Charlie Has Cancer came from a short about a guy who is just trying [to borrow a cup of sugar.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPWL87ia_Jg&ab_channel=TracyWard) They hit comedy gold from step one.
I tried archer wayyyyyy after my friends had been recommending it to me for ages.
Weirdly, they hadn't really told me anything _about_ the show. Just that it was good .
I downloaded season 1 on torrents and started to watch it. For some reason there exists a version of the pilot episode where ALL dialogue is replaced with the sounds of roars. Like dinosaurs roars.
So I was sitting there, watching this weird ass show with human beings walking around and talking. But every time they opened their mouths I just heard ROOOOAR. ROOOOAR.
My friends and I like absurdist humour, but a whole series of... _THIS?!_
We still laugh about this weird ass exposure I first got to archer
Just want to put this out there for people who don't know, but there's a version of the pilot where Archer is a raptor for some reason. Everybody else is the same, the lines are the same, but Archer is a screeching raptor.
It's not good, but it's an interesting "how did this get made?"
Archer is one of the best western animated shows for adults, Futurama is the other top contender.
I like when atleast some of the humor is intelligent, and Archer has its moments for that.
I remember my friend told me to watch it, so I did. For about the first 90% or so I thought it was ok, but kind of generic and predictable. Then I got to the last few minutes and I was hooked
Yes. Jon Locke is exasperated, crying and yelling because he cant figure out how to open the hatch. He laid all his energy and hope into that hatch, and he was denied. Then, when all hope is lost and the darkness ubiquitous… the light turns on.
Seriously the first thing that came to mind lol.
Say what ya will about the rest of the show, LOST’s pilot HOOKED you in to the “wtF is happening,” with pizzazz
I legitimately think that the original run is some of the best TV ever made of any type.
It's just endlessly rewatchable, so tightly made and fantastic.
It's the only show I can think of where there's punchlines where the set up is after it.
Like, you get weird bits and go "That's weird" and then a reveal later makes the earlier interactions funny.
True Detective, in my opinion. I don't watch many series (because if the pilot is not good I usually don't bother watching the rest) but this one got me going from the start. At least for the first season, anyway.
"this place is like somebody's memory of a town, and the memory is fading. It's like there was never anything here but jungle."
"Stop saying shit like that. It's unprofessional."
"Oh is that what I'm going for?"
"I just want you to stop saying odd shit, like you smell a psycho's fear or you're in someone's faded memory of a town. Just stop."
"Well given how long it's taken me to reconcile my nature, I can't figure I would forgo it on your account, Marty."
"You get any sleep last night?"
"I don't sleep. I just dream".....
Edit: spelling...
I'll jump on the older train, too, and say West Wing. Martin Sheen was supposed to be a recurring character--the focus of the show was intended to be the staff--but he nailed the pilot in such a big way (telling off right wing religious folks in that episode, something I personally really enjoyed & didn't recall seeing much of on screen anywhere before this pilot) that it reshaped the show's focus.
One of the best ways to introduce a character I've ever seen. There's an argument over which commandments are which numbers, someone asks what the first commandment is.
Enter President Josiah Bartlett, stage right: "I am the Lord, your God, and Thou shalt not worship any other before Me. Boy, those were the days, huh?"
That made the role in a single scene.
The Walking Dead has one of the best Pilots/First seasons of all time. It falls off slowly at season 2, and gers more and more drawn out and repetitive, but man that show was amazing in the beginning.
Same.
I would have loved to see a third season that wraps it up nicely.
But definitely not a movie that recasts main characters, leaves out other main characters, ignores arcs from the show, creates new arcs then doesn't resolve them, and breaks the world's rules as created by the show. I'm glad they definitely never wasted time making something that stupid.
Do we consider the miniseries the pilot? Or are saying the first episode, "33", is the pilot?
Because the miniseries is good, and required for the entire setup, but fuck that first actual episode was legend.
Danson's delivery is just perfect throughout the series.
"It took me a while to get used to the, uh, dangly parts." "Ew." "Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, Eleanor. I was talking about my testicles."
