Of Funerals and Fish first episode, is referred to as Harold; when the character went on to appear in the series, he would be called Wally. Of Funerals and Fish "Of Funerals and Fish" is the pilot episode of the world's longest running sitcom, "Last of the Summer Wine" (1973–2010), written by Roy Clarke. It was first aired on 4 January 1973 and became the first of 295 episodes. It was aired as a "Comedy Playhouse" episode. The plot involved the trio going around discussing life and death. It starred Bill Owen, Peter Sallis and Michael Bates. This also was the first appearance of
Pilot (Malcolm in the Middle) Pilot (Malcolm in the Middle) "Pilot" is the first episode of the first season of the television series "Malcolm in the Middle", which originally aired on the Fox Network on Sunday, January 9, 2000. It was the first episode written by Linwood Boomer and was directed by Todd Holland. In the episode, the six primary characters are introduced, Malcolm, Lois, Hal, Reese, Dewey, and Francis (who is at military school), and Malcolm's struggles and fears to be placed in the accelerated learning class ('Krelboynes') even though he has an IQ of 165. Airing as a midseason replacement for "Futurama", the