The thread on best opening songs on an album in the music forum got me thinking… what TV shows had killer opening episodes that just sucked you right in?

I submit The Americans . Great use of music and setting the tone for how lethal the sleeper agents could be.

Of recent vintage

Ted Lasso…I went in skeptical that what amounted to a good SNL type bit of a commercial could work as a show.

Andor…Star Wars, opened in a brothel.

Miami Vice. Nothing is even close.

Breaking Bad for me. I knew it was special after Ep 1.

Friday Night Lights

Lawless with Brian Bosworth as a detective. Because it was also the last episode.

50 minutes ago, HiggyBaby said:

The thread on best opening songs on an album in the music forum got me thinking… what TV shows had killer opening episodes that just sucked you right in?

I submit The Americans . Great use of music and setting the tone for how lethal the sleeper agents could be.

This would have been my answer.

Also, Pluribus. Incredible season and the best episode was the first one.

S1E1 of Game of Thrones was epic.

breaking bad

battlestar galáctica

derry girls

house of cards

band of brothers

the wire

mad men

the wire

miami vice

west wing

buck rogers

hill st blues

in the heat of the night

to name a few

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia off the top of my head.

The Righteous Gemstones is another.

Edited February 10Feb 10 by Parliament

True Detective (season 1 obviously).

We did this pretty recently.

The A Team.

When I saw the thread title, The Americans was the first thing that came to mind. Followed quickly by Friday Night Lights.

5 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Nothing is even close.

I love statements like this.

3 hours ago, ztejas said:

We did this pretty recently.

that's pilot. this is opening episodes, plural. jfc can you even read? unbelievable.

3 hours ago, futureman said:

that's pilot. this is opening episodes, plural. jfc can you even read? unbelievable.

what a strange and less interesting way to do this.

9 hours ago, ztejas said:

We did this pretty recently.

I see you’ve met my search skills …

16 hours ago, HiggyBaby said:

The thread on best opening songs on an album in the music forum got me thinking… what TV shows had killer opening episodes that just sucked you right in?

I submit The Americans . Great use of music and setting the tone for how lethal the sleeper agents could be.

12 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

When I saw the thread title, The Americans was the first thing that came to mind. Followed quickly by Friday Night Lights.

I saw the thread title and immediately jumped to this...for one opening scene. Not episode, not season. The SCENE that set everything up and hooked you immediately...this was the one.

13 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

When I saw the thread title, The Americans was the first thing that came to mind. Followed quickly by Friday Night Lights.

I wasn't even a fan of Tusk because USC but it rocked there.

i had never in my life seen an opening episode to a series like the pilot episode of eastbound & down when it came out. to this day i’ve never laughed harder at a pilot.

Anybody remember the HBO series, Vinyl? I think it was on in 2013 or 2014. First episode was fantastic, and made me think the series was going to be about the music scene in NYC from the early seventies forward, in that period where the blues rock scene was hitting its peak, funk was on the rise, punk, disco and hip hop were still underground movements, but starting to make some noise. There was a lot going on, and that opening episode touched on all of it, plus there was a great sound track. I was hooked...unfortunately, the series was not about the music scene, it turned out to be about a sleazy producer struggling to keep his record label afloat. Filled with characters I found impossible to give a shit about. I kept watching to the last episode in the misplaced hope that it would return to the greatness of the first episode, but it just kept getting worse. It got so bad that HBO cancelled season 2 before the first season was even completed.

34 minutes ago, Derka said:

i had never in my life seen an opening episode to a series like the pilot episode of eastbound & down when it came out. to this day i’ve never laughed harder at a pilot.

The day this aired, the neighbor across the street moved in. He had a huge truck and seemed like a douchbag. His nickname in our family was Kenny Powers. His wife kicked him out after the divorce a few years later.

18 hours ago, HiggyBaby said:

The thread on best opening songs on an album in the music forum got me thinking… what TV shows had killer opening episodes that just sucked you right in?

I submit The Americans . Great use of music and setting the tone for how lethal the sleeper agents could be.

Iconic. As soon as I saw what clip you'd posted I knew Tusk would be blasting. It's like Layla from Goodfellas. Perfectly matched.

