Best pilot episodes

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I agree about the gay cook,but it was still funny.

But we make excellent cooks!

We're very good at the mincing.

 

[cws]

Too funny!!!!!

 

[Angela Channing]

What's the opposite of Best Pilot Episodes? Worst Series Finales! Variety just publised a list of of Worst Series Finales.

The Worst Series Finales of All Time

The worst series finales in TV history include 'Game of Thrones,' 'Lost,' 'Sopranos,' 'How I Met Your Mother' and 'Ozark.'

variety.com

Some shows (Lost, Roseanne, How I Met Your Mother) made both lists.

I completely disagree about Lost. I think the final episode was really good, it's the final season that sucked which is why I think coloured some people's perception of the finale and why they have a negative opinion of it.

 

[colbyco]

A problem with this lists is WHO writes them ...
a 20 year old who never heared of Dallas and didn´t know how Dynasty influenced the world
or a 50 year old who knows everything about the 80´s and 90´s tv but it lost on netflix and co.
also his/her personal taste is important ... and nobody can watch all episodes of all shows ...
even when we/fans make a list we normally forget one of our shows ...

 

[bmasters9]

A problem with this lists is WHO writes them ...
a 20 year old who never heared of Dallas and didn´t know how Dynasty influenced the world
or a 50 year old who knows everything about the 80´s and 90´s tv but it lost on netflix and co.
also his/her personal taste is important ... and nobody can watch all episodes of all shows ...
even when we/fans make a list we normally forget one of our shows ...

And one other thing is why with these lists, only 90s-current pilots need apply (there have been many great pilots in television history, and one more was that of the original Jack Lord Hawaii Five-O in 1968 [OAD Friday, Sept. 20, 1968 on CBS; 54 years ago today]; here is the opening from it)...

 

[Moonraker]

It's all relative. It depends on which era you grew up in.
I think the pilot to Fawlty Towers is the best. The episode was called 'A Touch of Class.'

 

[tommie]

It's all relative. It depends on which era you grew up in.
I think the pilot to Fawlty Towers is the best. The episode was called 'A Touch of Class.'

I think one of the main differences with pilots now and then is that they usually didn't spend a lot of time setting the show up in the past and just kind of dove right in, often giving the pilot a "regular episode" feel, especially sitcoms.

 

[bmasters9]

I think one of the main differences with pilots now and then is that they usually didn't spend a lot of time setting the show up in the past and just kind of dove right in, often giving the pilot a "regular episode" feel, especially sitcoms.

Is that true of the pilots I posted?

 

[KillerBob]

I would say that both Dallas and The Incredible Hulk have perfect pilot episodes. They both get the story going fast and the story is on point. And Dallas still holds up even when considered that the entire mini-series was a sort of pilot. The only weak episode is Winds of Vengeance, but I would say there are some interesting character developments in that episode as well.

But to me, the pilot episode of Twin Peaks is on another level. I love the original two seasons (even if the latter half of season 2 is painful to watch until the final episodes...) but I wish the entire show would have been more like that pilot.

 

[bmasters9]

And Dallas still holds up even when considered that the entire mini-series was a sort of pilot.

And the music that we would know it by still sounded pretty darn good as well, even if the 1978 miniseries had a lower-pitched and shorter version of the iconic title track.

 

[Chris2]

The pilot is the episode used to sell the show to the network. Most of the time, the pilot airs as the first episode of the series, but not always. The pilots for many of Norman’s Lear’s spinoff shows (“The Jeffersons”, “Maude”, “Checking In”, “The Facts of Life”) aired as episodes of their parent series. So the first episodes of those series are just first episodes; not pilots. Sometimes the pilot isn’t considered as strong as other series episodes and airs later in the season (“Hazel”, “227”, “Welcome Back Kotter”), and occasionally as a flashback (“My Sister Sam”). Sometimes the pilot episode isn’t included as part of the series because of casting changes or because it’s just a short presentation; the pilot for “Laverne & Shirley” is 15 minutes long, filmed on the “Happy Days” set, and it has never been broadcast. Sometimes the pilot airs as TV movie and isn’t part of the regular series syndication package (“Charlie’s Angels”, “Fantasy Island“, “Starsky & Hutch”, “The Rookies”). And sometimes there is no pilot episode at all because the network buys the show sight unseen (“Petticoat Junction”, Lucille Ball’s later series). “Dallas” is unusual in that the network ordered five episodes, sight unseen, to be aired in the spring of 1978; those five episodes sold CBS on a regular series.

The standout pilots for me are “The Cosby Show” (probably the funniest episode of that series), “Moonlighting” (feature film quality), “LA Law”, “Dynasty” (better than the series that followed), “The OC” (more stylish than most of the regular series episodes), “Homefront”, “Friday Night Lights”, “Alias”. I think it’s easier for a drama series to have a strong pilot than a sitcom. To me, sitcoms take longer to find their rhythm.

