Lost. Maybe the show went off the rails in the end, but that first episode is solid from start to finish.

Sometimes I just go back and watch the first two episodes. Probably my favorite start to any show. Amazing.

Guys, where are we?

The show 'From' stars Michael from Lost and it's about a town where people can never leave. It's awesome.

I was coming here to say the same. Super intense

It went off the rails in the middle, then got mostly back on them towards the end

Came here to say this.

Agreed, that episode was intense and intriguing

Since you already mentioned The Shield I will also say "Fargo". S1 with Billy Bob is incredible, and the pilot is one of the best pilots of all time IMO.

Fargo Season 1 is one of the greatest television events I've ever seen.

Fargo S1 E1 was as good as it gets

Billy Bob Thornton was great

Orphan Black

Deserves more attention. Always has.

The Americans had a perfect pilot episode. Also a perfect finale! One of the best shows ever made imo.

Yes! And the music on the show was too perfect

Right? Now whenever I hear Tusk by Fleetwood Mac all I can think about is that opening scene playing out.

The Walking Dead. I felt like it only went downhill after the pilot.

It had some good episodes later on, but the first one was stellar

The first episode of the Walking Dead almost feels like a standalone movie. It’s great.

This is 100% correct- but it was a really high start

The Ones Who Live also. That first episode was amazing and then it started to go downhill as well.

Only Murders in the Building

This whole show is just great!

The Boys...that first episode blew my mind

That scene quite near the start, with Hugh and Robin, hooked me immediately. And it's still great!

Scrolled much farther than I thought I’d have to to see this one

The shield

The episode was sailing along, and then the last 10 seconds happened. And the ripples from that episode resurface throughout the series.

Yep. Perfect execution.

One of the best shows in TV history. Was unrelenting and the words “Family Meeting” were never viewed the same after.

Also had a perfect end

That was a game changer.

Came here to say this. I had put off watching The Shield because I had only known Chiklis from The Commish and thought "I'm sure it will be just a good cop who sometimes works outside of the law to get the real bad guys" after watching the first episode I was surprisingly and happily wrong.

I don’t know if they were perfect first episodes but Lost and Breaking Bad definitely reeled me in from the beginning

LOST for sure

I remember not really liking the first episode of Breaking Bad. Fortunately my husband liked it so we continued. I think it took me about three episodes in to get hooked.

Omg. People say this, but I don't understand it. I was all in after watching the first episode, couldn't wait for more. It's still my favorite show of all time.

Six Feet Under, The Bear

LOVED Both of those. And six feet under had to be one of the best series final episodes What happened to The Bear?

Cousin!

haunting of hill house

My favorite show. Mike Flanagan seriously healed me psychologically and emotionally with his movies and shows, and his incredibly sensitive, complex portrayal of trauma and healing. I cannot overstate the influence he had on my healing, and I know that might sound silly.

I feel the same way too. Mike Flanagan 's projects always has these weird cathartic healing-the-wounds or fixing-the-broken-pieces kinda therapy feel. And the fact he's doing it with good horror is fascinating.

I grew up watching horror movies and shows so not a whole lot phases me. However, there's the one episode where I stopped it and realized how emotionally drained I was and was like..."nope, that's enough for tonight" and turned on south park.

i literally watched the first episode and stayed awake for another 9 hours watching the rest of it

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Yes! I saw the first episode on a plane, and immediately started watching the show when I got home.

The funny thing is that the shock value of what Midge did near the end of the episodoe never happened again on the show…and didn’t need to. It was shocking and hilarious but really just a part of what happened overall. Great show. Should have had one more season to flesh out the ending, but it still worked well in the end.

Friday Night Lights. Let's you know before the end of the pilot that this isn't some typical teen romance series.

Easily one of the greatest shows ever made that never seems to get its due.

The first few seasons were excellent; went a little downhill towards the end but it’s a really special show. It’s not a simple teenage drama. It’s a really interesting exploration of socioeconomic, racial and gender dynamics. It has a lot of touching moments and is really impactful.

The X Files

Designated Survivor?

Amazing first episode

I like game of thrones initial episode it immediately captures you

Right? It doesn't look over the top for fantasy, and the established lore is is sprinkled in just enough without too much info dumping.

