That's Entertainment

"The world is a stage, and the stage is a world of entertainment!"

- Alastor

The Hazbin Hotel pilot, titled "That's Entertainment", is the pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel. It premiered on October 28, 2019, on Vivziepop's YouTube channel.

On November 17, 2023, the events of the episode were confirmed to be canon, however the main series establishes the correct lore of the world.

Synopsis

 * Follow Charlie, the princess of Hell, as she pursues her seemingly impossible goal of rehabilitating demons to peacefully reduce overpopulation in her kingdom. After a yearly extermination imposed by angels, She opens a hotel in hopes that patients will be "checking out" into Heaven. While most of Hell mocks her goal, her devoted partner Vaggie, and their first test subject, adult film-star Angel Dust, stick by her side. When a powerful entity known as the "Radio Demon" reaches out to Charlie to assist in her endeavors, her crazy dream is given a chance to become a reality.

Plot
The episode opens to Charlie singing about how she believes she is some sort of failure as the countdown to the next extermination resets for another year, and the demons go about their business.

Angel Dust exits a car after finishing up with his latest client. He tells them not to tell anyone he's hooking up with 'randos', only for the man to call him a slut. Angel Dust mocks him before going to purchase some drugs which are promptly stolen.

In an airship above Angel, Sir Pentious starts demolishing territory as he attempts to conquer the turf with his Egg Boiz. However, he is interrupted as Cherri Bomb throws a bomb into his ship and threatens him for starting a turf war with her.

At the news station, Charlie and Vaggie prepare for Charlie's interview on her new hotel, with Vaggie telling Charlie not to sing and expressing doubt on Charlie's plan. As Charlie approaches the reporter, Katie Killjoy, Katie makes it clear she did not want Charlie on the show and she's only there because another segment got cancelled.

The interview begins and Charlie explains that to fight overpopulation, she is opening a hotel to redeem guests to have them sent to Heaven. When the crowd is unimpressed, she bursts into song, which is mocked by everyone except Vaggie.

As Katie taunts her for having faith in demons, Charlie retorts that Angel Dust, her only patron, has gone clean for two weeks. This is immediately interrupted by a report on the ongoing turf war between Cherri and Sir Pentious, stating that Angel has now joined the fray, much to Charlie's dismay.

Angel aides Cherri in battling Sir Pentious, believing he will lose his reputation if he goes clean. He also states the only reason he went to the hotel was so he could stay rent-free. Angel makes a variety of sex jokes at Sir Pentious, all but one going over the snake demon's head as they fight. In the studio, Charlie, upset by Katie calls her a bitch, starting a fight between them.

Later, Charlie, Vaggie, and Angel ride back to the hotel. Vaggie is enraged by Angel's behavior, who is entirely unapologetic for his deeds. Charlie is saddened about the failure of the interview but attempts to remain cheerful.

At the hotel, Charlie sulks and goes to call her mom for advice, however, Lilith does not answer. Charlie goes back inside before hearing a knock on the door. She discovers Alastor, the 'Radio Demon', and Vaggie warns her not to let him in. However, feeling it would go against what the hotel stands for, Charlie opens the door anyway.

Alastor tells Charlie he wishes to help her out with the hotel but explains he does not believe that demons can be redeemed and he is only in it for the entertainment. Vaggie immediately dislikes him and explains to the ignorant Angel that Alastor appeared in Hell several decades ago and was somehow able to immediately take down Hell's most powerful demons, all the while broadcasting his carnage. Vaggie pleads with Charlie to make him leave, though Charlie decides she can't turn him down and accepts his help, but heeds her father's words, "You don't take shit from other demons!", and refuses to make any deals.

Alastor gets to work in finding staff for the hotel. First off, he brings in Niffty, a demon who rapidly begins to clean the place up. Then he teleports Husk into the building, who is furious at being dragged away from his poker game, though he is convinced to help after Alastor bribes him with alcohol. Vaggie demands Alastor take down the newly made bar, only for Angel to tackle her to the floor, stating they will keep it.

