TVSquad

As much as I've complained, bitched, moaned, and complained (yes, I said "complained" twice... that's how much I did it) about Studio 60, I never stopped watching the show.

The reasons why I did so changed over time. For a while, I thought I was "rubbernecking;" I just couldn't resist seeing what train wreck Aaron Sorkin wrote for himself each week, and then couldn't wait to get on to TV Squad and other sites to see the critics and the commenters ravage the episode. Then, for a while, I thought I was watching the show out of the hope that such a talented group of writers and actors could get their act together long enough to run off a streak of quality episodes. Finally, I thought I was watching merely for the fact that there was nothing else to watch on Mondays at 10, and I figured I could just watch it while I wrote my review for How I Met Your Mother.

Turns out it was all three reasons. And, now that The Black Donnellys is taking S60's place starting next week, I'm going to miss the show a little bit.

Say what you will about the intentions of Survivor creator Mark Burnett, but the man knows how to generate attention. His controversial split of this year's Survivor contestants into racially-oriented teams is not only garnering notice from media members who have essentially forgotten about the show, but it's also getting attention from some other unexpected groups. For example, white supremacist message boards are abuzz about the new season, according to TV Week. Some groups are looking at this season with some hope that the White or Caucasian or whatever they're calling that team will come out on top this year, while others are thinking that the show will show their "own kind" in a bad light.

Either way, this activity worries the civl rights group Southern Poverty Law Center, which thinks that this is evidence that the split is already encouraging these groups: "[The format] plays into the hands of many people in this country who have racist feelings," says a group official. Here's what I wonder, though: what's going to happen once they mix the tribes in the second or third episode, which is what many people think is going to happen? Will the buzz from these groups die down or get worse? However it turns out, it'll be fascinating to watch.

When I received the preview screeners for the new fall pilots earlier this summer, I resisted every request from friends to lend them out, copy the discs, or upload the contents. My feeling, and the feeling amongst everyone here at TVS, is that the networks are doing us a favor by sending these; why betray their trust by creating a Torrent of a show and distributing it?

I guess not everyone feels the same way we do. The Wall Street Journal recounts how pirated videos for ten pilots -- including Jericho, The Nine, and Heroes -- are making their way around the Internet. This is putting the networks in an odd position; they like the advanced buzz that has developed amongst the public before the shows even air, but they're upset because their shows are being pirated. For instance, a CBS spokesperson told the WSJ that "[w]e're pleased that there's an early demand for our shows but the marketing benefits can't excuse what is illegal theft of our programming."

What the article explains to me is how all these TVS readers have been able to see the pilots, as we've seen in the comments for our network previews. Actually, I kind of knew that these pilots were available as Torrents, but I guess I was just in denial.

[via Mediabistro]