And yet Conviction got cancelled. I think there would be more point posting this around Sept 1st to be honest.

Simon | August 01, 18:21 CET

There was a lot of stigma around Conviction for being a Dick Wolf show that wasn't part of the Law and Order tradition -- reviews will tell the story, but there's a significantly higher amount of buzz about Heroes than there was about Conviction. And arguably, Conviction just wasn't very good.

Yes there may be more credence in posting it closer to September, but moviegoers would need to get these cards before then.

CaffeinatedSquint | August 01, 18:24 CET

And again, not to belaboUr a point (or act over-sensitive or such), but this is only available to US customers. There are people from many countries here.

ariana75 | August 01, 18:26 CET

I don't think it makes it any less news to viewers, since it is a US show. It does strike me as odd that NBC wouldn't make it free for iTunes users in general, and I do hope that it will be available for users in other countries, but I think it is still news.

CaffeinatedSquint | August 01, 18:43 CET

It certainly doesn't make it less newsworthy. We also post DVD release announcements for 'verse related shows for multiple regions. It would be nice if the region madness would end (its not like a large number of us don't circumvent it anyway), but given then reality that it exists, its not going to prevent news from being posted that applies only to one region. We're all here on this site because of shows that were originally only in the US. The original post will be edited to point out that its US only as should have been noted to begin with.

ETA - as hinted at above, the reason for the US-only-ness of this may be that they have sold the show in another region and don't want to compete witht he show's airing there (though whether it would be competition or free advertising is certainly debatable).

zeitgeist | August 01, 18:47 CET

For now. But he wasn't a regular on Buffy so we're not going to go overboard on coverage.

Simon | August 01, 19:35 CET

This also might be an effort to regain some control over the release of "Heroes" since the pilot episode has already leaked all over the internet and is widely available if you know where to look. Or so I've heard.

Prosperina | August 01, 19:36 CET

Is is a serialized drama? That seems to be the new buzz phrase these days. Course did Angel did it with season 4 but god forbid that should have got noticed.

Simon | August 01, 19:52 CET

I thought serialised dramas were anathema to Network Execs ? How's it gonna play in syndication for pity's sake ?

(I quite liked the 'Heroes' pilot which I may or may not have seen, especially the cheerleader character who may or may not appear in it but who has a lot of potential for a cool arc, assuming she does ;)

Saje | August 01, 20:17 CET

Maybe we (not really we, but Caroline and the other mods) should start to re-think how this Cast and Crew thing really should work. Maybe adding another line onto relevancy of sorts.

What might be more newsworthy than other things. Or maybe start channeling more things to the .org forum, just like was done to most of Veronica Mars and Lost topics and discussions.

I started to really wonder this, the other day when I posted something about Alexa Davalos. She was in 3 Angel episodes, but does it really make it news worthy?

Back to topic. I'm really curious about how this show will turn out. But I'd like to see the whole 90 minute pilot to make a judgement, and not only the first 50 minutes of it. I was intrigued by those first 50 minutes, but hasn't been wowed yet. I'm afraid that it'll become a too pretentious show, which would like to profit from this serialized drama trend (just like the procedure drama trend we had a couple years ago).

In totally unrelated comment, I got to watch the pilot for Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" this weekend, which features Carlos Jakott (one of the few actors who got to be in all 3 Mutant Enemy shows). And I was amazed by how entertained I was by it. It got a little bit of Sorkin's previous show in it, a little of The West Wing and a little bit of Sports Night. The anti network exec banter in it reminded me of Joss and also about Bill Laurence (Scrubs creator) "Nobody's Watching".

Which leads me to the question. If NBC does the same to "Studio 60" (for short) and release it on iTunes. Will it be news worthy for another whedonesque posting of the sort? (see how good I am, to bring the comment back on topic?) Especially because, just like Roberts in Heroes, Jacott doesn't appear in the pilot, although being credited a regular cast member.