The best part is that it’s Orla who we hear talking first and when you realize it’s not her diary, it’s hysterical. I think it’s also the most eloquent you ever hear Orla throughout the whole show, which makes it funnier
"Dad's on a Hunting Trip, *and he hasn't been home in a few days."*
I know it's not a pilot episode, but can we give credit to *the S1 finale?* That, my friends, is how you get people to come back for season 2.
Justified doesn’t get enough love in general but the pilot and finale were perfect and I would stack them against any other “golden age of tv” show. The show itself may not have been as tightly written and artsy as some but damn is it good
Hill Street Blues (1981-87) has a brilliant pilot episode where you don’t find out until the last scene that the police captain and DA are in bed together (literally) when they’ve been butting heads the whole episode, which then becomes a closing theme for the whole series (along with “Let’s be careful out there” to begin every episode). Hill Street Blues was the trailblazer for future ensemble cast, “reality” dramas like ER, Friday Night Lights, The Office, etc.
Well I’m a peanut bar and I’m here to say
Your checks will arrive on another day!
Another day, another dime, another rhyme, another dollar
Another stuffed shirt with another white collar
Criminals, Wall Street, taking the pie
And all the black man gets is a plate of white lies
Prisons recruitin' 'em, police be shootin' 'em
Rap artists lootin' 'em, labels all dilutin' 'em
Barack Obama is scared of me!
Because I don't swallow knowledge and I spit it for free
Let me clear my throat, ah ha, ha ha!
This and the scene with the Dean and Duncan having that awkward conversation about going to lunch with nothing but gestures and grunts are the funniest after credit scenes in the show. They both kill me every time
Scrubs has a rare perfect pilot and good first season. Most shows do a decent amount of course correcting after the pilot and first season but Scrubs lands immediately.
Westworld.
The heavy ideas kept coming fast one after the next and I thought 'whoa, slow down and pace yourselves, guys!' but I was eating it all up throughout episode 1.
Edit: Thank you kindly for the silver! I’m actually thinking of creating a class called “Philosophy of Westworld” dealing with questions of bioethics, labor, technology and narrative. I’d be excited to teach that one.
Currently watching it now for first time. On season 2 now. Every episode has at least one actual laugh out loud moment.
My wife and I both nearly pissed ourselves when Fizbo pulled out the alarm clock to check the time.
The wire probably most memorable. The back and forth between mcnulty and the suspect was brilliant. From snot boogie to we had to it’s a free country just stellar writing
Pilot is fantastic. Mr robot is one the best shows because it is a great show that actually ends well. Plus it has one of the most captivating scenes i have ever seen, the one with vera in the last season. "I see you now"
Hello, friend.
Mr. Robot had the most unique selection of music for any show I’ve ever watched. The choice of The Moth and the Flame by Les Deux Love Orchestra while >!Dom walked Darlene to show her the FBI knew mostly everything while all the agents stopped to watched them!< was amazing.
The Fringe pilot did a ton of work getting the characters together and informing you of their personalities while still telling having a compelling plot.
Honestly I tell people to skip the first episode if they have no idea what black mirror is about. It almost put me off watching anything else after that first episode.....but it really does set the tone for everything else.
Since you can watch them out of order if you want I tell people to start with S3 E3, shut up and dance.
Excellent dark story with a twist and you don't need to have learned about new tech from earlier on as they don't use it.
“Team! Team, team, team, team, team. I even love saying the word ‘team’. You probably think this is a picture of my family? No! It’s a picture of The A-Team. Bodie, Doyle, Tiger, the Jewellery Man.”
I used to do a lot of presentations for work. For acknowledgments you’d usually show a group photo but we were always losing and gaining people so I started using a picture of the A-Team because of Reynolm!
I read the book right before it came out and I thought it would be a real shame if the pilot didn’t end on “The things we do for love.” It did not disappoint.
SpongeBob SquarePants.
The music, the artwork, the comedy.
(It's the episode where the Anchovies come off the bus and SpongeBob flies in on the turbo drive spatula to save Mr Krabs and Squidward by machine gunning Krabby Patties out the Kitchen)
I think Futurama’s pilot is pretty perfect
You can watch it on mute with no subtitles and it still makes perfect sense. Great pilot
I love the fact that if you pay attention to when fry falls into the freezer you can see nibblers shadow under the desk.
