IN THEORY, watching and discussing MILF Manor is a side-splitting romp full of memes and hilarious banter. IN PRACTICE, watching and discussing MILF Manor is an awkward, borderline nauseating experience that plumbs the depths of reality television and highlights the most grotesque fascinations of society at large. GILF (guest I'd like to...) Sasha …

Hello Wisonsin!!! We were skeptical when Netflix announced they were bringing back (most) of the original cast from That 70s Show for That 90s Show, but it turns out it's not all bad — just don't talk about That 80s Show. Returning guest Katie Brioux joins us to discuss what works and doesn't work about the much anticipated reboot, how people weren…

We're back! We're also really late! Is it still kosher to release a year-end countdown in late January? Who cares, we're doing it anyway. Bad Pilots is back babyyyy!! Please enjoy this rambling discussion in which we recap our favorite TV series of 2022 before digging into Metacritic dot com's annual top 10 worst shows of the year, including: First…

When the 2020 Lizzie McGuire reboot at Disney+ went awry due to "creative differences", Hilary Duff took her talents to another reboot: How I Met Your Father. Special guests Will Reid and Jorge Vasconez join us to discuss the surprisingly charming (and far less problematic) spiritual successor to HIMYM. Also discussed: Selena Gomez's celebrity kidn…

It's American Idol from bizarro world — a singing competition show that aims to find the worst singer in America. Fittingly, our special guest is Kyle Wildfern, a musician and member of rap collective, Waycool. Together, we pick apart what is probably the most mean spirited show we've watched on Bad Pilots so far. We also discuss our favorite music…

Arguably the worst part about Donald Trump's presidency was when he unwittingly inspired Greg Daniels and Steve Carrell to collaborate on Space Force, a sadly unfunny stab at satirizing the newly created military branch of the same name. Special guest Alessia Musso blasts off with us as we hurtle toward the final frontier in search of jokes.…

We're back! It's been another trip around the sun, which can only mean one thing: more bad TV (also an increasingly dire pandemic with no end in sight, rampant climate change mercilessly and indiscriminately laying waste to communities everywhere, and the alarmingly rapid/dumb collapse of western democracy). So make yourself a hearty cocktail and j…

Trick or Treat! Halloween is upon us and that means Halloweens specials. We countdown our top 5 picks for scariest moments in TV. Highlights include: kids shows that were way scarier than they had any right to be, the X-Files episode that was pulled by FOX for being too disturbing, Dan's bizarre midnight walk, and the time Aidan thought he witnesse…

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein is a gleefully twisted kids show responsible for terrorizing generations of children and stoners alike throughout the 70s and beyond. All 100+ episodes of the horror-themed series were shot in Hamilton, Ontario, in the span of just 9 months — and it shows. Special guest Quincy Raby joins us on a journey back in …

After Wesley Snipes but before Mahershala Ali, Kirk Jones (aka Sticky Fingaz) donned the black leather trench coat to play Blade on Spike TV's uninspired small screen adaptation of the hit comic book series. Special guest and fellow Blade fan, Yusef Dualeh joins us to talk about Marvel adaptations, the pros and cons immortality, and internet vampir…

What do you get when you take one of the most iconic slasher movie franchises of all time, strip it of personality, inject it with generic YA tropes that perpetuate rather than subvert, while also adding as many cold cut sandwiches as possible for no discernible reason? This. You get this. Horror movie junkie Michelle Shelderup joins us to critique…

SpooOOOoooky szn is upon us! For the entire month of October, we'll be looking at spooky bad pilots, kicking things off with A&E's attempt to capitalize on the success of their flagship paranormal series, Ghost Hunters, with a similar yet far worse imitation: Paranormal Cops. Post production supervisor and horror buff Mark Ellis joins us to discuss…

William Shatner is 90 years old! Wild, right?? That means he was 80-ish when he made 2010's forgettable Twitter-inspired sitcom, Shit my Dad Says (or $#*! My Dad Says, since CBS is squeaky clean). Fittingly, our special guest this week is none other than Dan's father & longtime television critic, Bill Brioux. We discuss the role that professional c…

Sigmund Freud is shaking. Back in 2004, MTV created one of the most disturbing shows of all time: a reality dating series in which people go on dates with moms who are trying to set them up with their children. The rumor that this abomination is in fact scripted makes it all that much more disturbing. Luckily, we have special guest Laura Holtebrink…

Neo Yokio is a Netflix anime and also quite possibly the most unlikely intersection of top-notch Hollywood talent to ever collaborate on a project. It was created Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig and features the voices of Jaden Smith, Jude Law, Susan Sarandon, Desus & Mero, Jason Schwartzman, and Richard Ayoade. It's also pretty boring. Or is …

By its ninth and final season, Scrubs was basically on life support. But why? Why do sitcoms like The Office, That 70s Show, Two and a Half Men, Community, and so many others continue to run even after members of their core cast have departed for (usually) bigger and better projects? Video editor Sam Blake joins us as we go under the knife to figur…

