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SpoilerTV - TV Spoilers

SpoilerTV Favorite Pilots

Sep 21, 2014

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The Fall TV season is upon us, and it's coming with a great number of new shows that are about to premiere their very first episode. The first impression is very important, it will be a key factor in the show success; if people like the show it will stick, if not it will probably be cancelled. Over time many Pilot episodes have been made and they have either won our hearts or came to be hated.
The SpoilerTV team decided to look back at the beginning of some of our favorite shows and their pilots: what made them so great? Are they underrated gems or very deserved hits?

In this article, some SpoilerTV members will talk about what is the best pilot ever made in their opinions and we hope you can share with us what are your favorite pilots too. Without further ado, these are the ones we picked.

Lost Pilot- air date: September 22, 2004. Chosen by:
Robert Fruin: This was a very tough choice between Grey’s Anatomy , LOST and The Walking Dead. I decided that I have watched the LOST pilot the most which makes it my favorite. LOST without a question is my favourite show of all time , the pilot set the tone for the whole season. The idea of it was just perfect , a group of survivors forced to live and work together if they are going to survive. It was a simple idea , made into perfection. The pilot was thrilling , mysterious , moving , well directed and well acted from top to bottom , which is all I could want from a pilot. For me to keep watching a show it has to interest me in the pilot , and LOST did within the first 5 minutes.
Runners-Up: Grey’s Anatomy, Fringe, The Walking Dead, Person of Interest, The Middle, Smallville and Charmed.

Daniël: I think the greatest pilot I have watched so far is LOST. It was unique, beautifully directed, mysterious and the acting was spot-on. Introducing the viewers to the characters was done in a way that was probably never done before. A pilot that instantly hooked me on the show.

Friends Pilot- air date: September 22, 1994. Chosen by:
Laura M: The 20th year anniversary is coming and it was the first show that really made me think about tropes and as I grow up I discover new jokes and layers to analyze. Friends was my first sit-com, and the pilot is really well written, not only because it sets the tone for the whole series, but because it has a way of introducing the characters that makes the viewer know them from the very beginning. And not a lot of comedies achieve this during its pilot.
Runners-Up: Lost, Arrow, The Walking Dead, Gilmore Girls, Orange is the new Black, Orphan Black, Twin Peaks and Community.

Orphan Black Pilot- air date: March 30, 2013. Chosen by:

Jamie Coudeville: I went through all of my shows and the pilot I was most impressed with was the one of Orphan Black. It managed to grab my attention within the first few minutes, which is rare for me. It usually takes me a few episodes to decide whether or not I’ll continue watching but in this case I made up my mind instantaneously. The entire episode was fast paced, and gave us a pretty good insight into the characters and the story. This pilot showed me that this show would be special.


Desperate Housewives Pilot- air date: October 3, 2004. Chosen by:
Gavin Hetherington: A pilot I have re-watched countless times is the Desperate Housewives pilot. I cannot express how much I loved this show back in the day, and I still do. The pilot was perfect. The writing was fantastic - witty and dark, but so entertaining. I was absorbed by the plot and the characters. Right from the first scene, I believe Desperate Housewives has had the best introduction of a show ever. “In truth, I spent the day as I spent every other day, quietly polishing the routine of my life, until it gleamed with perfection. That's why it was so astonishing when I decided to go to my hallway closet and retrieve a revolver that had never been used…” BANG! Amazing. Being introduced to Mary Alice Young, who then shocks us by killing herself, then narrates the lives of four amazing women who are very fun to watch. To me, it’s the best Pilot I have ever seen of a show. Plus, the ending was very great too and really made me want to continue watching the show, which I did with no regrets.
Runners-up: Lost, Supernatural, Charmed, The Walking Dead, Grey’s Anatomy, Eastwick, Once Upon a Time, Revenge

The Walking Dead Pilot- air date: October 31, 2010. Chosen by:
Bradley Adams: I really can’t see past The Walking Dead’s pilot. It started right where it wanted to continue - intense drama and story. It roped me in so quickly. The opening scene with Rick shooting the little girl is one of, if not the most, memorable image from the show, even now after four seasons.
Runners Up: Breaking Bad, LOST, 24



