Top 10 Best First Seasons of TV Shows
These first seasons set the bar high (sometimes too high). Welcome to MsMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for shows that took us by storm with only one outing.
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00:00 No guaranteed money, but all guaranteed fun!
00:02 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 best first seasons
00:08 of TV.
00:09 For this list, we'll be looking at the shows that took us by storm with only one outing.
00:14 If we missed any of your favorite instant hits, let us know in the comments below.
00:18 I can't do this alone.
00:20 Yes you can.
00:23 Number 10.
00:24 Once Upon a Time
00:25 So everyone here is a fairy tale character, they just don't know it.
00:29 It's the curse.
00:30 Time's been frozen.
00:32 Until you got here.
00:35 Everyone loves a good nostalgia kick, and in its first season, Once Upon a Time was
00:39 somehow able to maximize nostalgia while still giving us a compelling story.
00:44 There are lines even we shouldn't cross.
00:47 All power comes with a price.
00:51 The first season centers around a group of cursed fairy tale characters and Emma, the
00:55 savior who must break the curse.
00:57 With stunning visuals and clever twists on the fairy tales we all know and love, Once
01:02 Upon a Time delivered upon an interesting premise in an uber satisfying way.
01:07 Add near perfect casting into the equation, Jennifer Goodwin was born to play Snow White,
01:12 and you've got an incredible first season.
01:15 Number 9.
01:16 Friends
01:17 It's hard to maintain a steady through line of hilarity through 10 seasons of television.
01:22 "No one told you life was gonna be this way."
01:27 But it's even harder to succinctly and quickly define six different characters and the relationships
01:32 between them.
01:33 The first season of Friends managed to do just that while finding its signature comic
01:37 style along the way.
01:39 "I say push her down the stairs."
01:41 "Push her down the stairs."
01:45 "Push her down the stairs."
01:48 It's a delight to go back and watch the sitcom's first season, if only because it's fun
01:52 to see the stars of the show before they were some of the biggest celebrities on earth.
01:56 But we were also surprised just how quickly the show found its stride.
02:00 "Rachel, come on.
02:02 Give us a chance."
02:03 "Ross, it's too hard."
02:04 "No, no, no.
02:05 Why?
02:06 Because it might get weird for everyone else?
02:08 Who cares about them?
02:10 This is about us."
02:11 It takes a lot of comedies a little time to cut their groove, but by the middle of the
02:15 first season, Friends was already a standout.
02:19 Number 8.
02:20 The Good Place
02:21 When it comes to near-perfect first seasons, The Good Place ranks pretty high.
02:25 "Am I?
02:26 I mean, is this… or…"
02:32 Arguably the show's first season is its best, although we have a soft spot for the
02:36 others, too.
02:37 In season one, Eleanor Shellstrop dies and arrives in "The Good Place," a sort of
02:42 prototype of Heaven.
02:43 "Only the people with the very highest scores, the true cream of the crop, get to come here,
02:49 to The Good Place."
02:50 Trouble is, Eleanor was a pretty terrible person when she was alive, and she knows she's
02:55 not supposed to be there.
02:57 This first season is equal parts funny, outlandish, and introspective, handling the idea of the
03:02 afterlife and morality in simultaneously complex and humorous ways.
03:07 It's rare a show is able to keep us on our toes quite like the first season of The Good
03:11 Place, and we commend it for that.
03:14 "They're never gonna call a train to take us to the bad place.
03:18 They can't, because we're already here."
03:22 Number 7.
03:23 Westworld
03:24 Has there ever been such a strong drop-off between seasons before?
03:28 "Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?"
03:31 That's not necessarily because the subsequent seasons of Westworld are all bad, although
03:36 some of them are certainly lacking.
03:38 But season one hit the television scene with such a bang, it seems unlikely the creators
03:43 would have ever been able to top it.
03:45 The story takes place in a theme park modeled after the Wild West, which contains lifelike
03:50 robots to help entertain guests.
03:52 "It's the tiny things that make them seem real, that make the guests fall in love with
03:58 them."
03:59 The show considers questions of sentience and morality in complex ways, but after season
04:03 one, some of its themes start to become a little muddled.
04:06 That first season came at us with a bang.
04:09 It was a perfect combination of mystery, surprise, and just good storytelling.
04:14 "This?
04:15 This is the story you wanted."
04:21 Number 6.
04:22 Stranger Things
04:23 Trust 80s nostalgia to get us all immediately engaged with a television show.
04:27 "If Ed didn't come from the troglodytes, no, that came from something else."
04:31 "The Demogorgon!"
04:36 But the first season of Stranger Things had more than just the nostalgia bait going for
04:40 it.
04:41 While I don't think anyone was prepared for just how much of a hit it would be,
04:44 "How do I find you?
04:45 What should I do?"
04:58 the first season centers around a group of friends.
05:00 One of their pack goes missing, and another, a young girl with telekinetic powers, joins
05:05 to help in the search.
05:06 Before all the convolutedness that would follow in subsequent seasons, this first batch of
05:11 episodes was hard-hitting, well-paced, and had more than enough hints of Stephen King
05:15 and Steven Spielberg combined to keep us intrigued.
05:18 "Is that your sister?"
05:21 "This is an emergency, Mike.
05:24 Do you copy?
05:25 Mike, do you copy?"
05:28 Number 5.
05:29 Heroes
05:30 When Heroes first premiered, it seemed like one of the best television shows of the decade
05:34 was upon us.
05:35 "They say that man uses only a tenth of his brain power.
05:40 A hundred percent, and we might actually be worthy of God's image.
05:44 Unless, of course, that day has already arrived."
05:47 We'll leave you to decide if the show's later seasons stacked up to its first.
05:52 Heroes follows various people around the world who have superhuman abilities as they try
05:56 to go about normal lives.