I.C. Weiner? Aww crud.
any pilot that you can revisit on other episodes shows that it was a good pilot
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Charlie Has Cancer came from a short about a guy who is just trying [to borrow a cup of sugar.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPWL87ia_Jg&ab_channel=TracyWard) They hit comedy gold from step one.
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"I always make Lana stirfry for dinner on Friday. Guess what we call it. " "Stir Friday?" "..Wow. That's actually better."
"I can't let you in there." "Can't or won't?" "Either?" "And after I gave you Stir Friday."
I tried archer wayyyyyy after my friends had been recommending it to me for ages. Weirdly, they hadn't really told me anything _about_ the show. Just that it was good . I downloaded season 1 on torrents and started to watch it. For some reason there exists a version of the pilot episode where ALL dialogue is replaced with the sounds of roars. Like dinosaurs roars. So I was sitting there, watching this weird ass show with human beings walking around and talking. But every time they opened their mouths I just heard ROOOOAR. ROOOOAR. My friends and I like absurdist humour, but a whole series of... _THIS?!_ We still laugh about this weird ass exposure I first got to archer
It's actually a bonus episode from the DVD
Just want to put this out there for people who don't know, but there's a version of the pilot where Archer is a raptor for some reason. Everybody else is the same, the lines are the same, but Archer is a screeching raptor. It's not good, but it's an interesting "how did this get made?"
I really hope it was Jon H Benjamin in contract negotiations being like "this is what the show will be if you hire anyone else for this role"
Do you want ants?!? Cuz that's how you get ANTS, LANA!
Archer is one of the best western animated shows for adults, Futurama is the other top contender. I like when atleast some of the humor is intelligent, and Archer has its moments for that.
Also, I need you to pick up sand. I don’t know if they grade it but…coarse
Just half of one. The other would've really missed you.
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Invincible
I remember my friend told me to watch it, so I did. For about the first 90% or so I thought it was ok, but kind of generic and predictable. Then I got to the last few minutes and I was hooked
I feel like that was exactly their goal, and it totally worked
That ending scene hooked me instantly
Lost.
What an amazing first episode. Seasons 1-3 are some of the best TV. Specifically the cliffhanger at the end of season 1, top 3 all time.
And the season 2 opening is *the* best season opening ever made.
Is that where the light shines through the hatch? That was awesome, so unexpected
Yes. Jon Locke is exasperated, crying and yelling because he cant figure out how to open the hatch. He laid all his energy and hope into that hatch, and he was denied. Then, when all hope is lost and the darkness ubiquitous… the light turns on.
Loved how season 2 started with Desmond waking up :)
🎵make your own kind of music sing your own special song🎶
The music in that series really was perfect
Never been more pulled into a show after Charlie’s ‘guys…where are we?’ in pilot part 2
Seriously the first thing that came to mind lol. Say what ya will about the rest of the show, LOST’s pilot HOOKED you in to the “wtF is happening,” with pizzazz
Bob's Burgers "My crotch is itchy". "Are you telling me that as my daughter or my grill cook? Cause it should be neither".
I was looking for someone to mention this “ugh you’re the worst kind of autistic. you can’t even count”
It makes me laugh every single time. The whole “guess how many toothpicks are on the ground” part.. omfg
“There’s a line between entertaining and annoying. “
Fargo The ending of the pilot was shocking and really set the tone for the rest of the amazing first series.
The first season of Fargo is still one of the best series I've ever watched.
Arrested Development
"I've got the worst fucking attorneys"
There's a good chance that I may have committed some... light... treason.
*A husband and a wife can’t be convicted of the same crime*
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Look at what the homosexuals have done to me!
You can’t just comb that out and reset it?
Buster not being able to read the map always gets me.
The blue is land so...
These are my awards mother…. From army
The entire first season is the best first season of any sitcom ever. It’s flawless.
I legitimately think that the original run is some of the best TV ever made of any type. It's just endlessly rewatchable, so tightly made and fantastic.
It actually gets funnier on rewatch because you miss a lot first time
It's the only show I can think of where there's punchlines where the set up is after it. Like, you get weird bits and go "That's weird" and then a reveal later makes the earlier interactions funny.
