the big train

Hill Street Blues

Strafe

Miami Vice

Shinobi

Twin Peaks was the first show that came to mind. But Lost is right up there as well.

Michael Corvin

Lost & Chuck were the first two that came to mind.

er is a good one, definitely gave you a 'holy shit this show is going to be different' vibe. I want to say NYPD: Blue as well, but I can't recall anything concrete about it.

DJariya

Yup, those shows went straight to series without shooting a Pilot.

A lot of people confuse the definition of a Pilot episode. It's usually a standalone 60 minute to 2 hour episode used to test the waters and see if the network wants to pick it up for a full series or not.

Battlestar Galactica (the newer version) didn't have a Pilot either. It was a standalone miniseries that SyFy liked enough to greenlight to a full series.

tommyp007

ER is the first one I thought of.

Michael T Hudson

This.

DthRdrX

Lost and The Shield.

I notice that a lot of the HBO shows take a few episodes before you are even comfortable with the characters/story.

Toonview

This.

story

Lots of excellent answers.

I'll add that a pilot which really caught what the series would be at its best was The Wonder Years. It perfectly captured Kevin as a character as well as the historical culture he was living in, too, all with a mixture of humor and poignancy. Really set the tone for the series.

dan30oly

Alias

That'sAllFolks

I'd have to say
Lost (and it just went downhill from there)
Game of Thrones (excellent intro)
Breaking Bad - as good as I think the series is, the very concept is genius, and I was hooked from Day 1.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

mortalplague

Last Resort

JTH182

Did anyone mention LOST?

Rob V

Lost & Chuck had me hooked immediately.

GCS

Lost would be first but don't forget about 24 as well. Pretty high on the list for me.

Shannon Nutt

I think we can ignore the traditional definition, since very few cable shows these days go through the pilot process the way they used to - networks usually just order a limited number of episodes, if not a full 8 to 13 episode season.

The OP can clarify, but I think he just meant 'best first episode' rather than pilots that needed to be greenlit to series.

scorpion

The Shield

starseed1981

Lost and The Shield win this question. I was also hooked on Veronica Mars the moment I saw it. Same with Downton Abbey.

Raul3

Breaking Bad. Just kidding. Of course my vote goes to Lost!

Guru Askew

Then the OP shoulda said "first episode" rather than using an inaccurate term that is used far more to suggest "I don't call them first episodes, I call them pilots because I know insider industry jargon!"

The other day I was sitting around with Dick* and Bobby** at the Chateau Marmont and they both agreed the whole thing is pretentious and sad.

*Dreyfuss
**DeNiro

davidh777

Yeah, to me there's a big difference between a pilot that's created as a Hail Mary to try to get a show produced and what happens to be the first episode of a fully formed series. Think of the Amazon Prime pilots.

The interesting thing is to watch a pilot from a show like Castle, then watch the second episode and see how a young actress like Molly Quinn has aged in the period between filming and pickup.

Groucho

If a "solo super hero" can include X-Men and Fantastic Four, then a "pilot episode" can include anything in the first five seasons of a show.

lewisb73

thats one of mine... with Sopranos as well... also Lost and Fargo score points as well

bluetoast

The Shield is great except....that Kid Rock song did not stand the test of time.