The Best Pilot

[Signe]

I really suck at knowing where threads should be so mod's, if I'm posting this wrong - slap my fingers (light please ).

The nub is, I'm wondering which pilot episode (of any show) you think is the best.

Me, I'd go for Supernatural or Veronica Mars. Supernatural because it's such a good episode. It's really scary (IMO) and you're really thrown into the lives of there two brothers. Furthermore, I was stuck in SN after this episode. It just took me this one episode to have me on my knees, begging for more (not litterary but you get my point).

However, I felt very similarly about Veronica Mars. Again, you're just thrown in to this compelling murder mystery. In medias res as my teacher would say I really wouldn't be able to choose which of these I love more.

[Jenni Lou]

I concur, VM is one terrific pilot!

And for other shows, I think I have to say that The O.C. had a wonderful pilot. I had no intention of watching the show but I just happened to watch the first episode and I got totally sucked in!

As for recent shows, Pushing Daisies was awesome. That pilot is so whimsical and fantastical. It does a really great job of setting up the interesting premise and universe.

Lost's pilot is also amazing. That plane crash. Whew. And it also packs a lot into it's first two hours.

There's got to be more. I can't think of many others at the moment!

OOh...Firefly! That is a terrific pilot!!

[Parker]

I know I'm a guy and I'm not supposed to like these kinds of shows but I think the Gilmore Girls pilot is fantastic, it sets up how things are and whats going on etc.. really well. I also really love the Supernatural pilot, infact it better than most of Season 1, though they managed to take it up a notch in Season 2. A few other favourites include Dexter, Millennium, Veronica Mars and Friday Night Lights, sheesh I watch to much TV.

[BlasterBoy]

Um. I have two that come to mind.

First off is, Angel! Anyone forget that? That probably doesn't count, seeing as this is the Other Shows section, though.

So, I'd say the best pilot is probably Weeds. I love Veronica Mars pilot, and the Supernatural pilot is good, as well as Smallville. And all the other ones are good, or else I might not have watched the show. But, Weeds takes the cake. It drew me in. The writing was phenomenal and mixed comedy and drama so easily and brilliantly. It introduced the characters with ease and got me to buy the Season 1 Boxset and the Season 2 one. I mean, it worked, didn't it?

[DigitalLeonardo]

I gotta say Veronica Mars has a great pilot. It pulls you in, introduces everything and really just rocks. The writing is great and was so different from other things on TV.

I also enjoyed the Charmed pilot, it really drew me into the show when I saw it on DVD. I also enjoyed Tru Calling, Smallville and Alias (Alias I gotta say is one of the best pilots produced. It captured EVERYTHING in an hour and didn't feel rushed. Just great TV).

[BlasterBoy]

Oh! How could I forget?! Alias was absolutely fantastic! I was ooohing and aweing the whole way through it. Like Travis said, it introduced EVERYTHING. The characters, the plot, the background, the action, the comedy, the drama, all of it in a short period of time and it didn't feel rushed at all. One of my favorite Alias scenes is when Sydney is fighting the SD-6 men in the parking garage and beats 'em up when her dad drives by. She points a gun at his head, looks shocked, and then says, "Daddy?". Brilliant. J.J Abrams pilots rock my sock!

[Jenni Lou]

and Alias (Alias I gotta say is one of the best pilots produced. It captured EVERYTHING in an hour and didn't feel rushed. Just great TV).

oooooooh. Good one. Although Alias did have some extra time in their pilot to squeeze more in. It ran longer than the hour most shows get. Nonetheless, amazing pilot. I haven't watched it in probably three years SI so need to do that again. There's so much going on and so much information being delivered to the viewer in this episode. It really does take you for a ride!

[vampmogs]

Unfortunately a lot of the time I don't get into a show until after the pilot so I can't comment so much on the initial appeal other than the pilots for Btvs, Ats and The OC which I all saw from the very beginning. Seeing as this is in the 'Other Shows' section I guess I'll have to comment on The OC.

Great pilot, really nice introduction to all the characters and your instantly drawn in to the friendship between Ryan/Seth and all the characters are extremely likeable. Like Jenny I had no intentions to watch this show but caught the pilot and was hooked.

Although I didn't see the pilot first I also enjoy the 'Heroes' pilot, in particular the montage scene set to Rouge Wave's 'Eyes' as the eclipse comes and the wonderful scene of Claire jumping and later saving the man from the burning fire.

[patxshand]

Heroes has a great pilot. So does The Office, Veronica Mars, Six Feet Under, Wonderfalls, and--don't shoot me--Dawson's Creek.

I saw some of you guys mention Alias. I tried so hard to get into that show, but I never found myself the least bit interested in anything going on. Every episode just seemed like the same thing over and over. Do things get better after season one, or not so much?

