Pilot TV

It's a cruel (it's a cruel) Cruel Summer this week, leaving us here on our own. But don't worry if those Bananarama lyrics meant nothing to you - that just means you're young. Cruel Summer is not, however, a show about the 80s popsters, but rather a teen psychological thriller on Amazon that we get into this week, along with Joseph Gordon Levitt's Mr Corman on Apple, and the second series of Dominic Savage's I Am on Channel 4. Plus Terri and Boyd roundly ignore the ​listener question and instead bang on about who should be the new Doctor.

Terri's over the moon on this week's show, which can mean only one thing: a new Law & Order. Taking her love of Benson and Stabler to all new heights, Terri leads the charge on Law & Order: Organized Crime, hanging in there for series 2 of Jerk on BBC3, and the return of King Gary on BBC1. Plus we talk through some of the TV actors who should be far bigger stars than they are, and laughably attempt to report the TV news despite having recorded the episode last Thursday.

Assemble the Diamond Dogs because Ted Lasso is back on our screens this week, which gives James and Boyd a second chance to try and make Terri succumb to the moustachioed one’s folksy charms. Plus, we hang out on Uzo Aduba's couch for the new revival of In Treatment on Sky, and take a look at Steve McQueen's new documentary, Uprising, on BBC1. All that and the team get to thrash out the hits and misses of the recent Emmy nominations and ruminate on what manner of egregious TV tastes it would take to constitute a first date dealbreaker.

Aisling Bea joins us on this week's episode as a very special fourth host as we talk about the second series of her Channel 4 show, This Way Up, and chat everything from eating crisps on the couch to how it's possible to be simultaneously obsessed with both Line Of Duty and The Real Housewives Of New York. We also run through the shows we're most looking forward to during the second half of 2021 and even manage to review some shows, including Schmigadoon! On Apple TV+, and season 2 of War Of The Worlds on Disney+.

With the eleventh and final season of The Walking Dead just around the corner, we’re getting all kinds of excited to see how the groundbreaking, landmark AMC show brings the whole bloody affair to a close. But first, we figured it would be time to look back at the previous ten seasons, which are now available to stream on STAR on Disney+. And so the Empire Podcast and Pilot TV Podcast teams have decided to join forces with STAR on Disney+ to bring you this very special episode in which Chris Hewitt, James Dyer and Beth Webb go through the show season-by-season, talking about their favourite characters, moments and, yes, deaths. Lots of deaths. So many deaths. Well, it is The Walking Dead, after all. So, whether you’re a Rick Grimes megafan, or you’re heavily invested in Carol’s progression from meek survivor to Queen Of The Zombie Apocalypse; whether you think Negan deserves a second chance, or you can’t get enough of Michonne; and whether or not you’ll riot if Daryl dies, this is the podcast for you. So sit back, relax, and enjoy The Walking Dead, an Empire + Pilot TV podcast special with STAR on Disney+.

Due to the convergence of both football and tennis, new shows are a little thin on the ground this week but that can't stop us from bringing you another glorious instalment of the podcast. Indeed, this week's is an episode in which Boyd and Terri try to explain the concept of sport to James and then audition a series of (fictional) TV characters to fill Terri's soon to be vacant seat. On the telly front, it's an animation double bill as we look at the Resident Evil anime show on Netflix, and rejoin Mike and Sully for Pixar series Monsters At Work, plus we somehow end up watching a show about the Peru Two in High: Confessions Of An Ibiza Drug Mule on BBC3. Needless to say, James was delighted.

True crime, fake crime and organised crime are the themes this week as we take a look at Netflix documentary Sophie: A Murder In West Cork; Alibi's Facebook acquisition, Limetown; the latest Season of Sons Of Anarchy spin-off Mayans M.C.; and ill-conceived Terry Pratchett adaptation, The Watch. Plus, to celebrate the fact that we've reached the year's midpoint, the team wrangle over their personal lists for the best shows of 2021 so far.

We're all about the Bosch this week as Amazon's Michael Connelly adaptation arrives with its seventh (and final!) season and James gets a little... well, James about it. We also review the modern (if ill-fated) remake of Party Of Five and celebrate Pride Month with LGBT history documentary, Pride. Plus, the team takes a nostalgic trip back to TV shows past, digging through their memories for some of the childhood show that shaped them into the loveable bellends they are today.

We take an adventure with Marvel's god of mischief on this week's show, finally passing the embargo for Loki on Disney+. Then we find out whether Rose Byrne can find salvation through aerobics in Apple's Physical and how James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan survived lockdown in Together — a one-off-feature-length-not-a-film written by Dennis Kelly. Plus James, Terri, and Boyd look at some of the most memorable TV character departures, pick through the carcass of last week's TV Baftas, and get *incredibly* excited (well, mainly James) at the real-time arrival of the See Season 2 trailer.

James is away but somehow still manages to dominate the conversation before Terri, Boyd and guest co-host Beth Webb turn their attention to the Mare Of Easttown finale (spoilers – skip between 6:31 and 12:00 if you still haven’t caught up with one of the shows of the year). Then it’s back to James-spiration for a discussion of the biggest bell-ends in TV history, and what exactly makes a bell-end, before we review The Schwim in Sky One’s Intelligence season 2, Blindspotting on Starzplay and crime drama The Gloaming on Disney+.