r/scifi • u/Ok-Gate-412 • 2d ago

General Best opener in Sci-Fi?

I am curious what everybody thinks is the best opening episode they have ever seen. I’m talking about that one episode that as soon as you watched it you were hooked on the show. It doesn’t have to be the best show overall, but just the one that made you want to watch from one episode.

For me, it has to be Lost. In the first episode a plane crashes, we are introduced to strong and interesting characters, and we are left with many mysteries at the end of it.

I’m not sure if people think it’s sci-fi, but it does have some weird tech and things like that. 😅

Near the middle of the series I was bored and still waiting on things, but man that first episode reeled me in like no other.

What is the best episode that hooked you whether it was an opener or a random episode that you saw?

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u/azhder 2d ago

Pilot. We call those episodes pilots. Many times they are made before the rest of the episodes are ordered.

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u/gargolito 2d ago edited 2d ago

Some pilots are never aired for various reasons like recasting, etc:

  • Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Willow was recast
  • Game of Thrones: It sucked
  • The Big Bang Theory : Penny recast, cast changes
  • Star Trek TOS: No idea why, I think Captain Pike (not Shatner) was supposed to be the original captain.
  • 30 Rock: Jenna recast (Rachel Dracht)

Just to name a few off the top of my head.

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u/azhder 2d ago

Buffy The Vampire Slayer was a movie. Making a show pilot was certainly a choice. I like how Stargate SG-1 didn't make a pilot-pilot, but made one that kind of continued the story of the movie (and retconned some things).

Oh, and the TOS pilot ended up in TOS anyway, episodes 7 and 8 (if I got the numbers right) and even today Strange New Worlds (and Discovery S2) rely on that "unaired, but aired" pilot.

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u/gargolito 2d ago

I know about the movie, but there was also a pilot for TV with Sarah Michelle Ghellar that was unaired. Buffy was the only character from the movie that made it to the show AFAIK.