Numfar PTB | August 01, 20:31 CET

To add to its Whedon-ness -- since there seems to be some question of it -- the pilot was directed by David Semel, who directed multiple Buffy eps including everybody's favorite "Go Fish". Okay, I really meant "What's My line Pt 2". Gotta love Spike and Dru! And "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date".

cabri | August 01, 21:30 CET

Will this be the finished pilot or the one given out to the press? I've already seen that one, and color me not impressed. Some parts I liked but they need to get rid of the cheesy voice-over, and some of the acting is cringe-worthy. It's slightly pretentious but it has promise.

electricspacegirl | August 01, 22:27 CET

ElectricSpaceGirl, this will most likely be the final release because it'll be much closer to premiere date, and it's not for press only, it's for a wide audience. They know this time, they're being watched and judged for more than just a passing review.

CaffeinatedSquint | August 01, 23:11 CET

Jeph Loeb is a writer on this show. Interview with a small mention of Joss and Buffy animated here.

einral | August 02, 00:23 CET

Wow, Jeph Loeb ? Didn't know he was writing for this, nice link einral (BTW, there's a pilot "spoiler" for the eagle eyed reader in einral's link - scare quotes because I thought the reveal was fairly predictable so it's not all that spoilery, IMO).

Pretty sure the iTunes pilot will be the finished product. The one I may or may not have seen had temp music (the excellent Bourne Supremacy soundtrack as also heard temping on the 'Global Frequency' pilot - why oh why oh why wasn't that picked up, BTW ?).

I didn't find it pretentious (though not all the acting was flawless) but they were definitely going for a portentous, grand feel to proceedings, fates converging, worlds changing, that kind of thing. It sort of reminded me of reading 'Kingdom Come' or 'Marvels'. Hopefully it'll live up to that standard.

Saje | August 02, 00:51 CET

I agree with Browncoat, NBC should have made this download available to iTunes users in general. Because being in Canada, we too do get NBC, as well as ABC, CBS, FOX, the CW and many other 'US' channels, as well as having the same programs shown in simulcast on channels like CTV, Global, and CityTV. Is it really that hard to allow other countries to view TV shows over the internet? Apparently, because last time I checked, Buffy was still only available on US iTunes.

In fact, if we go by my logic, Season Three of Grey's Anatomy will technically be a Canadian show, with CTV airing it one hour prior to the US broadcast. Sweet.

Not that it would matter to me if it was available, we still don't have cable where I live. Long live dial-up (until we get high-speed)!

[ edited by Brisco on 2006-08-01 23:33 ]

Brisco | August 02, 01:20 CET

there's a lot of weird negotiation and stuff that has to happen with iTunes in other countries. If NBC offered it as a free download on their site, anyone could watch it and it wouldn't be US-only. But noooo, only iTunes and not even iTunes, it'll be for people who go to the movie theater and get that special card, though I'm pretty sure that it's possible that someone with the code (and if it could be used many times) could just give out the code to someone else.

Is it just me though, that I am aware of a lot of shows being broadcast in other countries, but when I turn to Univision, I don't ever see any of these shows on there dubbed like I have always been told they are?

[ edited by Browncoat on 2006-08-01 23:42 ]

CaffeinatedSquint | August 02, 01:42 CET

Doesn't iTunes technically count as a broadcaster ? Which means that licences for music etc. would all have to be negotiated separately (for instance 'House' as broadcast in the UK doesn't have 'Teardrop' by Massive Attack as the theme, it has something which sounds kind of similar but isn't the same).

(they may match codes to IPs or IP ranges to stop multiple downloads by different people)

Saje | August 02, 01:59 CET

I think what got me interested in Heroes is that Jeph Loeb's writing, and they've got Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls) on as "consulting producer", and I'll watch anything with Adrian Pasdar in it. However, the showrunner is still the guy who did Crossing Jordan.

And (speaking of the Heroes pilot) I'd like to say right now that Hiro could not have learned about the nature/shape of the space-time continuum from X-Men 143. Because Kitty Pryde travels through time in "Days of Future Past" which is issues 141 and 142. 143 is "Demon", in which Kitty Pryde is chased through the mansion by a (koff) Alien on Christmas eve. What do they think? No comics fans are going to be tuning in to watch a superhero tv show? ;-)

kli | August 02, 02:11 CET