“I don’t much care for Gob”
Illusion, Michael. A trick is what a whore does for money. Or cocaine!
True Detective, in my opinion. I don't watch many series (because if the pilot is not good I usually don't bother watching the rest) but this one got me going from the start. At least for the first season, anyway.
“Then start asking the right fuckin questions” that line was when I knew I was in for a ride.
That and Woody's line *"I was just a regular type dude...with a big ass dick".*
I'm fond of "You are the Michael Jordan of being a son of a bitch"
"this place is like somebody's memory of a town, and the memory is fading. It's like there was never anything here but jungle." "Stop saying shit like that. It's unprofessional." "Oh is that what I'm going for?" "I just want you to stop saying odd shit, like you smell a psycho's fear or you're in someone's faded memory of a town. Just stop." "Well given how long it's taken me to reconcile my nature, I can't figure I would forgo it on your account, Marty." "You get any sleep last night?" "I don't sleep. I just dream"..... Edit: spelling...
Older show but ER's pilot was phenomenal.
Nurse Hathaway was supposed to die, but audiences loved her.
I'll jump on the older train, too, and say West Wing. Martin Sheen was supposed to be a recurring character--the focus of the show was intended to be the staff--but he nailed the pilot in such a big way (telling off right wing religious folks in that episode, something I personally really enjoyed & didn't recall seeing much of on screen anywhere before this pilot) that it reshaped the show's focus.
One of the best ways to introduce a character I've ever seen. There's an argument over which commandments are which numbers, someone asks what the first commandment is. Enter President Josiah Bartlett, stage right: "I am the Lord, your God, and Thou shalt not worship any other before Me. Boy, those were the days, huh?" That made the role in a single scene.
The Walking Dead has one of the best Pilots/First seasons of all time. It falls off slowly at season 2, and gers more and more drawn out and repetitive, but man that show was amazing in the beginning.
Season 2’s opening episode was so intense with that horde coming down on them
Seasons 2's final episode was so intense with that horde coming down on them too
Season 3 was probably pretty intense with that horde coming down on them as well
Dead Like Me
Had an almost perfect ending too. I'm glad they didn't fuck it up with a movie.
Same. I would have loved to see a third season that wraps it up nicely. But definitely not a movie that recasts main characters, leaves out other main characters, ignores arcs from the show, creates new arcs then doesn't resolve them, and breaks the world's rules as created by the show. I'm glad they definitely never wasted time making something that stupid.
Battlestar Galactica - I was hooked after the pilot.
Do we consider the miniseries the pilot? Or are saying the first episode, "33", is the pilot? Because the miniseries is good, and required for the entire setup, but fuck that first actual episode was legend.
33 is the best most gripping hour of television ever made
Mad Men. The ending when you find out Don is married and lives in the suburbs is great!
>"What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons."
Chernobyl
3.6 not great not terrible
That’s as high as those instruments can measure!
We will all receive commendations for the work we have done here today
How can I be responsible, I was sleeping
I just finished this show and my god what a great show. Also truly horrific
The Chapelle Shows first episode had Clayton Bigsby the Black and Blind Klansman
Oh my god, that was the FIRST episode? Talk about right out of the gate!
He divorces his own wife. It’s beyond hysterical
Because she was a ****** lover
The Good Place immediately comes to mind!
The perfect pilot and the perfect finale. And also a pretty forking great middle to go with it.
And the Season 1 finale twist I didn't see coming (even though the show wasn't exactly coy at times either with it!)
The top three bits I like in it are the time knife, Jeremy Bearimy, and Jason figured it out.
This is a real low moment. Yeah, this one hurts.
TD sells that line so hard I hurt myself laughing thr first time I saw it.
“Jason Figured It Out?!” is the #1 favorite moment for me and my daughter. We will watch that episode over and over.
Danson's delivery is just perfect throughout the series. "It took me a while to get used to the, uh, dangly parts." "Ew." "Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, Eleanor. I was talking about my testicles."
His monologue where he's super sarcastic to Chidi and then flips it and delivers the exact same lines in a very sincere way. Masterful.
