10 TV Shows Where The First Episode Was The Best

There's a strong argument to be made that Will Forte's post-apocalyptic comedy series The Last Man on Earth never got its fair due throughout its four-season run, but this might in part be because it was forever in the shadow of its brilliant first episode.

Rather than hurl hordes of the undead at Forte's protagonist Phil Miller, he spends most of the opening episode contending with boredom and loneliness in a virus-ravaged United States - that is, until he crosses paths with his first human face in two years, the peculiar Carol (Kristen Schaal).

Inside of a snappy 22 minutes, that first episode perfectly sets up the world within which these characters exist, establishes the absurdist, darkly comedic tone, and confirms the expectedly fiery chemistry between Forte and Schaal.

While the rest of the show is certainly good, it quickly ditches the implication of its title by steadily adding more and more cast members, enough that anyone lured in by the prospect of Will Forte hanging out in the apocalypse by himself - or at least, only with Schaal's character - is largely abandoned.