19 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

the wire

It took me 3 tries to get through episode 1. Then I binged the rest in a few weeks.

I’ll add Lost too. Despite its last seasons.

1 minute ago, Superhero said:

It took me 3 tries to get through episode 1. Then I binged the rest in a few weeks.

16 minutes ago, HiggyBaby said:

I’ll add Lost too. Despite its last seasons.

Lost & Breaking Bad for me.

On 2/9/2026 at 5:12 PM, tx 3 putt said:

battlestar galáctica

Miniseries or S1E1?

5 hours ago, notre dame joe said:

Miniseries or S1E1?

6 hours ago, notre dame joe said:

Miniseries or S1E1?

The Shield

54 minutes ago, Bill Brasky said:

The Shield

I know it was good, but I never got into that series. All I could see was The Commish went bald.

On 2/9/2026 at 5:27 PM, atomheartbevo said:

Miami Vice. Nothing is even close.

Was going to post this. No doubt.

For a sleeper, I would suggest Eastbound and Down, which maybe had the ballsiest opening sequence in television history.

8 hours ago, notre dame joe said:

Miniseries or S1E1?

3 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

2 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

All of this...yes.

When they came back after a year with "33" just fucking blew my mind how good, topical, and no slowing down it was.

On 2/9/2026 at 6:15 PM, HiggyBaby said:

The thread on best opening songs on an album in the music forum got me thinking… what TV shows had killer opening episodes that just sucked you right in?

I submit The Americans . Great use of music and setting the tone for how lethal the sleeper agents could be.

Agreed.

The Wonder Years. Kevin meets Winnie under the tree when he finds out her brother died in Vietnam and gives her his jacket.

6 hours ago, BHMCruiser said:

Was going to post this. No doubt.

It's a cliche, but we basically had a cinema-level experience packaged in a TV show in our living rooms or dens. There are serious/dramatic movies that will never have that weight.

I loved it, and that scene, you absolutely knew shit was going down, and if you had never seen the series and caught that scene out of context, you might even wonder if that was a season or series finale, instead of the fucking pilot.

On 2/10/2026 at 10:36 AM, Derka said:

i had never in my life seen an opening episode to a series like the pilot episode of eastbound & down when it came out. to this day i’ve never laughed harder at a pilot.

Possibly the funniest comedy series ever.

Edited February 12Feb 12 by dcbc

I never watched The Americans, maybe I should.

My first thought was Breaking Bad. This is a an answer to a different question, but it is.... almost definitely the show that had the most promise in the pilot that did not disappoint. Like, Lost is a great pilot, or Game of Thrones or Boardwalk Empire or a lot of other shows had really good pilots and then delivered or did not deliver to various extents. Breaking Bad was amazing from episode 1 and you can quibble over little spots but it nailed the beginning, the middle, and the landing. Mad Men is in there too. Mad Men pilot was interesting - I don't know specifically what happened outside of a few scenes (lucky strikes, I assume this had the toasted pitch, maybe the VW ad, was episode 1 the birthday party?) but I remember specifically rewatching it almost immediately and knowing that I wanted to sit in this atmosphere and look around every week.

Walking Dead might be a strong contender for best pilot to a show that became absolute dogshit.

Edited February 12Feb 12 by Celery Man

Buffy. The first scene where Darla is just the innocent cute cheerleader and the guy is kinda creepy, then flips it on its head - Was pretty attention grabbing for 1997

As a kid I loved the first episode of The Greatest American Hero. Where the aliens show up and give him the suit, then he loses the instructions. Probably holds up terribly though. Except for Connie Sellecca.

2 hours ago, Red Five said:

Connie Sellecca.

On 2/11/2026 at 7:21 AM, atomheartbevo said:

On 2/11/2026 at 11:00 AM, Drew said:

All of this...yes.

When they came back after a year with "33" just fucking blew my mind how good, topical, and no slowing down it was.

No. Thinking it over I didn't look at the prompt. The BSG 'mini-series' was two 90 minute episodes. One was great and the other okay. But really you can't say that is an opening episode like the other shows.