It was great to watch these shows fresh. In the past I would get the TV guide fall preview and read the views and decide what I could watch. Now with the pilots avaivable in the summer, you make up your own mind on the new shows when your schedule permits. I hope the network execs get their heads out of their asses and see this is the best way to pick a fall line up. NBC has a musical show on right now that will totally be picked by the audience. So why can't we pick a networks's fall schedule.

It wouldn't be the least bit illegal if the networks would simply offer downloads/torrents/streaming of their shows. It would give them the advantage they readily admit they like, the buzz over the shows, and instantly eliminate their "worry" over the currently "illegal" downloading.

I guess I'm trying to say it's not a problem these network folks can't solve simply by saying, "Here they are, let us know how you like them before we sink scads of dough into advertising".

I'm I drunk or is it just that easy?

Either way, its illegal.

They should probably do more to get people to see the pilots - during summer, if people liked it they would tune in for the 2nd week and after that, so it couldn't do much harm.

I think a very good way for studios to avoid this in the future, is to do what NBC is going to be doing with Heroes... offering the pilot for free from iTunes. Universally, fans and media will be able to see the pilot, react, review, etc. Hell, it doesn't even have to be iTunes. Just get it out there so people can see it and get a consensus for if this is a good show or not. It's an inexpensive way to get test audience results, that's for sure.

They're just pissed they never got the opportunity to leak shows like The Will and ABC's Emily's Reason's Why Not so they could have saved themselves the advertising money. Emily's had a commercial on during every break on ABC - they subjected us to that drivel so we, on ocassion, get a glimpse of something that actually EXCITES us early. I think it's a pretty good trade that they KNOW will pay off in the end. It's free advertising and they can spend more time and money promoting shows they think really need the help.

Perhaps the networks should ask the Sci-Fi channel how much having Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who available on the torrent networks depressed their ratings.