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The pilot is the most crucial episode for any television show. Because it is the audience\u2019s first introduction to what a potential series may offer, a pilot is what makes or breaks a show. At South by Southwest 2026, the Independent TV Pilot Program selected six<\/a> indie pilots to premiere in Austin, Texas, each telling a story uniquely their own with the hopes of seeing it fully develop into a series in the future. Whether realistic or supernatural, romantic or horrifying, The Michigan Daily shares each of these stories here with you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Daily Arts Writers Eilene Koo and Nicolas Eisenberg can be reached at ekoo@umich.edu<\/a> <\/em>and niceisen@umich.edu<\/em><\/a>, respectively.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCold Call\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n When the credits rolled for \u201cCold Call,\u201d I knew I was hooked \u2014 I almost screamed inside the theater for leaving me hanging where it did. \u201cCold Call\u201d introduces us to a cult of office workers called Ergons, whose mission is to return home. And the only way to achieve this, according to their faceless leader Howl, is to cold call Humans and scam them out of their credit cards. The star worker Penny (Emma Lenderman) is utterly devoted to this mission until a surprising call with a Human and the disappearance of her best friend call her faith in Howl into question.\u00a0<\/p>\n