Patricia Abbott (pattinase): The Best TV Pilots

Saturday, June 22, 2013

The Best TV Pilots

This is my choice. It took off like a rocket. What else? (Sorry this was scheduled before the death of Gandolfini).

16 comments:

Anonymous said...: We were discussing it the other day: China Beach.

Jeff M.; 7:42 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Really strong start and it kept it up largely.; 7:44 AM
George said...: I remember watching the pilot to THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. and being blown away. But, I think I was 12 at the time.; 8:24 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: It was terrific at the time. Unlike anything I had seen before. Same for Mission Impossible.; 9:20 AM
Todd Mason said...: You know, I was disappointed by the CHINA BEACH pilot...thought the series improved markedly as it went along.

One where I differ from a lot of folks' opinion is in liking THE SEINFELD CHRONICLES and the whole short first season much better than several of the later seasons.

Some series just start strong: HOMICIDE, ONCE AND AGAIN (RELATIVITY even moreso...though, of course, we didn't get to see how good or dull that one could get, as it was killed off so quickly), M*A*S*H. Others, not so much: ST. ELSEWHERE, VEEP, KIDNAPPED, BABYLON-5.; 9:35 AM
Todd Mason said...: Terrible series, surprisingly good pilot (at least, considering what followed): LOST IN SPACE.

Excellent telefilm, terrible series: THE NIGHT STALKER (and THE NIGHT STRANGLER, its first sequel).; 9:40 AM
Todd Mason said...: Most ridiculously uneven series:

ER (the dramatic series)(solid pilot)
CROSSING JORDAN
THE TWILIGHT ZONE (in all but the uniformly awful UPN version hosted by Forest Whitaker); 9:43 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: VEEP's second season is amazingly better than the first. I agree about SEINFELD. The last few years were not good. HOMICIDE, loved it but they had such great source material.; 9:50 AM
Charles Gramlich said...: Is that the Sopranos? I never caught an episode. My favorite pilot is going to be from Star Trek, of course.; 10:36 AM
Kent Morgan said...: geologyThe one I remember is Cheers, but then the idea of an ex-Boston Red Sox relief pitcher running a bar with the focus on the regulars really appealed to me. I think I watched almost every episode until Kristie Alley showed up.; 11:45 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Cheers' pilot was good immediately-I saw it recently.; 1:14 PM
Todd Mason said...: Sadly, great source material doesn't guarantee anything...recall not only THE NIGHT STALKER tv series but all the first-rate fiction rendered fair to middlin' (or worse) by NIGHT GALLERY, among other anthology series...you know, the more I think about it, more films have really botched their good literary sources than have television series based on such.; 1:54 PM
Brian Lindenmuth said...: Here's some lesser known choices.

Brooklyn South
The Black Donnely's
The Chicago Code; 10:57 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Not sure I saw any of those.; 6:47 AM
J F Norris said...: Hands down for me it's TWIN PEAKS.

Runners-up: NORTHERN EXPOSURE, PICKET FENCES

NIGHT GALLERY really did become one of the worst superntural anthology shows ever. But CIRCLE OF FEAR (aka GHOST STORY) is pretty much 80% dreck, too. I was so dispapointed when I ordered the DVD collection of that series and after re-watching all the episodes found so much of it to be boring. When I was a teen most of those shows spooked the hell out of me. Sometimes it's best to leave a memory a memory and not revisit the past.; 10:26 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: You couldn't watch the first episode and not come back.; 10:27 AM