Without a good pilot episode, it's an uphill battle for a TV show to succeed, as the premiere is what convinces audiences to keep watching or give up on the series. However, it's just as much of a problem if the pilot is the show's peak, using all the excitement and intrigue up in one go. All these series share a similar problem; their essential premise doesn't have an endless supply of conflicts and storylines. Many of these shows could have wrapped up after season 1, but continued past their expiration date because they were too popular to cancel.
Like the TV shows that went downhill after a major cliffhanger, these series eventually lost the attention and interest of critics and audiences. It might not have been right away, as the momentum of a good pilot can carry season 1 and even pave the way for an interesting start to season 2. However, sooner or later, all of these projects lost the spark that made them so dynamic in the beginning. Relying on mystery and shock doesn't work. Taking too long to answer these questions can end a show just as quickly as revealing the truth too soon.
8 Lost (2004-2010)
This science fantasy series has one of the greatest pilots of all time
- Showrunner
- Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse
Though fans and critics of Lost frequently contradict each other about the details of the TV show, it's almost universally agreed upon that the series has one of the greatest TV pilots in history. The enormously ambitious two-part pilot reportedly cost a whopping $13 million to make, which was record-breaking in 2004 (via Forbes). However, the quality and legacy of this episode speak for themselves. Full of explosive action and immediate character and relationship establishment, the pilot is unforgettable.
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Lost didn't immediately go off the rails following the pilot. The remainder of season 1 is delightfully engaging, as Lost takes its time using the full order of episodes to explore the backstory of its entire ensemble. It's no surprise that the series won a lot of goodwill after this stellar pilot and strong first season. This encouraged audiences to stick with the show, even when it started going off the rails in the final seasons.
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
Lost (2004–2010) |
86% |
89% |
7 Heroes (2006–2010)
After a brilliant first outing, Heroes struggled to sustain its reputation
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- Showrunner
- Tim Kring
Heroes was a TV show notorious for its bad luck throughout production. After a stellar first season that made waves across the television landscape, season 2 was cut short due to the 2007-2008 WGA strike, ultimately pushing the entire story off course. Though Heroes went on to air for another two seasons, neither of these installments had the magic of season 1, introducing new characters before old storylines were resolved and changing the essential structure of the series many times.
However, before Heroes started to flag, it was an incredibly engaging project, with a clear vision and a handle on its large ensemble in the pilot episode. The slow emergence of people with powers appearing across the world was an early subversion of the superhero trope, immediately setting Heroes apart from everything else on TV. Both fantastical and drenched in realism, the Heroes pilot struck a near-perfect tone, but it couldn't sustain this.
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
Heroes (2006–2010) |
52% |
65% |
6 Ratched (2020)
Sarah Paulson anchors this tragic prequel
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Ryan Murphy helped produce and develop Ratched, a prequel TV show to the iconic film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which follows the dark origin story of the sinister Nurse Ratched. However, when we meet Ratched, played by Sarah Paulson, she's very different from the woman in the film. The series chronicles her descent into darkness, but the most interesting episode of the show remains the pilot, as this is what draws us into her world.
The campy atmosphere and over-the-top plot twists get too outlandish to be taken seriously as Ratched progresses.
The pieces of Ratched are all exciting and seductive, and the central performances from Paulson and Cynthia Nixon, who plays her love interest, Gwendolyn, are fantastic. However, the campy atmosphere and over-the-top plot twists get too outlandish to be taken seriously as Ratched progresses. In the pilot, the story of Ratched and her brother slowly intertwines, providing a satisfying payoff and backstory for the nurse in just one episode, making the following stories feel like overkill.
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
Ratched (2020) |
62% |
69% |
5 The Strain (2014–2017)
Vampires are brought into the modern age in The Strain
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One of the best vampire TV shows of recent years, The Strain, infuses sci-fi and the post-apocalyptic genre into the fabric of its story. Co-created by Guillermo del Toro, an iconic mind behind gothic and horror-oriented projects, The Strain is set in a world where a new virus manifests similarly to classic vampirism, and this instantly captures the attention of audiences in the pilot. While other shows about outbreaks pick up after the disease has spread, the pilot of The Strain follows the first major appearance of the virus, sucking the protagonist into the story.
Corey Stoll plays Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, a member of the CDC who's on the front lines of the epidemic. It's soon clear that it has darker and more sinister origins than he could possibly imagine. Though it's clear in the pilot that there's a vampire connection, The Strain keeps the story just ambiguous enough that there's still potential for doubt and uncertainty. As more questions are answered and the nature of the virus is confirmed, The Strain loses some of its initial thrills.
