About Pilots & Petards

Drew, Mo, and Jimbo are three Peace Corps buddies. Jimbo wanted to start a podcast; Drew came up with a podcast about pilot episodes; Mo joined in for the ride after being the first guest; and Liz saw all the fun she was missing and joined too. We discuss TV pilots, and as always we end up talking about bigger issues by the end of the show, like race and or Star Wars. Click here for a breakdown of our show format.

Join us each week as we cast judgement on the pilot episode and determine if these pilots will be hoisted, or not to be hoisted: that is the question. After judgement we place the pilot episode in our running list of the Quest for the Best and Worst Pilots Ever.

For the time being we are trying a couple experiments with our format. Please leave and give feedback so we can be the podcast you want to hear in the world. Fill out our survey here (takes less than 4 minutes).

What are petards and hoisting?

For those of us more dumber than Drew, petard is a real word, absolutely non discriminatory. Petards are explosive devices traditionally used to blow up doors or walls. Consult your local dictionary for further investigation.

For those who overlooked it in Hamlet, “Hoist with his own petar,” is a phrase from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The phrase refers to one’s own plot or device intended for another that ends up being self destructive. So for our purposes, a hoisted pilot is self destructive in its goal of convincing a viewer to continue to watch.

Cheat Sheet:

• Petard = bomb
• Hoist a pilot = bad
• Not to hoist a pilot = good