Best First (or Pilot) Episode?

[parabolica]

Was going to jump on the BSG bandwagon, but thinking about it now I reckon Band Of Brothers might take the crown. Thoroughly enjoyed the West Wing pilot also.

[JustinP1]

7 or 8 years ago was sat with the in-laws. Father in law puts on the first episode of Battlestar Gallactica.

He's into all the Star Trek versions and the 'Channel 5' type cheapy sci-fi series. I am not. At all. I thought I'd have to endure at least an episode for his sake though.

As it happened, I only got to watch the first scene, no more than 5 minutes or so.

I ended up watching the following seasons to the end by the end of the year.

[Cyder]

I'll agree with Suits and Orange is the new black.

[Nom de ploom]

Knight Rider

I wonder what Fox Force Five would have looked like (Pulp Fiction)

[mp3manager]

Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles has quite a strong first episode, which rather conveniently is called Pilot.

Lots of references to the films, such as barking dogs, a children's swing, a chain-link fence, a bungling SWAT team and a great score by Bear McCreary, which adds lots of depth to the signature Terminator kettledrum theme.

Edited by mp3manager on Wednesday 29th April 05:34

[DervVW]

mp3manager said:

Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles has quite a strong first episode, which rather conveniently is called Pilot.

Lots of references to the films, such as barking dogs, a children's swing, a chain-link fence, a bungling SWAT team and a great score by Bear McCreary, which adds lots of depth to the signature Terminator kettledrum theme.

Edited by mp3manager on Wednesday 29th April 05:34

Another show that was cancelled before its time... great start

[checkmate91]

Twin Peaks. I remember tuning in on a lazy Saturday evening while the wife was away with some friends and my life was never the same again.

[KaraK]

CrutyRammers said:

KaraK said:

GetCarter said:

The Prisoner - by a mile.

...but you had to be there at the time.

Modern day: Breaking Bad.

I watched the 1967 Prisoner quite recently... Utterly brilliant!

And quite, quite mental.
Started many a love affair with sevens though, including mine.

So mental!

[Watchman]

Twin Peaks and Lost - good calls from above..!!

Others:

1. Game of Thrones - really excellent start to a really excellent series - supernatural/political/historical (in terms of a period of time)
2. Justified - Timothy Elephant pulls a "quick draw" against a bad guy. A western all set in the modern world
3. Rome - they played fast and loose with accepted history but the scenery, characters and costumes were great to watch
4. Outlander - not an explosive start to the pilot ep but by the end, I was hooked - timetravel/historical events
5. Homeland - totally excellent start to a great concept which kept going for a couple of series before the inevitable decline in storytelling
6. Banshee - I love this. Unknown guy gets out of jail, goes off to find his girl. Ends up impersonating a dead sheriff. Violent and sexy.

I wonder if we ought to have another thread about series that took a while to get going but ended up being excellent? I'm thinking:

1. Penny Dreadful
2. Daredevil
3. Vikings
4. The Wire
5. Deadwood

And what about shows that just ran out of steam after initial promise? Like:

1. Fortitude - started off freaky and interesting but clearly ran out of ideas or didn't know what it wanted to be
2. Heroes - great ideas but writers were clearly making it up as they went along without a clear ending in mind
3. Lost (again) - as above - the classic case of writers not having an end in sight
4. Homeland (again) - good couple of series but by the the 3rd series they had run out of ideas
5. Under The Dome - after maybe the 3rd ep, it was clear the writers were going to dilute the original story to string it out forever
6. Enterprise - writers forgetting previous "history" written into the canon concentrated on characters not stories
7. 24 - just became too same ol, same ol.
8. Sleepy Hollow - wrap up one idea, invent a new one. Keep it going with no end in sight
9. Stargate - was great for years but once the lead actors decided to leave and the spin-offs took hold, they had effectively wrung out all possibilities
10. BSG - controversial entry in this list for a controversial series. Once they found "earth" which wasn't earth, and didn't wrap up the dreams of the opera house convincingly, I realised they had run out of ideas. The actual ending held some promise but just didn't satisfy
11. Ray Donovan - never actually got going. They should have concentrated on his day job more than his dysfunctional home life
12. The Walking Dead - I know this one will split opinions but after the first series I just couldn't hold onto it anymore. Too same ol', same ol' for me.

