from classics to cult favorites. Expect deep TV reviews, first episode breakdowns, and pilot analysis. We cover must-watch TV, one-season wonders, and cancelled series. Get honest show reviews, funny recaps, and sharp commentary. Need show recommendations? We've got you! Dive into TV history and decide which pilots earn their "license." Comedy, analysis, and passion await. Subscribe for your weekly TV podcast fix!
What’s that up in your ears? It’s a song! It’s video! No! It’s kinda somewhere in between but also neither!
Welcome to Smallville! (Go crows) home of the great meteor shower that brought us such infamous anomalies as Lex Luthor, Clark Kent, and Lana Langs absolutely obliterated parents. We touch down at the turning point in the ages old Superman story that brings him to Earth but through the lens of a teen drama. One might say it paved the way for the explosion of superhero teen dramas that came after.
In any case join us to explore small town Kansas with a DC twist, starring Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Allison Mack, Sam Jones III, John Schneider, Annette O’Toole and more.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
The TV Pilot's are taking a holiday! But not without reviewing the new Dan Fogelman (This is Us, Crazy Stupid Love) non-linear drama on Hulu that everyone’s talking about.
Sterling K Brown is the Secret Service head to James Marsden’s outgoing president. After Marsden is discovered dead, Brown has to find out who did it… with a massive twist. Grab your snacks and call in sick to work, you’re going to want to solve this mystery.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
There’s dirty, and then there’s dirt, and these maids know the dirt. Welcome to Beverly Hills where the scandals are hot and the maids know it all. In his follow up to the smash hit Desperate Housewives, Marc Cherry and now exec producer Eva Longoria are bringing you along for a SOAPY ride.
Starring Ana Ortiz, Judy Reyes, Roselyn Sanches, Dania Ramirez, Edy Ganem, Rebecca Wisocky, Susan Lucci, Grant Show, and my god so many more characters my hands are getting tired typing this. Make sure to hang a right on Wilshire, friends, we’ll see you in Beverly Hills.
Hosts:
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
This week will answer the age old question Does Cleveland Rock? The answers will SHOCK you.
Welcome to a wet and wild trip down the mighty Cuyahoga folks! It’s the Drew Carey show! A gem of the 90s standup sitcom boom starring Drew Carey (duh), Diedrich Bader, Ryan Stiles, Christa Miller and Kathy Kinney. All the little chicks with the crimson lips say: subscribe and rate us on Spotify!
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
Let’s take a trip to San Francisco circa 2014 and the pilot episode of HBO’s “Looking!” We look back on the history of this acclaimed series, from its roots as a short film to a primetime cable series. While its initial broadcast run was cut short, this show has found a loyal fandom and critical praise in the years since. If Tony winner Jonathan Groff, Emmy winner Murray Bartlett and direction from Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers) aren’t enough to get you on board yet, I don’t know what to tell ya! Wishing you a Happy Pride Month from all of us at TVPL!
Hosted By:
Geoff Kerbis
Rich Inman
Max Singer
Guys, my dad just gave me the Vista Cruiser and some podcast mics. You know what that means…. A NEW TVPL!
Put down your cheese curds and put on your headphones, we’re on our way to Point Place Wisconsin. Where the kids are stoned, the parents are strict, and there’s always a table at the snack stand. We talk creators, Bonnie and Terry Turner (Wayne’s World, 3rd Rock) and this group of teens that would come to really make their mark on Hollywood for better or worse, Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis (on assignment)
Max Singer
Rich Inman
It’s Going To Be June! So you know what that means, ITS APRIL IN THE D! Turn on your Kid Rock CD and park your garbage truck over at Cramblin-Duvet advertising and let’s take in all the Motor City has to offer.
That’s right folks, it’s DETROITERS. The second city cum SNL cum Comedy Central cum Netflix cum HBO superstars Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson and Jason Sudeikis!
We’ve got laughs, locals, and insane behavior galore. So heat up some hot dogs and pop those AirPods in, we’re going to Detroit!
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
Welcome to our NBA finals episode! Why you ask? Because it’s PENISES PLAYING BASKETBALL, big dicks shootin’ hoops!
If you made this far in the description, congratulations! It’s Big Mouth, the cumming-of-age animated series created by Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg featuring stories and musings about their time hitting puberty in middle and high school.
This show stars Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jason Mantzoukas, Jessi Klein, Andrew Rannels, Jenny Slate, Jordan Peele (inhales), Fred Arisen, Richard Kind, Paula Pell, and can you believe, some how more than this??
Join us as we explore the age of awkward this week
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
If you’ll be our Michael Chiklis, we’ll be your Tennessee lambs or something like that. It’s the Shield!
Who would have thought the LAPD had so much corruption? Sounds wild and fictional! Well good news for all of us that the brave folks at FX decided to give this super unrealistic depiction of the LAPD a shot!
With a tremendous cast of Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, Jay Karnes, Benito Martinez, and CCH Pounder we get a first hand look at the violence, corruption, greed and complexity behind LA’s most notorious crime solvers.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
New York City! Home of industry, finance, and inexplicably famous and drunk teenagers? If you can make it at St Jude’s, you can make it anywhere.
If you haven’t guessed by now, it’s Gossip Girl week at TVPL. We hit you with all the famous New York Dynasty families, the Waldorfs… the Van der Woodsens, the Basses (of Bass Pro Shop fame). What happens if you take these walking future pill addicts, make em fall in love, give them almost zero consequences for their actions, and feed them constant anonymous gossip about each other? I bet they’re pretty normal about it!
Come join us in homeroom with Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Taylor Momsen, Chace Crawford, and Ed Westwick!
Xoxo, a Podcast
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
Iconic laughter, Queens, Fashion, and Fran Drescher?!?! What More could you ask for. Buckle up TV Pilot’s License fans because this week the Pilots next stop is New York City and The Nanny! This week the boys discuss: Their Favorite Theme Songs, Fran as The Nanny, Niles the butler, Charles Shaughnessy, and who would star in a Nanny Reboot.
So make sure your seatbacks are up, your podcasting devices are plugged in, and remember to enjoy the show.
It’s time for a show that begs the question are we not ALL simply women of a certain age? We’re flying into Palm Springs airport today to visit our Gay Golden Girls, and triumphant return of the multicam with Mid Century Modern!
It’s got all the staples of a true classic Multicam sitcom: A theme song, firm scene breaks, a big dumb dumb and EXPOSITION BABYYYY! Not to mention an absolute rockstar production, writing, and acting team with the return of our champion Jimmy Burrows (Cheers, Mary Tyler Moore, Friends, Will & Grace, Taxi, Frasier and more) but also Max Mutchnik and David Kohan the creators of Will & Grace. The squad behind this is so talented we put Matt Bomer, Nathan Lee Graham and freaking NATHAN LANE after? Beautiful.
After a challenge from guest host J. W. Crump to deep dive this show and make sure our straight boy brains didn’t explode, how do you think we did?
To watch Mid Century Modern along with us, it is available on Hulu.
Hosts
Geoff Kerbis
Max Singer
Rich Inman
