I wrote a version of this in the comments postings on my latest blog post on the V pilot, but I can't stop thinking about it, so I thought I'd expand it into a full column: What makes a good pilot? Many people are chattering about the pilot for V, saying based on it they'll watch it to the very end (if they loved it) or will never watch another episode (if they hated it) or will give it another shot (if they thought it was somewhere in the middle). But can we really tell from a pilot if a show is going to be any good?
The only way to really know if a pilot was any good is by looking at it in hindsight. But after much, MUCH experience with pilots, I'm not sure if they can be reliable indicators of how good a show is going to be. I've seen great pilots that basically used up all the writers' best ideas in one go, only to leave us with a limping series to follow. I've seen meh pilots that turned into amazing shows. I've seen good pilots for good shows, and good pilots for great shows, and good pilots for awful shows.
So let's look at some pilots that have (in hindsight) left a big impression on me. And for the most part, luckily, I can remember how I felt after watching them:
Lost: Possibly the best pilot episode I've ever seen. It introduced us to many characters, but didn't expect us to remember all of them, and instead focused on Jack and his relationship with the other characters. The special effects were extraordinary, and by creating utter confusion and fear in us by introducing a mysterious monster from the get-go, the show managed to make us as baffled and scared as the people on the island. What better way to align us with these characters. It was an extraordinary pilot that turned into an extraordinary show.
Buffy: It felt like a one-off episode, because it was the one that was meant to pull us in. It had great moments, like Giles plopping the Vampyr book on the library counter and Buffy backing away slowly, or like Xander overhearing the conversation, or Cordy almost being staked. It established the characters and we actually remembered their names by the end of it. But was it mindblowing when you put it in the context of what was to come? No. I don't remember being blown away by this episode, but it gave me just enough to want to keep watching, and by the middle of season 2, I was so in love with this show it hurt.
Angel: We'd just seen the end of season 3 of Buffy, and many fans were still hurting over the painful breakup between Buffy and Angel, so to see him in L.A., and to realize this was going to be less teenage angst and more adult loneliness was jarring. Cordy wasn't quite meshing, Angel was a little too broody, and the side plot of the evil vampire lawyers was boring. Most of season 1 turned into a monster-of-the-week show, but by the end of the season, the series had been lifted into a new stratosphere. By season 3, it was rivalling Buffy for my affections. I LOVE this show.
Heroes: WICKED pilot. Cheerleaders jumping off 10-storey buildings and healing. Bad guys. Good guys. Dreaming guys. Flying guys. The names were printed right on the screen so I knew who was who. The relationships were foggy, but I knew they'd be important. There were so many questions raised I couldn't wait for week 2. This show went on to prove itself again and again... until the finale. And after that it never, ever mustered the strength of its opening episodes, and instead fizzled into nothingness. What a waste.
The Sopranos: Mafia presence established. Check. Tony goes to the psychiatrist. Check. Tony has anger-management issues in front of an HMO building. Check. He's a family man, and a "family" man. But did it grab me? No. I moved onto the second episode hoping it would be better, and it was. Thus began my love-hate relationship with HBO pilots -- for the most part they're slow, and refuse to throw everything they've got into it. And for that, I now love them because I realize they're saving their best stuff for after the pilot.
Six Feet Under: One of my all-time favourite series. But the pilot? Great opening scene of a bus running into the funeral hearse. But then it dragged. Family established, quirkiness is there, but beyond that... kinda boring. I put it away and didn't watch the second episode for months. And WOW was I happy I did. Again, HBO used the opening to just introduce things. It was in the second and third episode that they pulled us in entirely.
The Wire: Another HBO outing, another opening with a LOT of information, characters who just didn't have my sympathy, humour that wasn't funny yet (because the inside jokeyness was yet to be established), and SO complicated it hurt my head... yet there was something there that really intrigued me and made me go straight to the second episode. There was no waiting this time. And it turned out to be the smartest show on television EVER, and one of the most compelling, heartbreaking, beautiful pieces of television of all time. (Anyone who's watched it knows I'm not exaggerating here.)
