Dead Pilots Society

It’s the after show for Big Wishes written by Kristen Bartlett (Head writer of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee)! Andrew sat down with Kristen to discuss her dead pilot, her arduous journey into comedy and her day job in standards and practices for a few major television networks. She opens up about the passing of her father, how she cultivated the mentality: “F*ck you, I’m doing my own thing…” and some insight into her days writing on Saturday Night Live. This is an enlightening and heartfelt interview with someone with a deep understanding of hard work. Enjoy it and thanks for listening! You can get the video for the table read of Big Wishes for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinFor 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

Another great pilot for you this month! It’s called Big Wishes written by Kristen Bartlett (Full Frontal, SNL) Her pilot is called Big Wishes. It follows Karla, a guilty pushover, and her best friend Hyacinth, brash and full-of-life despite having Stage 3 breast cancer, as they form a Make-a-Wish Foundation for adults. Together, Karla and Hyacinth set out to grant the strange, occasionally selfish wishes of dying adults. It was sold as a spec to ABC Signature and set up at ABC Network for the 2020 development season. James Griffiths was attached to direct and his production banner Fee-Fi-Fo Films were attached to produce alongside Phoebe Robinson’s production company Tiny Reparations. It’s a hilarious pilot with a great cast! Enjoy!Big Wishes stars Ashley Nicole Black (A Black Lady Sketch Show) as Karla, Meaghan Rath (Hawaii Five-0) as Haycinth, Nick Kocher (SNL) as Alex, Asif Ali (WandaVision) as Dev/Other Man In Class/Scalper/Sick Teen, Tom Scharpling (Steven Universe) as Jack/Bouncer, James Urbaniak (American Splendor) as Ernie/Jersey Guy/Security Guard, Laraine Newman (SNL) as Marilyn/Woman/Bertie, Cody Lindquist (Broad City) as Self Righteous Mom/Pottery Lady/Gorgeous Woman/Horny Teen, Kristen Bartlett (Full Frontal, SNL) as Stylist/Customer 1/Elegant Woman, Jason Gore (Difficult People) as Customer/Class Instructor/Robby/Lead Singer, and Andrew Reich with stage directions. Get the video for the table read for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinTune in next week for our interview with Kristen. Thanks for supporting our show! 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

We have a very special bonus episode for you! Andrew sat down with Ty Burrell (Modern Family) to discuss the dead pilot he produced, Yours, Mine and Paul’s written by Julia Meltzer. In their interview they discuss breaking new voices, what exactly that entails, what Ty looks for in specs from green writers, and the effort his company puts into finding them. He told us the story about how Julia’s pilot came to him and how his whole production company flipped for it. The benefits of developing a well oiled spec versus a pitch. An enlightening conversation about multi-camera sitcoms and whether or not they’ll be making a comeback. Enjoy it and thanks for listening!You can get the video for the table read of Yours, Mine and Paul’s for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinFor 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

Have you listened to Julia Meltzer’s pilot Yours, Mine and Paul’s yet? Throw it on while you’re whipping up your Thanksgiving meal! Then listen to Andrew's interview with Julia, one of comedy’s next great writers! Joined by her supervisor Abraham Higginbotham (Modern Family), Julia tells us about how she went from being Ty Burrell’s development assistant to attaching him as a producer on her pilot ... the long arduous process of packaging this project with a studio, a showrunner, two stars, and selling it to a major television network ... why Julia chose Abraham to be her supervisor and a deep dive into what the hell a supervisor even is. Yours, Mine and Paul’s was one of the hot pilots during the 2020 development season. Julia and Abraham were sure it was going to series, but somehow it ended up on Dead Pilots Society.  Enjoy the interview and happy Thanksgiving!You can get the video for the table read of Yours, Mine and Paul’s for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinFor 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 

A first-time writer hits it out of the park in this month's dead pilot! The pilot is Yours, Mine and Paul’s written by Julia Meltzer. It centers around Lauren, a woman who agrees to be a surrogate for her best friend, Paul, and his husband, Xander. There’s just one problem: Lauren and Xander hate each other. Oh, also Paul dies in the cold open. Some great Will & Grace vibes here. It was developed during the 2019-2020 pilot season, set up at ABC Network with Ty Burrell’s Desert Whale Productions and 20th Century Fox attached to produce. Abraham Higginbotham (Modern Family, Will & Grace) supervised and Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) was attached to star.Yours, Mine and Paul’s stars Hillary Anne Matthews as Lauren Meyers (Alex, Inc.), Adam Faison (Everything’s Gonna Be Okay) as Xander, Brooks Wheelan (SNL) as Oliver, Blake Lee (Parks & Rec) as Ethan, Syd Steinberg (Cool Kids) as Clara, Oscar Montoya (Playing House) as Paul Ellis, Liz Jenkins (Black-ish) as April and Andrew Reich with stage directions.Get the video for the table read for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinTune in next week for our interview with Julia. Thanks for supporting our show! 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

