The Best TV Pilots of the Decade, Ranked

“Atlanta”

The only rule about TV pilots is that you have to make your audience care.

The last 10 years of opening episodes have proved that there is certainly a template for making that happen. Have an audience surrogate character  introduce the world and have the viewers see a new set of circumstances through their eyes. Have a central character deliver a not-so-disguised monologue laying out the broad themes of the series. Have the action cut out for one perfectly calibrated needle drop to show how the series connects in a specific cultural time and place. 

Or do none of those at all. 

In our ongoing quest to put the past decade in perspective, we collected 20 of the best pilots that either used those conventions to their advantage or gleefully tossed them into an incinerator. These shows span cable, streaming, and broadcast. Some shows aired only a dozen episodes, while others went on to become massive institutions that transcended TV itself. All of them managed to start off with a story worth remembering. 

20. “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (Netflix — March 6, 2015)

“Kimmy Goes Outside!”

The title of the pilot says it all: After 15 years in a doomsday cult, Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper)  is free to experience the fetid, rat-tinged miasma of New York City. (In hindsight, what really drives home the point in the pilot that New York is a savage concrete jungle isn’t the real estate jokes, but a terrible, gross cameo from Matt Lauer.) The pilot has quickfire jokes aplenty – this is a Tina Fey and Robert Carlock joint, after all – but what resonates in the pilot is the steely certainty behind Kimmy’s perpetual sun. It’s “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in a blender, and you want to see more. —Ann Donahue

19. “Mr. Robot” (USA — June 24, 2015)

“eps1.0_hellofriend.mov”

The start of “Mr. Robot” felt like a harbinger of things to come far outside the confines of the show. Indie filmmakers and TV have had a mutual relationship for longer than the current boom, and the way that Elliot and the various fsociety pieces begin to move around felt just as much an aesthetic shift as a storytelling one. Cribbing some influences, melding some others, and taking wider scope approach to a hacker story, “Mr. Robot” announced itself as something worthy of attention. And it managed to do it all on USA, which to that point had harbored much different programming ambitions. It might be one of the last examples of a show (even a single episode) putting an entire network on prestige TV radar. (Series creator Sam Esmail’s “Homecoming” pilot isn’t too shabby, either.) —Steve Greene

18. “True Detective” (HBO — January 12, 2014)

“The Long Bright Dark”

Few TV series become instant sensations anymore, not without a built-in audience. But “True Detective” set the small screen ablaze from Day 1 when Nic Pizzolatto’s HBO cop drama debuted with the creepy, atmospheric, time-jumping pilot, “The Long Bright Dark.” That initial thrill may have been clouded by future seasons or what some perceived as a disappointing ending to the inaugural run. Still, seeing Marty Hart and Rust Cohle twice over — once as clean-cut cops in 1995, later in the shaggy-haired present of 2012 — sure piqued curiosities quickly, while Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey’s palpable chemistry created an instant classic detective duo. What happened in director Cary Fukunaga’s first episode created a buzz that’s yet to go out, as each new season of “True Detective” reminds viewers of that gut feeling they can’t shake: This is damn good TV. —Ben Travers

17. “Review” (Comedy Central — March 6, 2014)

“Stealing; Addiction; Prom”

Not only does this show-within-a-show’s opening dispatch with expository pleasantries, it immediately casts Forrest MacNeil as a very vulnerable man prone to spats of crippling guilt and momentary bouts with power. Both a tragic figure and the architect of his own demise,this first episode sets up both sides of his doom in record time. (In less than five minutes, he’s already behind the wheel of a stolen police car with a pilfered dog as his co-pilot.) Around him, AJ Gibbs, the motley crew in the “Review” production office, and his family (about to be torn asunder in short time) all pop up fully formed. After all, it’s not a pilot until someone shouts “Oh, you’re gonna die!” at someone who is definitely not gonna die. —SG

16. “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (The CW — October 12, 2015)

“Josh Just Happens to Live Here!”