[vampmogs]

I was the same way for a long time Pat but eventually it just clicked for me. People generally seem to think that season one and season two were the best of the series but I personally can't make up my mind. Season two is very good but I actually enjoyed season three and four. I don't think it ever reached Btvs status but I found it enjoyable to watch. I must admit I was on the edge of my seat during the series finale which means the characters must have got to me somehow.

[Parker]

I just started watching ALIAS for the first time, up to about episode 7 and 8 and while I did really enjoy the Pilot, it's not one of the best I've seen, It felt kind of jumbled and like they were trying to fit too much, but none the less I'm REALLY enjoying the show so far.

[Jenni Lou]

I saw some of you guys mention Alias. I tried so hard to get into that show, but I never found myself the least bit interested in anything going on. Every episode just seemed like the same thing over and over. Do things get better after season one, or not so much?

I happen to like the pilot a lot. But I know quite a few people actually who had difficulty getting into the show as well. SO you are not alone there!

I was the same way for a long time Pat but eventually it just clicked for me. People generally seem to think that season one and season two were the best of the series but I personally can't make up my mind. Season two is very good but I actually enjoyed season three and four. I don't think it ever reached Btvs status but I found it enjoyable to watch. I must admit I was on the edge of my seat during the series finale which means the characters must have got to me somehow.

We have an Alias discussion thread here. And we were talking about all that stuff. I totally agree about the finale. And for me, s2 is definitely my fave! But I also quite enjoyed four.

[Signe]

I'm a big Alias fan but I do not like the pilot. I think it's because I actually watched season 2-4 before watching season 1 (like really *watching* I'd seen some epis...). Anyway, I too feel it's just lacking. Doesn't really have the same feeling as the rest of the show, and what's with the music! I know it was seven years ago, but there was a lot better music then! All my oppinions of course

Somebody I think mentioned Angel. IMO, Angel is a better pilot than BtVS - though there's probably a draw between Angel and Firefly. Though Angel get's points for being a "regular" ep - not a double. I think it gives many brownie points for any pilot which succeeds to be good and "short". (Oh, mods a quick question: since my idea was for this thread to discuss any pilot ever shown, and there isn't an "all shows" board, shouldn't you be able to bring up Whedon-shows in this thread?)

Furthermore, I must say that I compleatly forgot about Grey's Anatomy! Sure, it's maybe not the best but it's really good. I remember that I got sucked in I still laugh at the "I'm gonna take a shower and when I come back down you won't be here" ^^

[Jenni Lou]

(Oh, mods a quick question: since my idea was for this thread to discuss any pilot ever shown, and there isn't an "all shows" board, shouldn't you be able to bring up Whedon-shows in this thread?)

Of course. Yeah, it's totally cool.

I do agree about the Alias pilot however I found I liked it more the second time around. SO perhaps it didn't make as good as an impression as I let on. But the show is so very good.

I also wanted to say that Roswell has one of the best pilots ever. I accidentally watched it when the show premiered and I never missed a show after that. It hooked me so fast. It is an amazing hour of tv. Seriously.

[LRae12]

I didn't see this thread when I answered about my favorite episodes of all time and I picked Alias 1x01 - Truth be Told...glad to see I'm not alone here on that one...it really is THE best pilot ever produced. I'm not saying it's my favorite series ever, but my favorite pilot of all of my favorite series. It was just so captivating to me (being that it was the first episode I watched). I can see that if you didn't watch the series in order that you might not like the pilot going back - but watching it in order, I find myself preferring season 1 and the more secret double agent work to the out in the open CIA work.

Another I really loved was CHUCK! Very entertaining and seemingly original show. The pilot was very well made and draws you into wanting to watch the show. It's one where I wouldn't recommend anyone watching the show without first seeing the pilot, so I guess that's a plus for the pilot column...


I think Roswell's pilot was very well done, too...again, another original idea for the time and to start off the series with such a stunningly dramatic scene (Liz being shot and Max healing her) was just too captivating not to keep watching.


I also really liked the pilot to Felicity. Being about the college age when it came out, and also a girl.......I could identify with Felicity and her crush-saga... I've always been a sucker for the unrequited love stories, but funny enough, I was always on the Noel/Felicity kick instead of the Ben/Felicity kick...


Supernatural's pilot was pretty kick-ass. Spooky as all get out with mom on the ceiling and all, how could anyone not want to watch that?

[Jenni Lou]

I also really liked the pilot to Felicity. Being about the college age when it came out, and also a girl.......I could identify with Felicity and her crush-saga... I've always been a sucker for the unrequited love stories, but funny enough, I was always on the Noel/Felicity kick instead of the Ben/Felicity kick...

