Dead Pilots Society

It's the end of the year and we have a very special dead pilot for you! This is The 14th Floor written by Amy Reed (The Diary of a Future President) & Brendan Scannell (Bonding).  It centers around an ambitious young executive at multinational McKenna Corp who gets hip-checked by her threatened CEO, and is then banished to the depths of the 14th floor, where a staff of castoffs collect checks doing absolutely nothing. It was setup at HBO and this episode was recorded live at The Elysian Theater in Los Angeles, CA. The cast for this one was outstanding: Olivia Lang (Kung Fu), Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite), Patrick McDonald (Smosh), Greg Santos (Great News), Anna Seregina, Janet Varney (Platonic, The Legend of Korra), Brendan Scannell, Ellie Reed (I Think You Should Leave), and Amy Reed. Thanks for listening—we know you’re going to love this episode!WE HAVE MERCH! Merch store: hereFor more information about Dead Pilots Society and to listen to past episodes featuring John Hodgman, Emerald Fennell, and many others, visit: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/dead-pilots-society.   

Happy Thanksgiving! In this episode, Andrew interviews Bill Callahan about his pilot Massholes. Bill has an impressive résumé, having worked on Spin City, 8 Simple Rules, Scrubs, Psych, American Housewife, and The Goldbergs.A former college athlete turned comedy writer, Bill shares his journey from football to comedy, starting in an agency mailroom and learning from legends like Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence. He discusses the differences between multi-camera and single-camera comedy writing, what he looks for when staffing a writer's room, and the group of friends that inspired Massholes.Thanks for listening—we know you’re going to love this episode!For more information about Dead Pilots Society and to listen to past episodes featuring John Hodgman, Emerald Fennell, and many others, visit: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/dead-pilots-society.

This month's pilot is Massholes. It was set up at ABC and written by Bill Callahan (Scrubs, Spin City). Bill is a veteran comedy writer who's worked on so many shows you know and love. This is a Friends-style ensemble pilot inspired by Bill's group of friends from Massachusetts. To keep things authentic, we assembled an all-star cast of actors from the Boston area.Massholes stars Rob Corddry (Ballers, Hot Tub Time Machine), Nicholas D'Agosto (Trial & Error, Criminal Minds), Misha Collins (Supernatural), Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight, Desus & Mero), Alyssa Limperis (What We Do in the Shadows), Maggie Lawson (Psych), Brittany Curran (The Magicians), Jamie Loftus (Star Trek: Lower Decks), Killian McAssey, and Andrew Reich with stage directions.If you missed our last live show, you can still watch the live feed here.WE HAVE MERCH! Merch store: hereFor more information about Dead Pilots Society and to listen to past episodes featuring John Hodgman, Emerald Fennell, and many others, visit: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/dead-pilots-society. 

Welcome to the after-show for Mr. Macho! Andrew and Al recount their unusual first meeting during a casting session for a show that came together under extraordinary circumstances. They discuss how close Al has come to getting his story on air as a half-hour comedy, as well as the ongoing challenges of Latino representation in TV comedy. Chris also shares his wisdom on guiding and helping sell this pilot as its supervisor. This is a great interview packed with so much insight, and we know you're going to love it! Enjoy!TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOW ON 11/17Link to ticketsOur November 17 show will feature scripts by John Enbom (co-creator, Party Down) and Brendan Scannell (Loot) & Amy Reed (Diary of a Future President).Cast includes:Martin Starr (Party Down, Spider-Man)Ryan Hansen (Party Down, Veronica Mars)Olivia Liang (Kung Fu)Chris Witaske (The Bear)Anna Seregina (The Civil Dead)…and more to be announced!For more information about Dead Pilots Society and to listen to past episodes featuring John Hodgman, Emerald Fennell, and many others, visit: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/dead-pilots-society.

