It's crazy how much better the show got as it went along. The pilot is awful, and the first episode of the series proper isn't really any good either, but once it gets to Are You There God? It's Me, Dean it just hits on all cylinders and doesn't look back. The last two episodes of S1 and first two of S2 taken together are way more fun than any movie I can think of the past few years.
Kind of reminds me of early X-Files, where the long-term continuity episodes (in this case, stuff with the Monarch, the Guild, Dr. Girlfriend, etc.) are better than the one-offs (Twenty Years to Midnight, Love Bheits, Guess Who's Coming to State Dinner), but TVC's right. Once you're in the second season, it's all good.