Pilot (Birdgirl)

"Pilot" is the first episode of Birdgirl season one. It aired on April 5, 2021 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. It was written by series creators, Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter, produced by Susan Shipsky and series co-developer, Melissa Warrenburg, and directed by Richard Ferguson-Hall.

When Phil Ken Sebben is declared dead, Birdgirl, not Judy, is named his successor.

Memorable quotes
Brian: I've put my blood, sweat, tears, and shit into this company to drive success!

Characters

 * style="background-color:#clear"| Phil Ken Sebben
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Birdgirl/Judy Ken Sebben
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Paget Brewster
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Josh
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Birdcat/Mr. Peter Pants
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Reporter #1
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Diana Van Fleet
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Weatherwoman
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Dog with Bucket Hat
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Doman
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Charley
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Lorelei Ramirez
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Jessica
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Phil Ken Sebben impersonator
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Harvey Birdman (photo)
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Scot
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Rudy
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Sharon
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Bruce
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Hugh
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Brad
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Gillian Sans
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Kether Donahue
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Meredith Mindtaker
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Negin Farsad
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Brian O'Brien
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Rob Delaney
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Calypsis model
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Stew
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Paul
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Tony Hale
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Hugh
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Brad
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Gillian Sans
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Kether Donahue
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Meredith Mindtaker
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Negin Farsad
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Brian O'Brien
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Rob Delaney
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Calypsis model
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Stew
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Paul
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Tony Hale
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Calypsis model
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Stew
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Paul
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Tony Hale
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Paul
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Tony Hale

Organizations

 * Sebben & Sebben Worldwide
 * Picayune-Standard
 * The Daily Newspaper
 * Municipal Times
 * Metro News
 * Daily Argus Journal
 * City News Daily
 * The Bold Headline
 * Birdteam

Locations

 * Earth
 * United States
 * Sebben & Sebben Worldwide headquarters
 * Judy's apartment
 * Washington, D.C. (photo)
 * The White House (photo)

Objects

 * Picayune-Standard newspaper
 * The Daily Newspaper newspaper
 * Municipal Times newspaper
 * Metro News newspaper
 * Daily Argus Journal newspaper
 * City News Daily newspaper
 * The Bold Headline newspaper
 * Baltimo
 * The Dead Tree
 * Passé
 * The Bridge & Tunneler
 * Tabz
 * Paleo Media
 * Calypsis

Vehicles

 * Nothing of importance

Filming
It was copyrighted in 2021.

Music
The theme song was performed by Leikeli47 and Michael Barney. The music was composed by Michael Kohler of Bluetube, although he's not expressly credited as such. Instead, he's credited for dialogue and other sound edits.

Crew credits

 * Series creators: Michael Ouweleen, Erik Richter
 * Series developers and executive producers: Erik Richter, Christina Miller
 * Animation director: Richard Ferguson-Hall
 * Consulting producer: Cirocco Dunlap
 * Staff writers: Lorraine Degraffenreidt, Ele Woods, Jessica Haymond, Jonterri Gadson
 * Writers' assistant: Anca Vlasan
 * Script coordinator: Brittnay Johnston
 * Animated services: Awesome Inc.
 * Executive producer: Ashley Kohler
 * Associate producer: Brandon Betts
 * Producer: Joshua Spencer
 * Production assistants: Kaila Knight Tryal, Allie Wisniewski
 * Storyboard artists: Felipe Di Poi Tamargo, Cassidy Stone
 * Main character designer: Carly Monardo
 * Character and prop design leads: Claire Almon, Beth Lewis
 * Character and prop designers: Kaila Knight Tryal, Alfred Taylor
 * Lead character rigger: Bo Cai
 * Character rigger: Jack Huang
 * Background developers: Chris Nickels, Anna Renee, George Townley
 * Lead background designer: Kat Stockton
 * Background designers: Karen Castillo, Kaila Knight Tryal, Juan Montoya, Chris Nickels, Tessa Pray, Anna Renee
 * Graphic designer: Craig Sheldon
 * Assistant animation director: Melissa Wolfert
 * Animators: Sam Alkaitis, Heather Bay, Laura Ceredona, Sofia Guerra, W. Justin King, Tatiana Moniz, Torrey Notestine, Yuki Okamura-Wong, Emily Rodriguez, Gabriel Silva, Katelyn Walsh
 * FX animator: Jenny Plyler
 * Compositing and visual effects animators: Jamie Galatas, Heather Rodgers
 * CG artist: J Griffin
 * Conform editor: Thomas Fine
 * Sound designer and mixer: Bluetube
 * Supervising sound editor: Michael Kohler
 * Audio assistant: Matt Peery
 * Casting director: Dawn Hershey-Lopes
 * Title sequence animator: Candice House
 * Editor for WarnerMedia Studios: Jon Dilling
 * Production coordinators: Inés Michelena, Sally Skinner
 * Production assistant: Kat Daugherty
 * Executive producers for Williams Street: Keith Crofford, Mike Lazzo

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: April 4, 2021 on the Adult Swim YouTube channel (preview), April 5, 2021 at 12 am on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network)
 * United Kingdom & Ireland: June 21, 2021 at 11:00 pm on E4

Behind the scenes

 * Phil's attraction to Birdgirl is mentioned.
 * This is the second time Phil has died, although this time it seems permanent.
 * In Judy's apartment, there are photos of her time as Birdgirl working at the White House in Harvey Birdman: Attorney General.
 * Brian's presentation boards say 2020.
 * Josh's name is revealed in "The Wanky."

Errors

 * When Judy is talking to her staff, Jessica is both outside the building and in the conference room.

Everlasting influence

 * Baltimo is mentioned as a product made by Sebben & Sebben, which sets up the episode of the same name, "Baltimo."
 * Brian is a mass murderer in this episode, which is completely forgotten in the next episode.
 * Even though Judy assigns her team all names at the end of this episode, they don't come into play until "Baltimo."
 * Brian has Calypsis drawn on his chalkboard in "The Wanky."

Home availability

 * Not available. 😥