[ThinkPad]

For me it is "The Walking Dead" I was hooked after the first episode. So hooked that I ignored how bad seasons 3 and 4 were and continued watching, in the hope that it will come good again

[DervVW]

Watchman said:

Twin Peaks and Lost - good calls from above..!!

Others:

1. Game of Thrones - really excellent start to a really excellent series - supernatural/political/historical (in terms of a period of time)
2. Justified - Timothy Elephant pulls a "quick draw" against a bad guy. A western all set in the modern world
3. Rome - they played fast and loose with accepted history but the scenery, characters and costumes were great to watch
4. Outlander - not an explosive start to the pilot ep but by the end, I was hooked - timetravel/historical events
5. Homeland - totally excellent start to a great concept which kept going for a couple of series before the inevitable decline in storytelling
6. Banshee - I love this. Unknown guy gets out of jail, goes off to find his girl. Ends up impersonating a dead sheriff. Violent and sexy.

I wonder if we ought to have another thread about series that took a while to get going but ended up being excellent? I'm thinking:

1. Penny Dreadful
2. Daredevil
3. Vikings
4. The Wire
5. Deadwood

And what about shows that just ran out of steam after initial promise? Like:

1. Fortitude - started off freaky and interesting but clearly ran out of ideas or didn't know what it wanted to be
2. Heroes - great ideas but writers were clearly making it up as they went along without a clear ending in mind
3. Lost (again) - as above - the classic case of writers not having an end in sight
4. Homeland (again) - good couple of series but by the the 3rd series they had run out of ideas
5. Under The Dome - after maybe the 3rd ep, it was clear the writers were going to dilute the original story to string it out forever
6. Enterprise - writers forgetting previous "history" written into the canon concentrated on characters not stories
7. 24 - just became too same ol, same ol.
8. Sleepy Hollow - wrap up one idea, invent a new one. Keep it going with no end in sight

#Stargate - was great for years but once the lead actors decided to leave and the spin-offs took hold, they had effectively wrung out all possibilities
#BSG - controversial entry in this list for a controversial series. Once they found "earth" which wasn't earth, and didn't wrap up the dreams of the opera house convincingly, I realised they had run out of ideas. The actual ending held some promise but just didn't satisfy
#Ray Donovan - never actually got going. They should have concentrated on his day job more than his dysfunctional home life
#The Walking Dead - I know this one will split opinions but after the first series I just couldn't hold onto it anymore. Too same ol', same ol' for me.

Agree with your above ones in bold!

[Miguel Alvarez]

Ray Donovan went nowhere very quickly. I found the same with House of Cards although the missus seemed to love that one.

[Miguel Alvarez]

Mastodon2 said:

The Shield. Amazing pilot, instead of just setting the tone and introducing characters, it lays a cornerstone of the plot and affects everything that happens after it.

Interesting view point. I'm currently rewatching the show for what is possibly the 4th time. It's an incredible show that seems to get better and better each time.

[BrabusMog]

Stargate SG1 and also Stargate Atlantis were great starting episodes IMHO.

[Don]

BrabusMog said:

Stargate SG1 and also Stargate Atlantis were great starting episodes IMHO.

I actually liked the beginning to the unloved Stargate Universe (that ended too soon).

Start off with a crew being thrown through a stargate bodily into a dark, vast room. Then explain it.Eking out the details. Great fun.

It should have had a third season as it was getting interesting with some real thought being given to explaining the origin of the stargate network. Fun. It would have been cool to have finished with a "and here's how the whole thing actually started"...life the universe and everything!