10 Best TV Pilots Ever

2. Lost - Pilot

Lost Pilot
ABC

Even just keeping this to Part 1, Lost would still make the list, but its two-part pilot was a stupendous effort in building a TV show that would entrance, engage, and enrage audiences for years to come.

Director J.J. Abrams plunges us straight into the action, with Jack waking up on the beach, and the burning wreckage of the plane crash still surrounding him. There's panic and desperation in what's one of the most exhilarating opening TV sequences ever made, after which it settles into what'd become the proper Lost groove.

We get to meet and know the key survivors, both on the island and through the flashbacks that would become so crucial. But it also sets the tone for the mystery elements of the show too: Where exactly are they? What is that French radio transmission? Was the pilot just killed by a cloud of smoke?! A POLAR BEAR?!

Super exciting and even more intriguing, the show may have lost its way at times, but there was no way viewers weren't coming back for more after this.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.