10 Greatest TV Pilot Episodes of All Time

5. Firefly "Serenity"

Here it is, Joss Whedon's one and only inclusion on this list, in an episode he directed and wrote himself, which was also feature length. Not to be mistaken by the actual feature film released some years later with the same title as this pilot episode... they are entirely different stories, although both fantastic pieces of entertainment. Shockingly, Fox (who should never ever be fully forgiven for what they did to this wonderful show) found this episode to be too weak as a TV pilot and instead aired the episode after before this one, only airing this episode after the series had finished on TV. I think the executives at Fox simply didn't understand the genius and potential appeal this show had, and never gave it a chance to succeed. I for one, despite being a Whedon fan since I watched my very first Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode at about age 9, didn't watch this wonderful show until I was 18 (2008, 6 years after it aired). Despite hearing great things about the series, I was unsure I would actually enjoy it, and was actually pretty worried I would find it terrible like I do with a lot of TV series' set in a spaceship in space (I won't say which shows because I don't want to anger anyone but know it is pretty much everyone other than this). Luckily, this first episode was ridiculously good, and I could breathe easy... Joss Whedon was even more of a genius than I thought. For those that don't know, the show features a group of rebel survivors who lost in the Battle of Serenity Valley during the Unification War (this is set way in the future) who now make a living for themselves as space cowboys as they fly around space in their Firefly-class spaceship named Serenity, taking jobs which involve petty crimes. They pick up a mysterious, mentally damaged young woman named River who has many secrets which only make the lives of the crew members more difficult than they ever were. But seriously, if you haven't seen this show, go watch it... it is only 14 episodes long and it's pretty much better than anything else on TV at the moment.