We’re always told to make a good first impression. This is an important life lesson as the first impression can make-or-break how people see you moving forward. This lesson also applies to television shows, as a good or bad pilot can determine the fate of a series and how viewers react.
When discussing pilot episodes, it all comes down to the opening scene. This is the money shot, the first impression that sets the stage. If a show nails an iconic opening scene, there’s a great chance that the show is going to have a long and fruitful run. So, we’re going to rank the best opening scenes from some of the more legendary shows to grace our television screens. All future showrunners should read this list and take notes. A good first impression is the best impression.
10
A Mock Funeral Coach Ad Opens ‘Six Feet Under’
“Pilot” (2001)
Image via HBO
If you’re going to attempt to sell a series based on a funeral home, you need to have an opening scene that will hook the viewers in. That’s exactly what HBO’s comedy-drama Six Feet Under did when it decided to run a commercial for a high-class, highly desirable funeral coach.
Made to mock car commercials, the ad depicts a woman (who also narrates the commercial) and she glides her hand on the side of the coach, and then poses in front of the coach towards the end. Who would really want to buy a funeral coach? That was the genius behind the ad. Six Feet Under would go on to be known for their zany, mock ads, and the funeral coach set the standard for what was to come. Simply a classic.
9
Rick’s Bomb Rant in ‘Rick and Morty’
“Pilot” (2013)
Image via Adult Swim
Unless you live in a home where TV is forbidden, you have, no doubt, heard of the classic Adult Swim comedy Rick and Morty. Telling the story of a brilliant, but extremely flawed scientist who goes on adventures with his grandson, Rick and Morty pulled no punches from the opening scene.
Here, it shows an extremely drunk Rick (Justin Roiland and Ian Cardoni) pulling Morty (Roiland and Harry Belden) from his bed and dragging him to his space car, where he drunkenly rambles that he had to “make a bomb,” which horrifies Morty. It’s here where you see how the series is going to go, and the sheer absurdity of Rick and Morty’s relationship is on full display right from minute one. Not only that, but it’s hilarious as well.
8
Tony’s First Therapy Session in ‘The Sopranos’
“Pilot” (1999)
Image via HBO
The Sopranos is an all-time classic, and very few people will dispute this. However, it’s wild to think that, if the opening scene from the pilot had gone differently, people would view the classic HBO crime drama in a different, and not so iconic, light.
Thankfully, the scene which shows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) visiting his psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), after having a panic attack due to stress coming from both his crime family and his actual family. After a tense few moments, Dr. Melfi finally gets Tony to open up, and it’s here where we get to witness the three-dimensional character Tony is. He’s not just a regular mob boss, and the writers humanize his character right from the beginning, which sets a brilliant tone for things to come.
7
Rick Kills a Walker Girl in ‘The Walking Dead’
“Days Gone Bye” (2010)
Image via AMC
No matter how you feel about the series, you can’t deny that The Walking Dead has become an acclaimed zombie show. While the latter seasons were something to be desired, the AMC series, in its early days, was simply must-see TV, mostly thanks to its iconic opening scene.
It’s here where we are introduced to the zombie apocalypse and how it has already decimated the world. Georgia sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) goes to scavenge for gas when he comes across a girl who has succumbed to what we would later find out is the Wildfire Virus, which infects everyone and turns people into zombies when they die. We see Grimes struggling to come to terms with shooting the girl, a “walker,” as he’s clearly, at this stage, still trying to get up to speed in this new reality after being in a coma during the initial outbreak. It’s gut-wrenching and tense, both of which would come to define this polarizing but iconic horror series.
6
Laura Palmer’s Body Is Found in ‘Twin Peaks’
“Pilot” (1990)
Image via ABC
While viewers at the time didn’t fully appreciate this mystery-horror series, it’s great to see that Twin Peaks has, rightfully, become a cult classic and has been re-appraised as the landmark series that it was. One of the greatest TV shows of all time began in a seemingly mundane, by-the-books scene, which could have easily colored the way viewers saw Twin Peaks when it first came out, but has since been lauded as an iconic moment.
Here, we see a fisherman as he comes across a plastic bag on the shore of a lake. We later find out that it’s the body of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), and the investigation into her death is what drives the series. It’s simple, but very effective, establishing a “whodunit” narrative and setting us up for the twists and turns that were to come.