Alastor launches into a musical number about how he'll help run the hotel and convinces Charlie that he has best interests at heart, and even though he still believes that the entire idea is worthless, the best they can do is change demons superficially. Just then, Sir Pentious arrives to ambush Alastor, only for the deer demon to use his powers and destroy the ship. The group then goes back to the hotel.

During the end-credits scene, Sir Pentious emerged from the hole and Egg Boi #23 asks to be shot with his ray gun.

Characters

 * Employees of the Hazbin Hotel (debut)
 * Charlie Morningstar
 * Vaggie
 * Husk
 * Niffty
 * Angel Dust (debut)
 * Sir Pentious (debut)
 * Egg Boiz (debut)
 * Cherri Bomb (debut)
 * Anchormen of 666 News (debut)
 * Katie Killjoy
 * Tom Trench
 * The Royal Family (debut)
 * Lucifer (non-speaking cameo)
 * Lilith (pictured/mentioned)
 * The von Eldritch Family (debut)
 * Helsa von Eldritch (non-speaking cameo)
 * Seviathan von Eldritch (pictured)
 * Bethesda von Eldritch (pictured)
 * Fredrick von Eldritch (pictured)
 * Razzle and Dazzle (debut)
 * Travis (debut)
 * Crymini (debut; non-speaking cameo)
 * Baxter (silhouette only)
 * Mimzy (debut; non-speaking cameo)
 * Employees of I.M.P (debut; non-speaking cameo)
 * Blitzo (early reel )
 * Moxxie (silhouette only)
 * Overlords (debut)
 * Alastor
 * Rosie (non-speaking cameo)
 * Vox (non-speaking cameo)
 * Valentino (non-speaking cameo)
 * Velvette (non-speaking cameo)
 * Zoophobia characters (non-speaking cameo)
 * Zillion
 * Hatchet
 * Marx
 * Angels (debut; non-speaking cameo)
 * Adam (silhouette only)
 * Exorcists
 * Lute (silhouette only)

Locations

 * Hell (debut)
 * Pride Ring
 * Pentagram City
 * Clock Tower
 * Porn Studios
 * Rosie's Emporium
 * Klub Kaiju
 * The Hazbin Hotel
 * 666 News Studio
 * Jackpot Hotel
 * Devil's Diner
 * The Red Room Cocktails
 * Killer Club
 * Mimzy's Club
 * Pot Shop
 * Nightmare Night Club
 * Radio Hack
 * Evil Donuts
 * Tentacle Monster Dimension (debut; cameo)
 * Heaven (debut; cameo)

Objects

 * Royal Family limousine
 * Angel Dust's firearms
 * Cherri Bomb's cherry bombs
 * Sir Pentious' ship
 * Vaggie's harpoon
 * Royal Family portrait

Songs

 * "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows"
 * "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow"
 * "Alastor's Reprise"

Instrumentals

 * "Spider Provider"
 * "Fifty Shades of Egg"
 * "Send News"
 * "Please Don't Sing"
 * "Professional Bitch"
 * "Charlie's Monologue"
 * "We Have a Gay Spider"
 * "One Little Brawl"
 * "In the Arms of an Angel"
 * "Hey Mom"
 * "The World Is a Stage"
 * "The Radio Demon"
 * "A Real Surreal Deal"
 * "This Little Darling Is Niffty"
 * "This Little Darling Is Husk"
 * "Sir Pentious Fucking Dies"

