History EstablishingCharacterMoment / LiveACtionTV

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': The first scene of the series portrays Dexter as your typical intimidating killer, but once his inner monologue explains [[EvenEvilHasStandards he's targeting Mike Donovan because he's disgusted that the latter murdered a child]], we know he's a SympatheticMurderer.

* ''Series/Gladiators2024'': Viper's debuts in the very first episode's "Collision" challenge. He swiftly cements his {{Heel}} role by abandoning the rings he's supposed to swing back and forth from, dropping down to directly wrestle a contender on the bridge instead. He's promptly disqualified for cheating and there's a glimpse of him getting very close and personal with the referee immediately afterwards. He remains menacingly silent throughout all of this.

** Oskar, Bruno's co-star, is shown to be even less serious about learning his lines, approaches a girl in a very brazen way (taking coffee out of her hand, claiming it's terrible, and throwing it away) and tells her his character is a lead and Bruno's is supporting despite them having equal roles, making it clear he is [[TheCynic cynical]] and [[TheShameless shameless]] even among this bunch of guys.

** Neil blithley believes Jay's lies about his sexual prowess as opposed to Simon's skeptisism, establishing his gullibility and simple-mindedness.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':

* In the first scene of the first episode of ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}'' Henry sees a vision of Abigail, checks the time on his pocket watch, shows off his SherlockScan talent, then dies violently and reawakens in the East River.

** In "Pilot":

** The pilot episode "Extreme Aggressor" gives us a few ECM's. Gideon has two, first when he has a bit of SensoryOverload and completes the profile hours before anyone else, and second, when he takes on the Footpath Killer completely unarmed. Morgan's is his flirting with the FBI trainees. Reid's is his rattling off of his eidetic memory, IQ level, and the fact that he can read 20,000 words a minute and concluding with a deadpan "yes, I'm a genius". Hotch's is when he confesses to Gideon that the reason he keeps shooting down Haley's choices for baby names is that they're all first names of well-known serial killers. Elle's is her startling transformation from InnocentBystander to ActionGirl when she gets the [=UnSub=] to walk into a house with her, then cuffs him before he can flee. Garcia's is her phone banter with Morgan:

** Emily Prentiss joins the team in "The Last Word", but doesn't get hers until "Lessons Learned", when she proves her usefulness to the team by speaking flawless Arabic and allowing them to realize the next suicide attack is set for the next crescent moon.
** David Rossi's very first scene, in "About Face", establishes that he's the anti-Gideon: he shoots down a bird (something always associated with Gideon).

* In Season 8 of ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' Clare and Alli are given an effective moment, based on the comparison between the two, setting their roles in the series. Clare is with Darcy (Clare's older sister), who is telling Clare to be more normal 'like Sav's sister.' Due to Clare's wearing her old private school uniform to a public school and spouting off random facts as Darcy comments on how different they are. On the other side, we see Sav trying to tell Alli to stop wearing clothes that are so evocative, as their parents won't approve. Due to Alli's desire to be seen and popular. While Clare had appeared in an earlier season, this defined her character a lot more.

* In ''Series/ICarly'', "iPilot" introduces Mrs. Briggs as a SadistTeacher, Principal Franklin as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, Sam as a mean bully, Carly as sassy and the only one who can control Sam, and Freddie as the DoggedNiceGuy tech nerd ButtMonkey with a crush on Carly (to be honest, for Freddie, it's more like a constant [[ExaggeratedTrope Establishing Character]] ''[[ExaggeratedTrope Episode]]'' as ''nothing'' goes right for him), and finally, Spencer as a wacky artist.

** ** Right before the new inmates are admitted into the prison, Alvarez is stabbed and left bleeding on the floor while Beecher screams in horror. [[ButtMonkey This pretty much tells you what they're in for for the rest of the series.]]

* ''Series/Psych'': Shawn's opening scene has him calling into a police tip hotline to prove a criminal's guilt while in the early stages (his partner is kissing and undressing him) of a one-night stand. It establishes his social inappropriateness, his abilities as a ladies man, and his compulsiveness.

* ''Series/TheShadowLine'' has several of these:
** Jay Wratten's first scene has him delivering a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown in a lift to a man who insulted him.
** Glickman's first appearance sees him tracking down and murdering a man who recognised him when he was in hiding, to establish that he ''really'' doesn't want to be found.

* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': John Walker very first appearance is being the unnamed replacement of Captain America with the main characters horrified and betrayed. Yet when he's properly introduced as a character, the show went out of its way to portray him as nervous about his forthcoming interview and give him a Hispanic wife and Black best friend. In other words, not a secret Nazi who's been dreaming of the day that he could soil Steve's legacy.

** The first we see of Richard is him building a bridge, and being friendly and helpful to a kid who comes to use it -- showing him to be a cheerful, down-to-earth NiceGuy. The first we see of Kahlan is her escaping from enemy soldiers through cool action stunts and dazzling magic, and being forced to leave her sister behind to die to escape and continue with their mission -- showing her to be a romantic HurtingHero who puts the greater good first. And then there's Zedd's naked-and-talking-to-a-chicken scene...