TV Guide tries to list the Top 10 Pilots, and got it wrong
By fred | September 8, 2008
In their latest issue, which can be picked up on newsstands now, TV Guide does something everybody loves to do : a top 10 list. This time they went ahead to list not the top10 best series, but the best pilots.
As with any such list, not everyone has the same taste and not everyone agrees on which pilots were the best ones. Plus, as always, we tend to favor recent ones because, well, they’re more recent. But even then, there are some serious misses on TV Guide selection, so I thought I would list a few names I feel should have been included on such a list, as well as inviting you to list which were, to you, the top 10 best pilots TV had to offer.
Before anything else, here’s TV Guide’s selection :
No. 10 – ALIAS (2001) While there is little in this world cooler than Jennifer Garner in that red wig, what really blew us away was the adrenalized action, the coed-turned-spy’s emotional complexity and the arsenal of twists creator J.J. Abrams packed into over an hour of commercial-free mayhem. Like Sydney, this one kicks butt.
No. 9 – ER (1994) Marcus Welby officially left the building after these frenetic medics crashed through the doors of County General with about 1,000 ccs of realism and George Clooney on the verge of breakout stardom. When those EMTs rolled in suicidal nurse Carol Hathaway, we almost flatlined.
No. 8 – SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1975) Live from New York, it’s the one that started it all! Hosted by George Carlin, the late-nighter – then called NBC’s Saturday Night – felt cheap and unpolished, but with Andy Kaufman’s Mighty Mouse bit and the nascent Not Ready for Prime Time Players, it was clear that
we were seeing subversive greatness take shape before our not-so-sleepy eyes.No. 7 – DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (2004) With a mix of soapy goodness and comedy darker than the garb at Mary Alice’s funeral, our Wisterian wonders somehow made bad parenting and suburban dysfunction as delicious as Bree’s muffins. Maybe it was the fierce cast. Or the fact that none of them actually looked like our real neighbors.
No. 6 – FOOTBALL WIVES (2007) James Van Der Beek, Eddie Cibrian, Lucy Lawless and Gabrielle Union in an American version of the Brit soap about jocks and the women who, um, support them. Hot, right? Too bad ABC dropped the ball by not picking these Wives up, ’cause they would have scored big time.
No. 5 – 30 ROCK (2006) After a few tweaks and the swap out of Rachel Dratch for Jane Krakowski, Tina Fey’s second pass at her hit’s opener deftly nailed the bizarre world that is sketch TV, while flipping a major bird at corporate-network synergy. Comedy is rarely this smart, accessible or, well, Rock solid.
No. 4 – THE SOPRANOS (1999) Ducks. One word and we’re having a panic attack right along with Tony again. Filmed two years before HBO ever aired it, this Godfather-gone-neurotic series showed that mobsters are people, too, and gave us two wildly divergent ideas of family that were both utterly unfuhgeddable.
No. 3 – THE SHIELD (2002) Who knew the Commish was such a badass?! Michael Chiklis practically scorched our corneas with his blazingly intense Det. Vic Mackey, the dirtiest Harry ever, in this profane, violent opener that took NYPD Blue’s idea of flawed cops to a corrupt new high. Or is that low? Either way, it was truly arresting.
No. 2 – 24 (2001) Real time was a real turn-on when Jack Bauer got to work cracking bratty Kim’s disappearance, the threat of Senator Palmer’s like [sic; I think they mean the threat on his life], and a shocking final-moments airline explosion that only hinted at how bananas Bauer’s day was about to get. Probably would have called in sick had he known.
No. 1 – LOST (2004) Forget that we still have no idea why the hell Flight 815 went down. From the moment Kate started sewing up Jack’s injuries, we were sucked in like that dude who got too close to the engine. Plus, anything that can introduce one of TV’s loopiest mythologies and Josh Holloway is totally worth a $12 million budget.