Yeah, that is a good pilot too. But I have to admit that Felicity came off as totally insane at certain points. Like when she confronts Ben at his apartment. She was crazy! But that pilot really managed to capture the sweetness of the series and it is very real and down to earth,

I was more for F/Noel too. But the second time I watched the series all the way through, I kind of gravitated toward F/Ben for some reason. Even though Ben did do a lot of iffy things...

[LRae12]

Yeah, that is a good pilot too. But I have to admit that Felicity came off as totally insane at certain points. Like when she confronts Ben at his apartment. She was crazy! But that pilot really managed to capture the sweetness of the series and it is very real and down to earth,

I was more for F/Noel too. But the second time I watched the series all the way through, I kind of gravitated toward F/Ben for some reason. Even though Ben did do a lot of iffy things...

yeah, if it wasn't a tv show she totally would have been arrested for stalking and stuck in a nut house!

See, everytime I watch through the series I keep hoping it'll turn out with Noel/Felicity in the end... Ben gets on my nerves, and he has a weird looking mouth which always bugged the crap out of me... But I loved Megan - and especially Megan & Sean And then to see them again later in Alias was super cool!

[slaycandy]

Hey guys, I am first going to comment on some pilots that DIDN'T do it for me. The Heroes and Lost pilots I found were far too bitty, slow paced and just didn't have that factor that got me hooked. with both of these shows I watched the first three episodes as they aired and then gave up on them because I just didn't like the slow beginnings. It wasn't until Lost was well into its second season that I gave it another shot and made it through the first few episodes and actually got into it. Similarly with Heroes, I eventually only sat down to watch it since I was meeting folk from it, and thought I'd give it another shot... but I found both very slow and difficult to connect with in the beginning.

For me, I'd have to say Supernatural had a fab pilot, I was basically hooked from the get-go, you had fab characters, a great intro to the seasonal arcs, not to mention a nice Motw, plus you had some fab comedic moments with the banter between Sam and Dean; it was just so at ease with the characters and storyline, and made it so much easier to connect with both the story and the characters quicker. I just found this a more compelling pilot than the ones I mentioned above.

I have to agree that VM had a perdy kick ass pilot, right from the beginning you had characters you loved to hate, and characters that just made you want to know more. I loved the mystery of VM, and not just the murder msytery, but the mystery behind each of the characters, and I loved how they posed this of their characters right from the get-go, questioning everything about them, Duncan, Logan, Weevil, etc. It was one of those pilots that after watching you just KNEW you had to watch the whole series there and then.

Of the new series that are just out. I hated the Moonlight pilot, I felt it was too Angel-ish, and like the actors were trying too hard, it just didn't have the nice natural flow to it. And after watching the pilot, I felt really dissappointed by the series, I had really high hopes for it, so I didn't watch it again until after episode 4 (or 5, I forget) had aired, at which point I sat down and watched them all in one go, and I loved the series and became instantly hooked. But I really felt let-down by the pilot episode,

And just to wrap up my ramblings... I loved Chuck's pilot eppy, it was fab, :P

SJ
xox

[Nina]

I follow a lot of people here and go with the Veronica Mars pilot. There was never a pilot who sucked me into a series like that pilot. I fell in love with the witty lines, the great characters and the plot. (And I loved Veronica's clothes)

But I have to give the Pushing Daisies pilot a mention too. It was like I watched a beautiful movie, everything was sweet en lovable. And the piemaker, who doesn't love the piemaker?

And Dexter fascinated me, after 10 minutes I knew that Dexter was really good. I didn't fall in love with it like VM and PD, but I had to watch this. I think that counts as a great pilot too.

[Jenni Lou]

Of the new series that are just out. I hated the Moonlight pilot, I felt it was too Angel-ish, and like the actors were trying too hard, it just didn't have the nice natural flow to it. And after watching the pilot, I felt really dissappointed by the series, I had really high hopes for it, so I didn't watch it again until after episode 4 (or 5, I forget) had aired, at which point I sat down and watched them all in one go, and I loved the series and became instantly hooked. But I really felt let-down by the pilot episode,

I just watched (and capped in hires ) that and yeah, it's kind of sucks. I still have to watch the rest of the eps but I am in no hurry to do so because the pilot didn't hook me at all. I decided to gove it a try because there are a few members that seem to quite like it a lot now. So I guess it gets better than.

But I have to give the Pushing Daisies pilot a mention too. It was like I watched a beautiful movie, everything was sweet en lovable. And the piemaker, who doesn't love the piemaker?

Right? Love that show! And Ned is lovable!! And Emerson is so snarky and awesome. And Olive has grown to be a fave too! And Chuck is cute. Great cast!!