Some television shows start off slow and really get moving later on – I mean, how many times have you told someone they needed to stick with a show for a few episodes in order for it to get good?

These 18 pilots were the opposite, though, because they started off with a big bang.

18. It ended in flames.

BBC’s Sherlock

It started well, but they tried to get too clever. The last series was unwatchable

17. The show not the explosion.

Chernobyl.

It was brilliant but scarred for life after it. Couldn’t do that to myself again.

16. So quotable.

Futurama.

15. It went downhill from there.

Lost. Can’t believe I’m the first one to have written it.

The dude who greenlit the budget for it got fired because it was so ridiculously expensive for the time. Now the budget seems standard after GoT and such, but back then it was the most expensive pilot ever made.

14. Soooo funny.

Derry Girls

Most sitcom first episodes (seasons too?) have to do so much table setting that they’re not funny.

This first episode established the settings, characters, and was funny too.

13. A strong introduction.

I love introduction people to The Boys, just for their reaction to the first episode.

I didn’t think I would be all that I to the show until I finally sat down and watched the first episode.

It took me like three weeks to be caught up to now.

12. Long enough to make a point.

The Newsroom.

The rest of the series doesn’t really hold that standard but that first episode is great.

11. It was riveting.

The Walking Dead.

I think the first 4 episodes are up there for best debut of a new show all time.

10. That’s its whole job.

Ozark the first episode gets you hooked.

9. Ok in my book.

Dead Like Me.

Any show that has it’s main character killed by a flaming toilet seat falling from space within the first ten minutes is okay in my book.

8. A masterpiece.

The West Wing.

The entire show was a masterpiece for me, even after Sorkin left. Easily my most rewatched series.

7. Unironically.

Attack on Titan unironically.

Immediately sets the tone and gives you the first wave of questions you want answered.

6. The whole first season.

Hannibal sets up the tone for the whole show quite well.

The first season of Hannibal is one of my favorite tv seasons ever and that first episode is flawless

5. It wobbled a bit after that.

Heroes started off really strongly.

Save the cheerleader, save the world.

4. Right out of the gate.

The good place.

This is especially striking because sitcoms are notorious for having ‘meh’ pilots at best, even the ones that become classics.

Sitcoms always seem to take time to get the characters rifing well together and for the writing to align to their characters’ energy.

But The Good Place was straight hysterical right out of the gate!

3. Hooked me hard.

I watched the first episode of Westworld and then immediately made a group of friends watch it. It hooked me hard.

It is a shame the later seasons couldn’t (to me) hold on to the same magic as that first season.

2. A ton of credit.

Game of Thrones for sure.

The creators deserve a ton of credit for that pilot. That could have easily been a disaster that was impossible to follow with all the characters introduced. But it worked.

I had not read the books and knew nothing about the show when I first watched it, and while maybe I wasn’t quite getting everything (I kind of remember not understanding who Theon was for awhile), by and large I was able to keep up.

Meanwhile, they didn’t have to significantly dumb it down and enrage those who were fans of the books.

1. We all knew.

Breaking Bad! has a really strong opening.

When it started with a middle aged man driving an old ass RV through the desert in his underwear I knew it was going to be good

 

I haven’t seen all of these but I definitely want to check them out now.

Until then I don’t feel qualified to really weigh in.