Tread Perilously is a podcast in which hosts Erik Amaya and author Justin Robinson watch the “worst” episodes of popular TV shows, attempting to determine if they would continue to watch the series based on the most off-key moments.
This Week: Future Cop‘s “Pilot”
Pilot season continues as Tread Perilously looks at the TV movie/backdoor pilot for Future Cop.
Lazy and slovenly beat cop Joe Cleaver (Ernest Borgnine!) — who somehow still gets results — is just the sort of man to aid the police commissioner in proving a “robot cop” would be bad for the force. The robot in question is called Haven (Michael Shannon — but not the one you’re expecting) and while he has the penal code in his programming, he still has a lot to learn about life. Will Cleaver end up liking Haven? And will Haven learn how to pass for a human?
Justin wastes no time making a particular reference to Borgnine’s process. Erik cannot help but compare Future Cop to RoboCop despite neither being the first robot cop story. Vintage 1976 commercials for Listermint, ABC’s election coverage, and Breck shampoo are dissected. The inconsistent tone of the pilot leads the pair to figure out ways to make it actually work. Justin’s obsession with the Beach That Makes You Old confounds chatGPT. Geography Corner centers on freeway off-ramps and a junkyard near the Los Angeles River. The Babylon 5 conspiracy once again gets aired. Borgnine proves why we love him — even at 30% energy — but will Justin accurately determine if Future Cop made it to series?
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