Our featured dead pilot this month is Mr. Macho, written by Al Madrigal. You might know Al from his stand-up, his time on The Daily Show, or his many TV and film appearances over the years. His autobiographical, focuses on a man struggling with his cultural identity and his place in a newly gentrifying neighborhood. The project was supervised by Chris Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and was set up at CBS with CBS Studios attached to produce. It's an incredibly funny pilot that we know you're going to love.Mr. Macho stars Al Madrigal, Sherry Cola (Joy Ride), Julio Macias (On My Block), Marc Evan Jackson (The Good Place), Rachael Harris (Suits, Lucifer), Melissa Villaseñor (SNL), and Andrew Reich providing stage directions.TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOW ON 11/17Link to ticketsOur November 17 show will feature scripts by John Enbom (co-creator, Party Down) and Brendan Scannell (Loot) & Amy Reed (Diary of a Future President).Cast includes:Martin Starr (Party Down, Spider-Man)Ryan Hansen (Party Down, Veronica Mars)Olivia Liang (Kung Fu)Chris Witaske (The Bear)Anna Seregina (The Civil Dead)…and more to be announced!For more information about Dead Pilots Society and to listen to past episodes featuring John Hodgman, Emerald Fennell, and many others, visit: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/dead-pilots-society.

This is the after-show for Honey Do List, featuring our interview with Julie Bean and Brian Donovan. Julie and Brian share incredible stories about breaking into the industry and how they worked their way up to becoming showrunners. Brian also discusses his time on the legendary Georgetown improv troupe alongside Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Mike Birbiglia, and Jacqueline Novak, to name a few. There's great practical and honest insight into showrunning in this episode. Plus, you'll find out why every writer should have a post-it note on their computer that says: "Put it in the bathroom." You'll also hear about the development of Honey Do List and how it went from a tik tok video to a TV pilot. We loved chatting with Brian and Julie, and we know you're going to love listening to this one. Enjoy!The mother-daughter duo and tik tok video that inspired Honey Do List hereTickets to Ben Blacker's show Retro Specs live at The Elysian Theater on 9/29ticket link: https://www.elysiantheater.com/shows/retrospecsFor more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast!Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com

This month's pilot is Honey Do List, written by Julie Bean (showrunner of Grown-ish) and Brian Donovan (American Housewife). It's based on the real-life story of a mom who extricates herself from a controlling marriage, moves in with her lesbian daughter, Summer, and begins to rediscover joy by checking items off her bucket list, one at a time. This fantastic pilot was written during the pandemic, and we know you're going to love it! Enjoy!The cast for this one includes Katy Mixon (American Housewife), Olivia Scott Welch (Fear Street), Brea Grant (director of Torn Hearts and 12 Hour Shift), Andrew Ti (Yo Is This Racist podcast; That 90s Show writer), Chris Tallman (The Thundermans), Jamila Velasquez (Empire, Law and Order SVU, and West Side Story), Raymond Lee (Quantum Leap), Simon Gibson (Netflix is a Joke Festival & Star of the Amazon Prime Docuseries “Inside Jokes”)  and Andrew Reich with stage directions. For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast!Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com

This is a very special episode of Dead Pilots Society. It's our interview with Damir and Dario Konjicija, and in it, you'll hear perhaps the most interesting Hollywood origin story we've ever encountered. Damir and Dario discuss their journey from being Bosnian refugees to arriving in America in 1997 and falling in love with American television. They talk about starting school in America as Bosnian immigrants, how they quickly found their artistic passion, and the pact they made to move to Los Angeles and try to make it. They also discuss their humble beginnings in Los Angeles, how they started writing together, and the development of their pilot I Hate Myself. This is a terrific interview that we know you're going to love.For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast!Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com

Our dead pilots this month is I Hate Myself by Dario & Dami Konjicija (Home Economics, Young Sheldon). This is a fun multi-camera buddy comedy with a time traveling twist. It was developed for CBS Studios and we know you're going to love it.  The cast for this one includes Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Josh Banday (Upload), Paige Collins (Good Girls), Leah Lewis (Matlock), Nabeel Muscatwalla (Better Days), Punam Patel (Ghosts) and Andrew Reich with stage directions. For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast!Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com

We sat down with Jordan Roter to discuss her pilot Common Enemy. If you haven't listen to it yet, what are you waiting for? Jordan is an experienced writer who's sold her work in the literary, feature and television space. She talks about the process of pitching  a low concept character driven show, pushing the envelope in the family space and development stories about various projects she's had over the years. We  loved getting to sit down with Jordan and you're going to love listening to her too. Enjoy!For more Dead Pilots Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast!Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com