On their own, “West Covina” and “The Sexy Getting Ready Song” are two quality Song of the Decade contenders. That this episode (written by series co-creators Aline Brosh McKenna & Rachel Bloom and directed by Marc Webb) surrounds both of those tunes with a streamlined hour setting up the show’s early story engines is icing on the “more nuanced than that” cake. Without feeling the need to downplay its musical theater DNA, the show came right out of the gate with a giant pretzel, a marching band, and a scathing critique of societally enforced gender dating norms. Rebecca Bunch was never meant to a be a character “solved” and this opening chapter of her story not only bolstered that idea, but did so only two hours from the beach. —SG

15. “Orphan Black” (BBC America — March 30, 2013)

“Natural Selection”

It takes just over two minutes for the pilot of “Orphan Black” to hook you. Just two minutes spent introducing us to Sarah (Tatiana Maslany), our morally ambiguous protagonist and plopping her on a train platform, just in time to see a sobbing woman throw herself in front of an oncoming train. Also, the woman is identical to Sarah. Everything after that unspools like a cinematic thriller, so taut that it doesn’t matter that the show’s big reveal doesn’t come until the third episode. (They’re clones. Sorry for the spoilers from 2013.) In reality, the episode, like the series, rests wholly on the breadth and strength of Maslany’s masterclass of a performance. We should all have such nuanced and complex relationships with ourselves. —Libby Hill

14. “The Last Man On Earth” (Fox — March 1, 2015)

“Alive in Tuscon”

Any TV viewer worth their weight in Easy Cheese could easily surmise that “The Last Man on Earth,” a show with a high-concept premise so wafer-thin it served double duty as its title, would eventually subvert its aforementioned premise. And yet, for about 20 minutes, “Alive In Tucson” makes a compelling case for a show that could have succeeded with a single human character: Phil Miller (played on the precipice of ecstasy and madness by Will Forte). Whether he’s chatting up his cadre of sports ball pals (after deriding Tom Hanks for doing the same in “Cast Away”), daydreaming about serenading a beautiful woman to the strains of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters,” or bathing in a margarita pool (complete with salt around the lip), Forte’s Phil never seems bereft of a scene partner. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller gleefully showcase the various ways in which our lone protagonist’s mind is deteriorating in the absence of others. It’s notable that “Alive In Tucson” was the only episode of the series nominated for any Emmys, especially when you consider that much like its hero for most of this pilot, it’s the only one of its kind. —Leonardo Adrian Garcia

13. “The Walking Dead” (October 31, 2010 — AMC)

“Days Gone Bye”

Regardless of what’s come to pass in the near-decade since, it’s not hard to see why this comics adaptation became one of the TV behemoths of the 2010s. As Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) stumbles through a zombie-devastated Atlanta — first an abandoned hospital, then the city streets filled with walkers — it expertly lays out what Rick has lost and what he still stands to save. As both writer and director of the pilot, Frank Darabont pushed back plenty of the “how” of it all for later episodes, instead letting the overwhelming dread set the template for a show that would only allow for the faintest glimmer of hope. —SG

12. “Fargo” (FX — April 15, 2014)

“The Crocodile’s Dilemma”

Film-to-television adaptations can be quite hard, but they can be near impossible when it comes to creating a series with a very specific voice, one different than that film. That was the case for FX’s adaptation of the Coen brothers’ “Fargo,” developed and written by Noah Hawley. However, from the opening moments, when the “Fargo” score kicks in and soars, it’s clear “Fargo” is in good hands. In a way, the entire first-time viewing experience of “The Crocodile’s Dilemma” is waiting for the other shoe to drop, for it to prove that certain films — especially from auteurs — just shouldn’t be touched in another medium. Only, that moment never comes, instead proving “Fargo” to be the perfect story to turn into an anthology. Because while it’s not the movie, Hawley’s writing, Adam Bernstein’s directing, the stellar cast’s performances, and really everything that made it all came together captured the spirit enough to be its own additional special thing. —LaToya Ferguson

11. “Watchmen” (HBO — October 20, 2019)

“It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice”

