Leaked Pilots, Spoilers, … What Is Ruining Your TV Experience ?
By fred | June 24, 2008
Earlier on today, during my usual browsing around the many TV sites I visit, I came across something. It was about the most anticipated new series of the upcoming fall, J.J. Abrams’ latest creation, Fringe.
As you probably all know by now, an early version of the pilot was leaked (probably by Fox itself, but shh!) and found its way to the BitTorrent world. As a result, many have already jumped on it and watched what seriously looks like the best new series of the season already, and a definite must-see TV, for sure. And our friend theTVAddict is not one of those who watched this episode, not yet.
He’s waiting for September 9th, and the official series premiere on Fox. See, he’s taking a stand !
Yes, theTVaddict did not and does not intend to “go the BitTorrent route”, and says he will not go ahead and see the episode before its actual premiere, because such series premiere used to mean something. As he says, “Call me old fashioned, but I yearn for the days when the Fall Season was actually a big deal.”
Now I don’t doubt that the first goal of his stand was to get people to talk (well done, sir!), and while I’m sure he does feel that the Fall season was a big deal, and that it might come into play when it comes to the reasons behind his decision, I’m also pretty sure that had he found one morning on his mailbox a little package sent directly from Fox, with a DVD of said pilot episode, theTVaddict wouldn’t have cared about what the Fall season does or doesn’t mean, he’d by watching the Fringe pilot for the sixth times already ! (And if not, no offense but I think there might be something wrong with him.)
I could also talk about how I don’t doubt that Fox are the ones behind the leak; what better way to get free advertising, and from actual viewers, from TVoholics, if not TV addicts. It’s actually a great way to “test” a show, and if it’s good it will generate a lot of buzz and that cannot be a bad thing. If the show gets bad reactions, it means it (probably) sucks, and it might be better to know it three months before its premiere so you get a chance to fix it. Because a bad show in June is still a bad show in September.
I could even argue that while the Fall season is a big deal, indeed, it is also one of the flaws of the Fall season : it is too much, and when you have no less than 6 new series premiering every day, you simply cannot watch everything, you have to make decisions based on series titles, number of letters in the shows’ names or other completely random facts.
So to have actually seen some pilot episodes before hand means you’ll be able to go through the Fall season with a bit more ease, you’ll be able to give more chances to shows that may deserve it and would otherwise have fallen under your radar, due to scheduling conflicts. But I think there will still be as much excitement as ever, and I do not believe for one second than leaked pilots are hurting the Fall season, or the shows, especially when they are good.
If a show is good, it’s good. I’ve seen the pilot of Fringe already (and it is, freaking awesome!), I’ll see it again waiting for its official series premiere, which will be recorded and watched again, there’s no question there. My viewing of the episode earlier than its premiere can only result in one thing : I’ll talk about it, I’ll praise it, and hopefully I’ll get more people to watch it, and that’s all good for the network, for the show, and for us, future viewers/fans of the show.
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