The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Pilot- air date: August 27, 1993. Chosen by:
Geo N: When I was asked to write about my favorite pilot I thought to myself that it would be a difficult decision to choose just one. I have so many favorite programs, all of which have excellent pilots. The Walking Dead, LOST, Game Of Thrones, and Breaking Bad pilots are just to name a few. I have watched LOST at least a dozen times and the pilot probably twice as much. Game Of Thrones and The Walking Dead pilots I have watched a handful of times and not far behind is that of Breaking Bad. So, I decided that I would choose a pilot that helped launch my love of television and science fiction narratives. It is still one of my favorite all-time series and, at age 14, I would watch the reruns over and over again and have since purchased the DVD Collection. So, my favorite is the two-hour pilot of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. It was created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse (yes, the same Cuse of LOST fame) and starred none other than Bruce Campbell as the eponymous Brisco County, Jr. I was instantly glued to the TV and watching it quickly became one of favorite things to do in my free time, which I had plenty of at age 14. For thos of you who do not remember this show, it is essentially a Western, with Sci-Fi elements, and wry humor that only Bruce Campbell could deliver. The pilot was two hours and I love pulling out my DVD of the first season every now and then and playing it. Intelligent, satirical, and completely set apart from other shows, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. helped shape what I watch on TV (and read and write) to this day and for that I am forever grateful for it.
Runners Up: LOST, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Event, Earth 2 (another old series, but great), Firefly.

Pushing Daisies Pilot- air date: October 3, 2007
Pablozky21: It’s really hard for me to choose in a world where we have standout pilots such as the pilot of Fringe, Lost, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica, among many others. “Pie-lette” came on top mostly because of how beautifully it built its unique aesthetic, something amazingly different from any other show I’ve ever seen on television. Filled with colors and cheerfulness, the Pushing Daisies’ pilot was able to engage me from the word go; the dialogue was fun, the acting was great, and the episode managed to be cute without becoming completely cheesy. I’d say it’s the closest thing I’ve ever come to love at first sight. From the moment I started watching the pilot I knew I would love this show, and I did, intensely, which is way its cancellation hurt me so much.
Pushing Daisies is to day my favorite comedy ever made, and possibly my favorite show of all time along with Fringe and the pre-finale How I Met Your Mother, and part of that is because the pilot was bewitching and even on its own it’s a perfect circle to a great story.
Runners Up: Fringe, Lost, Homeland, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica, The Killing, Futurama.

We all wish we could have picked more than just one pilot, but a favorite is a favorite, so we had to go with just one. There are way too many great pilots to count, so now it's your turn! Tell us about your favorite pilot ever made! Was it listed above? Or was it left out? Be sure to tell us!
About the Author - Pablo
I'm currently studying Psychology while also writing fantasy books (one already published in my home country, Chile, you can check it out on the facebook icon). I watch many different types of shows, including my favorites Revenge, Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time and about 23 more. Currently writing reviews for Once Upon a Time, The 100, Community and Marry Me
Recent Reviews (All Reviews)

53 comments:

  1. this is so cute xD
    My vote is for the Dexter pilot. Runners up being House, Breaking Bad, and Arrested Development.

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  2. Great article, thanks for compiling it Pablo!

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  3. My pleasure! It was really fun to do!

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  4. For me personally it's Chicago Fire pilot. I started thinking "Ooookkkk I'm sure I'm not gonna like it but let's try" and instead... I'm a Chicago Fire addicted now. So that's it for me :) and Suits too. I LOVE Gabriel Macht, it was brilliant from the first scene of the first episode.

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  5. Lost is my favorite drama and Friends is my favorite comedy and they both have anniversaries tomorrow and I didn't now they premiered on a same day and I'm so happy right now.

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  6. Revenge 3 year anniversary today. Friends 20th and Lost 10th anniversary tomorrow. :D

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  7. Pushing Daises <3 i still hate that it was cancelled.
    Nice article.
    My favorite pilot would be GA.
    I cant believe F.R.I.E.N.D.S IS 20th tomorrow. i still watch the repeats everyday.