Killing off an assumed main character right at the end of a first episode could easily be a cheat. But as the culmination of the growing cloud of danger brewing in the skies over Tulsa, this opening installment of Damon Lindelof’s sequel/remix (sequix?), feels like a world that was waiting for a fuse to blow. In a move that comes to define the rest of the series, it presents a version of the truth that guides Angela Abar (Regina King), Judd Crawford (Don Johnson), and their extended families, right before picking at the very fabric of what held them together. With enough nods to the source material, Nicole Kassell’s first “Watchmen” episode shows that it knows when to let its own mysteries be. —SG

10. “Jane the Virgin” (The CW — October 13, 2014)

“Chapter One” 

The premise, frankly, is ludicrous. A young woman heads to her gynecologist for a routine check-up and ends up accidentally artificially inseminated. Also, she is a virgin. And yet, under the watchful eye of creator Jenny Snyder Urman, “Jane the Virgin” crafted a pilot episode so charming that it won the hearts of both critics and audiences. This was in no small part thanks to Gina Rodriguez’s luminous performance as Jane, someone who has ambition and dreams and plenty of conflicted feelings about her sexual urges and her faith. Ultimately, the truth of the pilot can be found in the title. It’s merely the first chapter in a long and twisty tale and left us desperate to know more. —LH

9. “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu — April 26, 2017)

“Offred”

What’s the most frightening dystopia you can imagine? Does it look foreign and futuristic? Does it look stark and post-apocalyptic? Or does it look like a funhouse mirror of this modern life, where women are stripped of their rights and treated as chattel, while men dictate what will and will not be done with their bodies? The pilot of “The Handmaid’s Tale” was the latter, with showrunner Bruce Miller, director Reed Morano, production designer Julie Berghoff, and costume designer Ane Crabtree, among others, working in chorus to create a vision of Margaret Atwood’s world so vibrant and terrible that it felt leached straight from the author’s brain and onto the screen. Hunted, imprisoned, raped, and abused, the audience was Offred (Elisabeth Moss). Her pain was ours. But so was her rage. It was an episode of television that set the tone for a resistance and gave us a window into a future worth fighting against. —LH

8. “The Crown” (Netflix — November 4, 2016)

“Wolferton Splash”

There was a certain gentility to the time when the King of England could have a cancerous lung removed and no one would want to upset him by telling him about it. In the pilot of “The Crown”, the atmospherics of those bygone times lay the groundwork for the new era that would take place after the death of King George VI (Jared Harris) and the ascension of his daughter, Elizabeth (Claire Foy) to the throne. The adage is that England always does Queens well — Elizabeth I, Victoria — and Kings less so, and the stylish pilot gorgeously outlines the pressures of the brave new world that Elizabeth II will face and help create. —AD

7. “Legion” (FX — February 8, 2017)

“Chapter 1”

A romantic meet-cute in an insane asylum. A hypnotic drug trip with an untrustworthy narrator. An unsettling superhero origin story packed with action. All of these summaries aptly describe Noah Hawley’s wild premiere episode of his increasingly wild FX series, “Legion.” At times, the show tries to do too much, but the pilot, “Chapter 1,” arguably establishes that expectation for indulgence, except it perfectly ties every facet of its spectacular debut into one enticing package. Toss in an unforgettable dance number, and this is arguably the best introductory hour of comic book TV ever made. —BT

6. “Bob’s Burgers” (Fox — January 9, 2011)

“Human Flesh”

After more than 180 episodes of the Fox Sunday night staple, it’s kind of shocking to look back at the pilot, “Human Flesh,” and see just how many elements are still utilized to this day. The opening credits still offer a new punny neighboring store each week. The core Belcher family remains the same winning fivesome. Bob (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) still considers Jimmy Pesto his mortal enemy, Gene (Eugene Mirman) still wears the burger suit, and side characters like Hugo the health inspector and his assistant Ron have been fleshed out each time they pop back into the burger shop. It’s the inventive spirit instilled by creator Loren Bouchard and his outstanding team that keeps the comedy fresh, as no premise is too weird or minor to spoil the fun inherent in this family. Sitcoms usually take some time to find their groove, but “Bob’s Burgers” put the pieces in place from their first re-re-re-opening. —BT

