I caught the debut of The Riches last week. If you are a writer, make sure you find a way to see this episode of television. The world and the storytelling tone are incredible. Eddie Izzard proves himself to be an amazing performer, dress or no, and Minnie Driver’s talent and mastery of accents is nothing short of Hugh Laurie-esque.

I don’t know if The Riches will make my watchlist. After seeing last night’s second installment, I worry that the show won’t be able to sustain the tone of the pilot; even in that first episode, their world has changed enough by the end that I can’t see how the creators will be able to deliver on their promises. Still, this is one of the strongest show launches I’ve ever seen.

It got me thinking, what are the best television pilots of all time? Agents (by extension of what showrunners seek) now ask writers to have a pilot episode along with a spec of an existing show, so I’ve tracked down many pilots in the last few years. But I’m sure I’ve missed some greats…

So, what shows do you remember having brilliant first episodes? I’d like to put together a top-ten post, and I’d welcome thoughts on what pilots I should check out. It’s a difficult question. Some of my personal favorite shows–Seinfeld, Buffy, The Office, South Park, etc.–are fantastic over their run, but have lackluster pilot episodes. There have also been pilots I’ve loved–Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, etc.–whose series haven’t lasted, so can we truly say these are great pilots? How do you account for classics that don’t hold up over time? And which ones really hold up? Opinions welcome!

If you are a screenwriter, don’t let this story in Variety pass you by, about a consortium of writers getting a special deal at Warner Bros.

This is not a movie review.

I watched 300 today. However, while it is true that I have now seen it, I don’t know if it was a good movie. For all my study of character and structure, for all my constant analysis of hours of storytelling each day, I have no clue how I would rate this film..

That’s because I didn’t watch 300. I watched 300: The IMAX Experience.

Now, I’ve been to IMAX movies before. I saw plenty as a kid at the Aquarium or Science Center, some delightful aerial trip through a volcano or some such. And I remember reading about the advances in the early part of this decade when engineers figured out how to transfer 35 mm film prints to the larger 70mm IMAX format without loss. I saw one of the Harry Potters that way, and caught the 3-D Polar Express.

This was something different.

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I was in a West Hollywood coffee shop today, when a man came wandering in, searching for something. He paced about a bit. He left the shop, then came back in. The man looked at the two customers seated at tables. He selected the guy who wasn’t me, and asked him a question: “Excuse me? This is weird, but… are you by chance an actor?”

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Last night, the CW network premiered Pussy Cat Dolls: The Search for the Next Doll to 3.9 million.Let’s take a moment to put that in perspective. In today’s ever-widening world of viewer choice, it takes only about 15 million viewers for a prime time show to be branded successful on one of the larger networks. 20 million and you’re a hit. 30 million and you’re American Idol. CW is less than a year old, and doesn’t have stations in as many markets as the older networks. CW’s average ratings are on par with, often smaller than, the numbers brought in by Univision. Highest-rated programming garners around 5 million, so scoring nearly 4 million makes the new PCD show a success.

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After catching the Rise of the Silver Surfer trailer released around Christmas, I didn’t know if I wanted to see the movie, but I did think it was one of the best trailers I’ve seen in a long time. In my opinion, the commercials that have started to air for this movie just recently have been bland, so I thought I’d point people to the far more compelling version. I’m guessing that your average fan of action movies is stoked after a teaser like that. I have to say I was very impressed by how much story and intrigue it created, all with only ten words.So, if I dawn my optimist hat for a moment, here are some reasons that FF:RotSS might be a highly entertaining movie:

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