Pilot is a video work that was commissioned by TVOntario for broadcast on late night television. It is a highly structural video divided into five segments. Each of the five segments draws on three different television formats, which are used in repeating sequence. Blurring the lines between reality and fiction, Pilot is key to understanding General Idea’s work from the 1970s. It demonstrates their interest in appropriating popular-culture and media formats, while introducing the group and their work to viewers. The video is significant as it marked a shift in their practice—General Idea’s previous video works were conceived as television, but in Pilot and subsequent videos, the artists created footage for broadcast on television.