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
The Straing (2014–2017) |
79% |
79% |
4 Westworld (2016–2022)
Few pilots are as instantly engaging as Westworld's premiere episode
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- Showrunner
- Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy
Not all of Westworld's problems were the fault of the writers and showrunners, as outside forces made it difficult to sustain the magic and mystery of Westworld. Its cancellation before the planned final season has rocked Westworld's legacy forever. Any series like this sci-fi Western relies on questions and intrigue, propelling the narrative forward through plot twists and shocking reveals. However, this isn't a sustainable format, and once the most exciting secrets have come to light, there isn't anywhere for the show to go after this.
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The Westworld pilot, "The Original," immerses us in the world of the park without giving away all the story's game. "The Original" is the kind of TV episode that makes you sit up and pay attention, laying the groundwork for the remainder of the season while also telling a complete story. Westworld season 1 performs well, building on the pilot and expanding the world, but after the narrative the pilot sets up has been told, there isn't much left for Westworld to do.
TItle |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
Westworld (2016–2022) |
80% |
75% |
3 The Rehearsal (2022–Present)
Nathan Fielder's uncanny reality series got too dark for some viewers
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The Rehearsal
- Release Date
- July 15, 2022
- Writers
- Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Eric Notarnicola
WHERE TO WATCH
It's not the quality of The Rehearsal that goes down after the pilot, but the shift in tone and ethics as the first outing of the show unfolds might put viewers off. Starring and created by Nathan Fielder, known for his comedic social experiments, as seen in the series Nathan For You, The Rehearsal pushes the boundaries of morality in ways never addressed by a reality TV show. In the pilot, it's already outrageous to see Nathan creating sets and situations to trick his subject, but things get even weirder from there.
season 1 ending sees Nathan suffer the consequences of what his experiment has done to the child actors he's employed and the people he's brought into the rehearsals. It's shocking how quickly things devolve and become metatextual in The Rehearsal, progressing past relative harmlessness almost instantly after the pilot. As The Rehearsal continues, it will be interesting to see how Fielder grapples with the fallout of season 1 and explores even more taboo moral questions.
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
The Rehearsal (2022–Present) |
97% |
86% |
2 The Newsroom (2012–2014)
Tackling recent global political issues was too touchy for The Newsroom to sustain
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Created by Aaron Sorkin, a writer and filmmaker known for the iconic "walk and talk" plot device and for creating snappy, politically driven dialogue, The Newsroom struggled to live up to Sorkin's other projects. Jeff Daniels stars as Will McAvoy, a news anchor who must grapple with the changing world of nightly news and how the internet has permanently altered how people view journalism. The pilot of The Newsroom is thrilling, unfolding with the high drama of a stage play.
No second is wasted in The Newsroom pilot, "We Just Decided To."
No second is wasted in The Newsroom pilot, "We Just Decided To." It easily establishes the motivations and relationships of all its characters, the essential struggle that Will faces throughout the series, and an example of how the titular newsroom will run. The Newsroom was ultimately canceled after season 3, as many audiences and critics complained that The Newsroom felt preachy and moralistic at times since it touched upon real-world issues and breaking news. This was a tricky concept for The Newsroom to pull off and didn't always serve the quality of The Newsroom.
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
The Newsroom (2012–2014) |
N/A |
91% |
1 Dexter (2006–2013)
Needless complications changed the nature of Dexter as the show progressed
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- Showrunner
- Clyde Phillips
Based on the number of spinoffs within the Dexter universe, it's clear that the story itself is dynamic and interesting, paving the way for further exploration of Dexter as a character. The concept of a serial killer with a kind of moral code is an interesting premise. Dexter's pilot takes full advantage of the dramatic irony. There's comedy in the juxtaposition between Dexter's life and the violent murder scenes. Michael C. Hall, who plays the titular character, is also a large part of what makes the show work.
Most of Dexter's seasons aren't bad, but they don't necessarily have the magic that the pilot episode promised. Getting to know Dexter and understanding what makes him tick as a character creates inherent tension. As the seasons progressed, Dexter felt pressure to make him evolve as a person and stray from the original conceit of the story. The most recent spinoff, Dexter: Original Sin, works because it takes place before Dexter went off the rails, focusing on Dexter's origins.
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
Dexter (2006–2013) |
71% |
81% |
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