10 Of The Greatest Ever TV Pilots — And 10 Of The Worst Finales
“Diane, if you ever get up this way, that cherry pie is worth a stop.”
Recently, I decided to ask members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell me, in their opinion, which finale episodes almost ruined a show — and which pilot episodes were the best that ever happened. Here are their answers:
Fox / Via youtube.com
“And the greatness didn’t stop in the pilot; it was amazing (almost) all the way through. It wasn’t the same, but they tried their best with that final Netflix season. And it just gets funnier and funnier every rewatch, because I see stuff I’ve missed before.”
—Anonymous
2. Horrible Finale: “The Supernatural finale was an abomination.”
The CW / Via youtube.com
“Aside from Dean’s truly ridiculous death, they erased 15 years of his character development, turning him into a caricature who breezily dismissed Castiel and just wanted to eat pie and drive aimlessly around Heaven… [it] was the worst fanfic ever written.”
3. Amazing Pilot: “I loved the West Wing pilot. The dialogue was smart, snappy, and funny. Plus Martin Sheen’s entrance was perfection.”
5. Amazing Pilot: “The Sopranos.”
HBO / Via youtube.com
“I was years late to watching The Sopranos because I thought it was gonna be something like Goodfellas (I know people love that movie, it’s just not my taste). I don’t like violence, but my God, did this show rope me in! Tony and those ducks, man.”
—Anonymous
6. Horrible Finale: “The final episode of How I Met Your Mother was an absolute travesty.”
CBS / Via youtube.com
“It’s like seven seasons didn’t happen between the first two seasons and the last episode. Ted made all this progress in finally moving on from Robin and had a symbolic letting her go where he imagined letting her fly away like a balloon.
Then, one episode later, she divorces Barney because both her and his character arcs are thrown in the bin for Ted to chase her again and for them to end up together. Spent all those seasons finding out who the mother is, and then they kill her in the next episode. I hated it so much that I have struggled to watch any episode since, despite loving it so much before then. I wish I had never watched the final two episodes.”
7. Amazing Pilot: “What We Do In The Shadows has one of the best pilots!”
FX / Via youtube.com
“You get a real feel for the characters without focusing too heavily on any one of them, and I will forever call crepe paper ‘creepy paper’ now. 
”
8. Horrible Finale: “Pretty Little Liars had the worst series finale on the planet in the history of, like, ever!!!
Freeform / Via youtube.com
“I watched that show every week with my pen and paper looking for clues as to who A was.
Then we get a 10-minute reveal of a stupid long-lost British twin?! It was like they took some stupid fanfiction and rushed the whole thing. It was ridiculous, stupid, made absolutely no sense, and ruined seven years of build-up!
I have never rewatched the show and will always be upset and angry over how it ended. They had so many chances to do better!”
9. Amazing Pilot: “Derry Girls had a perfect pilot.”
Channel 4 / Netflix / Via youtube.com
“It introduced the characters beautifully with all their different personalities and set the tone of the show. The detention scene is an absolute classic, and you knew after the pilot what you were getting into.”
10. Horrible Finale: “They never should have killed George on Grey’s Anatomy.”
ABC / Via youtube.com
“Hit by a bus??? He was killed purely for shock value! [And his character already] had a perfect out for the show: he was leaving to be a trauma surgeon in the army!
He could have been happy doing what he wanted and alive and off the show! However, he was hit by a bus?! I will never forgive them for killing off a character that was so unneeded… George deserved better!”
11. Amazing Pilot: “Bob’s Burgers’ pilot episode [is the] best there is out there! Nothing can outshine this one.”
12. Horrible Finale: “I loved The Flash when I was in high school, but its ending was horrible.”
The CW / Via youtube.com
“I returned to the show when I was in college, and I was like, ‘What happened?’ The beginning of the show was great. The later seasons, not so much.”
—Anonymous
13. Amazing Pilot: “Anyone who writes will tell you that Breaking Bad had one of the most impressive pilot episodes of all time.”
AMC / Via youtube.com
“It took me years to watch the show, mostly because I didn’t think I would care for the premise. Now I’m a superfan!”
—Jeff
14. Horrible Finale: “Friends.”
NBC / Via youtube.com
“Rachel should have stayed on the plane. I would have loved to have seen her fulfill her dream in Paris, making a name for herself. She and Ross were absolutely horrible together, and I feel like 10 seasons’ worth of character growth was just tossed out the window.”
“I agree!! So frustrating in hindsight. Or why couldn’t Ross have relocated? He had to be away from one of his children regardless. It would have been an opportunity for him to really demonstrate his support for Rachel and her career, compared with his childish behavior in earlier seasons.”
15. Amazing Pilot: “I think my favorite show of all time that I could watch forever is Twin Peaks.”
ABC / Via youtube.com
“I must’ve seen the first episode five times, and it immediately puts you right in that town. I was even a fan of Season 2 (I think it’s grown on people).
Nothing can prepare you for the movie.”
—Anonymous
16. Horrible Finale: “I know they were working with unforeseen circumstances, so I understand, but… House of Cards.”
Netflix / Via youtube.com
“I hate to say it, but the last season almost ruined the whole show for me. That said, not the writers’ fault. IDK how I could’ve ended it better given the circumstances.”
—Anonymous
17. Amazing Pilot: “The pilot of The Walking Dead was awesome.”
AMC / Via youtube.com
“I came late to the party of The Walking Dead fandom. I was busy having my first baby when it premiered, and it took four years after baby number two for the show to even register on my radar. All I knew was that it was about zombies. I had no idea it began after the apocalypse had already happened and the protagonist was just as confused as me. LOL, epic.”
—Anonymous
18. On the other hand… Horrible Finale: “The Walking Dead’s final few episodes were such a letdown.”
AMC / Via youtube.com
“I get that they wanted a whole redemption arc for Negan, but not allowing him to go full Negan on that a-hole who took over at Alexandria was the biggest letdown of the season. It would have been just as redeeming to have him pull a classic Negan to save all of those people. They could have still given it an altruistic spin. I feel cheated.”
—Anonymous
19. Amazing Pilot: “This Is Us had both a stellar pilot as well as finale. They stayed strong throughout.”
20. And a final Horrible Finale: “For me, not only the finale but ALL of the last season of Sex and the City sucked.”
HBO / Via youtube.com
“It was all about Paris and the fashion extreme and it was completely deprived of real friendship goals in a harsh city like NYC.
I watched it ’til the end because I was such a fan of the premise and needed closure for the characters, just to be completely disappointed. Oh, and let’s not talk about the movies… a complete waste of time and money.”
—Anonymous
