Half the battle of creating a new television series is crafting a pilot episode that can hook viewers and get them to keep coming back each week. It’s no easy feat trying to introduce a new cast of characters, an engaging plot and world that can get people hooked and last a whole season of episodes.
Creating a great television pilot is arguably one of the hardest writing and directing feats there is. So, when a team can come together and create a television pilot that is genuinely incredible and makes its mark on history, it’s a testament to the creatives behind the project. It’s even said by a few that some television pilots are better than some films. Not only does a television pilot have to stand alone, but act as the first part of a long-running saga.
10 ‘Alias’ (2001)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Alias is an early success for both J.J. Abrams and Jennifer Garner, who are staples in both directing and acting respectively. Garner does a wonderful job portraying the series protagonist, Sydney Bristow, bringing a lot of depth to someone who, on the surface, seems like a typical action hero.
The show could be considered as one of Abrams’ first huge successes and defining moments of his career. The episode also establishes the series’ ability to tell a larger scale world like the CIA and utilize their network television-scale budget proficiently. Abrams and Garner came together to craft a pilot that really sets a great standard for the rest of the series.
9 ‘The Boys’ (2019)
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Being one of the more recent examples of a great television pilot is Amazon Prime Video’s smash hit, The Boys. There’s a reason it’s a smash hit. The Boys‘ pilot has a lot going for it. Not only does it kick off with one of the most shocking moments of television in years with Hughie’s (Jack Quaid) girlfriend, Robin (Jess Salgueiro), being blown to bits by A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), but the episode supplies shocking moments like that throughout the entirety of the episode.
It also does a wonderful job at introducing its characters, giving audiences a reason to fall in love with them swiftly. The episode introduces the world of The Boys in a compelling manner that supports the events of the plot and the characters, completely enhancing the viewing experience and getting people invested. While it may be more recent and not a classic, it’s one of the best of the best.
8 ‘This is Us’ (2016)
Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa
This is Us is one of the most emotional television dramas of the last 10 years and the pilot of the series is no different. The entire pilot of the series could be a feature film in and of itself. The characters are compelling, the plot draws people in emotionally, the cast is spectacular and the filmmaking being executed is on another level for network television.
In fact, the show’s pilot could be viewed as a standalone project itself and work incredibly well as an astounding short film. It also sets up the tone-balancing the show would come to be known for being so good at doing. It masterfully balances deep drama with lighthearted moments that get viewers connected to the characters even more than they would be without it.
7 ‘Twin Peaks’ (1990)
Directed by David Lynch
If there’s a series that could be defined as an absolute classic without a second’s thought, it would be Twin Peaks. Not every series has the legendary David Lynch directing its debut episode. Although the series debuted in 1990, the pilot episode (and the entire series) still holds up as one of the best of the best to this day.
Twin Peaks does a wonderful job at introducing so many characters in its runtime that all revolve around the murder victim, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), while still having their own agency, which only supports the plot surrounding Palmer. It’s an objectively difficult task to introduce a murder mystery in a way that hooks audiences with how saturated the genre is, and Twin Peaks is a perfect example of how to do it right.
6 ‘Mad Men’ (2007)
Directed by Alan Taylor
If there’s a tough genre to execute, it’s period pieces.Not only do the actors have to accurately portray people from a totally different time, but the director, set designers, costumers and the entire crew in general, have to execute a different era and do so believably. Because of this, period pieces like Man Men can be incredibly expensive and difficult to create.
Taking place in the 1960s, Mad Men has to convince audiences of a completely different time while introducing them to a plot that is supposed to hook them and characters they’re supposed to become intrigued in. Mad Men manages to juggle doing all of this and then some. The era of the 1960s is depicted borderline perfectly in the pilot of Mad Men and gets audiences to grow attached to this completely different world than the one they live in.
5 ‘Arrested Development’ (2003)
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo
Not only is Arrested Development one of the funniest series of the last two decades, but it has an absolutely stacked cast and crew. Directed by brothers who would come to be Marvel superstars, Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, their directing prowess is shown to be present even in their early days. The cast is also incredible, featuring the likes of Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Michael Cera, Will Arnett, David Cross and more.
How does a cast and crew get audiences to find them funny and worth watching in such a short network television runtime? The exact formula for success is undefined, but if there’s a series that has done so excellently, it’s Arrested Development. A huge part of what makes the pilot, and series, so special is how well the cast performs their roles and their stellar chemistry.
4 ‘The Shield’ (2002)
Directed by Clark Johnson
Everyone loves a good Michael Chiklis performance and boy does he bring a great one in The Shield pilot. The Shield is not for the faint of heart, being a more mature murder mystery. Bringing a show with such intense themes to viewers can make it a challenge to get them to want to view more. While some may be into the more intense storytelling themes at play, most general audiences might be harder to convince.
The Shield manages to handle these themes and topics with grace and elegance while being realistic with said things. This is just a testament to the stellar skills of the writers room and director, Clark Johnson. The Shield did an incredible job at bringing people in and keeping them there, regardless of what was being covered.
3 ‘Mr. Robot’ (2015)
Directed by Sam Esmail
Mr. Robot is one of the best television series of all time and propelled Rami Malek‘s career to the stars. The filmmaking is excellent in pretty much every single aspect, the performances are genuine and honest, the writing is clever and the world feels real and lived in. The pilot manages to show off all of these factors about the show in superb fashion.
If there is a pilot that intrigues its audience, it’s Mr. Robot. It leaves viewers confused in all the best ways. They seek nothing but more of these characters and this world by the end of the episode’s runtime. Mr. Robot was another huge win for USA Network, who already had huge shows like Suits that came before, but Mr. Robot may easily be their best work.
2 ‘Lost’ (2004)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
While fans and critics alike may have a love/hate relationship with Lost, the pilot that started it all is the entire reason those fans and critics became so invested in the series in the first place. It’s large in scale, establishes the conflict quickly, the cast and characters are introduced compellingly and the pacing is one of the best examples of good pacing on television.
It seems that J.J. Abrams just has what it takes to make a good series pilot and Lost is another example of this. The beginning of the Lost saga does everything a series pilot needs and, for the most part, does it extremely well. It almost makes one forget about how the series ended.
1 ‘Breaking Bad’ (2008)
Directed by Vince Gilligan
It only makes sense that what may be one of, if not the best, television series of all time, has the greatest pilot episode of all time. There’s absolutely no doubt that Breaking Bad‘s pilot is an absolute masterpiece. Classes could be taught on how to not only make a good pilot, but how to tell a good story.
The pacing is perfect, the characters are established with depth and grace, the world feels lived in and the writing brings about a plot that is incredibly interesting. The pilot of Breaking Bad is a huge aspect of what made it such a smash hit and the episode on its own is super rewatchable, thanks to how entertaining it is. It genuinely doesn’t get better than the pilot of Breaking Bad and the entire series itself.
