Here is a new post from writer Earl Pomerantz about the first episode of television series: does it need to be about how the situation in the comedy started (premise) or not?  Can the half hour pilot simply be a typical episode of what is to come during the season?

Pomerantz says it doesn’t matter, giving examples of classic series that began with a premise episode and as well as some that did not.

Who is Earl Pomerantz?  He wrote the second episodes of Cheers, Taxi and The Cosby Show.  Not too shabby.

He also answers a reader’s question about writing comedy for a live studio audience.

I’ll leave you with this link to the first post he made on the topic of premise episodes three weeks ago.

Do you agree with Pomerantz?