Glee: Fun, funny, and joyous, this show just seemed to completely nail it on the pilot and hasn't stopped. Unlike every other show on television -- possibly ever -- they rolled out the pilot on its own like a one-off movie and then sat back to see how everyone would handle it. And it proved to be the way to go. The characters have remained largely consistent, funny, and heartbreaking, and this show hasn't made a misstep yet, in my mind.
Flashforward: I really enjoyed the pilot of this one, but I wasn't head-over-heels in love with it. The second episode, on the other hand, was awesome, and then by the third episode it was dreary and hasn't picked up yet (here's hoping tonight's episode, the first one helmed completely by Goyer without anyone slowing him down, will prove to be the turning point). Too much was thrown at us in the pilot, and the rest of the series has just felt like a retread of everything we saw there.
Entourage: I hated hated hated that pilot. Hated it. I watched it, couldn't BELIEVE the hype about the show, and thought it was just a stupid stupid show for little boys who want to compare penis sizes and then brag about it. But a friend of mine whose opinion I really respect begged me to give it another chance and just get to the second episode, so I finally did (very begrudgingly) and was pleasantly surprised to see those same little boys being brought down, being made fools of, and then having to laugh at themselves, which they did. The show's had its ups and downs -- this season, sadly was a huge down -- but it's been a pretty good show, overall. And you just can't beat Ari Gold.
The Office: I was a big fan of the UK version of The Office, and I'll never forget interviewing David Denham for my Angel book (he played Skip the Wonder Demon on Angel) and we were chatting casually at the end of the interview and I asked him what else he was working on, and he said he was in a pilot of an American version of The Office. You can actually HEAR me lose interest on the tape. "Oh. Isn't that nice." (My hostility of US shows trying to adapt UK shows knew no bounds at the time.) And instead, he was featured in one of my favourite series of all time. (He played Pam's lug-headed fiancé.) But when I tuned in to the pilot, it was almost shot-for-shot the UK pilot, which apparently had been the idea, and then after that first episode they went off on their own. A REALLY stupid idea, in my opinion, because of how popular the UK one was here, and how many people -- like me -- who watched it and went, "Really? They're even doing the stapler in the Jell-O mold?!" and turned the channel. I didn't turn it back until the show was in season 2. And then I realized what I was missing...
Friends: I remember years and years ago tuning into this show for the first time, the night it first aired, and found it unfunny, staged, and ridiculous. The jokes fell flat, and there was only one moment where I smiled (Phoebe started going on and on about her mother committing suicide and mental illness running in the family or something and everyone sat there silent before Ross said, "The word you're looking for is, 'Anyway...'" and I remember thinking that was hilarious) but otherwise, I thought there was no way that show would survive. Boy, was I wrong there.
So... what does all of this tell us about V? Well, there are probably indicators in a show of whether it will be good or not. In every instance where I ended up liking the show a lot, you could tell it had a great cast and there was usually some moment in there that I liked so much I tuned in the following week. But then again, the same could be said of the shows that fell flat.
Do you think you can honestly tell if a show's going to be good on its first episode? Should shows be judged by their pilots? Or should the pilots only be judged in hindsight, in relation to what the show later became? While I loved the pilot of Lost, there's NO WAY I could have seen the topsy-turvy universe that was going to unfold later. There was no DI, no Ben, none of that juicy stuff in that pilot. But it had all the makings of that, and smartly, the writers didn't decide to throw everything at us from the outset.
What pilots do you remember being good or bad indicators of what the show would later become?
Two weeks without Glee is TOO LONG. I've missed this show so much, I was thrilled to have it back again. From giving us a new perspective of Sue Sylvester to solving one of the big nitpicks I've had with the show, it was a triumphant return. I was glad there was finally an episode devoted to Artie, who used to actually be part of a boy band (NLT). Here's a pic of him in those younger days.
