The Best TV Pilots of All Time
by bboystudios-93476 | created - 16 May 2017 | updated - 09 Sep 2019 | PublicA list of the most engaging, well paced TV pilots that immediately pulled us into a show, leaving us wanting more.
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1.
Fargo (2014–2024)
Episode:
The Crocodile's Dilemma
(2014)
TV-MA | 69 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A ruthless, manipulative man meets a small-town insurance salesman and sets him on a path of destruction.
Director: Adam Bernstein | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Martin Freeman
Votes: 16,583
2.
The Walking Dead (2010–2022)
Episode:
Days Gone Bye
(2010)
TV-14 | 67 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes awakens from a coma, and searches for his family in a world ravaged by the undead.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden
Votes: 29,863
3.
Breaking Bad (2008–2013)
Episode:
Pilot
(2008)
TV-MA | 58 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, chemistry teacher Walter White teams up with former student Jesse Pinkman to cook and sell crystal meth.
Director: Vince Gilligan | Stars: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris
Votes: 43,113
4.
Better Call Saul (2015–2022)
Episode:
Uno
(2015)
TV-14 | 54 min | Crime, Drama
Struggling public defender Jimmy McGill constructs an elaborate yet questionable plan for winning back a pair of wealthy potential clients.
Director: Vince Gilligan | Stars: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian
Votes: 22,859
5.
Lost (2004–2010)
Episode:
Pilot: Part 1
(2004)
TV-14 | 42 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Forty-eight survivors of an airline flight originating from Australia, bound for the U.S., which crash-lands onto an unknown island 1000 miles off course, struggle to figure out a way to survive while trying to find a way to be rescued.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O'Quinn, Naveen Andrews
Votes: 12,707
6.
Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018)
Episode:
El Jefe
(2015)
TV-14 | 41 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
Ash accidentally releases the Evil Dead.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, Jill Marie Jones
Votes: 5,150
7.
Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000)
Episode:
Pilot
(1999)
TV-14 | 48 min | Comedy, Drama
In 1980, a group of high school students face various social struggles. Wealthy "brain" Lindsay wants to rebel. Her geeky freshman brother Sam and his two friends are targeted by a bully.
Director: Jake Kasdan | Stars: Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, James Franco, Samm Levine
Votes: 2,814
8.
Firefly (2002–2003)
Episode:
Serenity
(2002)
TV-14 | 86 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Malcolm Reynolds is a veteran and the captain of Serenity. He and his crew are smuggling goods, but they need to pick up some passengers for extra money. However, not all the passengers are what they seem.
Director: Joss Whedon | Stars: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin
Votes: 5,644
9.
House of Cards (2013–2018)
Episode:
Chapter 1
(2013)
TV-MA | 55 min | Drama
Congressman Francis Underwood has been declined the chair for Secretary of State. He's now gathering his own team to plot his revenge. Zoe Barnes, a reporter for the Washington Herald, will do anything to get her big break.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll
Votes: 8,450
10.
Stranger Things (2016–2025)
Episode:
Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers
(2016)
TV-14 | 47 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
American scientists, working without oversight in an obscure laboratory in a backwater town, have managed to bring about the total destruction of mankind.
Directors: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer | Stars: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown
Votes: 27,157
11. Gretel & Hansel (2020)
PG-13 | 87 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
A long time ago in a distant fairy tale countryside, a young girl leads her little brother into a dark wood in desperate search of food and work, only to stumble upon a nexus of terrifying evil.
Director: Oz Perkins | Stars: Sophia Lillis, Samuel Leakey, Alice Krige, Jessica De Gouw
Votes: 34,010 | Gross: $15.35M
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