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I'm looking for pilot episodes of television series that feature a literal pilot.

For example, Lost (2004).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_%28Lost%29?wprov=sfla1

1st and 2nd episodes of the first season of ''Lost''

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Steve Scotten
Steve Scotten  
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okay there’s Manifest and Fringe that come to mind off the top of my head
Eric S-z
Eric S-z  
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dunno if this was a pilot or a first episode:

https://wings.fandom.com/wiki/Legacy

Legacy

Legacy is the first episode of the first season of Wings. On Nantucket Island, Joe Hackett, owner and sole pilot of Sandpiper Air, receives a letter from the executor of his late father's will.
Wings
Evan Prodromou
Evan Prodromou  
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@instudio do we see the pilot on Fantasy Island? Or just the plane? Feels like a stretch
Brian Danger Hicks
Brian Danger Hicks  
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I assume Wings and Northern Exposure do, on account of those series normally featuring pilots.
Steve Scotten
Steve Scotten  
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people who operate boats, ships, and motorcycles are referred to as pilots. So that gets you Gilligan’s Island and Then Came Bronson.
Evan Prodromou
Evan Prodromou  
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@splicer I mean, at a stretch you could count "Steamboat Willie". He's definitely a pilot, but I don't think it's fair to call that the pilot episode of a TV show.
Still from the movie Steamboat Willie. Mickey Mouse is at the wheel of a steamboat, with hills passing in the background.
@Steve Scotten
Steve Scotten
Steve Scotten  
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so yeah I don’t know how specific you want to get here about what “counts”. Is it a pilot if it’s the first episode that aired but wasn’t something made on spec hoping to sell it to the studio?

The things *I* notice and smile at are shows that don’t normally feature pilots where the first episode features a pilot prominently enough that the episode could plausibly be titled “Pilot” or “The Pilot”. It’s all for fun, right?
James Bartlett :terminal:
James Bartlett :terminal:  
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#Firefly (2004). The original 2-hour pilot episode is titled #Serenity, but the network decided to air the second episode (titled "The Train Job") first.

However, it doesn't really matter which episode you consider the pilot, because every Firefly episode features a literal pilot named Hoban Washburne, played by #AlanTudyk.
#serenity #firefly #alantudyk
Myk
Myk  
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Not quite matching your request, but the second episode of The Goes Wrong Show is titled "The Pilot (Not the Pilot)", in which they are presenting a production of a second world war play entitled "The Pilot", and they want the audience to be clear that it is not the pilot!
McNeely
McNeely  
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the plot of Fringe's pilot revolves around a plane. There are scenes with the pilots in that.
Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​
Doc Edward Morbius ⭕​  
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Do SciFi pilots count?

And does Star Trek even have a pilot per se, or just helm? @georgetakei, help?

Or Buck Rogers?

I believe both Battlestar Galactica series should fit.
@George Takei :verified: 🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽
Roger The Shrubber
Roger The Shrubber  
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Wings? https://www.metacritic.com/tv/wings/season-1/episode-1-legacy-891623

Wings

Wings Season show reviews & Metacritic score: On Nantucket Island, Joe Hackett, owner and sole pilot of Sandpiper Air, receives a letter from the executor of his late father's will. The letter contains a pa...
Metacritic
Basil
Basil  
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the pilot of Manifest must* have.

*I can't back this up
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson  
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in the pilot for "Psych" one of the characters is a pilot, though it doesn't really bear on the plot, and it's only mentioned in passing.
acegopher
acegopher  
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One I don't think many will think of:

Salvage 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUDJ4pJb248)

also:

Blue Thunder
Six Million Dollar Man

Can you guess how old I am? 😄

Salvage 1 (1979 ABC Series) - Pilot Movie

Please subscribe my channel Andy Griffith is Harry Broderick, owner of a scrap and salvage company, who has a goal of recovering all the Apollo program sp...
YouTube
Wade Dorrell
Wade Dorrell  
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Agents of Shield, certainly
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