When VH1 launched their "Celebreality" programming block in 2005, they kicked off what we here at Bad Pilots would consider to be worst era of television history — a period saturated with exploitative reality series starring D-list celebrities trading in the last of their cultural currency for a few bucks. But hey, we also got some pretty sweet gif…

This one needs no explanation. Not because it's super famous—but because the title of the show is also quite literally the premise. "Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People" is very much a product of its time (2003), a post American Idol primetime landscape in which networks were scrambling to find the next reality hit, however base it…

No show has been recommended with the caveat "but you should skip the first two seasons" more than Parks and Recreation. While we may remember it now as one of the most beloved and enduring sitcoms of the 2010s—with one of the most impressive ensemble casts ever assembled—it certainly didn't start out that way. Special guests Ally Cabrera-Aragon an…

Sandra Lee is perhaps the most overlooked and utterly fascinating celebrity chef to come from the Food Network. Anthony Bourdain once called her cooking "a war crime on TV". You may also recognize her from the now infamous "2 shots of vodka" meme. Off screen, she's equally controversial. Aunty Sandy dated New York governor Andrew Cuomo for over a d…

Eli Stone is truly the cards against humanity of TV shows. It's about a Wall Street bro who gets a brain aneurysm that causes hallucinations of singer/songwriter George Michael, who then convinces Eli to become a religious prophet and take an anti-vaxxer stance against big pharma. We had no idea this show even existed, but our special guest, Tom Sc…

Like [redacted] plunging a dagger through [redacted]'s heart, the Game of Thrones finale felt like the ultimate betrayal to perhaps the most fervent television audience of all time. We are joined by news and culture writer Sharine Taylor, as we roast the GoT finale like Drogon himself. We also discuss the upcoming spinoff and fantasize about what w…

CABS ARE HERE!! It's time to take a trip to Seaside Heights, NJ, to revisit our favorite guidos and guidettes: the cast of Jersey Shore. Professional video editor & proud Italian, Becca LaFortune, joins us as we make sense of why the show became a global phenomenon, despite so many perceiving it as the lowest form of reality filth. We also discuss …

Long before Bo Burnham grew a quarantine beard, he had a TV show—a little known sitcom on MTV called Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous. And although it only lasted one season back in 2013, it's pretty dang funny. We're joined by Steve Cooke, writer & host of the podcast Killed to Death, to discuss. Tangents include: the time Aidan smoked weed in his fr…

From the dialogue heavy mind of Aaron Sorkin comes a peek behind the curtain of a fictional SNL-esque sketch comedy show. The main issue? It isn't funny at all. Premiering the same year as 30 Rock, Studio 60 was handily beaten by its sitcom competitor. Special guest & fellow TV nerd, Cara Pomanti, joins us to break down Sorkin's influence, showbiz …

Keys to the VIP is an infamously offensive Canadian hidden camera show in which cologne-soaked frat bros from the Toronto suburbs compete against each other by relentlessly hitting on unsuspecting women at bars—all while a panel of "experts" (grown-ass men wearing Tapout shirts) watch and critique their technique. We are joined by Sasha Kalra and Z…

Days after the tragic events of 9/11, America was served a dish of exactly what it needed most: a network sitcom starring celebrity chef and noted spice entrepreneur, Emeril Lagasse. In our season 2 premiere, Mostafa Abd El Meguid turns up the heat and chats with us about the evolution of cooking shows, Popeyes biscuits, and the best food cities in…

In a very special season one finale of Bad Pilots, Dan and Aidan each talk about three shows that mean something special to them. As usual, the conversation goes completely off the rails. Tangents include: Aidan's childhood without wifi, how getting rejected from improv troupes can change your life, the greatest TV theme song of all time, and the t…

"Like peeking through another dimension" said Melissa Fumero, aka Brooklyn 99's Amy, of the French language remake. Escouade 99 feels like an eerie echo of the beloved original. Between flagrant whitewashing, poor execution, bizarre casting, and a budget one tenth the size, the Queb imitation just doesn't cut it. Quebecker and Dan's sister, Katie B…

Fairies, magic, evil beasts, house parties, genocide, and vaping. Fate: The Winx Saga has it all. Based on a cartoon from the early aughts, the gritty Netflix reboot fails to find its footing compared to similar schlock like CW's Riverdale. Special guest and Editor-in-Chief of demo magazine, Zain Ahmad, helps us discern when teen dramas embrace cam…

How you doin'??? Well since you asked, not great. Why? Because we just watched Joey, the Friends spinoff starring everybody's favorite meatball, Joey Tribbiani. Special guest & lifelong Friends fan, Dawsyn Borland, joins us as we struggle to figure out what went wrong between Joey's trip from NY to LA. We also discuss Matt LeBlanc's meta redemption…

Imagine The Wire and Glee had a baby. Now imagine Randy Newman sang the theme song for that baby. Boom, you've got Cop Rock—a gritty police procedural with choreographed dance routines and Emmy Award winning musical numbers. Special Guests Ethan Krebs and Ben Kaplan help us make sense of this primetime fever dream while analyzing the place that mus…

