23 TV Pilots That People Knew Were Going To Be Incredible Just From The First Few Minutes

BuzzFeed
·6 min read

Recently, we asked the BuzzFeed Community what the best opening scenes are of any TV series ever. Here are some of their responses!

WARNING: Some scenes include violence, sexual content, and suicide.

1.Legion

David growing up and playing sports, then later screaming and getting arrested and given medication by a doctor then later about to hang himself

Watch the scene here:

2.The Boys

A-Train runs through Robin and reduces her to blood and guts and says he can't stop then runs off as Hughie says "Robin?" with blood on his face

Watch the scene here:

3.Game of Thrones

one of the Night's Watch sees some creature throw his friend's head at him and looks up in horror

"I had no idea what the show was about, but after that opening scene with the White Walkers, I was sold!"

—norava8

HBO

Watch the scene here:

4.Lost

Jack wakes up and discovers the plane wreckage

Watch the scene here:

5.The Umbrella Academy

a woman gives birth and a man comes to buy her baby as the narrator describes that one day in October 1989, 43 women gave birth despite not being pregnant at the start of that day, and eccentric billionaire Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven

I can't find the scene on YouTube, but you can watch the episode on Netflix!

6.Fleabag

Fleabag narrates as a man comes over for a booty call and they do anal, and he thanks her earnestly the next day, and she spends the whole day wondering if she has a massive asshole

"Funniest and wittiest opening scene I’ve ever seen!"

—haightashbury1967

BBC

You can watch the scene here:

7.Twin Peaks

Pete Martell finds Laura Palmer and calls the sheriff saying she's dead and wrapped in plastic

Watch the scene here:

8.Derry Girls

Sister Michael tells the students that their trip will be to Paris after a "dramatic pause" which she accidentally reads out loud instead of doing. She also says she isn't coming, because she despises the French

I can't find the full scene on YouTube, but you can watch the episode on Netflix or piece together the whole first scene if you watch 1:12–1:43, 4:56–5:16, and 6:02–6:30 below:

9.Wandavision

Wanda and Vision try to figure out what the heart on the calendar means, and Wanda suggests Vision forgot, to which he says he's incapable of forgetting

Watch the scene here:

10.Lucifer

Lucifer says the cop pulled him over to exercise his limited powers and punish him, and that he understands because he used to like to punish people

Watch the scene here:

11.Breaking Bad

Walt tells his family whatever he's done has been for them then raises his gun on the dirt road as sirens go off in the distance

Watch the scene here:

12.Sex Education

Aimee asks if Adam faked his orgasm and he says no but she grabs the condom and asks where the "spunk" is

I can't find the first scene on YouTube, but you can watch the pilot on Netflix!

13.The West Wing

Sam's date tells Sam to tell his friend POTUS that he has a funny name and should learn to ride a bike, and Sam said he would but POTUS is not his friend, he's his boss, and POTUS is a title standing for "President of the United States"

Watch the scene here:

14.The Newsroom

Will explains how America isn't first in anything, but it used to be, and that the government used to be moral and that people cared about each other because they were informed by great men, but now america isn't the greatest country anymore

"The speech about America not being great is one of the all-time best scenes."

—niallh459ac7a2b

HBO

Watch the scene here:

15.Gilmore Girls

Lorelai tells Rory she has lip gloss in chocolate and other flavors and Rory asks if she has any that doesn't resemble a breakfast cereal — Lorelai pulls out one with no smell but that changes colors with your mood

Watch the scene here:

16.Supernatural

Sam and Dean's father sees blood fall on baby Sam in his crib and looks up to see his wife dead and bloodied on the ceiling

Watch the scene here:

17.Fringe

people start to turn to zombie-like creatures on the plane as everyone screams

Watch the scene here:

18.Bones

homeland security asks Brennan to hand over the bag, which she does — the man opens it to see a skull and Brennan says "boo"

Watch the scene here:

19.The Wire

McNulty talks with a victim's friend about his nickname, Snot Boogie, saying it's sad that he was given that name by people, and the friend says "life just be that way, I guess"

"The opening scene with McNulty talking about Snot Boogie. Awesome. 'Life just be that way, I guess.'”

—marclewisdegrace

HBO

Watch the scene here:

20.Sky Rojo

Coral explains that explains that there's always a day when your life gets torn, and this was that day, but they didn't see it coming — she also explains that the brothel she works at is (strangely) closed due to bereavement, but for them it's a day off

I can't find the scene on YouTube, but you can watch the episode on Netflix!

21.Galavant

the narrator sings that the adventure begins and is epic, wild, and a real butt-clencher

"That initial musical number (the title song) and humor were just perfection and totally sold the show."

—zemt

ABC

Watch the scene here:

22.Teen Wolf

Stiles tells Scott police found a body in the woods, and Scott asks if it was a dead body — Stiles jokes "no a body of water" then tells Scott they only found half the body

Watch the scene here (it's just the first scene in the video):

23.And finally, Letterkenny

Daryl: "You take your shirt off but leave your sunglasses on," Wayne: "What sort of backwards fucking pageantry is that?"

"First cold open of Letterkenny and I was hooked."

—tonya40ce15c08

Crave

Watch the scene here:

Submissions were edited for length and clarity.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next