First Episodes Of TV Shows That Were So Good That They Got People Hooked On The Entire Series
One minute you’re just casually tuning in, and the next you’re canceling weekend plans because you need to know what happens next.
There’s something magical about a TV show that sinks its hooks into us from the very first episode. You press play just to “check it out,” and before you know it, you’re five hours deep, emotionally invested in characters you just met, and wanting it not to end. For me, a show that got me right from the pilot was WandaVision. I truly couldn’t wait for the next week’s episode after seeing the first two episodes.
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Recently, Redditor duckduckmeowww wanted to know about those TV shows that got people hyped just from the pilot when they asked: “What show hooked you on the first episode?”
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The thread got over 8K responses. Below, are the top, best, and most-often repeated TV shows:
1. “Ted Lasso. I was hooked from the moment he called his wife in the pilot episode. The whole series was extremely well done.”
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“I never thought that a show about football/soccer could warm my heart, but it did with every episode. You must love these characters!”
2. “The Boys. I was hooked, like, two minutes in — like WTF?”
Jan Thijs / ©Amazon / courtesy Everett Collection
“I was all of four minutes into the first episode when my BF got home from work (it started auto-playing after I finished another show and seemed interesting), and he sat down on the bed behind me. We fully watched the first three episodes before he was like, ‘Damn. WTF? I’m still in my work clothes.’ So GOOD.”
3. “Chernobyl”
4. “Game of Thrones. After Bran is kicked out the window I stopped accepting the ‘Oh, X show gets good after a few episodes, stick with it!’ excuse.”
HBO/BuzzTox / Via youtube.com
“I didn’t give this show much thought until I was doing work in the basement and had the TV on for background noise. The first episode was being replayed on TV.
Eventually, I got so sucked in I sat on the couch and just watched. All work had come to a halt. Then the last scene where Bran catches the Lannisters fucking and then getting pushed out the tower window to presumably fall to his death was hook, line, and sinker for me. It broke so many conventions of storytelling that I knew this show would be special and needed to see more.”
5. “Six Feet Under. I’m old. I just cannot express how much I liked this show.”
6. “Orphan Black. It premiered after Doctor Who, and I wasn’t going to watch it, but that had me sucked in within the first few minutes.”
7. “Derry Girls. The first episode is a riot.”
Jack Barnes / ©Channel Four/Courtesy Everett Collectio / Everett Collection
“Checked it out because I saw a compilation of James getting shit on, and didn’t stop until I fell asleep. Love that show. I wish there was more, but the story has been told, and it wouldn’t be the same.”
8. “The Last of Us! As survivors of the COVID pandemic, seeing that opening interview kept me hooked.”
Liane Hentscher/HBO
“I was committed for the whole season because of how great the game is. However, that first episode was so amazingly executed, from the intro ’70s interview to fleshing out the characters to recreating that masterpiece apocalypse scenario. Definitely sold after that first episode.”
9. “Westworld (for two seasons at least).”
HBO / Via youtube.com
“Season 1 of Westworld is one of the best pieces of media to ever grace television. The progressive drop-off in quality was so sad.”
10. “Freaks and Geeks. I became immediately hooked after it was mentioned on Reddit a few weeks ago. The pilot is the best television I’ve ever seen.”
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“I came here to say this! Teenage angst at its finest. And so many stars before they were big!”
11. “Breaking Bad — the intensity and character depth grabbed me instantly.”
Amc / ©AMC / courtesy Everett Collection
“The moment Walter White made the fateful decision to start cooking meth, I was all in. The character development and tension in that first episode set the stage for an unforgettable journey.”
12. “Orange Is The New Black“
Netflix / ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
13. “Mr. Robot. Its pilot is one of the best pilots ever. Most of the shows in this thread are just excellent shows that had pilot episodes equal to their overall quality. Mr. Robot‘s pilot was exceptional and better than the rest of the season, which was still a fantastic season.”
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14. “Ozark“
Jackson Davis / ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
“That was what came to my mind. Ozark is a smart show in its entirety, but it never gets as clever as its first episode. I was gobsmacked by how tight the writing was and how good of an impression the pilot had on me.”
15. “The Good Place. The idea that you could make a thoughtful show about moral philosophy and make it funny and entertaining. Holy mother forking shirtballs.”
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16. “Mad Men, connecting with the main character after the first episode is the best.”
Amc / ©AMC / courtesy Everett Collection
“‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,’ what a phenomenal pilot.
‘The reason you haven’t felt it is because it doesn’t exist. What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons. You’re born alone, and you die alone, and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts. But I never forget. I’m living like there’s no tomorrow… because there isn’t one.’—Don Draper.”
17. “Sherlock“
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18. And finally, “Stranger Things grabbed me right from the get-go. The mix of ’80s nostalgia, suspense, and supernatural elements was irresistible.”
Curtis Baker/©Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection
“When I finally got around to seeing what the fuss was all about, I was thoroughly impressed with the accuracy of the show’s nostalgic look. The way that so much of the decor and fashion is late ’70s really fits with what the early to mid-’80s looked and felt like.
I love that they avoided the common mistake of ’80s nostalgia where everything is dialed up to 11 and looks too ’80s for its own good.”
You can read the original thread on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
