Everyone always talks about the great shows with terrible pilots. Parks and Recreation, for instance, is one of the most famous examples. But, there have been several instances of the exact opposite happening, as in, a great pilot that ends up kicking off a bad show.
Sometimes, the fall from grace after the pilot is slow. Some of the five shows on this list even lasted multiple seasons. Other times, though, like some other shows represented on this list, the show will decline in quality so fast that it gets canceled even before Season 1 finishes airing. Luckily, all the shows on this list have aired all known produced episodes in at least some capacity.
5
‘Crisis’ (2014)
Created by Rand Ravich
Despite what many consider a fantastic premise and strong cast, Crisis’ quality dwindled so quickly that it was canceled before the end of Season 1 — though, the full season was released, despite this. Many would argue the NBC show’s quality was never there at all, but some did find the pilot — particularly its premise — interesting. Crisis is a hostage drama wherein the president’s son, an FBI-higher-up’s niece, and their classmates are kidnapped, leading to many searching for them in an attempt at a rescue.
Early testing for Crisis showed that its pilot was getting stellar feedback, though that response was fairly middling when that pilot eventually did air. Ahead of the pilot’s release, though, production was halted after the filming of Episode 5 because, according to Deadline, the episodes after that first one seemed to deviate too far from what got people excited about the show at first. Its 13 episodes did air, but reviews and ratings never seemed to match those reported early reactions.
4
‘Last Resort’ (2012)
Created by Shawn Ryan and Karl Gajdisek
Starring the late Andre Braugher, Last Resort had such a strong pilot with a gripping premise. After not following an order to set a nuclear bomb on Pakistan, a U.S. Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine commander and his crew became enemies of the state. As a result, they end up settling down, at least temporarily, on an island. Unfortunately, with the crew getting to the island within the first episode, the show quickly lost steam.
The pilot was so strong because of its stakes. When those stakes were inevitably lessened over the course of the show, Last Resort moved away from the plot that had audiences interested and focused on character elements instead. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but to go from such a seemingly action-packed concept to a story relying on the interpersonal stories among the crew members does seem like a bit of a bait-and-switch. Plus, a major government scheme was teased in the pilot, only to see little-to-no followup. As such, people quickly lost interest, and the show ended after just one season.
3
‘The Nevers’ (2021–2023)
Created by Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon is controversial to say the least, but it is undeniable that he can craft intriguing TV shows with fascinating lore and strong concepts – and HBO Max’s The Neversbegan as exactly that. Women with superpowers at the end of Queen Victoria’s reign, class conflict and a general underdog, fight-the-system aura to its premise would certainly be enough to grab anyone’s interest, which it did. In fact, according to Variety, the pilot’s 1.2 million viewers marked the most-watched HBO Max original when it premiered in 2021.
The Nevers took a major hit when Whedon departed from the show, reportedly due to “exhaustion,” in the middle of Season 1, which was right around when claims against him started surfacing. After he left, Philippa Goslett finished out Season 1 as showrunner, and the show took on a somewhat new tone (though even before that, people found the plot fairly convoluted). Whether interest simply dwindled over the long, mid-season break, or viewers were already losing interest even before Whedon left, HBO Max did not deem it worth finishing out Season 1, let alone seeing a renewal. Eventually, the remaining six episodes did air on Tubi TV and the Roku Channel, but the show as a whole was actually pulled off of HBO Max entirely.
2
‘Revolution’ (2012–2014)
Created by Eric Kripke
Directed by Jon Favreau — yes, of Iron Man fame — Revolution posed a fascinating premise: years before the show’s events (which take place in 2027), all the electricity on earth completely shut down, seemingly forever, and society learned to live on. Favreu was not the only major name attached to the show, with it having been created by Eric Kripke — yes, of Supernatural and The Boys fame. With such a stacked team, the 2012 NBC pilot’s success likely came as little surprise. And, unlike many on this list, the show’s first season was strong enough to warrant a second.
Inconsistencies such as technology that should not exist, dialogue that did not seem grounded or realistic, pacing issues and more hit the show more and more as it went on, leading to its eventual cancellation. With the cancellation came far too many questions left unanswered, which some even considered an issue prior to its official end. Some viewers felt it was trying to do too much, others simply found it confusing or contradictory. Ultimately, all this combined with low ratings and ended up being the recipe for cancellation.
1
‘Under the Dome’ (2013–2015)
Developed by Brian K. Vaughan
Despite coming about during the height of the dystopia craze, fresh off the heels of Divergent (at that point just novels, with a film adaptation soon to come) and even The Hunger Games, Under the Dome (based on the Stephen King novel of the same name) was a true disappointment. Looking at the numbers, its 2013 pilot was the most-watched summer debut in six years, with 13.1 million watching the first episode, and that number only decreased by 15% for episode 2. Though it was met with negative reviews as early as Season 1, the finale still brought in 11.84 million viewers, justifying a renewal for Season 2, then eventually Season 3.
The pilot set up an interesting story, leaving viewers curious about why a dome suddenly sealed a small area from the rest of the world, splitting up everything from families to body parts, with no seeming way to break the barrier. It introduced interesting characters and mythology, and had viewers excited for the remaining 12 episodes of the first season. By the Season 1 finale, though, it was clear that the pilot was not only as good as the show would get, but that the disappointing rest of the season wasted the strong story the pilot set up. Back when the show was canceled in 2015, Collider argued that the three-season CBS series was cancelled “Three Seasons Too Late,” and was a “muddled mess.”
