Best Pilots

[stayillogical]

What shows have just reeled you in from the very first episode? That one perfect episode that just sets everything up perfectly and gets you invested in the story from the very beginning. It's not one of those series that has to get better with each episode, but instead starts off great.

My two picks are LOST and Veronica Mars. Name some others you really love.

[kwsqd]

The Wire

[WordzandDreamz]

What shows have just reeled you in from the very first episode? That one perfect episode that just sets everything up perfectly and gets you invested in the story from the very beginning. It's not one of those series that has to get better with each episode, but instead starts off great.

My two picks are LOST and Veronica Mars. Name some others you really love.

I was gonna post these two. haha.

[WordzandDreamz]

But also, I think the best pilot I have ever seen is for The Shield

[stayillogical]

I was gonna post these two. haha.

Those two are some of my favorite hours of television ever.

[Adeniz19]

Heroes was that show for me. Now I couldn't stop watching it, even if I wanted to haha.

[Skadrist]

Damn came into say Veronica Mars.

[Justin_stacy]

The Shields a good one. As was Dead Like Me. For a sitcom That 70's Show started off with one of its best episodes.

[whoaisame]

Lost

[Vincewithouthee]

Six Feet Under.
Battlestar Galactica miniseries.

I was hooked from the get-go cause of those episodes. And they're two of my favorite shows ever.

[doyouhas?]

Pushing Daisies

[Galedeep]

Scrubs, Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies, Huff, and Californication all spring to mind right away.

[anamericangod]

The Shields a good one. As was Dead Like Me. For a sitcom That 70's Show started off with one of its best episodes.

Came here to say The Shield. My favorite show of all time.

[heyozzie]

good lord, lost. no question. this should not even need to be discussed.

[joeag1985]

Entourage, Lost and Black Books.

[schmalz]

24

[chris1152]

This guy:

http://users.cwnet.com/xephyr/rich/dzone/hoozoo/images/launchpad2.gif

[terrycw89]

Lost, Veronica Mars, Six Feet Under, Pushing Daisies.

[Adeniz19]

It's funny, the Lost pilot didn't really suck me in at all. I found it to be interesting but I don't think I really got hooked to the show until about the middle of the season.

[Thomas Balkcom]

I remember being blown away by The Sopranos pilot

[cscwell107]

Lost

[Thomas Balkcom]

good thread topic btw

[HBdoubleJ]

I actually don't hooked on a show by its pilot. Shows I end up loving hit their stride a few episodes after the pilot. For example, with Lost it wasn't the pilot that hooked me but the episode Walkabout. Or with How I Met Your Mother, it was the episode Sweet Taste of Liberty.

Tho, the first two hours of Alias are incredible. And some of the best work J.J. Abrams has ever done.

[PaulsRightNut]

It's funny, the Lost pilot didn't really suck me in at all. I found it to be interesting but I don't think I really got hooked to the show until about the middle of the season.

same here.

[Bob Payne]

If we're talking strictly pilots:

Six Feet Under
Carnivale
Breaking Bad

[stonecoldfox]

But also, I think the best pilot I have ever seen is for The Shield

Is that the one that ends with the black cop getting a bj in the alleyway while michael chiklis shoots a cop in the face?

Arrested Development or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia pilots were both amazing.

the simpsons and family guy pilots were not...

[irthesteve]

Lost, Dexter, Big Love, How I Met Your Mother, Pushing Daisies, Six Feet Under, ER, Breaking Bad, Veronica Mars, Prison Break, Weeds

it may be a long list, but each of those shows pulled me in with only the first episode

[Mirrorsandfevers]

A lot of what was already said, and Twin Peaks.

[starseed]

Heroes was that show for me. Now I couldn't stop watching it, even if I wanted to haha.

Same. LOST would probably have been but I got into it late in the first season. But Heroes got me with the first episode. You know all those stories about people and terrible relationships? Well, I now know they're true.

[doomcrs04]

Dexter
Life
True Blood

[starseed]

This guy:

http://users.cwnet.com/xephyr/rich/dzone/hoozoo/images/launchpad2.gif

You know, I'd also like to say as far as cartoons go I think Darkwing Duck and Gargoyles had really fantastic first episodes. Those shows were way smarter than they should've been. Batman too, but that goes without saying.

[popdisaster00]

Entourage, HIMYM, and BREAKING BAD. Breaking bad might be my #1 pilot so far

[popdisaster00]

Oh and Arrested Dev.

[Ben09]

Nip/Tuck
The O.C

[MADSTA]

Arrested Development
How I Met Your Mother
Freaks and Geeks

[nivek87]

LOST and Dexter

[Goat01]

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Prison Break
Fringe

[WakingTheMisery]

Veronica Mars
Nip/Tuck (not so much now)
Weeds
Dexter

[Ailite]

Lost and Six Feet Under

[alboneceleste]

LOST and Chuck. can't believe no one's said Chuck.

I thought chuck was going to be horrible but after that first episode, I was in love!

[drudo182]

Friday Night Lights.

[stayillogical]

Friday Night Lights.

LOVE your avatar.

[drudo182]

LOVE your avatar.

Thanks. I made a couple of FNL ones that I like. Can't wait for the new season.

[Protested Hero]

Lost by far.

[demondays524]

Damages. From the opening with Rose Byrne running in the streets of NYC half naked and covered in blood to the shocking final moments, it was one of the best pilots I've ever seen.