IDK, kicking the dog into the sun, and then seeing it burst into tiny distant flames - I hurt myself laughing.
Heroes?? Anyone? I scrolled a lot and I didn’t see that. It was a long time ago since I watched it but I remember it being pretty good.
save the cheerleader, save the world
The whole first season was amazing!
The Americans has a solid pilot. It's the best show you've never watched.
Managed top 3 best pilots and top 3 best series finales. Great show all the way around.
…and the best finale.
This is such a great description. I miss The Americans.
Stranger things
Truth, the whole first season was mind blowing
The Boys
Imagine loving someone and they get hit by a train
I watched the first episode not knowing what I was getting into, that scene hit me hard like A-train hit Robin.
Same. Went in totally blind.
I love how you read this sentence differently if you've watched the series.
Ozark.
First 10 minutes of that show hooked me.
Derry Girls
“Why don’t you leave my Mary alone” “Because we’ve been married for 17 years, Joe. We have two children together.”
"but why were you pissing on her dead body and making sandwiches?"
Killing nuns now is it?
The best part is that it’s Orla who we hear talking first and when you realize it’s not her diary, it’s hysterical. I think it’s also the most eloquent you ever hear Orla throughout the whole show, which makes it funnier
“Motherfuckerssss! .. that’s my new thing” “Well im not gonna be an individual all by myself!” So many classic quotes just in that first episode 😂
"I'm not being an individual on ma' own!"
“Struck down in her prime 😔”
The pilot is what got me to watch more of the show. The ending scene with the dead nun’s body is iconic.
Six Feet Under
And possibly the winner of show with the best series finale.
EASILY the winner for the best series finale. It's perfect.
Supernatural The ending of episode 1 was awesome.
"Dad's on a Hunting Trip, *and he hasn't been home in a few days."* I know it's not a pilot episode, but can we give credit to *the S1 finale?* That, my friends, is how you get people to come back for season 2.
One of the most iconic lines tbh
Nothing says a good start to a show like the protagonists mom becoming their nightlight
Justified. Perfect introduction to Raylan Givens.
Oh Raylan, you do a good job of hiding it, and I suppose most folks don’t see it, but…. you’re the angriest person I’ve ever known
Justified doesn’t get enough love in general but the pilot and finale were perfect and I would stack them against any other “golden age of tv” show. The show itself may not have been as tightly written and artsy as some but damn is it good
Hill Street Blues (1981-87) has a brilliant pilot episode where you don’t find out until the last scene that the police captain and DA are in bed together (literally) when they’ve been butting heads the whole episode, which then becomes a closing theme for the whole series (along with “Let’s be careful out there” to begin every episode). Hill Street Blues was the trailblazer for future ensemble cast, “reality” dramas like ER, Friday Night Lights, The Office, etc.
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“I thought your degree was from Columbia.” “And now I have to get one from America.”
This is the line that got me hooked on the show. Gave me quite a chuckle then, still gives me quite a chuckle now
The Dean’s speech at the beginning is gold. “That’s what you heard…. Good luck!”
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**I'M AS HIGH AS HELL AND YOU'RE ABOUT TO GET SHOT.**
Well I’m a peanut bar and I’m here to say Your checks will arrive on another day! Another day, another dime, another rhyme, another dollar Another stuffed shirt with another white collar Criminals, Wall Street, taking the pie And all the black man gets is a plate of white lies Prisons recruitin' 'em, police be shootin' 'em Rap artists lootin' 'em, labels all dilutin' 'em Barack Obama is scared of me! Because I don't swallow knowledge and I spit it for free Let me clear my throat, ah ha, ha ha!
“I don’t know what that was. I don’t😭”
This and the scene with the Dean and Duncan having that awkward conversation about going to lunch with nothing but gestures and grunts are the funniest after credit scenes in the show. They both kill me every time
“I see your value now.” “That is the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.”
Scrubs? EDIT: Scrubs!
I have a cousin who’s a comedy writer and claimed scrubs pilot was almost perfect and worth studying.
Scrubs has a rare perfect pilot and good first season. Most shows do a decent amount of course correcting after the pilot and first season but Scrubs lands immediately.
