Since its launch in 2006, the CW has been home to multiple long-running TV hits. While the network was originally created to target the younger audience — and is definitely known for its teen dramas — plenty of its shows are a success with adults (and critics) alike.
The trick to winning over a bigger audience? A strong pilot. Some of the shows that first aired on the CW (and its predecessors The WB and UPN, which merged to create the channel) were lucky enough to strike gold on their first attempt. According to IMDb, these are the network's strongest debuts.
Frequency — 8.3
Based on the 2000 sci-fi movie of the same name, Frequency only got one season on The CW before it was culled over poor ratings. While it may not have built the audience it deserves, it racked up an impressive critical response from the very beginning.
The pilot juggles a lot of exposition. Police officer Raimy Sullivan realizes her deceased father's old ham radio is allowing her to communicate with him 20 years earlier, and later figures out a way to prevent his murder. The result? A nasty butterfly effect that leaves her mother dead instead. It's a lot to condense into 40 minutes but the pilot manages to be compelling rather than clunky.
Charmed – 8.4
Charmed has spawned a reboot since its conclusion in 2006, but nothing touches the legacy of the original. In "Something Wicca This Way Comes," viewers are introduced to some of the most powerful witches on the CW: Prue, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell, who are otherwise known as "The Charmed Ones."
Everything about their debut is classic Charmed. While it billed itself as a show about witchcraft, what it's really about is family (or, at least it is in the first few seasons). As they uncover their true magical heritage and band together to defeat their first enemy, Jeremy, the three sisters have amazing chemistry from the get-go.
The Flash – 8.5
Having impressed audiences and TV executives alike in Arrow, Barry Allen's speedy superhero got his own show in 2014. Comic fans already knew a bit about the Flash, but the first episode of The Flash delves deeper into Barry's past. We learn more about his mother's death, his father's imprisonment, and — critically — why he becomes a hero in the first place.
Just because a character's already been introduced elsewhere, doesn't mean a spin-off gets an easy ride. The Flash faced the challenge of taking a secondary character and making him the main character of his own world. The pilot makes this look easy, creating a light, witty tone that's totally different from the angst of Arrow. Not to mention, it features one shock of a cliffhanger.
Angel — 8.5
After three seasons in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel ventured out on his own for a spin-off series of the same name. In the pilot, the immortal vampire-with-a-conscience is in Los Angeles to get away from Buffy (who he loves). There he meets the demon Doyle, bumps into Cordelia Chase, and agrees to open a business saving souls.
From its montage of LA nightlife to Angel slumped in a bar, bereft over the woman he loves, Angel makes its film noir-style intentions clear from the start. Instead of wasting time revising the basics of Angel's character, the pilot jumps straight back to where he left off in Buffy's season 3 finale. Much like Angel himself, it's a dark and brooding pilot that proved to be irresistible to viewers as the show lasted 5 seasons.
Arrow — 8.5
Arrow is the Iron Man of The CW's Arrowverse. Thanks to its portrayal of a former-billionaire-playboy-turned-hero, interest in lesser-known DC superheroes grew enough to establish a shared universe that still flourishes on the channel today.
Considering how high its pilot ranks on IMDb, this success was a given. The episode follows two timelines: one with the present-day Oliver Queen, fighting crime as a vigilante, and another covering the time he spent shipwrecked. This adds a whole other layer of intrigue to an already interesting debut – especially thanks to Stephen Amell's dual performance as Oliver Queen both before and after he became Green Arrow. The pilot effectively establishes an action-adventure tone and the key relationship between Arrow and Diggle that would become a hallmark of the series.
One Tree Hill — 8.6
Despite not featuring One Tree Hill's most beloved character, Brooke Davis, the show's pilot episode was a hit with viewers. It introduces estranged half-brothers Nathan and Luke, who have almost nothing in common — except their father, a natural talent for basketball, and feelings for Peyton Sawyer.
The bonds between characters feel fleshed out from the start. Even though there's no love lost between Nathan and Luke in the pilot, it's immediately obvious that there's plenty of room for their relationship to grow. Theirs is a distant familial relationship rarely shown on television, and the show's all the more interesting for it.
Smallville – 8.6
Smallville is an in-depth superhero origin story and feels just as groundbreaking today as it did in 2001. Long before he's known as Superman, the show's first episode briefly recounts the tale of how Clark Kent (Tom Welling) arrived on earth as a baby, before jumping to his life as a high school freshman in Kansas.
What ensues is a typical teenage drama with a superpowered twist. One of the recurring issues with Superman adaptations is that it's difficult to relate to a man who's so overpowered. However, seeing his younger self be tortured by bullies in the pilot puts him in a whole new relatable light — one that defines the entire show moving forward.
The Originals — 8.7
As a general rule, spin-offs tend to perform worse than their predecessors. The Originals is an exception. Airing as part of season four of The Vampire Diaries, the pilot sees the show's beloved Klaus Mikaelson relocate from Virginia to New Orleans, where he discovers his former protégé, Marcel, is running the city.
There's plenty to love in the show's debut. The new setting is livelier, and the supernatural scene is much grander than in Mystic Falls. Despite how they appear on the surface, the storylines are more about family than magic. Episodes exploring the Mikaelson family in TVD always generated interest, so to finally have a show exclusively exploring their dynamic — and, with Hayley's pregnancy, their future — was always going to be popular with fans.
Supernatural – 8.7
After 327 episodes, Supernatural was the longest-running American live-action fantasy TV series ever when it ended in November 2020. The show changed a lot in its 15 years, but its heart stayed the same from the pilot episode – because, despite all the otherworldly elements, Supernatural is a show about family.
The pilot strongly emphasizes the importance of family. More than 20 years after Sam and Dean’s mother is killed, their father goes missing while hunting supernatural creatures and they take on the task themselves as they try to find him. Although the episode is framed by two excellently terrifying death scenes, their relationship is by far the highlight. Even when their characters are estranged, Padalecki and Ackles are convincing as feuding brothers from the second they share the screen.
Superman & Lois — 8.7
The CW loves its superhero shows but if pilot ratings are anything to go by, this is its favorite. Both of the leads of Superman & Lois had already appeared in Supergirl before the show debuted in early 2021, but the pilot faced the task of distinguishing itself from other Superman shows like Smallville and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
As a result, it goes down the unique route of making Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) a family man. He’s been in the superhero game for a while, and now one of his two sons is on the cusp of following a similar path. It feels much more cinematic than other Arrowverse shows — it’s not too gimmicky, and not too dark. Plus, Hoechlin is incredibly likable, bringing a lot of warmth and vulnerability to the Man of Steel.