5
Jack Wakes Up After a Plane Crash in ‘Lost’
“Pilot” (2004)
Image via ABC
You would be hard-pressed to find another polarizing classic such as ABC’s Lost. The overall mystery of the series, which followed a gang of survivors from a plane crash, was a convoluted affair, and the series ended quite controversially. Having written that, the opening scene is what drove everyone into this intoxicating, yet confusing mystery.
Here, we see Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) as he wakes up in a jungle. After coming to his senses, he runs to the beach where he sees the fiery wreckage of Flight 815, which crash-landed on a deserted island. We are instantly thrown into the mystery and intrigue as we see other survivors crawl from the destroyed plane, and it is an iconic scene that doesn’t wait to draw you into its central plot.
4
Walter Crashes the RV in ‘Breaking Bad’
“Pilot” (2008)
Image via AMC
We didn’t know it at the time, but we were witnessing an all-time classic in the making in the opening scene of AMC’s Breaking Bad. The series, starring Bryan Cranston, tells the story of a high school teacher who, after finding out he’s diagnosed with cancer, decides to live life to the fullest and resorts to cooking meth.
The opening scene in the pilot shows just how out of hand that decision to cook meth became for white, and he’s driving erratically through the New Mexico desert, while only wearing underwear and a gas mask, and crashes his RV into a shrub. After checking on his passed-out partner-in-crime (Aaron Paul), he puts on a button-up shirt and goes to the clay-dirt road and raises his gun. The opening scene was bonkers in a good way, and it set us up for the wild ride we were about to embark on with White.
3
Snot Boogie’s Death in ‘The Wire’
“The Target” (2002)
Image via HBO
“Life just be that way, I guess.” That was the response given to Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), a flawed Baltimore Police detective who was investigating the shooting death of Omar “Snot Boggie” Betts, a “rip-and-run” artist who robbed dice games in West Baltimore. This was the opening scene we got in The Wire, which would become an iconic crime drama and be considered one of the best TV dramas ever produced.
The interaction between McNulty and the witness showcases how life was in Baltimore, a city often plagued with violence and drugs, and how The Wire didn’t sanitize its message. It’s real, honest, and grim, with the air of hopelessness filling the air, and things being “the way they are” and never changing for the better. This would be the prevailing theme of The Wire, and few (if any) shows have yet to do it better than this classic.
- Release Date
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2002 – 2008-00-00
- Network
-
HBO
2
Will’s America Monologue in ‘The Newsroom’
“We Just Decided To” (2012)
Image via HBO
I remember when I first saw this scene, I thought to myself: “This is going to be very controversial.” Then again, that was the entire aim of The Newsroom, created by Aaron Sorkin and starring Jeff Daniels as it looks at the inner workings of a 24-hour cable TV newsroom. The scene in question is a monologue that is often discussed to this very day: America is no longer the greatest country in the world.
The monologue news anchor Will McAvoy (Daniels) gives to a room full of shocked college students, alleging that America has lost its standing as the country everyone envies, and the innovation that once brought the nation greatness is no longer found within its borders, and has since been overshadowed by other countries. It was a raw and stunning scene that, no doubt, left jaws dropped on the floor, and was a bold move that hooked audiences in.
- Release Date
-
2012 – 2014-00-00
- Network
-
HBO Max
- Writers
-
Aaron Sorkin
1
A Man Wakes Up Alone in an Empty Town in ‘The Twilight Zone’
“Where Is Everybody?” (1959)
Image via CBS
Praised as one of the most realistic episodes of the iconic anthology series The Twilight Zone, “Where Is Everybody” jumps at you from minute one. Here, we watch a man as he walks along a dirt road, with no memory of how he got to where he is. When he stumbles into a diner, he finds the jukebox blasting out tunes, the pies freshly made, and the coffee hot. But there’s one crucial element missing: there’s nobody there.
And he doesn’t see anybody throughout the episode, even as there are signs that people were in the locations he visited. The eerie opening scene will make your skin crawl and have you wondering how you would react if you were, seemingly, the last human being on Earth. It was simple, effective, and scary, and was the perfect set-up for what viewers would find when they entered the fifth dimension known as The Twilight Zone.
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