Final Major Production - 2-Part Pilot Episodes

I decided to do some research into multi-part pilot episodes in order to back up my own idea of having a two part pilot within my own screenplay of my series. I found a couple of things out during this research:

It is not entirely common to do so, however the series' that have done this have gone on to be relatively successful. The reasoning behind creating a two part pilot is mainly story based. A pilot is there to give an introduction to the story and to the major characters of the piece. Sometimes this can not be achieved by a single 40 minute production, so the producers and directors decide to create a two part pilot. I noticed that this is particularly common within the Crime Thriller series - where detectives and police would be working on a case, creating drama, tension and a cliffhanger at the end. This then draws the audience back to see what will happen in the next part of the pilot episode, and the case is ultimately resolved in the second 40 minutes.

I feel this fits with my piece, as essentially, it is a Crime Thriller mixed with Drama, that focuses on the criminals, in this case, serial killers. The story focuses mainly around Edward in the pilot episodes, with his turmoil and trials with himself as he enters the real world after being held in a Mental Institution for 18 years. We immediately get across some of the left over problems Edward has, as he still talks to "God" and despite having murdered his family at the age of 8, his killing ways come flooding back quite quickly, where he frames suicide, murdering his Aunt. The end of the episode has him finally finding his Sister's phone number, and he calls her. She answers and the episode ends. This is the end of the first part of the Pilot.

The 2nd part focuses on the rebuilding of the relationship between Edward and Evelyn - introducing the third primary character, being Evelyn. It is also there to symbolise just how unstable Edward still is, as he reacts in a bad way to find his sister has a romantic partner, named Richard. The two don't get on, which ultimately leads to the birth of the new Edward, a psychopathic, murderous lunatic.

The rest of the series will focus on Edward as he manages to convince his sister to join him, and they avoid the trials of getting caught, by police and by their butler (though he eventually finds out).

My plan of the two-part pilot is indeed, mainly a way of showing Edward's true character. With a full on murder happening at the very end, Edward is cast into a new world, one that he didn't realise he loved so much, and things get much more heated and action-packed/filled with death from there on.


Here is a list of two part pilots and other similar things that I found:

Lost - 2 part television pilot - ABC

In the Heat of The Night – 1988  - 2 part pilots date back almost 25 years. -NBC

Monk – 2002 – 2 part pilot episode. – USA Network

Crossing Lines – 2013 – 2 part pilot episode. - NBC

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – 1987 – 5 Part Pilot! – CBS

Some pilots have extended feature length episodes – including series such as  

Twin Peaks - 1990 - ABC 

The Walking Dead - 2010 - AMC

Alphas – 2011 - SyFy

There are some that just have an extended pilot episode, be it just by ten - fifteen minutes.

Breaking Bad – 2006 – Extended Pilot  -  AMC