Not all pilots have that moment when you think I'm going to like this a lot but Dead Like Me does as George says "Aww shit" as a toilet seat plummets towards her.

The pre-credit sequence sold Gilmore Girls to me. I can't see how the show is going to appeal to you, if you don't like the first five minutes.

PS I love that moment in "The Witch", SMG was so cute.

I also remembering falling in love with Jaye in the Wonderfalls pilot when she pushes the Texas house frau into her hotel room after she punches her. (What can I say? I like women with chutzpah.) I don't think I fell in love with Buffy until the beginning of "The Witch" when she's standing in the library with her pompoms and asks Giles, "You don't like the color?"
But anyway, I've gone completely off-topic.

And I think Veronica Mars was a very good show... Well, the first two seasons were. Every bit as good as Buffy at its best. But if it's not your thing, that's cool too.

At the end of Dead Like Me pilot, I said to Andy that even if the rest of the series is rubbish then at least we have a great TV movie. I wasn't that taken with the Veronica Mars pilot - I certainly never watched another episode and I don't have that sinking feeling that I missed out. The Lost pilot was awesome and what a let down the rest of it was. On the other hand, I liked the Gilmore Girls pilot in a way that was reminiscent of my reaction to the BtVS pilot, I just knew I was going to enjoy these programmes and I was rather sold on Ugly Betty from its pilot on too.

Then again, it may get canceled after one season so it won't matter.

Also, agreed on the terrible, terrible scenes with Penikett. The kickboxing one makes my soul hurt just thinking about it.

I'm also concerned about the Ballard storyline, but we'll see.

And who says that all pilots suck? I tend to think they are ultimately an average episode of the series, unless the series sucks in which case the pilot probably sucks too. I'm not a huge fan of the Dead Like Me pilot. I think the reap of the little girl on the train was too maudlin. I do really like the Wonderfalls pilot though. And Veronica Mars.