Hoai-Tran Bui

USATODAY

J.J. Abrams may be one of the biggest names in Hollywood now thanks to a little sci-fi film called Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but that doesn't mean he's too big for the small screen.

In fact, the sci-fi director may have done some of his best work on TV, with his shows like Alias and Lost becoming cultural phenomenons. He's not known for sticking around with his shows for the entirety of their runs -- he's more of a concept and pilot episode guy -- but he's had a hand in creating, executive producing and writing (the beginnings of) some of the most beloved TV shows to date.

So, with his newest show, the Hulu series in collaboration with Stephen King 11.22.63, out, we revisit and rank all of the pilot episodes for Abrams' TV shows.

11. Revolution (2012)

The bottom of a pretty good barrel, Revolution's pilot suffers from being a bad indicator of how good the show would eventually become. It's too sleek, and there are too many sexy people running around in midriff-baring tank tops to pay attention to a concept that is actually intriguing.

Revolution takes place 15 years after a worldwide blackout causes everything that relies on electricity to stop working without explanation In the chaos that descended, militant regimes have taken over the remnants of civilization, and suddenly everyone's an expert at fighting with machetes.

Sadly, the pilot skips the intrigue (and keeps its best star, Lost alum Elizabeth Mitchell, out of the picture) to go straight to the generic dystopian post-apocalyptic tropes.

10. Alcatraz (2012)

Another frustratingly dull exercise in an stellar concept, Alcatraz is a police procedural with a time travel twist.

Starring Sam Neil, another Lost alum, Jorge Garcia, and an unfortunately bland lead Sarah Jones, the show revolves around the famous island prison of Alcatraz, in which 256 inmates and 46 guards mysteriously disappeared without a trace one night in 1963. In the modern day, these criminals start to resurface at the same age they were when they disappeared, and our main team -- comprised of an FBI agent, an Alcatraz history expert and a police detective -- give merry chase.

The first episode is a little too cop procedural and not enough cryptic. Plus, it hurts when your main character is just plain boring.

9. Undercovers (2010)

A pre-fame Gugu Mbatha-Raw is the co-lead of the spy romp Undercovers which is equal parts silly and sexy.

Following a married couple who gave up their lives as CIA agents to run a catering company in LA, the pair (Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe) find themselves pulled back into the spy life due to the disappearance of their fellow spy friend. Globe-trotting spy adventures ensue, and you got yourself a Mr. and Mrs. Smith-style series.

Abrams directed this pilot -- his first TV directorial credit since the Lost pilot in 2004 -- and you could tell that he's having fun. But maybe a little too much fun? The pilot feels a little frivolous -- heavy on the banter, but not on the plot.

8. 11.22.63 (2016)

A truly Stephen Kingsian plot -- the main character is a writer in Maine who encounters an inexplicable time travel portal to 1960 in a diner -- is elevated by Abrams' great grasp of intrigue. But then it's dragged back down by the nonsensical actions of the characters.

James Franco stars in the Hulu series (streaming now) as a writing teacher who decides to follow through with the crazed directions of the diner owner who showed him the portal, and go back in time to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

It's a great concept, and the scenes in which mysterious tragedies occur whenever Franco's Jake Epping tries to change the past are genuinely terrifying, but Jake's actions are questionable at best -- why risk all this just on the directions of a diner owner with a good conspiracy theory? His motivations are a bit muddied, but the pilot does a nice job of keeping us interested despite that.

7. Person of Interest (2011)

Another pilot that nearly fails to indicate what a great show it would turn into, Person of Interest leans a bit too heavily on the procedural element and not enough on the futuristic technology around which the show revolves.

A machine invented by eccentric billionaire Harold Finch (Lost alum Michael Emerson) has the ability to predict future terrorist attacks, and Finch recruits jaded former CIA agent John Reese (Jim Caviezel) to help him stop them. The nifty Minority Report-esque concept gets a little buried by the cop-partner dynamic thanks to a straight-laced NYPD detective played by Taraji P. Henson, but thanks to an always great and unsettling performance by Emerson, there's potential.

6. Almost Human (2013)

A futuristic cop procedural, Almost Human has shades of Blade Runner in its concept of police detectives who get partnered with humanoid robots to help combat rising crime.

