Go Ahead and Watch This Show Illegally

“Weeds - Season Two” (Lee Rose, Burr Steers, Tucker Gates)

Ha, I haven't watched this show (though, I did think the premise had potential), but D did rent the first couple of seasons on Netflix, and I could hear her laughing out loud.

Advertising Age - Go Ahead and Watch This Show Illegally:
when the first four episodes of the third season of Showtime's “Weeds” showed up on illegal download sites cheek by jowl with episodes of NBC's “Bionic Woman” and ABC's upcoming “Cavemen,” the reaction from the cable network was a blasé “no comment.”

Surely “Weeds” creator and executive producer Jenji Kohan is upset?

Au contraire, mon dope fiend.

“Revenue aside, I don't expect to get rich on 'Weeds,'” she said, sounding downright jubilant. “I'm excited it's out there. Showtime is great, but it does have a limited audience.”

So while broadcast-network representatives express concern and frustration that their advertisers will be horrified by ever-declining audiences and buzz, Showtime can breathe easy: As a premium cable network, it has no advertisers, and with only 14.5 million paid subscribers, almost any sampling of its shows is seen as free promotion for the network.

For example, as part of an exclusive deal between Netflix and Showtime, the pilot of the Showtime series “Californication” is available on Netflix three weeks before the show makes its debut on the network, in the hope that Netflix subscribers will also become Showtime subscribers.
...
In the meantime, “Weeds” creator Ms. Kohan is tapping her foot and waiting for Showtime to make the third season of her series available for immediate, legal download.

“It's very annoying,” she said, sighing. “If I had my druthers, the whole thing would be available right now.”

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