Television pilot

A television pilot, or pilot episode, is a single episode of a proposed or actual TV series. It sets forth the premise of the series, introduces the characters, and often establishes an interesting hook to get viewers interested in the proposed series. Pilot episodes may be made for producers and never aired; made and then remade for broadcast; or broadcast by producers to get a sense of audience interest.

Pilots may be a longer format, effectively a made-for-TV movie (as in the Babylon 5 pilot) or even a miniseries (as in the V miniseries pilot), or they may be short (as in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot).

Cast changes, moving the series forward in time, or changing aspects of the continuity / canon are common between a pilot and the rest of the series.

Pilots that are "picked up" become TV series.