Okay, so before anything else, it’s not just that some pilot episodes deserves to be on that list and are not, but also, some of their picks really shouldn’t be there. I mean, no offense but Desperate Housewives ? Yeah right, why not CSI: New-York then!
Anyways, while I can only agree with some of the names above - Lost, The Shield, E.R., The Sopranos, 24, … - others are missing, and so here are my top 10 pilots they forgot to include (which means we would have had more than 10 choices, but what the Hell!) :
10. The O.C. — Teen soaps are everywhere these days, there’s even one from The O.C. creator himself, and while that show certainly didn’t invent anything, it had some great years to offer and, yes, right from the pilot you could tell it was going to be a really fun ride.
9. Pushing Daisies — It’s hard to describe this show to people who never watched it, it’s like a fantasy world came to life, filled with pies, poetry, dead people still alive and in love, and sardonic remarks from Emerson Cod.
8. Prison Break — Sure, today the show is known as this farce where non-sense are legion and we don’t care anymore, but when it started this show was quite different. It was about a couple of brothers in prison, but one of them had the firm intention to break out, to do that he had his crazy brain, a supportive cellmate, blueprints tattooed all over his body, and a plan that never stopped to fail.
7. Action — It had a brief run, but what a run that was. Before Entourage we already had a look at Hollywood from the inside, only it wasn’t from the goodhearted Vince and his boys, it was from producer Peter Dragon, a man Ari probably looks up to as a role model !
6. My So-Called Life — Cult is probably the right word, and right from the very first episode this show was special. They didn’t get to be around much, but Angela and her friends definitely let a very deep mark on everyone who crossed their paths.
5. House — Yes, I love this show, I love Gregory House, and I love the amazing Hugh Laurie who brilliantly portrays him. I can’t wait for the fifth season to come, and while the show evolved and changed a little over the years, one thing remained the same from day one : it is brilliant.
4. Gilmore Girls — Another show that, from the first episode in, was exactly all it would be and why you would fall in love with it. This one got the chance to last for a few years, and despite that mess with Luke’s daughter and everything, this show is amazing, and you could tell from the very first minute in, when Lorelai walked in Luke’s to get some (more) coffee…
3. The West Wing — This is another one of those series I could never be tired of, and despite an ending not as good as the first years were, it offered is some of the best television that can be made. The pilot might not necessarily stand out when you think of The West Wing as a whole, but the show was great, and everything that made it so good was right there in those first 42 minutes.
2. Life — I know this show doesn’t get anywhere near as much recognition and love as it deserves, and I can only hope that someday it will change, because it is another fantastic piece of what best television has to offer us. Right from the pilot, Damian Lewis’ terrific performance as the Zen adept Charlie Crews, his unusual ways, his love of fruits, the beginning of an interesting partnership with Dani Reese, the awesome music, and the brilliance of the writing were turning this show into something more than what it first appeared to be.
1. Firefly — (Note: I’m talking here about Serenity, the “real” pilot, the two-hour episode wrote as pilot for the series; Not that it would change anything but just to be clear.) This will probably always top every Top 10 “brilliant but canceled” or “canceled too soon” lists, and for good reasons. What Joss Whedon created there was a real masterpiece. A perfect combination of action, emotion, darkness, humor, sci-fi, western… this was a unique mix that did not look or sound like anything else, and if years after fans are still so much attached to it, if whenever I hear Ballad Of Serenity, the theme song, I feel sadness in my heart, it’s because I know how much I miss this little treasure. And despite what stupid execs might have thought, the pilot was the perfect introduction to Mal and his crew, this universe and his people…
Alright, and now, because I’m sure I forgot some and/or you will disagree, either with me, TV Guide, or both, I invite you to please let me know what are your top 10 pilots in the comments below !
Posted in News
Shows: 24, 30 Rock, Action, Alias, Desperate Housewives, E.R., Firefly, Football Wives, Gilmore Girls, House, Life, Lost, My So-Called Life, Prison Break, Pushing Daisies, The O.C., The Shield, The Sopranos, The West Wing
