30 Day Television Meme - Day 18
Stolen by mozartfan1313 and mets
Day 18 - Best Pilot Episode
Six Feet Under: 1x01 Pilot
" Well, well, the prodigal returns. This is what you've been running away from your whole life, buddy boy. Scared the crap out of you when you were growing up, didn't it? And you thought you'd escape. Well, guess what? Nobody escapes."
Pilots are a tricky thing. Writers have to introduce all the important characters, keep things interesting enough for the audience to return and set the tone of the show, so that viewers know what they can expect from the show in future episodes. The most difficult part of it all: They have to do it without making all these things too obvious. It's a difficult task and pilots can often be entirely different from the show that follows.
To pick a favorite pilot episode was rather difficult for me. Ultimately I decided on picking the pilot of "Six Feet Under" in this category. I'm not sure if I'd call the pilot of "Six Feet Under" flawless, but I think it's impressive that you immediately get invested in these characters. Recently there have been a lot of shows where I found it hard to get invested in the characters right away, "The Walking Dead" being the most recent example of a show where even after five episodes I don't feel invested in any of the characters. "Six Feet Under" however made me get invested in every single character right away. I felt the pain they went through as they lost their father/husband. The characters didn't start out as stereotypes like in so many other shows, but instead were fully developed from the get-go. All the aspects that made the show - the humor, the emotion, the depth - all of it was there from the beginning.
Other potential candidates: Dead Like Me, Breaking Bad, The Riches, Alias
Coming up on 30 Day TV Meme: Day 19 - Favorite Season Finale
Previously on 30 Day TV Meme
Day 01 - A Show That Never Should Have Been Canceled
Day 02 - A Show You Wish More People Were Watching
Day 03 - Your Favorite New Show This Season
Day 04 - Your First TV Show Obsession
Day 05 - Your Favorite Scene Ever
Day 06 - Your Favorite Cliffhanger
Day 07 - Your Favorite Female TV Characters
Day 08 - Your Favorite Male TV Character(s)
Day 09 - Your Favorite TV Kiss
Day 10 - Your Favorite Opening Credits
Day 11 - A Show That You Plan On Watching
Day 12 - A Show That Everyone Should Watch
Day 13 - A Show You Didn't Think You Would Get Into
Day 14 - Your Favorite Mini-Series
Day 15 - Best Series Finale
Day 16 - Biggest Disappointment
Day 17 - Favorite Guilty Pleasure