10. American Dreams "Pilot" (first aired September 29, 2002)
Before Mad Men, The Playboy Club, and Pan Am, this 1960s show had a too-short three season run on NBC. Every single episode was high quality and it got off to a great start, painting a picture of 1963 Philadelphia. The show was so expertly produced, particularly the American Bandstand segments that featured the voice of former host (and executive producer) Dick Clark and contemporary artists playing 1960s artists. It got a little cliche when it tied in the Kennedy assassination to the pilot but I was already hooked before that final scene. And I'm still waiting for Season 2 and 3 on DVD!
NBC's heir apparent to The West Wing did not pan out in the long run. It only lasted a season and suffered creatively the further the season went on. This was a great example of a show with a lot of promise but the rest of the series couldn't live up to a strong pilot. The pilot though was fascinating to watch - from guest star Judd Hirsch's great performance as the soon-to-be-fired boss who had an on-air meltdown to seeing the inner workings of a sketch comedy show. The show lost its way, took itself too seriously, and got very political down the road. But if you had only watch the pilot, you'd think this show was headed towards greatness.
8. Bewitched "I Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha" (first aired September 17, 1964)
Back when shows didn't use the title "pilot" for the first episode, this classic series had a pilot that set up the story well. Following Samantha and Darrin's courtship and wedding, Samantha tells Darrin she is a witch on their honeymoon. It's such a fantastical concept but this show always managed to stay grounded and that's very true in the pilot. It had all the elements that made this show a classic - funny moments mixed with a tender sweetness between Samantha and Darrin.
This groundbreaking classic sitcom rewrote the rules for family sitcoms and African Americans and the pilot was going along fine but what landed it on this list is a classic moment between Bill Cosby's Cliff Huxtable and his son Theo. After Theo gets a bad grade on a report card, he has a chat with Dad where he talks about hoping his Dad will accept him for who he is even if he doesn't go to college or do well in school in what appeared to be a very touching moment. When Cliff responded with "that's the dumbest thing I ever heard. No wonder you get Ds in everything," it was clear that this wasn't going to be the same old Brady Bunch-style family sitcom. And it certainly wasn't.
6. Friday Night Lights "Pilot" (first aired October 3, 2006)
I am just going through the series now and have yet to see a bad episode. The pilot set the tone for this show and its very realistic look at Texas high school football. Even the somewhat cliched plot point of the star quarterback getting injured seemed grounded in realism. This show has a tone unlike any other and that's evident right from the pilot. It introduces us well to the many characters. Dramas with big casts can have a difficult time introducing all the characters without seeming either boring or overwhelming in the first episode, but this show did it just about perfectly.
This show is the perfect example of how to have a good pilot without really being an exposition. This show could have aired at any point during the series which just goes to show how well defined these characters were. The plot was simple enough - psychologist Bob doesn't understand his wife Emily's fear of flying. But Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette had such a natural chemistry, it seemed as though they'd been playing these parts for years.
4. Modern Family "Pilot" (first aired September 23, 2009)
I think it's very hard for sitcoms to find their rhythm right in the pilot. So much of what makes a good sitcom has to do with comedic timing and knowing the characters. But Modern Family had both of those down from the very first episode. From Cameron and Mitchell's announcement that they've adopted a baby girl to Manny's declaration of love to a much older girl to Phil being ridiculous from the first moment, these characters were so well created and the writing was so sharp, this show didn't miss a beat in its first episode. And it's only gotten better.
The iconic 1980s cop drama was not a hit from the start as it was beginning to rewrite the rules of a network drama. Never before had there been a drama less glamorous and more gritty. This show set the dark mood brilliantly in its pilot and was full of surprises. After seeing police captain Frank Furillo and public defender Joyce Davenport fight all day, it turns out they were secret lovers (and remember, this was before that plot became commonplace). Then the most shocking moment occurred when two cops we had grown to love in the pilot, Hill and Renko, were shot in the closing moments. I can't think of a better way to captivate viewers than this pilot did.
2. Mary Tyler Moore "Love is All Around" (first aired September 19, 1970)
One of the greatest sitcoms of all time had a much quoted and much beloved pilot. Single girl Mary Richards comes to Minneapolis after breaking up with her boyfriend, a storyline that was a completely foreign concept after the family and fantasy sitcoms of the 50s and 60s. Of course the most famous and best part of the episode is her interview with Lou Grant at WJM where Mr. Grant declares that Mary has spunk only to tell her "I hate spunk." There's also memorable turns from all the characters who became beloved sitcom classics - Rhoda, Phyllis, Murray, and Ted. This show had it all put together from the beginning and never wavered in high quality.
1. The Wonder Years "The Wonder Years" (first aired January 31, 1988)One of the few new shows to really work in the coveted post-Super Bowl slot, this powerful coming-of-age comedy-drama had a pilot to remember. After setting the tone of the late 1960s, the show introduced us to Jr. High student Kevin Arnold and his family and friends in ways that really captured each character. The strength of this show was that it managed to be emotional and moving without being melodramatic and that was evident in the pilot. When Kevin's childhood friend Winnie Cooper's brother is killed in Vietnam, he finds her in the woods where they used to play and they share their first kiss as "When a Man Loves a Woman" plays. If there's a better closing to a pilot episode, I've yet to find it.
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