I'm no authority on television (having neither owned a TV set nor a cable subscription in years), so maybe everything has changed with every show being part of a multiple season epic. But with shows in the past at least, sometimes the pilot issue remains the best.
I feel this way with Batman: The Animated Series and it's pilot episode "On Leather Wings," which hit all the high points the series would later try (and often succeed) to repeat with every new show. Not only that, it even had a few beats none of the other episodes I've seen ever really repeated (Batman's jokey back-and-forth camaraderie with Alfred, the quirky memorable side characters). It was a perfect episode that clearly had to be in order to be greenlighted in an era where cartoons were still attempting to break the Saturday morning mold.
Thanks to YouTube, I got into The Green Room by way of the late comic Patrice O'Neal, who has been a source of interest for me for some time. I attempted to track down his interview with comedian Paul Provenza, only to find that it was part of this Showtime series of panel discussions with a rotating cast of comedians hosted by Provenza. The one with Patrice O'Neal (alongside Rosanne Barr, Sandra Bernhard and Bob Saget) is really good, and I've seen several episodes since. Then I saw the first episode with Drew Carey, Reginald D. Hunter, Eddie Izzard and Larry Miller. It's damn near perfect, and it makes me thankful for the internet once more time.
I feel this way with Batman: The Animated Series and it's pilot episode "On Leather Wings," which hit all the high points the series would later try (and often succeed) to repeat with every new show. Not only that, it even had a few beats none of the other episodes I've seen ever really repeated (Batman's jokey back-and-forth camaraderie with Alfred, the quirky memorable side characters). It was a perfect episode that clearly had to be in order to be greenlighted in an era where cartoons were still attempting to break the Saturday morning mold.
Thanks to YouTube, I got into The Green Room by way of the late comic Patrice O'Neal, who has been a source of interest for me for some time. I attempted to track down his interview with comedian Paul Provenza, only to find that it was part of this Showtime series of panel discussions with a rotating cast of comedians hosted by Provenza. The one with Patrice O'Neal (alongside Rosanne Barr, Sandra Bernhard and Bob Saget) is really good, and I've seen several episodes since. Then I saw the first episode with Drew Carey, Reginald D. Hunter, Eddie Izzard and Larry Miller. It's damn near perfect, and it makes me thankful for the internet once more time.
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