Everybody Hates the Pilot

Everybody Hates the Pilot is the first episode of Everybody Hates Chris.

Synopsis[]

In this pilot episode, 13-year-old Chris Rock tells his life story, starting with his family moving out of the Projects and to Bed-Stuy. Chris, however, is forced to attend the all-white Corleone Junior High School across town in Brooklyn Beach, where he is met with prejudice from students and staff alike, especially with the school bully, Joey Caruso. However, he makes a new friend in school, Greg Wuliger.

Plot[]

The cold open begins with Chris celebrating that he turned 13, which he believes being a teenager gives him better life opportunities and be popular. However, this was just a dream that gets interrupted by his mother who wakes him to clean the pee off the toilet seat.

The episode starts with Chris and his family moving out of the Projects. Mainly because his mom, Rochelle, says it's just another name for 'Experiment'. On the way Julius, is persuaded to stop at McDonald's but only if they split the meal between Chris Drew and Tonya; Chris gets the drink.

They arrive at their new home in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and are informed by some spray painters that the local motto is "Bedstuy: Do or Die". Rochelle then explains if she catches the boys ever writing graffiti or get in any trouble, she will beat and punish them. To which, Chris Rock (narrator) explains his mother's recipes for ass-kicking.

Chris's brother Drew is younger than him but taller and cooler than him. His little sister Tonya will do anything to get Chris into trouble. But since Chris is the oldest, we are reminded, he has to be the 'emergency adult' which, as his dad tells him through a series of instructions about what to do if things or his brother are on fire, means he has to take responsibility for everything.

At breakfast, Chris asks his mother why he has to go to a different school to his brother and sister. His mother explains to him that his school - at Brooklyn Beach - gives kids an education, though Narrator Chris points out it's not a Harvard kind, just a Not-sticking-up-a-liquor-store kind. Julius comes down for breakfast but his favorite, Tonya, isn't happy: Chris has made her oatmeal all lumpy. She doesn't have to eat it but it's not going in the trash because, as Julius points out, that's 30c worth of oatmeal. Chris will have to eat it. Julius, as we discover, always knows what everything costs. From the $2 on fire on the stove to the 49c of milk dripping on his table. "somebody gonna drink this milk!"

After breakfast Julius is looking through the bills and is confused as to why Rochelle has only paid half of them. She is offended he's questioning her but he won't let it go and agrees to pay them his way and see how it works out.

It's a school day. And as if he wasn't worried enough, Chris has to wear his brother's smart shoes instead of his own cool sneakers. "It's better to be poor and neat, than rich and raggedy" says his mom. "I think she said that because we were poor" says Narrator Chris. Besides, he's only been there a week, his mom says he does not know anyone yet. Chris replies "they all know me" meaning he is the ONLY black kid there after all. Another of Chris's responsibilities is racing home after school to let his brother and sister in quietly so as not to wake his dad before he goes to work at 5:00pm. His dad's sleep is very important, and he reminds his brother and sister of that, telling them not to make a noise until he gets back, otherwise he's in deep...

After making his way to school on two buses and reading the paper on the way ("I learned more on the way to school than I learned AT school"), Chris runs into the school bully, Joey Caruso, and after trying to 'out-black' him when he steps on his brother's shoes, he gets punched and falls into the new Principal, Dr. Julius Raymond. The boys get told off and warned to behave but Joey is still not going to leave it. He warns Chris that he'll get it "after School". A boy named Greg Wuliger helps him pick up his books and they hit it off. Chris has made his first friend. They wonder what happened to the 'old' principal ("Mr. Palmer was accused of doing something that we can't tell you about because of the network censors" Narrator Chris informs us).

At lunch they go for a slice of pizza but Chris bumps into Joey who takes his bus pass and $2 for lunch. Chris demands for his bus pass back to which Caruso challenges him after school.

After school Chris goes to meet Joey to fight and get his bus pass back. He has a plan: fights always get split up quickly so he has to get a good first punch. He does. But then what follows is a 30 minute rumble at the end of which Chris manages to stamp on Joey's toe and take his bus pass back. Running for his life, and the bus, Chris just makes it home. Only to find his sister stood at the front door. Screaming.

Luckily, his dad is still asleep and Chris manages to keep everyone quiet and cleans his now mucky shoes. In his hunger from not being able to have lunch at school, he eats the large piece of chicken in the fridge. What he doesn't realize is: the piece of chicken is for his dad!

After waking his dad at 5:00 ("not 4:59"), his mom phones to tell him to put the chicken in the oven. Of course, since he's already ate it his dad has to make do with what should probably be called a chicken 'thumbstick', much to the frustration of his mom. Though she's not mad, just concerned for her husbands appetite so he can keep his job saying he gets grumpy when hungry, which could lead to him disrespecting his boss then get fired.

Julius and Rochelle sit eating their meal together. she's still frustrated about the bills but after she explains to him about the way she does it ("you gotta know how to work the system... if we paid all the bills we'd have no money") he understands, and they make up.

On the way out to his second job, Julius stops by Chris's room to check on him. Chris is still awak and apologizes for eating the big piece of chicken ("that was 89c worth of chicken") but his dad's OK about it. Chris doesn't tell him about Joey as his dad had riots and more at his school, so his problems don't quite match up. Julius slips him $5 and tells him not to tell his mom. His dad doesn't say "I love you", he's not like that. He's one of four fathers on the block; saying "I'll see you tomorrow means he loves you." When leaving Julius tells Chris to unplug the alarm clock. When doing it he overhears Rochelle saying "what the h--- happened to my towel" with Chris knowing he is going to get in trouble since he used it to clean his shoes, but before he can do anything the scene pauses and fades to black starting the Everybody Hates Chris series.

Starring[]

Goofs[]

When Chris is in a local store, a new version of the Cheetos brand bag is visible when the show takes place years before the bag change.
When Chris gets on the bus and the driver closes the double doors behind him there is a ginger haired boy banging on the right-hand door and a dark-haired boy banging on the left-hand door. The camera cuts to the angle of the driver as he shouts at them to go away, but when the camera cuts back very quickly: the two boys have swapped places!

Trivia[]

In this episode, the outcome singing of "Everybody Hates Chris" is not featured in this episode or half the episodes in season 1 for that matter.
Tichina Arnold composed a theme song for the show and recorded it with 2 of her friends. However, Ali LeRoi and Chris Rock already had some themes in mind, so they kept the ending hook of it to put in at the end of episodes and before commercial breaks.
Chris Rock and Terry Crews previously starred together in the movie The Longest Yard.
This episode was awarded the Best TV Show of the Week award by the Parents Television Council. Click Here.
"I Wish" by Stevie Wonder - the song playing while everyone is loading up the van just after the opening credits.
This episode scored the highest ever rating for a comedy premiere on UPN and the third best rating for any program (behind the premieres of Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise) on the network.
"It's Like That" by Run-DMC - the music that's playing from someone's stereo when the family arrive at their new home.
"Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang was the song playing at the close of the episode.
"Ebony and Ivory" by Sir Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder - the song playing while Chris and Joey are fighting.
"Don't Stand So Close to Me" by The Police is the music playing in the background when the old principal is being arrested.
"Apache" by The Sugarhill Gang - the music playing when Chris is partying in a club.
The Budget is a reputed $2 million.