It shouldn’t, when you’re using it incorrectly. Not every first episode is a pilot. What wrong with just saying first episode - you know, the exact words for what you mean? Why is that so hard? It’s not even an attempt to save time, since often people say “pilot episode”. Whether an episode is a pilot is meaningless to a viewer anyway, so what’s what’s your point in referring to it that way? To sound like you know something? Well guess what, unless you’re a member of a production company pitching something to networks, you sound like an idiot every time you use that term.
Because pilots and first episodes are different. Pilots can be drastically different from the series in terms of setting and cast.
Tons of shows also have a pilot show that is completely different from their Episode 1.
I’ve seen pilots with missing/additional characters, characters whos names are different, different background details, etc.
Right, but it seems that the OP recognizes this, and is annoyed with people who use the term “pilot” in a generic sense, to talk about any first episode.
Did you two numbskulls miss this part of the OP:
I’d suggest that most people using the term don’t actually realize that “pilot” has a specific meaning, and think that it does mean “first episode”. They’re not trying to appear “smart” – they simply have heard the word used (perhaps correctly, in one case where the pilot was the first episode, or perhaps incorrectly, by another misinformed person) – they think they’re using the correct and proper terminology and are mistaken.
It could be that you are correct, and the majority of people are simply “showing off”, but I personally doubt it. I very frequently (on this Board and elsewhere) see complaints like "Why do people use (this word) ? What sort of reasoning are they using/don’t they know that/are they trying to act clever/etc. But most people learn their words and their usage from hearing other people use it. Most people don’t get the pristine experience of hearing the word used correctly by people who know the word and its proper usage. They have to funfer along, as most of us do, trying to figure out the word and the usage from what they see and hear around them.
Your beef isn’t with the Teeming Millions who misuse “pilot”, it’s with the original group who misused the word and started it on its path to a new meaning. And if enough people use it that way, it won’t be incorrect eventually.
I read the whole OP, and can’t tell what he’s complaining about-- people who use “pilot” correctly, or people who insist that it doesn’t matter whether it’s used correctly or not.
from the OP:
I think it matters a lot to many people on this board. Hence my confusion.
I’d say the OP is poorly worded.
Well, it’s a pizzabrat OP; that goes without saying. But, it was reasonably clear to me, at least, that he understood that “pilot” and “first episode” aren’t synonymous. Beyond that, I agree, the point is less than clear.
Somebody is going to need to prove to me that “pilot” and “first episode” are not synonymous.
Ok.
Okay, someone is going to have to explain to me why on earth I should give a shit. What a peculiar thing to get one’s panties bunched about.
Really? Why would it matter to a viewer whether the first episode aired was technically the exact same thing that was used to sell the series to the network (let alone a lot)? I guess someone might think “that’s what got the execs interested!?”, but are people here really getting that involved?
Well, that’s okay as far is goes. But since we’re getting our panties all in a bunch over practically nothing, I will point out that while “pilot” and “first episode” don’t necessarily mean the same thing, sometimes a pilot and a first episode are in fact the same. The terms can be situationally synonymous, in other words.
Because they want to be clear in communicating what they’re talking about, and we on this MB are notorious nit pickers about such things. If I said: “This wasn’t as good as the pilot episode”, it would be unclear if I was talking about the real pilot episode or the first episode of the series, since many people do use the two terms interchangeably (which can lead to confusion).
Yeah, it is an odd thing to get twisted over, especially since there can be a signficant difference between the pilot (even when it is the first episode) and subsequent episodes of a series.
Now, “magazine” versus “clip”, there’s a jargon complaint I can rail behind. 
Stranger
Or, “rally” behind. 
I’m one of those guilty of both using “pilot” recently and misusing it – WRT Moonlight, no less. So some stupid word choice on my part in discussing a rather stupid show helped give rise to this stupid thread. [sigh]
“Stupidity is the building block of the universe.” – Frank Zappa
Somebody is going to need to prove to me that the use of “pilot” is intended to make others think you’re smart, witty, or a Hollywood insider.
Jargon is show-offy when it doesn’t do any of these things:
a. clarify meaning (in TV: pilot vs. first episode)
b. save letters or syllables (in aviation: comms vs. communications)
c. attempt humor (in software: Exploder vs Explorer)
One example that comes to mind of pure insider-speak is Hollywood producers’ usage of pari passu (Latin: at the same pace). This was once commonly used the way people in other industries would use pro rata (Latin: at the [same] rate), apparently for no other reason than monkey hear, monkey do.
Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking pilots on my motherfucking TV!
Get the motherfucking pilots back on the motherfucking plane where the motherfuckers belong!
CMC fnord!
A quick look thru Google (or perhaps I should say a cursory perusal) brings up dry, chewy bits of contract law. These suggest that pari passu refers to who gets paid when, while pro rata refers to how much they’re paid.