05:58 The first season had everything we could have wished for.
06:01 Action-packed drama, stellar writing, and an incredible cast.
06:10 The show received a lot of comparisons to Lost, mostly because of its thoughtful premise
06:14 and imaginative themes.
06:16 While it may not have necessarily lived up to that degree of hype, we'll never forget
06:20 that near-perfect first run.
06:22 "I have two paths in front of me.
06:25 I need to know which one to take.
06:28 Which one is my destiny."
06:31 Number 4.
06:32 Psych
06:33 "I got the information because I'm psychic."
06:37 "Get him out of here."
06:39 "Get him out of here, boy."
06:41 When Psych first dropped on the scene in 2006, it took the world by storm.
06:45 The show, which follows a crime consultant with a good enough memory to convince people
06:49 he's a psychic, offered a new spin on the detective serial.
06:52 "All right, you want to sweat the details?
06:54 Fine.
06:55 The cops think I'm a psychic, and now we are investigating a kidnapping."
06:58 The show is often compared to Monk, and takes some flack for that.
07:01 But we think Psych had a distinct enough style of comedy plus some real emotional stakes
07:06 to differentiate itself.
07:08 "Um, Mugugai pan!
07:10 Beef lo mein kud pao!
07:13 Uh, check the food!
07:16 It was murder!"
07:18 When you combine that with a perfect will-they-won't-they couple in Sean and Jules, you've got yourself
07:23 a pretty unbeatable first season of TV.
07:26 Number 3.
07:27 Supernatural
07:28 Sometimes, you stay on the air long enough to see yourself become the villain.
07:32 "We'll catch you around here again, son.
07:34 We'll put the fear of God in you, understand?"
07:36 "Yes, sir, fear of God."
07:38 "Got it."
07:39 After 15 years of Supernatural, it was hard to remember the feeling we once got from that
07:44 impeccable first season.
07:46 You remember it, don't you?
07:47 "Dad's on a hunting trip, and he hasn't been home in a few days."
07:52 That first season the Winchester brothers spend tracking down their father, who in turn
07:56 is trying to track down the demon that killed their mother, is a unique premise on its own.
08:01 It's effortlessly equal parts soapy and campy in such a mid-2000s time capsule, it's hard
08:06 not to love.
08:07 "Come on, baby, I'm feeling the beat of the rhythm."
08:15 It might sometimes be silly, yes, but the first season of Supernatural knows exactly
08:20 what type of vibe it's going for, and it nails it.
08:24 Number 2.
08:25 Prison Break
08:26 You can only break out of prison so many times and keep it interesting.
08:29 "See you on the other side."
08:38 And that's why the first season of Prison Break will always be the most thrilling.
08:43 In the show's first season, a man named Michael purposefully gets himself into prison to try
08:47 and help free his brother, who is set to die for a crime he didn't commit.
08:52 "Why do you want to see Boro so bad anyhow?"
08:55 "Because he's my brother."
09:01 If that sounds like a sort of bonkers premise, it is, but one that Prison Break completely
09:06 delivers on.
09:07 The first season of the crime drama brings pulp, action, and suspense in all of its forms.
09:12 "That's it."
09:13 "I can't leave you here."
09:15 "You don't have a choice.
09:17 I'm one of the bad guys, remember?"
09:19 Like we said, breaking out of prison is sort of a one-trick pony.
09:22 The first time will always be the best.
09:25 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
09:30 True Detective
09:31 The McConaissance Begins
09:32 "You didn't sleep last night?"
09:35 "I don't sleep.
09:37 I just dream."
09:41 Abbott Elementary
09:42 This is an Abbott Elementary first season stand YouTube account.
09:46 "Could you just watch her for a second?
09:50 Um, hey."
09:51 "How you doing?"
09:52 "I do, uh…"
09:53 "All right."
09:54 Shameless
09:55 We couldn't get enough of the Gallaghers.
09:56 "You're almost nine.
09:57 You're gonna have to start pulling your weight."
09:58 "That's right, and get a real job, not just dipping into the collection plate at
10:05 St. Tim's."
10:06 Modern Family
10:07 However complicated the family dynamics, they were introduced seamlessly.
10:11 "He keeps calling me his nephew."
10:12 "You are my nephew."
10:13 "Shut up!"
10:14 "Okay, okay, I'm getting the sense that you're all related, uh, somehow."
10:19 Veronica Mars
10:20 You Can't Go Wrong With a Teen Detective
10:23 "If all one has to do in order to procure a fake ID is slip cash into locker 110, it
10:28 stands to reason all I have to do is see who opens said locker.
10:33 This is made tougher, though not impossible, by my suspension."
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10:53 Number 1
10:54 Lost
10:55 "As if I'm gonna start eating chocolate."
10:56 "Shannon, we may be here for a while."
11:02 "The plane had a black box, idiot."
11:05 Lost is one of the best television shows that has ever graced our screens.
11:09 Despite how you might feel about its finale, it has some of the best moments in TV history
11:15 and somehow seemed to only get better as the seasons went on.
11:20 "Did anybody see that?"
11:26 "Yeah."
11:28 Knowing that, it's pretty astounding how amazing its first season is, and how well
11:33 it still holds up today.
11:35 Lost season one took on the daunting task of introducing not only dozens of critical
11:40 characters, but a mystery that we would be trying to solve for years to come.
11:45 "We can't transmit because something else is already transmitting."
11:48 "Transmitting from where?"
11:49 "What?"
11:50 "Somewhere close, the signal's strong."
11:51 "Somewhere close?"
11:52 "You mean on the island?
11:54 That's great!"
11:55 It does so with expert writing that reveals answers and questions in equal measure, and
11:59 acting that makes us care so much about these people it almost hurts.
12:04 Do you agree with our picks?
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