Conducting a survey.

[hannah]

The topic of skippable first seasons of TV came up recently. It's a common one in fandom - "you only need these four episodes", "grit your teeth and get through it," "just start on season two." Whatever the given entertainment or narrative value of those seasons that varies from person to person, there's general agreement that they're nowhere near as good as what comes after.

It's got me wondering: what TV shows have genuinely good first seasons? I don't mean one-season wonders like Wonderfalls or Freaks and Geeks, and I don't mean premium cable shows like Deadwood and Six Feet Under. I don't mean shows that had wonderful pilots and then never realized that promise. I mean stuff that ran on ordinary networks for at least two seasons.

What first seasons of TV are fully and enjoyably watchable all the way through?

The first thing which comes to mind for me is Scrubs - a little shaky and still steady on its feet, funny where it wanted to be funny and serious when it was supposed to be serious. petra suggested Slings & Arrows, which is a show that never got worse than "amazingly good."

I'm curious what someone else might come up with.

Comments

[olivermoss]

I think Leverage is a prime example. You can judge the whole show by the pilot. The concept, characters and vibe are all fully developed. The only thing that's off about the pilot in comparison to the rest of the series is the clothing choices. The second ep wobbles a bit, but from there on it's steady.

[sasha_feather]

Dark Angel. Just 2 seasons, both good. Aired on Fox.

[corvidology]

I think the first season of Person of Interest was excellent right from the first episode.

Also, Life on Mars (UK) is excellent.

[lilacsigil]

I hated the first episode of Person of Interest, so much so that I didn't watch again for ages, until I heard about the AI storyline. I would say it was great from the second episode, and the first episode has a lot of rewarding things when you re-watch, but it suffers from some major pilot problems which are absolutely not apparent later.

[corvidology]

I've lived in the US for long enough that my standards for pilot episodes may have been lowered. :D

My biggest issue with US pilot episodes is that they're usually 'information dumps' where they attempt to tell you the whole storyline and POI didn't do that.

I'm not one of those fans who can skip episodes/seasons to get to the 'good stuff' so I often don't get past the first couple of episodes.

[likeadeuce]

The Good Place, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Justified, Orphan Black

[isis]

I completely agree with petra on Slings & Arrows - it's phenomenal.

[delight]

Absolutely seconding Leverage.

Law & Order.

The Aussie show Harrow is phenomenal from episode one of season one, and while I'm having a little more trouble engaging with S3 because of an early note of trouble that makes me anxious (for the characters!) it's not lowered in quality from its first episode either.

The Resident I actually think has the best of its season-long arcs in the first season (though the individual episodes are still mostly good throughout, the Big Bad plot angle is strongest in S1).

[musesfool]

Veronica Mars. The West Wing. Battlestar Galactica (even without the miniseries, but the miniseries is also excellent). The Good Place. Gilmore Girls.

[rosefox]

People say "just skip it" about the early seasons of DS9, but I really like them.

[conuly]

The thing with a good first season is that shows where I love the first season often fall apart by season 3. I call it my own personal curse.

[lilacsigil]

X-Files!

Hannibal is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but it starts exactly as it means to continue.

[glinda]

Leverage! It’s definitely a show that get’s better as it goes on but that’s not a judgement on the first season, it’s solid in it’s own right. I’d still gladly re-watch any episode from that season any day of the week.

[kingstoken]

I'm going to say Lost. I'm not saying that it didn't have it's flaws, but the first season is pretty solid, and keeps you engaged throughout.

[ruuger]

A lot of people say that S1 of The Mentalist is the best one, though I personally disagree (I think whether you think S1 is good depends on if you prefer Jane as the basic light-hearted jerk-with-aheart-of-gold procedural protagonist or the much darker character he becomes in later seasons).

For me, skipping seasons to get into a show rarely works, because I need to like the characters (or premise) at least in some way to like a show, and if they change so much that my opinion would be completely different if I started from another point, then goes against my need for consistent character development. The seed of what I would like in season X must already be present in the beginning. And this is why my road to being fannish about something usually starts with hating the thing but plowing on anyway :D

(case in point: The Mandalorian, which I didn't originally like when I first watched it until suddenly I did)

[clachnaben]

Black Sails - it definitely has its strongest moments in the later seasons, but the show's great strength is how the characters grow and change from Season 1 and all the pay off in the final season is groundwork laid in season 1.

[dorianmorgendorffer]

Futurama! and of course i agree with you on Scrubs :)

[beerbad]

Friday Night Lights, Gilmore Girls, Community, Arrested Development, Wynonna Earp, and Veronica Mars all come to mind for me.

[wendelah1]

I love the first season of The X-Files. I've probably watched it more than any other season. Fringe gets better and better (until it gets worse again) but I thought it had a good first season. It's been awhile since I watched some of these shows, but as far as I can recall, Gilmore Girls, ER, The West Wing, Sarah Connor Chronicles, thirtysomething, China Beach, Felicity, and Northern Exposure all had good first seasons. Yes to Leverage! More recently, I loved season one of The Americans, The Expanse, The Good Place, Timeless (cancelled far too soon!), and Better Things. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist had a great first season--season two, not so much, at least not so far...

Admittedly, I don't watch much TV but the only show I can recall watching which had a truly awful first season but got better in season two is Parks and Recreation. I consider season one of that show unwatchable but I love the rest of the series. It seems much more common for a show to have two, three or even four strong seasons and run out of inspiration thereafter.

[lannamichaels]

Graceland had a really excellent first season, then went off the rails pretty much immediately in season 2. I think it had 3 seasons total? I stopped paying attnetion. But the first season is spectacular.

[yourlibrarian]

I think that tends to be the flip side of the many shows which were basically "1 and done" in that unless you were a diehard there wasn't much reason to keep watching past the first season. I think Veronica Mars had a perfect S1 and never recaptured it.

[serrico]

Some I haven't seen mentioned yet: Elementary, Burn Notice, The Knick, Being Erica, Carnivale, Everwood, Pushing Daisies, Underground. And Supernatural, because whatever it may have turned into, it DID have a generally good first season.

[lizbee]

Lots of people say you should skip season one of Star Trek: Discovery, but it was my favourite, and set up the themes and characterisation that carries over seasons 2 and 3.

And I was warned that the first season of Schitt's Creek wasn't very good, but I liked it a lot -- it's true that the ensuing seasons are funnier, but I needed that foundation of getting to know the characters. And it was good, just not outstanding.

[linaelyn]

Agreement for many of those mentioned already. The one I haven't seen mentioned here yet: Longmire.


Slings & Arrows & Leverage and Gilmore Girls and X-Files, absolutely.