As the new TV season begins, I am thinking about series I missed.
I fell out of watching Friday Night Lights about the time it went off NBC and onto Direct TV. I just watched the first episode again with the thought of going through the entire series. (I decided it was too big of a time commitment eventually).
I have to say though I have never seen a stronger first episode of a show. So sure-footed and sophisticated in its story telling: pathos, grit, surprise, humanity, realism, a sense of place, time and character. So canny in introducing its cast--a large one--in ways that defined them.
What other TV series began this strongly?
23 comments:
Patti - You're right that some series really do start off with real "punch." I've never watched Friday Night Lights, so can't speak to that one. But I was caught up from Moment One in Cold Case. I was sorry they cancelled that one...
I loved it because it took place in Philly and I bet you did too.
The West Wing.
I must admit that I never watched FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, even though I like Kyle Chandler. I read the book and saw the movie.
Jeff M.
THE WEST WING is a perfect example. And I think the key word there is Aaron Sorkin. I saw the movie of FNL too and liked it.
The two hour pilot of "Twin Peaks" stands out for me as the best thing ever made for American television, and the entire first season of the series pretty much lived up to it. Unfortunately the second season didn't.
That's a whole other topic, MP. Shows that started out so well and then...We loved it too.
If I'd had a chance I would have loved to watch this show. but it usually conflicted with something Lana was watching and I wasn't that big about it.
It is not unusual for the pilot to be better than the series. The budget for the pilot allows studios to bring in top directors to film it. And the writer often has spent months developing the story.
Once a series, time for writers to develop the story and budgets for each episode shrink.
I like to compare it to the difference from a writer's first book and his or hers second book.
"Fringe" pilot is great and its first season is terrible.
"Person Of Interest" may be one of these shows. The first episode worked but you can see the time put in it and the personal touches of the writer's talent (the examination of security vs privacy). But how long before the series drifts into another procedural with a gimmick? Will other writers have the time or talent to give the series episodes the layers of drama the pilot had?
Very true. With POI, I felt like it was happening even in the pilot. I could already see him saving someone from dying week after week.
Patti
I tend to nitpick at TV shows, but can you tell me why, in POI, did the lawyer visit the defendant in jail? Considering what happens afterwards it doesn't make much sense to me.
In answer to that, Michael: J. J. Abrams. He's not about coherence. He's about spinning plates. If spinning plates is enough for you, so be it. (I've only seen the last 15 minutes of the pilot last night, and I felt that sufficient.)
I never liked THE WEST WING because it always rang false...Sorkin doesn't actually know enough about politics, on the theoretical nor the day-to-day level (Alice always had the same problem with every medical drama except SCRUBS). But he does know television, and SPORTS NIGHT started strong.
Among the better pilots (very much including FNL, which had the slight advantage of the film as prologue, and TWIN PEAKS), there have been ONCE AND AGAIN, WKRP, JOURNEYMAN, DEADWOOD, THE GOOD WIFE, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS, THE SOPRANOS, HILL STREET BLUES, and, well, SCRUBS. Among many others where I don't remember the pilot as well, and thus won't endorse them here at the moment. But, frankly, the pilot gets so many tweaks so often that it can just as easily be one of the weakest episodes in the series, and there are series (ST. ELSEWHERE, THE X-FILES, BABYLON-5) that are so fortunate as to be able to improve mightily on their pilots (or in the case of that one, on its entire first season--or in STAR TREK: TNG's case, the first several seasons, while Roddenberry was still in charge)...other steady improvers that didn't get so lucky include KIDNAPPED and UNDER SUSPICION.
Well, "that one" when it was just ST. ELSEWHERE...those as it stands...
We'll have to take Todd's word for it because I fell asleep before he was in jail.
Good list, Todd.
I think the first few seasons of West Wing were pretty strong-and how many shows concern themselves at all with politics. But, my husband, always found them to be an overly self-satisfied bunch and that bugged him. Not Sorkin, the characters in the show.
I actually enjoyed "West Wing", but then I watched it as a fantasy rather than a political drama.
I thought ROME started off really well but then it couldn't decide if it wanted to pattern itself off of I CLAUDIUS or Caligula.
CHEERS had a great pilot and it's first season was probably it's best before Sam got dumber.
The reboot of DR WHO into an hourlong series was great and it's kept up to its promise.
The first episode of Star Trek TNG was fabulous and they didn't write an another episode that good for several seasons.
My knowledge of current TV is skewed because I watch very little of prime time and a lot of reruns after midnight (bartending).
And more a fantasy now than at the time.
Oh, that's another good question. What characters became exaggerations of themselves over time? Fonzy on Happy Days is one that jumps into my head. Always dangerous when one character stands out too much. Family Ties was helped and hurt by Michael Fox. If the writing had been better, they wouldn't have needed him to be so dominant.
Captain Kirk would be my first pick.
The characters of MASH especially Hot Lips changed in ways that strained believability.
Dan Luft, if you are curious about current TV (you are not missing much) you might try Hulu.com and watch shows whenever you are available.
Oh, yes. He quickly became a caricature and still is today.
First episodes that stick in my mind (Just a list as I think they have all been mentioned already)
DEADWOOD
THE SOPRANOS
THE WIRE
HILL STREET BLUES
CHEERS
We watch very little network television, but one that sticks in my mind recently was DETROIT 187, though it dropped off to more or less regular TV stuff after 3 or 4 episodes.
Hill Street Blues seemed like it came out of nowhere. It really changed cop shows forever.
I'd go with The Sopranos, certainly.
I have a hunch tonight's Terra Nova pilot may fall into this category... a strong one that will soon be the opener to a series that devolves into a sure miss.
I am taping it with my fingers crossed. We seldom make it past the first or second episode of most shows.
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