Also: a shoutout to the pilot for “The Partridge Family”. I thought it nicely captured the “on-the-road” aspect of the show that differentiated it from other family sitcoms, with some nice location footage. Unfortunately, that aspect was toned down and eventually eliminated as the series went on, and it because just another run-of-the-mill family sitcom

 

[DallasFanForever]

The pilots for many of Norman’s Lear’s spinoff shows (“The Jeffersons”,

Amazing to me that when I watch the early episodes of The Jeffersons now how the show seems to take awhile to find its footing. It feels like quite a few episodes before things start to really take shape. It’s understandable, as there were obviously big expectations to live up to considering which show it spun off of, but it is surprising.

the pilot for “Laverne & Shirley” is 15 minutes long, filmed on the “Happy Days” set, and it has never been broadcast

Would love to see this at some point!

The standout pilots for me are “The Cosby Show” (probably the funniest episode of that series),

Still my favorite sitcom pilot ever. It’s such a fun episode and we get an idea of what the show is going to be like right away.

 

[Chris2]

A grainy, poor quality version of the Laverne & Shirley pilot was on Youtube briefly at one point, but it’s long gone. Fonzie’s apartment served as the girls’ apartment. Some of you know this already: they filmed a version of the pilot with Liberty Williams (no relation to Cindy) as Shirley because Cindy Williams wouldn’t commit to a series. After filming was done, the Paramount executives realized the chemistry wasn’t the same and begged Cindy to do it, and filmed another version later than evening. And they told ABC that they lost the first version so that ABC wouldn’t have the option to make the choice of which actress got the role. Photos from both versions below.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Sometimes the pilot episode isn’t included as part of the series because of casting changes or because it’s just a short presentation

Perhaps those are the only ones that should be considered a pilot episode, rather than any first episode of a series.
And that means "yes" to FLAMINGO ROAD and FALCON CREST's The Vintage Years, and "no" to DYNASTYs first episode(s) since it was immediately followed by new episodes.

Best First Episodes is a different topic altogether, imo. (and then I still don't understand what makes GOLDEN GIRLS' first episode so exceptional since it only showed what was to come next for as long as the series would last).

 

[Chris2]

Amazing to me that when I watch the early episodes of The Jeffersons now how the show seems to take awhile to find its footing. It feels like quite a few episodes before things start to really take shape. It’s understandable, as there were obviously big expectations to live up to considering which show it spun off of, but it is surprising.

Yeah - agreed. I thought it was interesting that Mike Evans, who was arguably the most important Jefferson family member on AITF, was so deemphasized on spinoff. Perhaps that’s why he bailed after 13 episodes. The most important characters on the show were Louise, George, Helen, Tom, and Florence. Given that Lionel and Jenny were purportedly the reasons the Jefferson and Willis families had a relationship, the young couple played a surprisingly minor role on the show.

 

[Chris2]

Perhaps those are the only ones that should be considered a pilot episode, rather than any first episode of a series.
And that means "yes" to FLAMINGO ROAD and FALCON CREST's The Vintage Years, and "no" to DYNASTYs first episode(s) since it was immediately followed by new episodes.

It’s less about a break in broadcast and more about a break in production. If they film/tape a test episode and then wait for the network to pick it up to series before they produce any more episodes, then it’s a pilot. IIRC correctly, Dynasty’s three hour pilot was filmed apart from the rest of the first season but I could be wrong.

 

[Willie Oleson]

If they film/tape a test episode and then wait for the network to pick it up to series before they produce any more episodes, then it’s a pilot

But in that case the opinion of the pilot only applies to the network, not the audience. Before the internet there was no way to find out what was pre-produced unless it was mentioned in an article or something.

 

[Willie Oleson]

And by the way, DYNASTY should be disqualified because of the un-aired episode.


Well, I suppose in that case THE VINTAGE YEARS doesn't count either (another thing these two soaps have in common!)

 

[Chris2]

But in that case the opinion of the pilot only applies to the network, not the audience. Before the internet there was no way to find out what was pre-produced unless it was mentioned in an article or something.

There’s no opinion on which episode is the pilot. It’s the episode that was used to sell the network on the series - that’s simply a fact. Whether or not the audience can identify the pilot episode doesn’t change anything. But I agree with you - prior to the internet, it was more challenging to identify the pilot if the networks didn’t air it as the first episode of the series.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I think that maybe you're over-complicating the situation. In many cases it should be obvious what episode was filmed first due to cast/character/set changes.
And if that still doesn't mean anything, are you suggesting that we should find out - assuming it's possible - exactly what episode of whatever series was used for network screening in order to sell it regardless of production or broadcast schedule?
We're tellytalkers not the CIA.