10 Greatest TV Pilot Episodes of All Time

9. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip "Pilot"

Despite being somewhat of a fan of Aaron Sorkin, he does seem to somewhat struggle with writing for TV. Don't get me wrong, he is better than most people, but there is always something a little off about most of his shows with perhaps the exception of The West Wing. Studio 60 was only one season long, and the entire show was watchable and kind of good, but it was never better than in its pilot, and this is why it is included here. The pilot was immediately engaging and allowed us into a world rarely seen on a television show; backstage on a live sketch show which was pretty much the fictional version of Saturday Night Live. The show took a lot of slack for not really being very funny, and having sketches performed on the fictional show that were just not very funny. I agree that the sketches weren't at all good, and the show wasn't much funnier either, but if you have seen Saturday Night Live recently (or ever) most of the sketches on that show are shocking at best (with the occasional stand out) so at least it was realistic. Regardless of this, the pilot drew me in, and was enough to make me watch the entire season, although I didn't enjoy an episode as much since. Some say it is like 30 Rock but worse, and that probably ended up being true, but if you just watch the pilot to Studio 60, you'd think otherwise (plus, 30 Rocks pilot isn't very good). This was Matthew Perry's best role on TV since friends, and arguably his best dramatic role of all time, and the supporting cast were extremely likable in the beginning... Amanda Peet has never been better and nor has Sarah Paulson as the lovable, modern Christian actress. The entire pilot is pretty much a homage to Sidney Lumet's "Network", opening with a similar rant by the great Judd Hirsch on everything that is wrong with modern television. The episode also won Emmy's and other prestigious awards. It's a shame the rest of the show never lived up to this promise.