Faith In The Pilot

The holy grail of a successful local sitcom is within viewers grasp.

- Diana Wichtel

The sitcom: it’s one of those things, like public transport and sophisticated media discourse, we’re inexplicably crap at. There have been noble exceptions – Gliding On, Bro’Town, The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Wellington Paranormal… There were also Melody Rules and, God help us, Porters. Flight of the Conchords wasn’t funny enough for us.

With this track record, we should at least have been able to make a good sitcom about a bunch of people making a bad sitcom. Now MediaWorks, with NZ On Air, has grasped the nettle with both bloodied hands. Comedy Pilot Week offered five pilots screened over four nights on Three and on demand. Viewers can have a say on social media on which pilot becomes a series. It’s not a terrible idea. Australia’s ABC and Channel 10 have tried it. Transparent began as part of an Amazon pilot season. We should be so lucky. Still, I can report that I made it through the week without retiring behind the sofa cushions to whimper in despair.

Here’s my ranking of the five pilots, from best to yeah, nah.