Watch Chris Distefano’s un-aired TV pilot

One of the benefits of the world slowing down during the COVID-19 pandemic is that comedians have doubled down in the digital content creation game, whether that be podcasting, putting stand-up clips on social media, or focusing on growing their Youtube pages. There are plenty of examples floating around out there and we’ve often found ourselves diving into the pages for many comics.

One of said discoveries was Chris Distefano’s Youtube.

There are plenty worthy Distefano clips floating around out there, from stand-up to incredibly killer podcast moments – both on his own podcasts or guesting on others. But about 5 months ago he went ahead and uploaded the entire un-aired pilot for his CBS sitcom, The Chris Distefano Show (we’ve also seen it referred to as Distefano), which was more than loosely based on the comedian’s real life – him being a physical therapist, having a child with a Hispanic woman shortly after meeting her, and a father with questionable morals. It’s all in there. We reported on this news back in 2017 that Distefano was working on the show with the production duo of Carter Bays & Craig Thomas, the creators of the hit sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, and watching the pilot you definitely get that vibe from the narration and comic beats.

Unfortunately, the pilot never aired or was picked up by CBS, but the show was absolutely stacked with some incredibly experienced actors including Annie Potts and Chazz Palminteri as Chris’ mother and father, as well as Diana Maria Riva, and Diane Guerrero (fresh off her run on Orange Is The New Black) as Distefano’s leading lady, Izzy. Distefano is the one with the least amount of acting chops in the entire ensemble but he’s surrounded by players that make for a fun and light show with some genuinely funny moments.

While it wasn’t in the cards for the show to see the light of day, some good things came out of it – Distefano posted the entire pilot for fans to check out during COVID and it also gave him a relationship with his TV father. Just this week Palminteri shot another video interview for (you guessed it) Chris’ Youtube page. The same week Palminteri also appeared on Chris’ History Hyenas podcast.

Give the pilot a watch cuzzies, it will make your 2020 better.