Karl Urban growls his way through a sleek and action-packed pilot that is both hindered and helped by an almost too-human performance by his robot partner, played by Michael Ealy. Because of the future setting in 2048, the cop procedural format feels more new and inventive, and the main leads' performances balance out some pretty flat acting from some the supporting characters.

5. What About Brian (2006)

A zippy rom-com pilot starring that dude from 7th Heaven (Barry Watson), What About Brian is a surprisingly fun and intelligent show about a group of friends who are all well on their way to stable adulthoods -- marriage, kids -- except for their one friend Brian. Instead, he's busy hooking up with girls he crashes his car into (oh hey Pink Ranger Amy Jo Johnson!) and mooning over his best friend's girlfriend.

There's some soap opera drama -- Brian's in love with his best friend's girlfriend, but she may no longer be his girlfriend, oh wait, she still is! -- and some sluggish sub-plots involving one of the married couples, but the genuinely likable cast and snappy dialogue keep the pilot on the grounded side.

4. Fringe (2008)

The eerie gross-out horror is balanced by a stoic and endearing performance by leads Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble. Abrams' take on the X-Files has more than enough similarities to its predecessor, but is slightly more awkward and stiff during its pilot episode. Fringe also has the problem of the pilot being lesser than the rest of the series, but its still a great introduction to the series.

Fringe's pilot is about an FBI agent, Olivia Dunham, who gets pulled into the world of fringe science after her partner and boyfriend gets injured during a case. She enlists the help of a mad doctor and his son to solve the case, and thus starts a beautiful and quirky team dynamic.

The callbacks to Lost (the first case is a bunch of dead passengers on a plane) and the emphasis on horror over science-fiction made the Fringe pilot a truly great watch.

3. Felicity (1998)

One of Abrams' most beloved shows, it's no surprise Felicity has one of his best pilots.The pilot almost feels like a feature-length coming-of-age film, with a wonderfully vulnerable Keri Russell at its center.

College freshman Felicity is a straight-A student with her life as a doctor planned out for her, she suddenly decides to follow a boy she had a crush on in high school across the country to New York University. Although she almost immediately regrets her decision, she decides to stay after forming bonds with classmates and her RA, and deciding that this spontaneous whim was actually the best thing she's ever done.

Even nearly 20 years later, the pilot still feels fresh, and Felicity's struggle with her identity and her future still feels just as raw and endearing as it did in 1998.

2. Alias (2001)

Alias' pilot also benefits from feeling like a feature film, and you can tell why Abrams was scouted out to direct the Mission: Impossible movies after watching 10 minutes of this show. It's action-packed, gripping and feels completely fresh thanks to a great performance by Jennifer Garner.

Sydney Bristow is a grad student who works as a covert CIA agent, going on missions in between her midterm exams. But things take a turn for the tragic when she decides to tell her fiance about her double life, and her agency, SD-6, takes extreme measures against him. Thrown by her violent loss, Sydney soon learns that her agency was actually a criminal espionage organization, and she had been working for the enemy all along. She becomes a double agent for the real CIA, and the series has only just started.

Alias expertly plays with the rom-com expectations for Abrams (he had up until that point only been known for Felicity), and wonderfully juggles Sydney's double life in college and as a spy.

1. Lost (2004)

Unquestionably Abrams' greatest pilot -- and arguably, one of the best TV pilots to date -- Lost had the perfect mixture of action, intrigue and emotion.

Following the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, Lost switches between present day and flashback, fleshing out the apparent strangers on the plane who are forced together due to tragic circumstances. Not only does it successfully balance out these two timelines, the pilot also manages to throw in Lord of the Flies-style conflict between the characters as well as cryptic happenings on the island that endanger and confuse the survivors even more.

Abrams directed and wrote the pilot -- one of the most expensive TV pilots up until then -- and created a launching pad for Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to turn Lost into one of the most enthralling and frustrating shows out there.

It's the show that Abrams will arguably always be known for, and will have us questioning with each new show he develops, "Guys, where are we?"

Not included: Believe (2014) and Six Degrees (2006), because it's nearly impossible to find streaming episodes for either of these.