If you haven’t listened to The End written by Lindsey Shockley then you have to do it before Halloween or you might turn into a zombie! This episode is the After Show! In it, Andrew sits down with Lindsey to discuss her career and the development of her pilot The End. You'll get the story of how he hired Lindsey as the writer’s assistant for one of his shows, and as a writer on another one. Lindsey dishes on how she made the jump from assistant to staff writer. She talks about what it’s like to write on shows that only last one season compared to her experience writing on Black-ish for its entire run. A story about her interview with Kenya Barris and what he was like as a boss. How her zombie pilot is actually a very personal story. The perils of mixing genres... and so much more. It’s a great interview from one of television’s finest TV writers. Enjoy it and thanks for listening!You can get the video for the table read of The End for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinFor 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 definitely going to put you in the halloween spirit! It’s probably our goriest script yet and without a doubt one of our funniest. It’s The End written by Lindsey Shockley (Black-ish), is a genre-bending comedy about an adorably neurotic woman who gets engaged on the same day zombies take over the world.  But even more terrifying?  Meeting her new in-laws. It was set up at Showtime with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky attached to produce and Marc Webb attached to direct.The End stars Hannah Einbeinder (Hacks) as Lila Silver, Biniam Bizuneh (Dave) as Marty, Amy Hill (Magnum PI) as Victoria Matthews, Brian Huskey (Veep) as Walter, Daniel David Stewart (Catch 22) as Gabe, Xander Berkeley (The Walking Dead) as Uncle Jake, Radina Dradnova (Host) as Becky, Jessie Ennis (Mythic Quest) as Nic and Andrew Reich with stage directions.Get the video for the table read for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinIt’s MaxFun Block Party - October 11 – 22, 2021!MaxFun Block Party is a new way to bring the MaxFun community together online for some fun, plus a little inspiration for you to try a new show or share a show you like. During Block Party all MaxFun podcasts will be throwing open their (metaphorical) doors with an episode that is especially welcoming to new audiences. So if you’ve been wanting to introduce friends or family to a favorite show, or have been looking to try out something new yourself, come on in! More info at maximumfun.org/blockpartyTune in next week for our interview with Lindsey Shockley. Thanks for supporting our show! 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

Dead Pilots Society and The Greatest Generation got together to celebrate MaxFun Block Party!If you enjoyed this conversation we had with hosts Benjamin Ahr Harrison and Adam Pranica, be sure to subscribe to The Greatest Generation and the Greatest Discovery!Thanks to Christian Dueñas for editing!

Have you listened to the table read of Everything’s Under Control written by Megan Gailey (Conan) and Aaron Burdette (Man Seeking Woman)? If not, get on that! This episode is the After Show! In it, Andrew sits down with Megan and Aaron to talk about the development of their brilliant and heartwarming pilot. They open up about their experience dealing with grandparents who suffered from Alzheimer’s, working with legendary late television producer Jamie Tarses, the fantasy that comes with an “If come deal”, and a story about the longest network pass of all time. Enjoy it and thanks for listening!If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the Jamie Tarses tribute episode of Dead Pilots Society, you definitely should. Jamie was the producer of this pilot; she was an irreplaceable force in the television business and we miss her so much. You can get the video for the table read of Everything’s Under Control for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinFor 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 a real doozy! It’s called Everything’s Under Control written by Megan Gailey (Conan) and Aaron Burdette (Man Seeking Woman). It centers around a working-class Midwestern family who are just barely keeping it together  when their grandmother develops Alzheimer’s. It was developed during the 2019-2020 pilot season. It was set up at ABC Network with the late Jamie Tarses and ABC Studios attached to produce. Everything’s Under Control stars Megan Gailey, Patricia Richardson (Home Improvement) as Gail, Suzanne Cryer (Silicon Valley) as Beth, Joshua Malina (The West Wing) as Darryl, Jake Nordwind (The Groundlings) as Brad, Jemma Moore (Host) as Hostess/Smartphone/Event Planner, Noah Findling (The New York Times) as Instructor/Hibachi Chef, and Andrew Reich with stage directions.Get the video for the table read for as little as $5 by going to https://maximumfun.org/joinTune in next week for our interview with Aaron and Megan. Thanks for supporting our show! 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