Amazon Original Pilots
 

This has been briefly mentioned in the Streaming Talk forum, but I feel it'll get a lot more notice here.

As of yesterday, all fourteen pilots are online and ready to watch via an Amazon Prime membership.

COMEDY PILOTS

Alpha House
Alpha House was written by Academy Award nominee and Pulitzer-Prize winner Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury, Tanner ’88). Alpha House follows four senators who live together in a rented house in Washington DC.

Betas
Set in the land of Silicon Valley start-ups where the right algorithm can make you king, Betas, written by Evan Endicott andJosh Stoddard, follows four computer geeks and their quest for nerd fame as they attempt to crack the ultimate code. Ed Begley Jr., Jon Daly, Joe Dinicol, Margo Harshman, Charlie Saxton and Karan Soni star in the pilot. Michael Lehmann (Heathers) directed and produced the pilot along with Alan Freedland and Alan Cohen (King of the Hill), and producer Michael London (Sideways).

Browsers
Written by 12-time Emmy-winning comedy writer David Javerbaum (The Daily Show), directed by Don Scardino (30 Rock) and produced by 3 Arts’ David Miner, Browsers is a musical comedy set in contemporary Manhattan that follows four young people as they start their first jobs at a news website.

Dark Minions
Written by Big Bang Theory co-stars Kevin Sussman and John Ross Bowie, Dark Minions is an animated workplace series about two slackers just trying to make a paycheck working an intergalactic warship. The pilot will be produced by Principato-Young (Reno 911).

The Onion Presents: The News
The Onion Presents: The News is a smart, fast-paced scripted comedy set behind the scenes of The Onion News Network that shows just how far journalists will go to stay at the top of their game. The Onion Presents: The News is from The Onion’s Will Graham & Dan Mirk (The Onion News Network, The Onion Sportsdome).

Supanatural
Supanatural is an animated comedy series about two outspoken divas who are humanity’s last line of defense against the supernatural, when they’re not working at the mall. The series, written by Lily Sparks, Price Peterson and Ryan Sandoval, is produced by Jason Micallef (Butter) and Kristen Schaal (The Daily Show).

Those Who Can’t
Written by Andrew Orvedahl, Adam Cayton-Holland and Benjamin Roy (Grawlix), who were discovered through Amazon Studios online open door process, Those Who Can’t is a comedy about three juvenile, misfit teachers who are just as immature, if not more so, than the students they teach.

Zombieland
Based on the hit Columbia Pictures movie of the same name, and finds four survivors outwitting zombies and searching for a place to call home. The Zombieland pilot comes from the feature film’s original creative team, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, The Joe Schmo Show), and producer Gavin Polone (Gilmore Girls). Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil) is directing the pilot. The part of Tallahassee is played by Kirk Ward (The Island), Maiara Walsh (Desperate Housewives, Switched at Birth,) is cast as Wichita, Tyler Ross (Milkshake) will play Columbus, and Izabela Vidovic has the role of Little Rock.

CHILDREN’S PILOTS

Creative Galaxy
Creative Galaxy is an animated interactive art adventure series, designed to inspire kids’ creative thinking through crafts, story, music and dance. The series was created by Angela Santomero, creator ofSuper Why!, the Emmy-nominated literacy series, Blue’s Clues and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

Oz Adventures
In this innovative problem solving series, Dot, Dorothy’s daughter, goes off to Oz everyday with the children of the beloved characters from L. Frank Baum’s classic book, The Wizard of Oz. In each episode, the yellow brick road leads Dot to a new magical location where she solves problems alongside her Oz friends.

Teeny Tiny Dogs
Produced by The Jim Henson Company (Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train) and created by Howard Baker (Rugrats), Teeny Tiny Dogs follows Butch, Butterfly, Dinky and Polly as they help one another navigate the big world despite their teeny, tiny, small size. This series promotes happiness through friendship, learning, growing and developing a strong sense of self as seen through the eyes of canine friends.

Tumbleaf
Tumbleaf was created by Drew Hodges and Bix Pix Studios, an award-winning stop motion studio. The series, aimed at preschoolers, is set in a whimsical land where a small blue fox named Fig plays each day and discovers adventure, friendship and love around every bend in the path. Children will be enriched by narratives that promote play through exploration and cognitive reasoning.

The Untitled J.J. Johnson Project
The Untitled J.J. Johnson Project revolves around Anne, a young scientist, who creates three robot helpers to assist her scientific experiments in the back of her dad’s junkyard. This science-based series from creator J.J. Johnson (Dino Dan, This is Emily Yeung) aims to introduce kids to science and technology in a fun, new way.