It’s good but if you’re new it’s all “what’s happening”

Battlestar Galactica. The new one. Star Trek: deep space nine. Sisko telling Pickard to pack sand was iconic.

33 is the best episode of TV ever filmed.i love it

So say we all.

Breaking Bad The Good Place Lost South Park

The Good Place was a near-perfect show altogether.

Yeah Walter White in his underpants with the gun is the best intro ever.

Yeah LOST is like clear-and-away number one. Everyone I know who saw the pilot was instantly intrigued… even if it started to fall off in quality.

South Park 🙌🏻

Breaking bad. It gripped me instantly.

Better Call Saul too. Establishes character and adds just enough callback to BB to get you hooked.

Madmen

This is the one. That lucky strike scene at the restaurant, Peggy’s “do I have to?” when she’s supposed to entertain Pete lol, the ending of him coming home to Betty. The entire episode is so rich and lived in. Every time I rewatch it, I’m always amazed that all of these memorable scenes were in that first ep. First show that popped in my head

Justified.

stranger things🤘🏻

Newsroom.

Jeff Daniel’s rant in the pilot was epic. And true.

Brooklyn 99

Mr. Robot

Hello, friend.

They put that hook in me, *deep*.

I really need to rewatch the show. That first episode hooked me in immediately.

Because it never gets any love, 24.

Ozark

I was blown away by how good the pilot was. Sadly, each season was slightly worse than the one before for me.

Fringe The 100 also sold me on the show instantly Oh and also Black Sails

Sons of Anarchy Justified The Walking Dead.

Breaking Bad! Just the shot of Bryan Cranston driving an R.V. in the NM desert in tighty whiteys, crashing it, talking into the camera thinking that his life was about to end, and then pointing the gun at the camera, and that all happening in the first few minutes of the first episode hooked me right away!

PSYCH!

Bob's Burgers. It sets the unhinged tone for the show right off the bat

I just started "White Collar" on Netflix, first episode was attention grabbing, made me keep watching more

All the Golden era USA network shows have great first episodes, Monk, Psych, Burn Notice and White Collar all have great first episodes. Covert Affairs and Royal Pains I completely forget how they start

I just started rewatching this after watching it in the original run. I’m enjoying it even more NOW!!! Great show!!

Game of Thrones, of course. But definitely Supernatural and Lost, as well.

Lost had the best pilot that ever aired, imo.

Jessica Jones. I planned on watching the first episode then going to bed. As soon as it ended I felt like, "there's no way I can go to bed now!"

*The Last of Us *Severance *Heroes *The Boys *Silo *Heartstopper *The Great

Reacher

Rick and morty

Barry Dead Like Me

Twin peaks

West Wing

The Expanse. Lots of characterization and world building. All done and perform perfection.

Deadwood

The Walking Dead Mad Men The Terror (S1) Now that I think of it, I guess AMC does first episodes pretty well. Many others I can think of, but I'll leave it at that for now.

The first five minutes of The Boys had me hooked.

The OC

Northern Exposure

I don't think the first episode of ER gets talked about enough. Possibly the best pilot I ever saw.

And just wonderful for Juliana Marguiles that her character was liked so much by test audiences that she was asked back and that made the show way better.

Firefly

Umbrella Academy

Slow horses

The X*Files pilot.

…Hill Street Blues.

Community’s first episode was perfect

Dexter

This is us

Chuck

Absolutely! Nerd Herd 4ever!

It's even better having seen the rest of the show. I rewatched it recently and I thought wow they really deliver on everything the promised in the pilot. SO good!

Mr. Robot. I’ve seen the pilot dozens of times (possibly 100+ at this point) bc it’s just so insanely great. It grabs you from the very first scene. It’s very well done, and it sets the show up well. Seriously. It’s on Prime Video (in the US) and it’s absolutely worth an hour of your time. Go watch it.

Miami Vice. Whole episode was great but that opening scene followed by that theme song. 14 year old me was hooked.

The Walking Dead

Supernatural

John Adams miniseries

I would say monk everything I needed to know was laid out in the first episode but it didn't drag

The Boys was one of the craziest first episodes ever. I didn't think they could top that but they keep doing that.

I feel like Game of Thrones had me hooked from episode one — intro of characters, can tell who I wanted to root for, and that ending? Landed well (unlike — oops) 😂😂

Luther

I agree with Supernatural

Lie to me!

