Amazon Pilot Season is here

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  • Amazon Pilot Season is here

    Eight new comedy pilots (and some kids shows) available for free viewing. Viewer feedback determines which shows Amazon will move on with.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1001155581

  • #2
    Re: Amazon Pilot Season is here

    Alpha House is on my see list.
    "A screenwriter is much like being a fire hydrant with a bunch of dogs lined up around it.- -Frank Miller

    "A real writer doesn't just want to write; a real writer has to write." -Alan Moore

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    • #3
      Re: Amazon Pilot Season is here

      I "watched" all of them, so here are my mini reviews. I was shocked how I couldn't make it past five minutes in with several of these shows. Overall, Hollywood can rest easy. This grand experiment was a pretty big flop, and its best show, The Onion, will never be mass market.

      In order of how much I liked them:

      #1. The Onion. It blows the rest out of the water. It has the right confidence and production value. A lot of jokes fall flat, but they make up for it with frequency and some BIG belly laughs. I'm not sure how long the appeal of a parody show will last, though. But I'd love to see it continue.

      Now there's a drop off. The next ones showed potential, but you'd have to see more to be sold on them.

      #2 Dark Minions. A tough call. I personally liked the claymation. They made a lot of safe/typical choices with the comedy, but still got a lot of laughs out of me. This one wins because of the story potential. It's a fun world. Would definitely watch another episode.

      #3. Those Who Can't. It's alright. I'd skeptically watch a second episode, but it'd have to build on itself fast before I give up. OK humor, eh plotlines. Love the concept, though.

      #4. Browsers. This show would, funny enough, be a better show without the musical numbers. Music just requires too high of a production value and doesn't work half assed. It's amusing when sitcoms do their "singing episode" as a one-off, but you'd never wish that to be the whole series... and this is the whole series. I think this one had some of the sharpest writing and great direction (when not music-related), but the premise just isn't exciting. Think interns at the Huffington Post. Eh. I will say one of the lead actresses, Brigette Davidovici, seemed destined for bigger things to me. I watched some of her other stuff on Youtube after (where I discovered the gloriousness that is "Bathroomies." WOW.), and if I were shooting a feature on a budget, she'd be my first call.

      #5. Alpha House. Huge disappointment. John Goodman goes to waste. After a great opening scene, the humor becomes very on the nose, with a wonky tone that alternates between reality and rejected SNL sketches. There's no wit to it, and the show would have to be exceedingly funny for me to care considering we're following 4 Republican stereotypes as characters. I don't see a big audience for this one, because people who are into politics will just want something a tad smarter (like Veep).

      Another big drop off...

      #6. Betas. It was insufferable. I actually had to quit about five minutes in. Almost nothing makes me do that.

      #7. Supanatural. Just nope'd out of this one five minutes in as well. I can't say it's worse than Betas, but it definitely is further away from my tastes.

      And the biggest surprise...

      #8. Zombieland. Complete disaster. I quit watching, but felt bad, so I gave it a second chance, quit again, then gave it a third chance before giving up for good 10 minutes in. Everything about it was wrong. The acting, the timing, the production value, the writing, and most of all, the decision to try and continue where the film left off by recasting those same characters. I feel bad for these actors. Asking them to fill the shoes of the film's stars was an impossible task, so I'm not sure why this was even attempted.

      In summary, either Amazon made some poor decisions, or there simply was nothing else better entered to go off of. Just conceptually, the odds are stacked against a lot of these from finding a wide audience, even if the execution hadn't been so bad.

      Zombieland had the best odds. It's based off a hit movie and would be the counterweight to The Walking Dead. But as the worst out of the bunch, don't count on it.

      If I had to put my own money on one of them, I'd swing for the fences with Those Who Can't. If it weren't on Amazon, I could imagine a world where it finds a small audience on an FX or comedy central... it's very in the vein of Workaholics.
      Last edited by Writerperson12; 04-21-2013, 09:27 AM.

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      • #4
        Re: Amazon Pilot Season is here

        I gave three 5 mins, ALPHA HOUSE, BETAS and THOSE THAT CANT and I thought the production levels on all three were great. I really wanted to carry on watching ALPHA, even with the great casting, but the subject matter for me was just a big turn off. I want to go back to BETAS and THOSE and see what else if there for me with those pilots.
        I'm willing to give them all some slack because as a pilot we all know is a babies first steps and it takes a while to get things straight.

        EJ

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        • #5
          Re: Amazon Pilot Season is here

          'Zombieland' TV Pilot Dropped By Amazon; Creator Cites Fan Hate

          Zombieland started as a TV pitch, became a movie, went back to a TV format and is now dead. The TV pilot, which premiered on Amazon last month, has been officially axed by the streaming service, ending a rollercoaster ride for the creators and fans of the franchise who'd been clamoring for a follow-up. Franchise creators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick wrote and directed the pilot which featured the same humor, violence and characters and as the movie, but with less recognizable actors.

          Reese took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with the show's dismissal, suggesting Zombieland fans "hated it out of existence.- Read more below.
          http://www.slashfilm.com/zombieland-...ites-fan-hate/

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          • #6
            Re: Amazon Pilot Season is here

            Betas, baby. I'm all in. Perfect setting and story for a show. It's hip, funny and young enough to get some buzz goin. It's a tad bit corny at times because they're trying so hard to get the lingo right, but at the end of the day, I dig the story. I'm all in on some Betas.

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            • #7
              Re: Amazon Pilot Season is here

              Watched four of the new Amazon pilots today (http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/amaz...ys-trasperant/)

              Thought they were good to great. Interesting about how three of the four (Bosch, Transparent, and the After [SIC "the"... eye roll]) were left with absolutely cliffhangers.

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              • #8
                Re: Amazon Pilot Season is here

                David Anaxagoras speaks of his positive experiences writing Amazon's 'open-door submission' pilot "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street" here:

                http://studios.amazon.com/discussions/TxRAZF4SQK2TAS
                @oceanbluesky

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