Pilot

### Also

Kimberly, Jing, Bex, Yangzi, Wolf, Mia, Mr. Mitch, Bex's Grandmother, Helen, Wonder Woman, Batman, Mia's dad, Justin, Jimmy, DJ S'More, Alex Honnold, Kyle Bornheimer, Sulley Sullenberger

## Crew

### Story by

Amy Poehler & Julie Thacker Scully & Mike Scully

## Broadcast Details

### Premiered

February 17, 2019

The "**Pilot**" is the broadcast premiere of *Duncanville*.

## Plot

Wanting to impress Mia, Duncan asks his mom Annie to teach him how to drive.

## Full Story

Lazy Oakdale teen, Duncan Harris, is given a rude awakening by his parents, Jack and Annie, about learning to drive. They insist that he learn so that he can be a man, but Duncan thinks that driving is old fashioned. They manage to weather him down until he agrees, mostly so that they can leave his room. Duncan is further antagonized by his younger sister Kimberly who is constantly talking down to him, while the youngest adopted step-sibling Jing cannot get over her unusual crush on him. Jack has Duncan drive his truck through the neighborhood, but Duncan is immediately annoyed at how overly cautious he is and leaves in frustration.

Duncan heads to the abandoned RV to hang out with his friends Yangzi, Bex and Wolf and vents his frustration over his parents' controlling nature. They are visited by Mia, Duncan's crush, who reveals that she saw Duncan drive and that he looked good. Duncan rushes home and demands that Annie teach him to drive, instead of Jack. She picks up on his newfound gumption and warns him to be responsible. The next day at school, Yangzi reveals that he got them all invites to the EDM Fest and Duncan invites Mia to join them, adding that he can drive them, albeit with an adult. To Duncan's frustration, Annie denies him the chance to go and he once again looks to his friends for help. Bex offers to bring her grandmother, Octavia, along, who spends the night sleeping in the car.

The friends sneak out and head to the EDM Fest where Duncan and Mia end up having a moment together. As they are driving home, Duncan accidentally knocks over Ol' Oakie, Oakdale's oldest tree (which was famously used to hang witches). The friends quietly drive home, but the next day, the news of Ol' Oakie's demise is heavily reported. Annie notices that Duncan is acting suspicious and realizes that he snuck out with his friends and inadvertently knocked over Ol' Oakie. The family turn on Duncan and ignore him. Realizing he messed up, he once again calls his friends and together, cut out a section of Ol' Oakie's stump that contained Jack and Annie's carving from their youth. The family forgives Duncan, but are forced to flee outside when cicadas living in the stump take over the house.

## Notes/Trivia

* This episode made its debut on March 27, 2020 in the United Kingdom.
* When Jack enters the living room, Kimberly and Jing were watching *The Masked Singer*, another show on Fox.
* The song that Annie's book club is singing is "I Touch Myself", by Divinyls.
* DJ Smore, who performs at the EDM Fest, is a parody of the music artist DJ Marshmello.
* Papa Mom's, where Mia work at, is an obvious parody of Papa John's Pizza.

## External Links

* "Pilot" press release via The Futon Critic
* "Pilot" at the US Copyright Database