First Episodes I Actually Like

It is not a controversial take to say that a lot of first episodes are rather weak. In general first episodes, and hell even sometimes entire first seasons, can feel a bit clunky. In fairness first episodes have a hell of a challenge to tackle. They have to introduce the audience to the characters, the plot, the dynamics that will shape the rest of the series, all while selling on us on wanting to tune back in. Frequently what happens is that first episodes will have slightly off pacing and sometimes even just “feel” wrong.

The first episode of Murder, She Wrote spent so long setting up the idea of Jessica Fletcher becoming an amateur sleuth that I just sort of wanted it to end. I don’t need that much justification. Whereas the first episode of M*A*S*H was really playing with the humor and there are a lot of stilted moments. These episodes aren’t bad enough for me to have not watched the rest of the series, I mean I just threw two of my all time favorites under the bus. But they can be not always the best look at the overall quality of the series. Sometimes though a series really manages to overcome the hurdles and give us something pretty decent. The following is a short list of first episodes that I genuinely like. Some of them are still a bit weak in comparison to the overall series, but they really managed to do the job of the first episode and bring me back for more.

Also just a note, you’ll notice I said “first episodes” and not “pilots” and you may or may not be confused. For those that are, pilots are an episode that is filmed specifically to sell the show to a network. Now a lot of pilots are turned into full episodes, including (but not always) the first episode of a series, which makes sense. Pilots are made to give the network information they need and hopefully make them see the value of it. If the pilot sold your show to the network it can hopefully sell it to the audience. But they are not necessarily interchangeable. Many people use the term pilot for all first episodes and it’s fine...

With that let’s get into it

Gravity Falls

Probably one of if not the best first episode on this list. Gravity Falls manages to perfectly introduce the show with “Tourist Trapped.” The episode opens with something to grab the attention of the audience then rewinds to tell us how the twins got in that situation. Dipper does a brief narration to introduce the major players, including the town itself. From there it pretty seamlessly moves into a fairly standard episode so we get to know from episode one how much of the show will play out. There are a few more “introductory” moments – such as Dipper finding the journal or the audience finding out that Grunkle Stan is hiding something – but mostly it’s just a normal episode and that works really well for this series. And while Dipper does give us narration to introduce the characters the episode itself reinforces the information we are given. It’s well done and manages to capture the tone and pacing of the rest of the series almost perfectly.

Futurama

I think part of the reason “Space Pilot 3000” works so well is that the show itself really lends to a less awkward and stilted first episode. One of the challenges that first episodes face is giving the audience a lot of information in a way that’s believable. You need characters to present information the audience needs but often times the character should know that information. Fry gets shoved into a freezer during 1999 to 2000 change over and wakes up in the year 3000. Him being lost and confused makes sense, and it allowed the writers to have other characters just tell Fry (us) things without a second thought.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

I’ve actually written about this episode before and it might be the weakest on the list, though Mr. Grant is so damn funny it’s hard not to include. There is a reoccurring theme with this list that the characters often have a realistic reason to be receiving new information that the audience needs and Mary moving is a solid example. But unfortunately this episode is a good example of when it can work and when it doesn’t. For the WJM workplace part it works exceptionally well. Mary is new, she is applying for a job, so it makes sense that she is meeting these people and they are learning about her and her them. On the other hand some of Mary’s interactions with Phyllis feel stilted and odd, especially since they are supposed to know each other well. BUT overall the episode is solid, just with a few hiccups. Also Mary’s interaction with her ex and with Lou Grant perfectly set up who her character is and the wonderfully hilarious dynamic between Lou and Mary.

30 Rock

So 30 Rock has the challenge that I mentioned, with the characters already being established in their world so there is no natural way for them to find information from each other for the audience’s sake without it seeming weird. In comes two new characters! Jack is the new head of the network and wants Liz to get Tracey Morgan on the show. What this allows for is Liz to leave the set of SNL, I’m sorry The Girle Show, to spend time with Tracey. We get to know Tracey and Liz better through their interactions with each other. Meanwhile Jack takes over the show and interacts with the writers and performers, and as he learns their behaviors and dynamics we get to. And through all of this we get to see flashes of Liz and Jack so we can learn what their relationship will be like. Some of the humor does not live up to the rest of the show but for the most part it works well.

Community

I would say in terms of humor and pacing Community is the best example of matching the rest of the show. In fact, going a bit away from what was set up in the first season, including from this very first episode, is one of my gripes about the show … but I digress. Jeff creating a fake study group to hit on Britta makes complete sense. Him manipulating them into revealing things about themselves is a Jeff move and gives the audience what they need. And it all winds up with Jeff being an asshole but one that can be redeemed which is a big theme of the entire show. By the end of the episode we not only know the characters and the humor of the show, we also get our first look of how a lot of episodes will play out. Much like “Tourist Trapped.”

Metalocalypse

The first episode of Metalocalypse works so well because the show just clearly did not give a *sharp guitar riff as a bleep* it knew what it was setting up and just went for it. All the information we need about the world, including that there is something larger at play, is given to us with our first look at The Tribunal and then the show is all in. Including having a performance end with the deaths of most of the audience, something we will see frequently. No *guitar bleep* given the show just says “here’s what this is.”

Honorable Mention

Dexter

So Dexter has the “this is a true pilot” feel in that a few of the things introduced in this episode are pushed by the wayside even before the season is out. However, because Dexter is directly talking to the audience it allows the show to just give us information in a straight forward way. There is also an interesting blend in this episode that I feel is sadly missing from others of Dexter being a kind of odd narrator. We don’t need to know he likes eating while driving, but it’s kind of cool he tells us. The reason I put it in honorable mentions though is I feel like this episode may have been the best of the entire series. I couldn’t even make it to the end of this show, so it feels weird to put it with shows that started high and kept me from there.