Category: First Impressions

Reviews of pilot episodes.

Dads

First Impressions: Dad (Fox)

Dads lowers the bar for the 2013 fall season.

The Goodwin Games is a decent enough sitcom pilot, though one that appears to be DOA.

Hannibal debuts with the most outstanding pilot of recent memory.

ABC’s latest comedy suffers from a ridiculous title and a cascade of cliches.

Bates Motel begins… and doesn’t quite justify its own presence, though there’s plenty of intriguing pieces to see develop.

Cult

Cult is, quite possibly, the greatest terrible TV pilot of the 2010s.

Netflix throws its hat into the original programming ring with House of Cards’s strong pilot.

The Americans’s pilot episode impresses with its balance of strong aesthetics, and the central relationship between its protagonists.

The Following’s pilot is everything wrong with the current wave of “dark grim” TV.

Legit fills an obvious gap in FX’s comedy schedule with heart, charm, and an acerbic sense of humor that’s more than a little enticing.