How well does a pilot indicate a show's success?

How well does a pilot indicate a show’s success?

How accurate are pilot episodes at indicating that the show will be good? Can you think of recent pilots you’ve enjoyed, but the series turned out to be stinkers? — Ben Mosteller

There’s more time to tinker with pilots, and their budgets tend to be higher than subsequent episodes, so they can be deceiving. I thought Fox’s ”Skin” looked promising last season, but its porn-family saga went trite fast. Reaching back a few years, the pilot for ABC’s ”Lois & Clark” was crackerjack, but soon the series became just a superhero soap opera, and that way lies cancellation and Radio Shack commercials.

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