TorrentBR

To most fans it came as quite a shock when CBS announced the cancellation of Jericho March last year. The show had a huge fanbase, and several blogs and communities organized protests to revive the show.

Jeff Braverman, one of the most loyal fans, even went as far as dumping 5,000 pounds of nuts at the CBS offices in New York. CBS’s Vice President of Communications, Chris Ender said that the Jericho protests were the biggest they’d ever seen: “It’s been an impressive display of passion from a loyal audience. You have to tip your hat to their ability to get attention and make some noise.”

Initially CBS, who donated the nuts to charities, wasn’t planning on reviving the show, but after more fans went nuts they eventually did. The official premiere date of the second season was set for February 12, 2008, but today, several weeks before the planned return, the first three episodes of season 2 are already uploaded to several BitTorrent sites. Perhaps the recent leaks are a gift to the dedicated fans of the show?

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that TV-shows were leaked on purpose. Last fall an unusually large number of pre-air TV shows appeared on BitTorrent sites, in some cases several months before their scheduled air dates. Many of those leaks appear to be inside jobs, and TV executives are starting to realize that leaking shows to BitTorrent can help promote them.

Whether Jericho was leaked on purpose remains unclear, but I guess the thousands of fans who already downloaded the show today don’t really care where it came from.