Worst Pilot For A Series You Ended Up Liking
01-03-09, 07:12 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 626
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Worst Pilot For A Series You Ended Up Liking
Now that top 10 lists for 2008 have come up, one show that is on more than a few is Fringe. I thought the pilot was an awful mess but I've come to enjoy the show a lot. What are some of the worst pilots for shows that you ended up liking or conversely great pilots where the show went downhill from there?
01-03-09, 07:27 PM
#4
DVD Talk God
01-03-09, 07:38 PM
#6
DVD Talk God
90210 (new version): The 2 hour pilot from September was almost unwatchable. However, the show has gotten better and I look forward to it's return this month.
The Unit: Not a bad pilot by any means, but considering where the show is now with the storylines being more action/adventure, I think the pilot was probably so-so at best and season 1 was really more soap opera-ish.
Good Pilots that turned into a crappy series:
1) Knight Rider: It seems like the 2 hour pilot from the spring and the series were made by 2 different sets of people. I think Gary Scott Thompson must have subliminally decided to make a crappy series to punish NBC for canceling Las Vegas. I won't miss this show when it gets canned.
The Unit: Not a bad pilot by any means, but considering where the show is now with the storylines being more action/adventure, I think the pilot was probably so-so at best and season 1 was really more soap opera-ish.
Good Pilots that turned into a crappy series:
1) Knight Rider: It seems like the 2 hour pilot from the spring and the series were made by 2 different sets of people. I think Gary Scott Thompson must have subliminally decided to make a crappy series to punish NBC for canceling Las Vegas. I won't miss this show when it gets canned.
01-03-09, 07:59 PM
#7
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
This one I don't agree with. I thought the first season was much more action oriented than subsequent seasons, with last season being the most soap operaish. I thought the pilot really started the show off with a bang, so to speak, when they have to take down the airliner.
01-03-09, 08:20 PM
#10
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,716
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Office: I nearly bailed on the series after the first three episodes, but opted to hold on tight, and was justly rewarded.
The Big Bang Theory: For whatever reason, I felt as though the pilot was one of the worst things I had ever seen. Now, however, I find the show to be one of the funniest in recent memory.
The Big Bang Theory: For whatever reason, I felt as though the pilot was one of the worst things I had ever seen. Now, however, I find the show to be one of the funniest in recent memory.
01-03-09, 08:41 PM
#11
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Babylon 5: I'm a sci-fi geek, but I thought the pilot was cheesy as heck and didn't bother watching any more since I figured there'd only be a few more eps before it was cancelled. Sometime when it was into its second season, I started watching it and it become my favorite show at the time.
01-03-09, 09:56 PM
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 392
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm going to have to say Bones. I hated the pilot and almost didn't bother watching the show after that except my mom is a huge David Boreanaz fan. So since I was still living at home, I watched it with her. Once the cast's chemistry started to build and the actors seemingly got more comfortable with their roles, it became one of my fave shows.
Oh, and I will second The Office. Terrible rehash of the original until it found its own footing and became brilliant.
Oh, and I will second The Office. Terrible rehash of the original until it found its own footing and became brilliant.
01-03-09, 11:01 PM
#18
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,001
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I started watching BBT at the start of the 2nd season, and just a while ago I watched the 1st season on DVD. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't catch it until the 2nd year; I honestly would have have given up after the weak pilot and earliest episodes had I started at the beginning.
01-04-09, 12:12 AM
#19
Senior Member
01-04-09, 01:32 AM
#20
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Southside Virginia
Posts: 6,457
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Firefly. I'm speaking of the first episode aired, not the true pilot. It seems to me that for the purposes of this thread, it's the true first episode aired that matters the most. It just wasn't the way to get a series started at all. The true pilot was far better.
Seinfeld also immediately came to mind. It was quite apparent they didn't quite know where they were going at that point.
The Office was another good call.
Seinfeld also immediately came to mind. It was quite apparent they didn't quite know where they were going at that point.
The Office was another good call.
01-04-09, 03:55 AM
#22
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,584
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Clone Wars pilot with the baby Hutt was absolutely horrendous, and I almost skipped out on the regular series because of it. The series so far has been really good with the only exceptions being the pilot and the Jar Jar episode.
01-04-09, 06:54 AM
#23
New Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
01-04-09, 06:55 AM
#24
New Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That series has gotten better, I agree, despite the horrendous quality of the pilot film.