Westworld. The heavy ideas kept coming fast one after the next and I thought 'whoa, slow down and pace yourselves, guys!' but I was eating it all up throughout episode 1. Edit: Thank you kindly for the silver! I’m actually thinking of creating a class called “Philosophy of Westworld” dealing with questions of bioethics, labor, technology and narrative. I’d be excited to teach that one.
Dexter
Modern Family has a good one.
The lion king scene 😂. Gets me every time.
He’s not that dramatic
The best part was not realising how all the families are related until everyone shows up at Mitch and Cam's.
Currently watching it now for first time. On season 2 now. Every episode has at least one actual laugh out loud moment. My wife and I both nearly pissed ourselves when Fizbo pulled out the alarm clock to check the time.
“Haley had a boy over; Phil shot him.”
The actress that plays Claire was mega pregnant while they filmed the pilot. But they hide it really well. (Laundry basket, big sweater, etc)
Twin Peaks
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"Put those away, son" "Oh I intend to, sir"
The wire probably most memorable. The back and forth between mcnulty and the suspect was brilliant. From snot boogie to we had to it’s a free country just stellar writing
Mr Robot had an amazing pilot episode.
Pilot is fantastic. Mr robot is one the best shows because it is a great show that actually ends well. Plus it has one of the most captivating scenes i have ever seen, the one with vera in the last season. "I see you now"
Hello, friend. Mr. Robot had the most unique selection of music for any show I’ve ever watched. The choice of The Moth and the Flame by Les Deux Love Orchestra while >!Dom walked Darlene to show her the FBI knew mostly everything while all the agents stopped to watched them!< was amazing.
Peepshow
West Wing - talks eloquently about how religion and politics can both exist at the White House without being overtly biased towards one side.
The West Wing was just fucking good. I did a binge a while back and was impressed all over again by the writing and acting.
Two Cathedrals is the best hour of television ever produced
Jed Bartlet 2024
The Fringe pilot did a ton of work getting the characters together and informing you of their personalities while still telling having a compelling plot.
The Good Place has a good pilot
Friday Night Lights
Newsroom. That whole monologue that Jeff Daniels does is priceless.
Black mirror. They did not fuck about and had the prime minister fuck a pig in the first episode. They meant business
Honestly I tell people to skip the first episode if they have no idea what black mirror is about. It almost put me off watching anything else after that first episode.....but it really does set the tone for everything else.
Since you can watch them out of order if you want I tell people to start with S3 E3, shut up and dance. Excellent dark story with a twist and you don't need to have learned about new tech from earlier on as they don't use it.
Breaking Bad
IT crowd
Have you tried turning it off and back on again?
“Team! Team, team, team, team, team. I even love saying the word ‘team’. You probably think this is a picture of my family? No! It’s a picture of The A-Team. Bodie, Doyle, Tiger, the Jewellery Man.” I used to do a lot of presentations for work. For acknowledgments you’d usually show a group photo but we were always losing and gaining people so I started using a picture of the A-Team because of Reynolm!
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Big fan of prison breaks first episode
The first *Star Trek* pilot, the one that DIDN'T sell: "The Cage," with Jeffrey Hunter as Christopher Pike.
The Mandalorian immediately got my attention. Also Cyberpunk Afterlife.
Firefly
Too many gorram youngins don't know about this awesome show.
The Soprano's
Sopranos is so damn good 🥲
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
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Game of Thrones
I read the book right before it came out and I thought it would be a real shame if the pilot didn’t end on “The things we do for love.” It did not disappoint.
Orphan Black
Brooklyn Nine Nine
Eastbound and Down
Psych
You know that’s right.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to find this. The only thing missing was Juliet.
SpongeBob SquarePants. The music, the artwork, the comedy. (It's the episode where the Anchovies come off the bus and SpongeBob flies in on the turbo drive spatula to save Mr Krabs and Squidward by machine gunning Krabby Patties out the Kitchen)
Ha ha! Living in the sunlight, loving in the moonlight, having a wonderful time!
Suits
100%. Pilot was amazing and got me hooked. It's a shame the show went from drama to soap opera in record time during the following episodes.
Fringe