The internet is giving TV shows a whole new dimension - even before they have launched, in the case of West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin's hotly anticipated new NBC drama, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
So hotly anticipated, analysed, eulogised and criticised has Studio 60 been on blogs and internet forums, that Sorkin felt moved to defend the show against an online "backlash" in the LA Times - two months before its TV debut in the US.
Online, you can already watch a six minute Studio 60 promo on YouTube, read an early draft script of the pilot, and naturally the show already has fansites and forums, like this and this and this.
And from early next month, US viewers will be able to watch the first couple of episodes of Studio 60 six weeks before it launches on NBC, via a deal the broadcaster has signed with DVD mail-rental service Netflix.
Sorkin's LA Times interview has prompted a whole new round of internet debate about the relationship between the web and TV shows. This blogger even posted excitedly about being quoted in Sorkin's LA Times piece.
Some people out there are really quite scary in their frenzied anticipation of this show, like Scott_EVill and tattooed geek.
Others think, like rosaluna, reckon Sorkin's a bit of a one-trick pony.
Meanwhile, this West Wing fan has set up a blog dedicated to commenting on her plan to rewatch the whole 7 series of the show on DVD. Aw, bless.
