{"id":8258,"date":"2025-09-10T22:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T22:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/8258\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T22:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T22:37:08","slug":"6-action-tv-shows-that-hooked-me-in-the-first-10-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/8258\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Action TV Shows That Hooked Me in the First 10 Minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

These six action TV shows only needed 10 minutes to tell me that I was in for a great experience. The action genre has long been a popular one on television, though sometimes it can be a tricky categorization. Every story needs to have some action after all, but you know a true action TV show when you see it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some TV shows take their time to get going, slowly building up to a crescendo at the end of the episode. Other TV shows get right to the point with a captivating opening<\/a>. These action TV shows don’t necessarily begin with gunfights and dropkicks, but they sucked me into the story all the same.<\/p>\n

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)<\/p>\n

\"Darla<\/p>\n

There weren’t many shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer when it first premiered in 1997, so viewers needed an opening that would help them understand the subversive tone of the series. Joss Whedon accomplished this with a pilot episode that throws a curveball. <\/p>\n

The series starts with a young man and a young woman breaking into Sunnyvale High School for some run-of-the-mill vandalism. The guy is excited about breaking the law, while his girlfriend is nervous. It’s a classic setup, and you can practically see the monster lurking around the corner. <\/p>\n

Just when you think the lovers are going to be punished, the guy turns around and sees that his date is actually the monster. She’s a vampire, and far from being frightened, she’s delighted to have a chance to feed. It’s surprising, a little goofy, and a lot of fun, and from that moment we are in.<\/p>\n

24 (2001-2014)<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

24 is still considered one of the best crime thriller TV shows ever<\/a>, and the opening scene of the first season let everyone watching know that this was going to be something far different from anything they’ve ever seen before. The series opens with text that would go on to define the series going forward.<\/p>\n

It reads, “The following takes place between midnight and 1:00 AM”. From that first line, we know we’re in for something special, and we know it’s going to be in real time. Things start happening quickly. A mysterious man does something shady, the U.S. government calls in a terrorist threat, and Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) gets a call.<\/p>\n

It’s a great way to introduce us to the universe and get the story rolling quickly. This is particularly necessary for a show like 24, where the structure of the show means we only have 24 hours of story. Jack is also shown to be working on his damaged marriage, which adds a layer of dramatic tension to the proceedings. <\/p>\n

Justified (2010-2015)<\/p>\n

\"Raylan<\/p>\n

U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is a problem child for the U.S. Marshal Service, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a talented lawman. The opening of Justified paints the perfect picture of Elmore Leonard’s character and shows why a guy like Raylan would end up back in Kentucky.<\/p>\n

The series begins with Raylan, working in Miami, Florida, sitting down with a mob hitman, Tommy Bucks (Peter Greene). Tommy took a deal with the court which requires him to leave the city within 24 hours, and Raylan isn’t giving him a second more in his town. Tough words become guns drawn.<\/p>\n

Of course, Raylan wins and kills Tommy. Though he’s “justified” in the killing, it’s the last straw for his superiors, who are sick of his old-school style of policing. They send him to his childhood home in Harlan County, Kentucky. It’s an opening that just makes you want more Raylan, and we don’t care where he is. <\/p>\n

The Boys (2019-Present)<\/p>\n

\"Hughie<\/p>\n

The Boys gets rolling with the blood early, and it’s a wonder why anyone ever felt like The Seven were good guys in the first place. The series opens like a lot of MCU movies do<\/a>, with some small-time bad guys coming face-to-face with our heroes. In this case, Homelander (Antony Starr) and Maeve (Dominique McElligott) apprehend bank robbers.<\/p>\n

By apprehend, I mean melt one’s hands into his gun and toss another up into the air, splattering him on a car upon his descent. Despite the brutality of the moment, fans swarm the heroes and thank them for their service. It’s brutal, shocking, and very funny, a sign of what’s to come in the series.<\/p>\n

The next scene is one of the most horrific in The Boys. Watching Hughie Campbell’s (Jack Quaid) girlfriend being turned into a red mist is stomach-churning, and what makes it worse is how much the hero responsible doesn’t seem to care. It’s a critical opening that shows us why these heroes need to be stopped. <\/p>\n

Reacher (2022-Present)<\/p>\n

\"Reacher<\/p>\n

Reacher on Amazon Prime Video is one of the best shows you’re probably not watching. While the Tom Cruise movies are not as bad as some fans of the Jack Reacher books might suggest, there’s no doubt that Cruise looks nothing like the former Army Military cop described in Jim Grant’s novels. <\/p>\n

Alan Ritchson, on the other hand, is the perfect person to play the hulking, crime-fighting drifter, and the opening scene of the series is the perfect way to introduce who this guy is. The camera spinning around Reacher’s bulging shoulders and neck takes quite a long time. There’s no doubt he’s a big dude.<\/p>\n

When he sees a man threatening his girlfriend, Reacher simply needs to stare, and it’s enough to make the guy bow his head and apologize. Then, when he walks into the diner and orders a slice of pie and waits for the cops to come arrest him, you know there’s a charming and smirking side to his aura as well. <\/p>\n

Cobra Kai (2018-2025)<\/p>\n

\"0323535_poster_w780.jpg\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tCobra Kai
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ScreenRant<\/p>\n

8\/10<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t2018 – 2025-00-00<\/p>\n

Network<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNetflix, YouTube Premium<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Netflix<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A sequel series to the beloved Karate Kid franchise<\/a>, with its first season on YouTube, does not sound like a recipe for success. Yet, Cobra Kai has gone on to surpass almost all the movies in the franchise, and tell a brilliant, funny, thrilling, and action-packed story that still pays tribute to the films.<\/p>\n

The series opens with a washed-up Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) watching his old rival, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), acting out some karate moves in a car commercial. It seems that since their bout all those years ago, Johnny’s life has sunk while Daniel-san’s has trended upward.<\/p>\n

It’s a great way to throw us right into the action TV series. We know exactly what Cobra Kai will be with this opening: a reversal of fortunes between two enemies. Later, when Johnny saves Miguel (Xolo Maridue\u00f1a) just like Miyagi (Pat Morita) once did for Daniel, we know immediately this is going to be a redemption story. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"These six action TV shows only needed 10 minutes to tell me that I was in for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-8258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}