Watching the pilot of your favorite show

[MattIowa1]

The other day, I decided to start Criminal Minds from the beginning on Netflix. I really enjoy procedural dramas and I had gotten into CM during Joe Mantenga's run, so I wanted to start binging.

When I got done watching the pilot, I was thinking to myself, "You know, if this was the first episode I had watched, I probably wouldn't have invested any more time into this show."

It's probably just me, but has anyone else had that feeling with their favorite show?

 

[Majora Mink]

I sometimes feel like I "get into" something better by 2nd season or the sequel film (regardless if I had actually watched the first one or not). Pilots are sort of a crap-shoot because they're really just a pitch- no money coming in yet, too much risk to invest in something that early. I guess pilots are meant more to appeal to studio execs than wider audiences...

One of my favorite sort-of pilots is a animation-school storyboard that turned into Regular Show on Cartoon Network- it was basically full of drug-use references and total cartoon crack, but it turned into an actual syndicated kids show. I think it's called "2 in the Am-Pm"

 

[DFT]

Pilots are a guilty pleasure of mine. People addressing each other awkwardly with their names too much so the audience can put names to characters. Cheap production with the producer's cousin showing up in the background of shots. An over the top story that's been massaged to death so it's both outlandish and bland. I love all that weirdness. Hundreds of shows I never watched again, but I'll watch any pilot.

 

[DaddyDominant]

The other day, I decided to start Criminal Minds from the beginning on Netflix. I really enjoy procedural dramas and I had gotten into CM during Joe Mantenga's run, so I wanted to start binging.

When I got done watching the pilot, I was thinking to myself, "You know, if this was the first episode I had watched, I probably wouldn't have invested any more time into this show."

It's probably just me, but has anyone else had that feeling with their favorite show?

Sounds a lot like Black Mirror. I watched the first episode and 'noped' out of the rest. I've watched bits and pieces of episodes since then but that one turned me off to the entire series (as a whole).

 

[fandango]

I normally find pilots pretty terrible to be honest. I normally watch a lot of comedy shows and pilots are tough because the cast don't yet have the rapport and the characters aren't fleshed out enough. I normally give shows at least 5 episodes but I find most don't really hit their stride until their second or even third seasons.

 

[yummybrownfox]

It's weird (but not in a bad way) to go back and watch the very first episode of Law and Order Special Victims Unit. I thought the pilot was great. That's back when they still had Captain Cragen, Elliot Stabler, John Munch, Monique Jeffries, and Cassidy. All of those characters are gone now, except for Cassidy making an appearance every once in a blue moon. Munch came back a little while ago for a brief scene where he's babysitting Olivia's son Noah.

The show has had so many A.D.A.'s, detectives coming and going, and they're about to begin season 20. Amazing.

Even watching the pilot of Seinfeld...I can't get over how cringeworthy those dresses were that Elaine wore with those shoes. She looked like a little girl. Eventually, she stopped wearing those hideous dresses, and started looking more sophisticated.

 

[Dan Epstein]

I dare anyone to watch the pilot of Power Rangers, and live to tell about it later.....

 

[MDouble00]

I find that some of my favorite shows have pilots I don't particularly like to re-watch. And then others I really enjoy diving back into the show from the start pilot and all.

I dare anyone to watch the pilot of Power Rangers, and live to tell about it later.....

Ha-ha not the pilot but my Friend and I recently had an entirely too long conversation about the Green Ranger fucking up the Power Rangers. Which was heightened when he shared this thread with me: