Pilot (Preacher)

"Pilot" is the series premiere of the supernatural drama television series Preacher, which originally aired on AMC in the United States on May 22, 2016. The episode was written by the creators of the television adaptation, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin; with both Rogen and Goldberg directing. The pilot encore was followed by Talking Preacher, AMC's after-show hosted by Chris Hardwick.

The episode introduces Dominic Cooper as Jesse Custer, Joseph Gilgun as Cassidy, and Ruth Negga as Tulip O'Hare, as well as series regulars played by Lucy Griffiths, W. Earl Brown, Tom Brooke, Anatol Yusef and Ian Colletti. In Preacher's pilot, Jesse Custer's past slowly catches up to him and he struggles to escape it, while a mysterious entity arrives on Earth, causing a wave of destruction in its path.

Principal photography for the pilot began on May 13, 2015, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Filming took place over two months, ending in early July. Principal photography was confirmed to have ended on July 10, 2015, with post-production beginning in August 2015.

The pilot received acclaim from critics, who found the pilot to be a respectful interpretation of the comic, for Rogen and Goldberg's direction, as well as the dark humorous tonality, while praising Cooper, Gilgun and Negga's performances. In the United States, the series premiere achieved a viewership of 3.8 million, making it one of the top three cable premieres in the 2016 television season. The episode garnered a Nielsen rating of 0.9 in the 18–49 demographic, translating to 2.4 million viewers.