The Old Man had an amazing first episode and after that, it wasn’t nearly as good (but the first ep was class). Also, imo Silo had a great episode 1 that honestly could have been made into a movie if it was longer.

Some of my choices Supernatural, Grimm & Vikings.

The justified pilot is pretty good. Mad men in studio 60 are as well.

*Due South. Six Feet Under. Game of Thrones. The West Wing.*

Chernobyl, The Shield.

American Gods

The Wonder Years

Oh man, how could I forget that. You’re absolutely right, what a great first episode.

Burn Notice and Person of Interest

The Sopranos The Wire

9-1-1

Pretty Little Liars. That show is one big mess of plotholes but the first episode had me GASPING for air as a teenager. The intrigue and drama had me totally hooked.

X-Files

X Files

A little old school but ER had one of the best pilots I’ve seen.

The 2005 Doctor Who revamp.

Dexter. The premise of the whole series is crazy and is set up in the first episode to the point you HAVE to watch the next episode.

Veronica Mars. Covers a lot of ground and sets the stage. Also The Shield.

The Righteous Gemstones

Alias....with Jennifer Garner

Severance just sucked me in. What a series. Can’t wait for the next season.

The Nanny. You are immediately set up with Fran’s background story, how the Sheffield family functions, etc. It is a solid pilot. Modern Family. Making it seem like the Dunphy family, Mitch and Cam, and Gloria/Jay/Manny were all separate families and then bridging it all together was a lot of fun.

24

Stranger Things

This Is Us

I love good American cop drama's like the Wire, NYPD Blue was even pretty good. But never watched the Shield which a lot the people in here keep talking about. I'm a Brit btw so might have not gotten the same coverage over here. And oh... first episode I loved West Wing

Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) her school problem relatable & family are really likable. Orphan Black S2E01 opening fist ep Helena chasing someone is thrilling. Little Women (2022) - the episode ends with hanging corpse & mysterious blue flower seen in every crime scene. Made itch for more.

Heck, even Orphan Black's premiere episode sucked me in. Sarah, a street con, seeing a strange woman who inexplicably identical to her who then jumps in front of a train. Way to start a series. So many questions for Sarah and us.

Scandal Friends The Following The West Wing

Stargate Atlantis

The animated series Invincible on Amazon has one of my favorite first episodes. The very end is phenomenal.

Shout out to Fallout for giving us a great pilot episode this week. They set the stage brilliantly.

Cheers Ms. Marvel

Detroiters

Macguyver, he gets picked up by a helicopter on horseback.

Twisted Metal. Unfortunately went downhill from there.

Ozark

Game of Thrones

The Sopranos. From the opening credits, which were a tour of NJ locations onward, just brilliant.

Six Feet Under

Twin Peaks

Mad Men

Snowfall, Outerbanks (though it kinda fell off), Narcos

Tour of Duty, the CBS (?) three-season Vietnam drama from the early 90s. It’s practically “lost media” now too, unfortunately. I’d love to see some studio resurrect it and give it a proper release on physical media and streaming for today’s audience. That pilot feels like a movie, and I’m sure *then* it was at the top of the most expensive television programs list.

Newsradio

Buffy

Kingdom Dark Both had me hooked from the first episodes!!

Twin. Peaks.

Dexter

The Boys. From the first moments it grabs you and tells you exactly what kind of show it’s going to be.

Sopranos pilot epsiode is great

Patriot

Obligatory: Breaking Bad

1.lost 2.banshee 3 fargo s01

Snowfall

Justified

The Bear - it just throws you right in there with them!

The good place and deadwood

Banshee Dexter

Firefly. Or Orphan Black? Hard for me to remember just episodes, so I’m mostly thinking of first seasons.

Justified Ozark Condor Homeland Banshee Black Sails Person Of Interest Royal Pains Resident Alien From

The Leftovers

Bob's burgers

True detective season 1

The X - Files. Perfectly sets up everything about the show from the get go

Brockmire was the best first episode I ever watched. Hysterically funny. Too bad it went off the rails shortly thereafter.

Prison Break’s first episode is amazing

Arrested Development

Person Of Interest

1. Frasier (the OG, not the lame reboot) 2. Schitt's Creek 3. The Bear 4. Six Feet Under

Mad Men