# What series was the best from the beginning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101 "2009-02-16T15:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/41 "2009-02-17T06:18:12Z")
I’ll go a different direction. Tim Daly had a show a couple of years ago called _Eyes_. An absolute fantastic pilot episode. One of the best I had ever seen. Then they pissed on everything that they did in the pilot and it was cancelled after a few episodes. _Boomtown_ with what seemed like half the cast of _Band of Brothers_ had a great pilot. I loved the non-linear storytelling. It kept me guessing during the entire show with a great reveal at the end. To make it more accessible to a wider audience they started making the show more mainstream and it was cancelled. _EZ Streets_ had me from the very beginning. I think it had the potential to be great. Cancelled. Now it probably would have worked better on HBO. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/42 "2009-02-17T06:41:54Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m gonna enter _Sports Night_ into the fray. > > The pilot itself is pretty good, although you only see that on the DVD. Then by judging from the first episode (The Apology) it was great. It was funny it was poignant and the ending was one of those breathless silence moments. Seconded on that. I’d say **Carnivale** , but I’ll add the caveat that I’m a sucker for 1) that flavor of supernatural, 2) that period of history, and 3) Hi, Opal! ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/43 "2009-02-17T16:48:46Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’ll second (third, whatever) _Lost_, _Buffy_, […] and _Pushing Daisies_ […] _ **Battlestar Galactica** _ Have to agree with Lost and Pushing Daisies! Buffy though, I think took a little while to get going. BSG yes, if you count just the actual series, but I thought the miniseries was pretty weak and a chore to get through…but I’m glad I slogged through it to get to the main series. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/44 "2009-02-17T16:57:04Z")
Interesting how many of the nominees are relatively recent. A bit earlier: _Homicide: Life on the Street._ The first episode is very, very strong. The entire first season is breathtaking. It wobbles more and more as it goes along, as the network fucks with it, but it comes out of the gate at a thundering gallop. And here’s an obscure one: _On the Air._ David Lynch’s extremely short-lived sitcom. Seven episodes, I think. The first episode is flat-out the funniest half hour of situation comedy ever aired. There was no way to sustain the lunacy, so the remaining half-dozen episodes don’t measure up, but that first episode is freaking amazing. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/45 "2009-02-17T17:04:58Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Interesting how many of the nominees are relatively recent. Probably a function of our ages and memories. Was _Hill Street Blues_’ opener a winner? _The Paper Chase_? Heck if I know. I remember my parents liking both shows a whole lot, but I was more into Kermit the Frog. Did _The Cosby Show_ start out strong? Heck if I know, and I probably \*did \*watch it, but I don’t remember details about it. I don’t remember, in detail, pretty much anything before the late eighties, and I’m 34. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/46 "2009-02-17T17:34:29Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > He’s a shadow of his former self today, and perhaps me being 10 when it premiered puts that “soft focus” around my memories, but Robin Williams in the first season of _Mork and Mindy_ was the one of the funniest people I ever saw on TV. Shazbot! I’ll second this, and I was about twice your age at the time. As far as I’m concerned, the first season is the only season. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/47 "2009-02-17T17:41:18Z")
Hill Street Blues opening was a winner. First off, it was just a completely different cop show with a much more gritty feel. But most important was that two main characters ended up getting shot. Did. Not. See. That. Coming. Oh, and finding out who the Captain Furillo’s girlfriend was. All and all a great beginning. And I won’t be 38 until next week, but I guess my parents were pretty permissive to allow a 10 year old to see that show. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/48 "2009-02-17T20:50:10Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I’ll add Futurama as well. The pilot was brilliant (although the second episode was even better), and made me an instant fan. Had some of the best exchanges between Leela and Fry: Fry: What if I don’t want the job? Leela: Then you’ll be fired… Fry: Fine! Leela: …out of a cannon…into the Sun. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/49 "2009-02-17T21:15:29Z")
_Twin Peaks_ has the greatest pilot episode ever. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/50 "2009-02-17T21:30:44Z")
I agree with Lost, Futurama, Sopranos, and Six Feet Under. I also remember really liking Desperate Housewives right away, although that quickly faded. I don’t think I ever went from liking a show to just not watching it so fast. It had a good start, though. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/51 "2009-02-17T21:33:30Z")
No love for Oz or The Wire? I’m shocked. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/52 "2009-02-18T02:08:53Z")
I love me some **Buffy** , and the pilot (two part) episode was better than most of the rest of the first season, but overall, it was only meh, at least compared to the rest of the series. I also was unimpressed by the pilot of **Arrested Development** , at least as compared to how much I enjoy the series as a whole. A show where the pilot was far and away the best episode of the whole series is **Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip**. Aaron Sorkin always has great pilots, as **The West Wing** and **SportsNight** are fantastic as well. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101/53 "2009-02-18T14:20:39Z")
I have to say nay on _Buffy_… the show took a little while to find its tone and rhythm. In the first episodes, whether it was more on Gellar or on Joss Whedon, it seems in retrospect they couldn’t decide how much they wanted to stick to being “like the movie Buffy.” The show got a lot darker in tone and brought in black humor — even BEFORE Angel or Spike or any other characters that you could say “made” Buffy darker. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-series-was-the-best-from-the-beginning/486101.md?page=2)