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  8. Curious isn't it? I was surprised when I found out about it! Lost was practically born when Friends ended; a great show ended and right away another great one was born

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  9. No Pushing Daisies fan has ever forgiven ABC for cancelling them!- even though I watch a ton of their shows, but still!
    And yeah, I also watch Friends almost on a daily basis, so it's hard to grasp that it has been 20 years... makes you feel a bit old xD

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  10. Interesting picks! Haven't watched either, but I heard a lot of positive comments about both of them

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  11. My Favourite Pilots in order

    LOST
    Twin Peaks
    The X Files
    Flashforward
    The Walking Dead
    Rubicon
    Dexter
    Spaced
    Prison Break

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  12. Favorite Pilot!? Hmmm good question.
    If I recall well Buffy's was pretty good, Charmed was quite nice as well.
    Lost pilot is a vintage one, really good compelling!
    Grey's Anatomy was a hell of a pilot as well.

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  13. Oh, FlashForward... that was such an amazing pilot! I would have listed it as a runner up if I remembered xD. Another show I miss a lot

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  14. and i feel the same like it it's the first time im watching it. I seriouslly have seen that ending more than 10 times and still got me on .
    "I got off the plane"
    Latelly i was thinking on watching Pushing Daisies again but the new seasons are starting this week i dont know if i have the time xD.

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  15. I recommend you both of them. When you will watch it be ready to suffer, especially with Chicago Fire... those writers are cruel hahahahaha

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  16. cruelty usually means a good ride; I think I could get into it. I'm not much of a fan of procedurials, but I did love 3rd watch, and Chicago Fire gives a very strong vibe of that show. So I'll consider it, besides if they make me suffer from time to time great, it means I'm connecting with the story ;)- and that maybe that I'm a little masochist xD

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  17. You can always re-watch during hiatus, that's what I do.
    And yeah, that "I got off the plane" lands every time!

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  18. Yes the pilot blew me away such a fantastic concept. Shame it was cancelled before they could really develop it further.

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  19. Lost, Once Upon A Time & Orphan Black.

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  20. Nice article, thanks Pablo and everyone. I would have picked Alias. It was such a great pilot, it had everything (action, spy drama, romance, family drama). It felt like a mini movie and I loved every seconds of it. I could still rewatch it again and enjoy it as it did the first time.
    Other picks : Lost, Dead Like Me, Buffy, Orphan Black, Sleepy Hollow, Once Upon A Time, How I Met Your Mother and Dexter

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  21. You could tell they had a 6 year plan, the board went right up until 2016 "The End", I always wanted to know what was up with that! Urgh... well, sometimes this stuff happens, when you watch tv shows not every show is going to make it, sadly

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  22. Well if you are a little masochist welcome to the Chicago Fire fans club my friend hahahahahahahah

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  23. Thanks! And you have good taste! Those are really good pilots right there.
    Dead Like Me had an amazing start from the word go; Bryan Fuller really knows how to make his shows.

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  24. Banged by Corey StollSeptember 21, 2014 at 6:46 PM

    Fringe pilot.

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  25. It is fairly amazing and quite cinematic; I have watched it like 10+ times and it is always entertaining, like a very good and thought out movie that spawned a TV show. I really, really love it and I was just about to pick it, but Pushing Daisies edged out, but just by very little margin

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  26. My favorite pilots : Desperate Housewives, Lost, Once Upon A Time and Revenge.


    Nevertheless, best pilots aren't always the best shows.


    What came next on Revenge and Lost wasn't as good.
    Whereas some show have started showly but became really good : Grey's Anatomy, The Vampire Diaries, Ugly Betty and Cougar Town for example.

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  27. Pushing Daisies (still NOT over the cancellation), LOST and Orphan Black.
    I loved many other pilots, but these three are hors concours.

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  28. The cancellation of Pushing Daisies is by far the grimmest day on TV for me

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  29. LOST,Desperate housewives,Sleepy Hollow,Orphan Black,Game of thrones,Breaking Bad,Grey's Anatomy,TVD,Revenge,OUAT-these show's pilots got me hooked for the rest of the series within 10 minutes!

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  30. I am so sorry those are all good pilots and maybe some great ones but The inaugural Episode of Castle has them all beat! The chemistry of both Nathan Fillion and the newcomer Stana Katic just leap off the screen in a smoldering passion ready to burst forth.