---

I've only managed to watch one so far, The Onion. While I was extremely impressed with the show's production value (has there even been a television show shot specifically with 2.40:1 in mind?), I was unimpressed with the lack of humor. While I love the website, their videos, and to a lesser extent, the IFC show, the pilot missed the mark. It tried to be more of a bland parody of shows like The Newsroom rather than be a biting and sharp satire.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Stuart and Kwipkie. Not exactly what I'd call "co-stars". Still, I like the concept, and at least it isn't another Seth McFarlane show.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I watched Zombieland and I was not impressed.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I agree. It was very disappointing. The tone was too broad, and Tallahassee was really miscast. Columbus wasn't much better, but Tallahassee was particularly bad.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

These all sound terrible.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I watched the Zombieland trailer and was not impressed.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Zombieland: Disappointing.

Browsers: Worse than "stepping into a puddle of HIV."

Those Who Can’t: Surprisingly hilarious, but to be fair, I had no expectations after watching an abortion... uh... I mean Browsers.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Zombieland let me down quite a bit.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Alpha House was the best. The Cameo in the first five minutes made the entire episode.Zombieland was okay, but only the female cast was good. Tallahasse and Columbus were miscast.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Yeah, Alpha House wins for the first couple minutes.

Cameo spoiler from the first 3 minutes:



Plus it's the one show that actually seemed professionally produced.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I've only watched Zombieland so far and didn't think it was that great. It had it's moments but I think it would have been better if they weren't trying to pass off the new cast members as the same characters from the movie. The production values also seemed pretty cheap for the most part. Granted I know it's not a big network show or anything but still, it kind of gave off a cheesy 80s or 90s sitcom vibe. Also personally I think the idea is more sustainable as a movie anyways. I understand that it was originally supposed to be a television show but I don't see how it could last that long without getting really old really fast.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I don't get these comments about production value. Do you people even watch network television or basic cable?

While I haven't watched Alpha House yet, the only one I've watched that looked truly low rate was that of Browsers. It looked like that of a low-budget sitcom that would've aired on VH1.

Zombieland looked perfectly fine for a 22-minute sitcom. Yes, it's going to look like shit when you compare something that cost under $2M to produce compared to an 80-minute film that cost $25M. However, it looked fine for being able to show off a zombie apocalypse. I would not be surprised if most of the budget went into developing the "Kill of the Week." The Walking Dead uses the same sets each week and that's why AMC's able to control each episode to costing under $3M. For this, it looks like the show will take place in a different setting each week.

Those Who Can’t looks and feels something that came from Comedy Central (which is about right as it feels of a hybrid of Strangers with Candy and Workaholics). It might've been the cheapest to produce (as it's produced by Amazon directly), but the show works regardless of the budget constraints.

Again, I thought the production values on Onion News Empire were stellar considering that had probably the most high profile cast and crew behind it.

I'm not expecting HBO or even, dare I say it, Netflix like production values where there's "unlimited" resources to throw at projects. For Amazon to test the waters with this concept is pretty amazing within itself. I just wish they could've picked better talent to come up with pilots because most of what I've watched has missed more than hit. Maybe if they try this concept with dramas, we'll get better projects to come out of it.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Zombieland actually wasn't too bad. Felt like something syndicated in the mid 90s.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

My whole thing with Zombieland as I already said is I don't see how it can go on very long without the premise getting stretched pretty thin. It's a funny idea and the show wasn't bad and the movie worked great since it was a one off thing but really I just don't see how they'll manage to keep that entertaining very long.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Walking Dead manages. Just kill zombies...pretty much it.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

But even that is wearing pretty thin in my opinion at least. Also that has a larger cast than just four people and not to mention there's a lot more you can do with a drama type series in my opinion at least than a comedy like this. How many times can it really be funny to see a zombie get killed in some over the top fashion or whatever? Maybe it's just me but I sort of think the whole zombie craze is played out anyways.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I liked Zombieland......and I really liked the girl in the Emma Stone role.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

The Onion had two shows a couple years ago that were both really funny.
One was a news parody and the other a parody of ESPN that show was a riot.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I liked "Dark Minions" but can't really describe why. That is, I think it has potential but could really fall flat. "Browsers" was painful to watch. I had to force myself to watch it and even then hit FF to get through the musical parts.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

How could Zombieland ever compare with Walking dead ? why even try

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

After reading this thread then watching Zombieland, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. But still kind of bad. The chick is hot at least.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Just watched Alpha House because of the cameo buzz. It was OK--no great desire to watch more.

Not sure you've been watching the show...

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I watched "Those who can't" last night and found it interesting. Kind of liked teachers behaving like that. Still I can tell how shows change between the Pilots and when they become a "real" show. So far, and if I were in charge, none of the pilots I've seen would proceed forward as they now stand. Of course.............I'm not in charge of anything. :)

Rick

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

Got around to watching Alpha House before bed last night.

I liked it. It wasn't as funny as Those Who Can't, but there's some potential. I thought it did a much better job at handling satire than The Onion did.

Re: Amazon Original Pilots
 

I watched Zombieland last night and I thought it was ok for the most part. I agree with others, that Tallahassee was miscast. The pilot also reminded me a bit of now cancelled MTV show Death Valley.