Tidbit #3 - Mar 29, 2011

Question: Why is the first episode of a TV show generally called "Pilot"?


Answer: I searched it up, and I learned that there are a million hypotheses as to why it is referred to as a "pilot" episode.

1. My stepdad and I were talking about it on the ride to school today, and his guess is that it's because a pilot of an airplane can decide whether the plane flies or not. The metaphor? Well, the pilot is the episode, the plane is the TV show, and whether it "flies" or not is whether it's successful. The "pilot" episode decides whether the show "flies".
2. "--the first episode of many TV series is called "Pilot" because the episode functions as a pilot for the series, and the writers aren't creative enough to think up a real title. Some show's have played on this, e.g., the first episode of Futurama was entitled 'Space Pilot 3000.'" (Re: WikiAnswers)
3. "It's a fairly standard term for a small scale test. Most research projects begin with a small pilot study. As it's a test, it's a long established injoke. They're seeing 'how it flies'." (Re: Yahoo! Answers)