Trivia

 * Charlie, Alastor, Helsa, and Katie are shown to possess alternate demonic forms.
 * According to Vivziepop in her Vivzie Stream #5 live stream, there was originally a Nazi joke in the original draft of the Pilot, but they cut it because they "didn't want to go there".
 * Selective scenes that are shown in the released clips will also be re-worked and redone upon both request by Vivziepop and the will of the animators, to help improve the quality of the pilot. Some animators, such as Ashley Nichols, have made streams or posts showing their progress or comparison with their old take on their shots.
 * As this is the master composition, additional sound effects were added to the scenes that were released that didn't have any such as Alastor having tap-dancing shoes sounds whenever he walks and some scores were replaced such as the bar scene. Other animators, such as selective Helluva illumine, were also included for the final composition to fix any final revisions.
 * The puppy that Charlie was cuddling in the "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow" musical number is a caricature of storyboard artist Perry Hull's dog. That particular scene was drawn by Hull himself.
 * Niffty can be seen cleaning up after Alastor during the scene where he kicks a skull to the side in his reprise.
 * It is shown that Charlie only shows her full demon form for special effects whenever she is performing.
 * Alastor can be seen using his blood as a means to defeat Sir Pentious.
 * Two Egg Boiz can be seen making out in the early scenes.
 * The same couple can be seen later in the episode with one mourning over the death of the other.
 * It is shown that cellphones in Hell are called Hellphones.
 * Angel Dust has entertained the question of where do demons go once they die during their stay in Hell, albeit it was only for a brief moment and was passed as a joke.
 * When Alastor teleports Husk to the hotel, a segment of the room Husk was in appears with him, resulting in both the hotel and the room he was in fusing together.
 * Some of Vivziepop's characters from her other projects (such as an early reel of Blitzo whose design was being finalized during the making of his cameo) have also made cameos as audience members watching Charlie's pitch.
 * Ashley has stated in one of her streams that the clean-up artists are well aware of the inconsistencies of some scenes and chose to leave it that way since redoing them will require twice as much work.
 * Angel breaks the fourth wall by looking directly at the camera after Alastor says "The punishment is this!".
 * During the scene wherein Alastor was marveling at the Royal Family portrait, you can hear a split second of Charlie singing the word "Inside" from a recording of her performing "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow".
 * Husk and Niffty's appearance near the end of the episode was foreshadowed when Vaggie was telling Angel about Alastor's reputation among the other Overlords.
 * The reason why they wanted the pilot to air on October 28th was because it was Viv's birthday.
 * During the scene wherein Alastor presses his nose against Charlie's and pinches her cheeks as he pulls her away in his reprise, it was originally boarded to have Vaggie in the background with a somewhat jealous expression. This was later changed in the finalized version.
 * Other changes made to the boards include Alastor supposedly kicking off a bucket of paint instead of a skull, his shadow self not being present in the reprise, as well as him supposedly getting blown away from the impact of Sir Pentious' explosion, instead of Niffty.
 * Sir Pentious edits pictures of Vox and Valentino taken from this episode into a selfie he posted on Voxtagram.
 * The Japanese dub keeps the original audio of Vaggie speaking Spanish whenever she curses instead of dubbing it over in Japanese.
 * Hatchet from Vivziepop's Zoophobia series makes a cameo in the crowd of demons watching the live TV broadcast of Charlie's announcement of opening of her hotel at 9:16.
 * Marx, another character from Zoophobia makes a cameo during the "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow" song at 10:20.
 * Zill, another character from Zoophobia, makes a cameo as a silhouette in the Boo Section at 11:27.
 * Sam Miller had the honor to do all the backgrounds for Alastor's Reprise.
 * In the backgrounds Sam turned all the statues and other skeleton elements into deers because she figured it would fit.

