There was a time when the torrent stream was full of leaked pilots and pre-airs. We got advance peeks at shows like Weeds, Chuck, The Sarah Connor Chonicles, Pushing Daisies, Californication, Brotherhood, Dexter and more. Remember the excitement of watching the leaked pilot of Studio 60? The buzz around the thrilling first episode of Leverage?
I’ve kept an eye out, but this year there’s been very little leakage. Nurse Jackie slipped out a little early, but not much else.
Have the studios or networks clamped down? Is it a sign of economic times? Or are the shows all so bad that they fear negative publicity if anyone gets an advance look? I imagined that getting the shows out to bloggers to create some early buzz was good publicity. But there are other routes these days. MaybeYouTube trailers are now the most effective way of pre-launching a series.
I miss the fun of discovering shows through clandestine routes.
Not entirely though. Because there are actually a couple of preair out and about at the moment: the first episode of Dexter’s fourth season and the Sons of Tucson pilot. Sons of Tucson is a Fox show billed as being in the Malcolm in the Middle vein. I haven’t checked them out yet. But if you have, let me know what you think.
Sandra Johnson
Can you recommend a couple of well connected agents in NYC? I have several outlines for sitcoms and I need to sit down with someone savvy who can tell me that my ideas have potential or that I’m wasting my time … thanks for your advice!
Matthew
Sons of tucson is sorta well-meaning but boring and unfunny.