Happy Valentine's Day, lovebirds! Whether you're boo'd up or not, if you listen to this podcast, you probably have an opinion on dating shows. Well so do we! In this very special episode, we are joined by panelists Sasha Kalra, Mackenzie Thomson, Manisha Krishnan, Tamara Khandakar, and Will Reid to answer one simple question: what is the greatest s…

In what is possibly the most bonkers dating show ever created, 12 American women are whisked away to a British countryside estate to compete for the love of a man pretending to be Prince Harry. It's insane. Filmmaker Sasha Leigh Henry joins us on our dark descent into this royal nightmare of a show. We also talk shit about The Crown for a little wh…

In a very special crossover episode, Dan and Aidan are joined by James Rathbone and Jordan Sowunmi, the hosts of Catch up, a fantastic podcast about hip hop. Fittingly, they discuss The Mayor, a 2017 ABC comedy about a young rapper who haphazardly becomes the mayor of his hometown. Also mentioned: the pros and cons of holograms, bizarre rap appeara…

High Fidelity is actually a really good show with a strong pilot. So why are we talking about it? Well, Hulu cancelled it after just one terrific season, so it qualifies for the pod. Special guest Alexa Serrano joins us to discuss Zoe Kravitz’s take on Rob, a character that John Cusack originally perfected as the blueprint for the modern day fuckbo…

It's the summer of 2001. The Mummy Returns is killing at the box office. Nelly's "Ride Wit Me" is playing on every radio station. You don't have homework, so you're up late on a Tuesday night watching Murder in Small Town X, one of the most original, intriguing, and poorly executed reality competition shows ever made. Or at least that was this epis…

One of the most unlikely spinoffs ever greenlit, The Cleveland show lasted a solid four seasons on FOX. But was it any good? Family Guy historian Terry Obeng joins Dan and Aidan to offer insight into the show’s off-kilter run. They also discuss representation in animation, the DNA of a good spin-off, and historical figures you didn’t know were actu…

IT'S FINALLY OVER!!! 2020 was a trash year for so many reasons—but mostly because of Gwenyth Paltrow's Goop Lab. In this end of the year mega spectacular extravaganza, Dan and Aidan crack a few cold ones and countdown the 10 worst TV shows of the year, according to metacritic dot com. Without spoiling the order, they watch Marvel's Helstrom, The Du…

After Darren Star wrapped up Sex and the City, but before he made Emily in Paris, there was Cashmere Mafia. Special guests Jorge Vasconez (videographer, editor, burgeoning TikTok star) and Krista Hessy (video producer, Aidan's girlfriend) join the fellas for an analysis of ABC's failed drama that quickly devolves into a conversation about SATC—and …

It's called Mulaney. Like Seinfeld. They're both comedians. And they both have shows. Get it?? Special guest Ben Kaplan joins Dan and Aidan to figure out why a comedian they love so dearly couldn't crack the sitcom formula.By Dan Brioux & Aidan D'Aoust

It’s Lord of the Flies meets Survivor with a western twist. What could go wrong?? Well, a kid could drink bleach, that’s what. Tamara Khandaker, host of the Global podcast "Wait There’s More", helps Dan and Aidan unpack a series widely considered to be one of the most traumatizing and controversial reality shows ever created.…

For a show as enduring, hilarious, and universally beloved as The Simpsons, it has a pretty weak pilot. Make no mistake, it’s not bad—it’s just not great, especially compared to the show’s following eight seasons or so (season six being the pinnacle of television). Writer and Comedian Steve Cooke joins Dan and Aidan for a stroll down memory lane as…

Your classic hospital drama with a hefty side of gabagool. Becca LaFortune joins the boys to discuss Italian stereotypes, Tik Tok trends, sexy mods for The Sims, and one of the most boring network medical procedurals of all time, The Mob Doctor.By Dan Brioux & Aidan D'Aoust

If you have fond memories of cocaine fuelled benders set to Zeppelin while partying so hard that literal buildings collapse on you, then boy are you in for one heavy dose of nostalgia. Artists/producers Michael Powell and Michael Goldchain are in the figurative booth with Dan and Aidan to break down HBO’s massive Scorsese & Mick Jagger backed flop,…

Toronto. The 6ix. The place where Drake and Margaret Atwood are from. Aidan and Dan explore the city they call home through the lens of the short-lived Toronto installment of the massively popular Real Housewives reality TV franchise. Luckily, they are joined by longtime friend, producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada, and Real Housewives superfan…

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the Kingslayer himself, plays an immortal Dutch pilgrim-turned-homicide detective in this 2008 primetime procedural from FOX. Aidan and Dan are joined by special guest Kira Charron, who once proudly studied media at Western University. Please note: there are two very different shows titled New Amsterdam—this is the one with a…

From the creator of Arrested Development comes a surprisingly unfunny animated sitcom with an even more surprising all-star cast (Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Maria Bamford, Nick Kroll, Will Forte, Kenan Thompson). After premiering early 2009, the show was yanked off the air by FOX after just four episodes. Special guest Sasha Kalra joins Aidan and …