Cultural References

 * Charlie's tie has a cross on it, as seen more clearly during the scene wherein Vaggie is fixing it for her. The symbol itself is actually a Sulfur Cross in alchemy, which is often called a "Leviathan Cross" or "Satan's Cross".
 * The opening silhouette animation pays homage to the animated films of, notably .
 * The logo in one of the demon's clothes in 9:06 is a reference to 's logo.
 * One of the TV monitors in Klub Kaiju is playing a scene from the 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon, .
 * Coincidentally, Vivienne did a Dan Backslide shot for the Dover Boys Reanimate Collab, which was hosted by Hazbin cleanup artist, Josh Palmer.
 * "Alastor's Reprise" might be a reference to Disney's animated movie, . Alastor dresses Charlie in a 30s' style dress while making her dream come true, much like Dr. Facilier, the villain of said movie.
 * Alastor also casts shadow demons from the fireplace during the song, a reference to Dr. Facilier's "friends" from the "other side".
 * The white sprinkles that are on Razzle and Dazzle's pink doughnut is a direct reference to the infamous LOSS minimalist meme from . That reference was implanted by animator Ashley Nichols.
 * During the 666 News cast, the screen showing Sir Pentious in hipster skateboard attire is a direct reference to the  episode, "".
 * The Jigsaw puppet Billy from the  franchise makes an obscured background cameo in the TV audience.
 * There are a few references to the Broadway musical, :
 * The scene wherein Charlie sings the line "You'll be on easy street!" features two demons modeled after the show’s antagonists Daniel “Rooster” Hannigan and Lily St. Regis, as well as a nameplate on the desk displaying the name "Ms. Hannigan". All of which are a reference to the song number "Easy Street".
 * Alastor saying "Smile, my dear! You're never fully dressed without one!" is a reference to the song "". That song was not only used as a motif for Alastor's voice but Gabriel C. Brown later made a small rendition of said song as Alastor on his YouTube channel.
 * The "Bojack" brand on the drug vending machine Angel Dust uses displays a horse's head, a reference to the Netflix series, .
 * The "Squip" brand on the same drug vending machine is a reference to the main drug used in the musical,.
 * One of the other drugs is a reference to the original "cocaine" version Coca-Cola.
 * The Egg Boi Angel launches into the air is accompanied by the spring sound effect heard in the  games for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.
 * During the scene wherein Niffty is dusting off the walls and ceiling of the hotel, The Conditional Immortality Clock from  can be seen.
 * According to sound designer, Kennedy Phillips, the scene wherein Vaggie and Charlie were discussing the hotel announcement included snippets of real-life ads such as and, which became indistinguishable to locate in the final mix.
 * There are a few references of movies in this episode:
 * Hell's countdown clock tower is a reference to Halloween Town's clock from .
 * One of the demons is seen wearing a black and white stripe suit that is similar to the titular character from .
 * Beetlejuice is referenced again with one of the background demons in the studio audience appearing to be modeled after the Sandworm.
 * During "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow", Selina's neon sign from  can be spotted.
 * The masked killer that Charlie narrowly avoids is a reference to from the  film series.
 * The plant demon seen briefly during Charlie’s number resembles both Audrey II from the musical ' and the Rumor Weed from the ' episode “Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed”.
 * According to animator, Lorenzo Estrada, his take on Vaggie for the "No bar, no alcohol!" scene was inspired by in the short "".
 * The Gross-Up Close-Up trope, made famous in shows like ' and ', is used when the camera pans over to Angel's fan letter.
 * Alastor's remark about the world being a stage was thought to be a reference to 's famous quote, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players", though Vivziepop stated in a livestream that it actually originates from a musical film that is a favorite of hers, to which the name she left ambiguous.
 * The musical in question could be , a 1953 movie having the exact line during a song called "That's Entertainment", which could also be what the episode is named after.
 * The tentacled otherworldly monster Alastor summons to destroy Pentious' blimp resembles the common description of the found in the collective works of.
 * The Musicalis Interruptis trope is used during Alastor’s reprise when Sir Pentious bombs the hotel entrance.
 * During the battle between Angel Dust and Sir Pentious, a lone Egg Boi can be seen in the background perched on a brick wall, a reference to the nursery rhyme .
 * In an interview with Insider, Vivienne Medrano mentioned how the pilot originally wasn't meant to be a musical, but rather just an adult comedy with a raunchy, demonic aesthetic.
 * Medrano also mentioned that the pilot took six months to write and two years to animate.

