but first a little backreading on bkmrkd pages re Pilots -
premise pilots vs. in-media-res pilots

D e a d T h i n g s o n S t i c k s: Where do you start? Deciding what is backstory and what is premise is really difficult sometimes, especially when what happens in your backstory is compelling. Network people, particularly, will sometimes try to push you toward including it. But you have to keep in mind "what is your template going to be?" Ie: What is going to happen every week. good. If the premise pilot strays too far from that template, you have got to seriously think, and re-think, and re-think again, the story that you're going to tell in that first episode.

via South Dakota Dark: What sorts of pilots do you like? here are some examples of the two types of pilots from recent years. Premise pilots:
Lost -- The plane crashes. The survivors begin to realize the island they're on is full of crazy stuff and mysteries and such.
Arrested Development -- While the Bluth family exists much as it always has, this is the first time they're seeing each other in years. We find out (as they do) that George Bluth, Sr., has been engaging in criminal behavior. Responsible son Michael is recruited to hold the family together.
Battlestar Galactica -- If we accept the miniseries as the pilot, then this is the premise-iest of them all. The world ends. nice. A low-ranking cabinet official becomes president. One battleship stands between humanity and oblivion.
The Wire -- McNulty tells a judge about how the police department isn't getting its job done, and the judge leans on people, which results in the creation of a special unit to investigate the crimes McNulty was talking about (interestingly, the formation of the unit doesn't happen until episode two).
He then gives examples of catch-up (in-media-res) pilots. includes Gilmore Girls but isn't that actually rather a premise pilot? Lorelai goes to see parents for money for Rory to go to Chilton - this is her first involvement with them since she left - and mother Emily makes the deal that the girls must join them for Friday dinners, thus starting that tradition and the situation of Lorelai's adult relationship with her parents.
Third set of examples is what he sees as a mesh of the two- though it has become almost cliche -- the first day on the job pilot. In this sort of pilot, every character but one is in place, and that one character joins the team. We see the world through their eyes, giving us a chance to get some much-needed exposition. While this is a favorite of workplace dramas (CSI and Without a Trace both used one), you'll find its basic structures buried in other pilots (often in surprising places).

this South Dakota Dark seems good. author Todd VanDerWerff 4:44 AM 9 Oct says:
Due to the fact that two men cannot alone cover the entirety of the television landscape, the gleanings are going to have to stop for now...I started this site in January and hoped to make it a blog about my attempts to become a television writer. Instead, the criticism aspects proved massively popular, and since I like to give the people what they want, I let those take over to the point where I've spun the television writing stuff (first person autobiogrphcl abt becoming tv writer, that is) off into another blog. Big changes will be coming to SDD as the new year approaches, but for now, look to us for TV criticism and occasional pieces on books and films.
and he says he loved Friday Night Lights, his rvw of wh is at another blog he writes for (along w many contributors, what's this blog about? reviews?) at The House Next Door These ARE the shows you're looking for (ref to? You're not the droids I'm looking for):
the emotions that Berg earns through sports movie cliche are genuine. right well said.