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  31. Yes. It is so heartbreaking to see that such a beautifully crafted, wittyfully written and very well acted show with a peculiar aesthetic, lovely soundtrack and lovely, lovely, sweet and unique storyline was cancelled.

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  32. Yay great article, thanks for including mine. Honestly so many great pilots to choose from and I just hope that the next few years there will be even more to add to the list.

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  33. I love F.R.I.E.N.D.S and LOST. My favorite shows. i'm here Because them.

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  34. Suits was one of the best pilots.

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  35. Nikita was one of my favourites. However, Chuck was absolutely brilliant. Bit of both. Great shows that survived, so it must have been good

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  36. Lost was far and away the best pilot I've ever seen. The Walking Dead was excellent, also E.R.

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  37. Thanks ;)
    It's true Bryan Fullar really has a thing to start off a show, just like in Pushing Daisies and Hannibal. I'm very fond of his work.

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  38. I went with TWD but I could easily have gone for so many others.



    LOST's was even better when you consider the end, given that it ended with the eye closing as it had premiered with it opening. The pilot is in my top 10 episodes for a reason - it set the show up so well.


    Breaking Bad... just that opening scene set the tone for the entire show. It was chaos from the very beginning.


    24 did a great job of introducing us to the characters, the intensity of the story and the real time thing - lots of focus was placed on clocks and time throughout. The scene where Jack shoots Mason with the tranq dart is one of my favourites in the first season - from there you knew exactly what kind of a person Jack is.


    Person of Interest had a really good pilot. The Blacklist is one of my most recent favourites. James Spader killed it (which he then did in the following 21 episodes too) and the writing for it was probably the second best episode of the season.



    Friends didn't come into consideration for me because though it set the show up quite well, it wasn't as funny as most of the other episodes.

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  39. My favourite pilots - Supernatural and Orphan Black. Usually it needs more than one episode to convince me, but these two clicked from the start.

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  40. Chuck is on my list of shows to watch!

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  41. Smallville
    Roswell
    Vampire Diaries
    Buffy the vampire slayer
    Supernatural
    Sleepy Hollow

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  42. You should give it a try, it has great characters, really good humour, does a cool job of mixing the action/drama and comedy as well as spy genres. Has some great guest stars, good nerd references, real heart and a surprisingly interesting and heart felt romance (and was the closest I've ever been to shipping). Also it had a ton of character development, and one the best fictional cover bands of all time.

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  43. Sounds amazing! I'm excited to start it soon!

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  44. My Favs, POI, LOST, Prison Break, The 4400, Fringe.

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  45. I have watched Orphan Black and think the pilot was very well done. I just watched Pushing Daisies pilot after reading this post, have had it on my computer for a while and really enjoyed it! It was sweet and I like the characters so far, I think I'm going to be disappointed that it's only 22 episodes.

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  46. From all the comments and opiions I have added Fringe, Nikita and Chuck to the top of my to watch list. They were there, but now they are a priority. I'm not sure about adding Pushing Daisies tho

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  47. All those shows are truly worth watching; and believe, the trailer of Pushing Daisies may seem a little bit cheesy, but the show manages to be the right amount of cute without being cheesy.
    But I think this is the best order to watch these shows: Nikita->Chuck->Pushing Daisies->Fringe, because then you get from a good show to a better one until the point you get to Fringe- which starts a bit slow, but becomes the best show on tv (my opinion) later on

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  48. Oh believe, you are in for a good ride with Pushing Daisies! And yeah, ABC was a monster for cancelling such a beautifully crafted show, but at least Bryan Fuller got to do some kind of an ending and tie a lot of loose ends

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  49. Thanks! I'm gonna start with the pilots for Chuck and Nikita today and pick which one to start first... I'll try to see the Pushing Daisies one later, but I'll add it to my list now so I don't forget.

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  50. I know, right? It's pretty unique

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  51. White Collar, hands down. The pilot would work as a stand alone movie, too, because it is so well balanced. It does a great job introducing the different characters and is just fun from start to finish. To this day one of the best episodes of the series...for some even THE best.

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  52. LOST pilot for sure!

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