The Power of the Pilot

First impressions are everything. Your mother reminds you of this unassailable fact before every job interview. (thanks, Mom, but that’s still not helpful) HGTV has hours devoted to improving the curb appeal of properties, whether the owners plan to sell or just want to get invited to the neighborhood block party next year. (I know I can’t keep my azaleas alive, but I promise my guacamole won’t kill you!)

So why, when it comes to television, am I so willing to give new series the ol’ three episode try?

I tell myself it’s because new series need a couple episodes to find their footing. Because the pilot is, by definition, jam-packed with so much information that it isn’t emblematic of what other episodes will be. Really, it’s because I’m an addict. I love stories, even so-so ones. Thanks to that addiction, I’ve unwittingly devoted literal weeks of my life to some frankly abysmal YA novels and frustratingly bland new series. (or worse, shows that were once captivating but have since become a chore to watch) All in the name of giving them a chance to improve. My friend can’t stop raving about this book. The critics are heaping praise on this new show. My friend’s fiancé worked on episode six, so I have keep watching it, right? Right?

No, actually, I don’t. And neither do you.

Tastes are subjective. A show may be groundbreaking, but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna be my cup of tea. (I’m looking at you, BLACK-ISH) Just because a book is getting made into a movie doesn’t mean it’s any good. (that list is too long, but we all know which one came to mind first *cough*shmilight*cough*) If I’m being honest with myself, it never takes three episodes to know that a new series isn’t for me.

All it takes is one: the pilot.

Yes, many series, even now-wonderful ones like PARKS AND RECREATION or AGENTS OF SHIELD, will need a few episodes to find their groove. Perhaps the release of a major motion picture to finally kickstart storylines. And yes, a thousand times yes, pilot episodes are always going to be different from the rest of the episodes because they are introducing new characters in a new world. It doesn’t matter. Bottom line: If you like the pilot, you’ll probably like the series. If you don’t like the pilot, there is very little chance you will like the series. Bad pilots almost never make for good series.

After checking out a handful of new shows over the last couple months, I’m finally accepting the power of the pilot instead of clinging to the myth of the three episode try.



I began with Bravo’s first foray into scripted television: GIRLFRIEND’S GUIDE TO DIVORCE. It centers on a gaggle of rich, skinny, famous-adjacent, middle-aged white ladies with terrible decision-making skills. Just like most of Bravo’s other programing. Except this time the wine in their glasses is fake and the stupidness they say is the fault of professional writers, not their own pathological need for attention. It was clear from the get go how I would feel about the show. I don’t care about these women. I don’t care about their lives. The one shining exception, and the reason I kept watching for five more episodes (what is wrong with me?), was Janeane Garofalo’s Lyla. The acerbic, driven lawyer was the only one whose problems felt grounded in any reality. After just one episode, the pilot, I knew who I would care about. That never changed. And now that Garofalo is leaving the show, I’m dropping it like a post-Cristina Yang GREY’S.



Next came TNT’s decidedly campy fantasy procedural: THE LIBRARIANS. It wasn’t a great pilot. It’s not a great show. Still, it was a great pilot *for* that show. Just like GGTD, I came out of the pilot knowing exactly what the show would be. I learned all the characters' names (okay, maybe I still call Christian Kane’s character Christian Kane instead of whatever his name is) and understood what the show was going to be. It’s campy. It’s silly. It’s not challenging. It didn’t take three episodes to figure that out. And I love it.



The new year kicked off with ABC’s musical-comedy-medieval-mess-thing: GALAVANT. I’d first watched the pilot way back in the summer. I’m all connected like that. I knew even then that while it was weird in all the right ways for me, I didn’t like the music. I made it through the third episode before I realized that I had fast-forwarded past all the songs. No matter how much I like Dan Fogelman, there is no earthly reason to watch a musical when I don’t enjoy the music. I didn’t need three episodes to decide whether I liked the music. I didn’t need to give it a chance out of some irrational hope that all stories are worth watching. Yet I did. Because I refused to trust the thoroughly accurate first impression proffered by the pilot.


Then there’s EMPIRE. Unlike GGTD, THE LIBRARIANS, and GALAVANT, it’s new enough that I haven’t had the chance to continue watching this show. But I will watch episode two tonight. Not because of a three episode try; because it’s good. Actually, it was fantastic. I couldn’t tell you what each episode’s structure will be beyond it likely leaning heavily serialized instead of episodic. Doesn’t matter. The world, the characters, the tone, the original music – it all works for me. A great pilot won’t always make for a great series, but unless something goes seriously off the rails, I have no doubt the show will (like all the others on this list) live up to the expectations set by its pilot.


And finally we arrive at MTV’s latest entry into the addictive teen drama genre: EYE CANDY. It’s internety. The first episode is called k3u. Took me a minute, but I think that’s supposed to be I *heart* you. Get it? I liked the pilot script when I read it last year. Again, whut up connections! The first episode that aired was different. Lindy wasn’t brought into the cyber crimes unit that the trailers suggest will be integral to the structure and events of future episodes. It was barely even mentioned. This makes it a bad pilot. I’m not saying the ep wasn’t enjoyable – it generally was fun, if you like that kind of YA show. I am saying that I have no idea what the series will actually be given that a group of characters and an entire realm of the show were not introduced. Now the question: Do I give it the three episode try with the hope that next week gives me a better sense of what the show will be? Or do I trust my instincts that if the writers don’t understand TV structure enough to use the first episode to introduce in the main world in which the protagonist will operate, they won’t be able to put together a satisfying season arc? My schedule is clear enough to give EYE CANDY one more episode to make its case, and I probably will, but that doesn’t mean I should. In fact, based on the overwhelming evidence of every other pilot I’ve ever watched (excepting AGENTS OF SHIELD, which really turned itself around), there is no reason to give EYE CANDY the benefit of the doubt. Also on the reasons-not-to-watch list is the profoundly not diverse set of love interests for Lindy’s character. I can’t tell them apart at all. **

Pilots are rough and the edges will smooth after a few episodes. A pilot is never going to be quite the same as the rest of the episodes. Yet, if the pilot has done its job, it will tell you everything you need to know about whether you want to watch that show. I used to proclaim the three episode try as the only way to watch new shows. No more! The pilot is all you really need. If it doesn’t grab you at all, I can almost guarantee the show never will. If it sports a major flaw that bothers you, the series likely will too. If you’re clinging to a single element with potential, don’t be surprised when it fails to become something more. There is a lengthy, costly, soul-killing development process that every pilot script goes through before it is made. And another lengthy, costly, soul-killing testing process that happens before it makes it to air, often with reshoots and recasts based on the testing results. All that time and money and sacrifice of sanity is done with one goal: make the pilot that we see into the best encapsulation of the series to come. So let’s all trust the pilots to do their jobs.

** Full disclosure: I’m bad at distinguishing white dudes. I call it the frat boy syndrome; you get the same haircuts, wear the same clothes, have the same conversational quirks, you become the same person to me. So when I’m introduced to four generically model-esque white guys with blondish-brown hair (RIP the only one whose name I actually learned), well, that does not bode well for me having any clue which one is doing suspicious things. I want the villain to be the BFF chick – she seems like exactly the kind of bored rich socialite that might decide to become a serial killer just for funsies. Also, I know which one she is, so that’ll help.