TV Guide has published a list of its Top 10 TV Pilots. There are some strong choices [The Sopranos, ER], some odd choices [Alias? Desperate Housewives? and a few that beggar belief [the rejected US version of Footballer's Wives? Really?]. But that's the joy of lists for you. Everybody has an opinion and most every opinion is equally valid.
For what it's worth, below are my Top 10 TV pilots and a few reasons why. Ask me again in a wee and I'd probably have a different list, but this'll do for now. [They're not in order of merit, by the way.]
1. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS - I challenge you to watch this pilot and not be in pieces by the end. Great series too.
2. THE WEST WING - builds up everybody and BAM in walks the president in the last five minutes. Tops.
3. THE SOPRANOS - simple yet revolutionary, elegant yet brutal, the American Dream goes awry.
4. THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW - 'I hate spunk!'
5. HILL STREET BLUES - chaotic, charming, the progenitor for so many other shows since.
6. LOST - compelling, bizarre, imaginative - would that the series could match this promise.
7. THE SHIELD - proof that not just HBO does TV. Vic Mackie matches Tony Soprano for nuance.
8. TWIN PEAKS - you have entered The Twilight Zone via Peyton Place. Outstandingly oddball.
9. DOCTOR WHO - the 1963 pilot. So little budget, yet such genius.
10. INSPECTOR MORSE - rewrote the book for British TV drama, proving measured and intelligent could pull massive audiences in the Miami Vice era.
So, what are your Top 10 TV pilots?
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