Your fave pilot episodes of any TV series?
POSTED BY: lwaves
UPDATED: Sunday, April 25, 2010 16:53
VIEWED: 4979
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So what are they.
Doesn't matter how the series turned out, whether it was the best show ever or the biggest piece of crap ever filmed. As long as the pilot episode (or two-parter) was tops then it can count. Any time period - go back as far as you like.
Oh and we'll take it as read that we all put Firefly down as this is a FF site.
In no order:
Lost - The premise of Robinson Crusoe with more people was blown out of the way once the weirdness started. I was hooked from that point on.
Life On Mars (UK) - It shouldn't really have worked but the 70's were back with a mind-bending twist.
Angel - Buffy didn't get me until after a couple of episodes but Angel set out it's darker tone right from the start but still delivered the funnies and coolness.
Robin Of Sherwood - One of my fave all time stories and with the added magical twist and cast of likeable characters it was an instant hit for me. Loved the music as well.
Castle - Mystery, comedy, drama and sexual tension all rolled up into one with a great supporting cast.
Dark Angel - Genetically altered goodness with an attitude. What's not to like.
That'll do for now.
Your picks are??
"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall
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You already got Dark Angel, so...
Man From Atlantis- what a fun & well-acted piece. Victor Bruno was an amazing villain (as always). The series? Another story.
Planet Earth- Roddenberry goodness + John Saxon fresh from Enter The Dragon = a good time had by all. No series though...
Kung Fu- kicked a*s!!!
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman- Too bad the series rarely lived up to this high flying & entertaining nonsense.
Adventures Of Brisco County County, Jr.- Unbelievable! A great pilot followed by nearly as great eps all the way to the end!
Airwolf- GREAT pilot, very good first season, then into the toilet.
Night Stalker- Richard Matheson writing the highest rated TV movie ever at the time.
Battlestar Galactica- giving us our Star Wars fix in 1978. Not "technically" great for any other reason than the FX, that got recycled ad nausium in the series.
Is that enough for ya?
The laughing Chrisisall
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Yes, Firefly is a given. I'll also echo Lost, Life on Mars, Dark Angel and Kung Fu.
I did make a very long list of other shows, then decided to edit it down because some of them actually had much better episodes after the pilot.
At the top of my revised list is one that may bend the rules a bit, since I'm picking the 2003 BSG miniseries and counting it as a pilot.
Others, in alphabetical order only:
American Gothic
Carnivále
Chuck
Dead Like Me
Dresden Files (if you count the extended version of "Storm Front" which Sci-Fi aired only once, and then at 3am with no promotion. The edited version was broadcast as Episode 8.)
Freaks and Geeks
Mad Men
The Prisoner
Pushing Daisies
Star Trek TOS - "The Cage"
Twin Peaks
Wonderfalls
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OOoo, how did I miss CHUCK & The Prisoner???
Also, Max Headroom- very cool.
And yeah, Angel's pilot was very slick indeedy.
The laughing Chrisisall
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Breaking Bad
Deadwood
Farscape
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Now and Again
Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza place (laughed myself silly right from the start)
Big Bang Theory (ditto)
Northern Exposure
Good Guys Bad Guys (Kick ass gritty Aussie show starring Marcus Graham as an ex cop)
Homicide: Life on the Street (once upon a time loooong before "The Wire")
The Wire
Arrested Development
Freaks and Geeks
Flight of the Concords (season one rocked season 2 not so much)
Battlestar Galactica (I was a kid...it blew my mind and started my crush on Dirk Benedict)
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The pilots I saw when they first aired:
Firefly (Both of them)
John Doe*
The Lone Gunmen - Pilot wasn't scary at the time. Now it is.
Monk
24
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Drive*
Daybreak**
Heroes
Chuck - When Chuck's computer was "utterly destroyed", I was hurting, I was laughing so hard.
Castle
Better Off Ted
The rest:
Buffy
Angel
The X-Files
Lost
Titus
WKRP***
* Needs to be on DVD.
** 2-Disc DVD sucked! Re-release 4-disc!!
*** First DVD sucked! Re-release with original music!!!
--------------------------------------------------
Find here the Serenity you seek. -Tara Maclay
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Firefly
Dark Angel - out of the park.
Six Million Dollar Man
Nowhere Man
The Big Valley
Charlie's Angels
Magnum PI
Rockford Files
NYPD Blue
ER
Batman
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
ST: Voyager
The Adventures of Beans Baxter
COPS
America's Most Wanted
I'm tempted to include Heroes, maybe LA Law.
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ooh yeah Rockford Files and NYPD Blue....and Hill street Blues...and I vaguely remember seeing the pilot of Sesame street when it was repeated in the late seventies...Sesame Street was my first TV cult experience
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Firefly: of course or I wouldn't be here
Stargate SG-1: incredible show I liked it about as well as Firefly at least the first 7 seasons
Chuck: the best show on TV right now
Dark Angel:I wouldn't of thought of it but after reading others posts, I remember how well the show started it just ended badly.
Save Chuck: go to http://savechucknow.wordpress.com/1-2/ to see how you can help
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