5. “Fleabag” (BBC Two — April 21, 2016)

“Episode 1”

Some shows start with a whisper, some shows start with a bang, but when Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag” made its grand debut, it did so with its titular character staring straight down the barrel of the camera and wondering aloud if she had a “massive arsehole.” While it was an older, wiser, but still idiosyncratic Fleabag that would win the affection of Hollywood in its second season, the pilot serves as a masterclass in quickly anchoring the audience in the worldview of its protagonist, a bad feminist who is crass, horny, self-destructive, with an arsehole of an indeterminate size. It’s a small episode, during which no planes fall out of the sky, no clones appear, no society crumbles. Fleabag is just one fucked-up woman. And she’s all of us. —LH

4. “Atlanta” (FX — September 6, 2016)

“The Big Bang”

In a lot of ways, “The Big Bang” is the ideal pilot episode. Not only does it fully introduce all of its characters without getting too heavy on the exposition — instead trusting that its audience can just follow along with what is essentially an elevated “day in the life” —  it does so while managing to be just as poignant and surreal as the rest of the series has become known for. (“The Big Bang” also has the rare in media res opening that still works in modern context, humorously — despite the tension in the scene — framed through the concept of Lakeith Stanfield’s Darius’ feeling of deja vu.) All of that speaks to just how clear Donald Glover’s view is for the series he created and stars in. It also speaks to Glover’s view of the titular city as well, just as fully lived-in and real as the characters the episode introduces. Hiro Murai’s direction of the series is often lauded — there’s something especially affecting about the overhead shots of the city before the title card shows up in the pilot that says everything you need to know about the series without saying a simple word. —LF

3. “Hannibal” (NBC — April 4, 2013)

“Apéritif”

To look back at “Hannibal” is to still be amazed by and even baffled over how it even got onto network television in the first place. At the time, showrunner Bryan Fuller even said of ”Hannibal,” “We are not making television. We are making a pretentious art film from the ’80s.” While its pilot isn’t the series at its peak as a “pretentious art film,” it’s certainly an incredible entry point for the series, hallucinogenic and fueled by sorrow and fear, as well as hauntingly beautiful (and beautifully haunting) imagery. It also holds up extremely well even six years later, not just in the stylistic choices that the episode makes and sets for the series as a whole but especially in its two leads’ performances. Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen’s performances as Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter, respectively, are still incredibly captivating and grounded — in the hypervisual world of “Hannibal” — now as they were in 2013, both as pair and singularly. —LF

2. “The Americans” (FX — January 30, 2013)

“Pilot”

There is a, yes, Russian novel’s worth of plot packed into the pilot of “The Americans,” and never has so convoluted of a tale been so deftly told. Rapid cuts between flashbacks and present day reveal how deep cover KGB spies Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) set up shop in the United States as a wholesome all-American family, complete with two kids, a mortgage in the ‘burbs and snoopy neighbors trying to investigate the gagged operative in the trunk of the car. Even as the body count rises, “The Americans” pilot isn’t just a spy thriller; it’s an adaptation of the oft-quoted Tolstoy line about how every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —AD

1. “Homeland” (Showtime — October 2, 2011)

“Pilot”

Airing five months to the day after Osama bin Laden was killed, the pilot for Showtime’s “Homeland” was an electric jolt to a country still untangling the long-term consequences of 9/11. As shown in a million insane strings-of-yarn on a bulletin board memes, CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) suspects that recently returned POW Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) is a sleeper agent for al-Qaeda. But she’s the classic unreliable narrator, both damaged and damaging, and the pilot submerges the audience in questions about her credibility. Is her paranoia justified? Is America’s paranoia justified? Who are our heroes, and why? And by the time Brody stares menacingly at the Capitol at the end of the episode, American exceptionalism takes on a whole different meaning. —AD