Errors

 * During the scene where the Earth is shown to be rotating in the song "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", Japan appears to be missing from its usual place on the globe.
 * In one scene, one of The Egg Boiz falls on the floor after saying "Oh, boy!", but there is no number in his back.
 * The papers Charlie placed on the table disappear after she circles the studio the first time.
 * During Charlie’s number “Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow” when she shows a random demon his diagnostics, the “R” is missing from her name.
 * Tom disappears for a split second after Charlie calls Katie a bitch.
 * There's a split second wherein part of Angel Dust's hair is not colored in during the scene wherein he reacts negatively to Sir Pentious mistaking him as his son.
 * During the scene wherein Angel takes Sir Pentious out with the help of his third set of arms, there appears to be an absence of bullets coming from his gun.
 * Vaggie's gray 'eyeshadow' isn't always present.
 * During the ride back to the hotel, Charlie's jacket reappears on her after she takes it off in the previous scene, which then disappears yet again in the following scene.
 * At the start of the ride, Charlie's hair has a few ends sticking up and her jacket has a tear in the sleeve from her fight with Katie. Both disappear and reappear throughout the rest of the ride.
 * When Alastor meets Charlie for the first time, he presents his right hand for a handshake, but in the next scene, he's presenting his left while his right is behind his back.
 * After Alastor dismisses the idea of redemption, Charlie asks him what his actual motive is for wanting to help her out. During this scene, Charlie's dialogue does not match her lip movement.
 * When Charlie is giving Alastor his order, a blue bar appears above Alastor as he is fixing his hair.
 * Almost immediately after, a beige spot appears on the left side for a split second.
 * Alastor's tongue often changes color from grey to red in different scenes. This is most noticeable when he is asking Angel Dust what he can do, as he asks with a red tongue but then changes to grey once he hears Angel's response.
 * According to Vivziepop, the reason for this was because she was still undecided on what color she wanted his tongue to be.
 * Charlie and Vaggie talk about parts of her papers being highlighted when in fact nothing on the papers is highlighted.
 * The heart marks above Husk's eyebrows disappear as Alastor exclaims "Who wants some Jambalaya?!".
 * The Egg Boi that comments on how he liked the part where Sir Pentious shoots with his ray gun had missing legs, making him look like he was floating in place.
 * Angel is seen with five fingers instead of the usual four during the scene where he tries to pick up his crushed bag of drugs.
 * Alastor's microphone was lacking its eye when Charlie first opened the door for him.
 * The paper on the clipboard is blank during the scene wherein Dazzle reels in a patient but magically gains text in the next shot.
 * Additionally, the movement of the text is delayed compared to how the paper it's on moves.
 * The hotel momentarily disappears during the scene wherein Sir Pentious says "Look who's harboring the striped freak!".
 * The eyes on Sir Pentious’ tail are nowhere to be seen when he throws the one Egg Boi off to the side.
 * The lineart of the awning in Rosie's shops aren't aligned properly.
 * The paintbrush Rosie uses has no paint on it but is able to cross out Franklin's name with black ink.
 * The paint line shifts positions when Rosie was about to paint the other line for the "X".
 * The ink that crosses out Franklin's name does not overlap with it but instead goes through it.
 * During the scene wherein one of Angel's arms pokes through the driver's window of Travis' car, his arm is nowhere to be seen, making it look like his hand is floating while it's pointing at him.
 * The control panel on Sir Pentious' ship changes from being a flat screen, to a semicircular dome and then into a disk shaped screen, and back again into a dome.
 * The bomb Cherri holds as she threatens to destroy Sir Pentious' ship even further has one frame where it's not colored in, making it blend in with the background of the reddish maroon sky.
 * Despite being Charlie’s bodyguards, both Razzle and Dazzle disappear for the rest of the episode after they were briefly introduced.
 * The shop that has TVs broadcasting Charlie's live business proposal is called Radio Shack despite only selling TVs.
 * The top hat demon's collar disappears during the scene where he comments on Charlie's performance.
 * The "Cheap Booze" label on the alcohol Alastor materializes for Husk changes positions on the bottle depending on where the camera is pointing.
 * During the live broadcast of the turf war Cherri Bomb was participating in, the Egg Boi she catches briefly turns into a regular egg when she snaps it in half and catches her bomb with it before it turning back into an Egg Boi after she throws it towards Sir Pentious.

Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.

Gallery

 * That's Entertainment/Gallery