A reader, U., writes:
“Hi John, What's your take on peer-to-peer downloading? I know you
buy what you see because you've mentioned that, but have you ever watched
a movie or an episode that was downloaded from say The Pirate Bay?
I only ask because a lot of the times for
things that have never been released on dvd officially, they can be found on
these sites, or even on Youtube. This is especially the case of course for so
many movies or shows you write about that are rare.
I was curious on your thoughts on all this.”
U, that’s a good
question, and I’m afraid my answer reveals my age.
I have never downloaded
any episode or movie from any site like the one you mentioned, mainly because I
know almost nothing about any of them. I don’t know which sites are good, which
ones are bad. I literally have no
experience on that front.
I began my writing
career in the mid-1990s, and so VHS was the prominent format of the day. I worked with a great tape trader in
Pennsylvania, so I could see episodes of the series I wanted to cover in my
book Terror
Television, for instance. I was
heavy into tape trading till about 2000, I suppose, because of that book, and
because of the fact that I wanted to see as many episodes of each series as I
possibly could. I cobbled together
resources from libraries, video stores, on-air tapings, my own collection, and
tape trades.
These days, I am usually
able to find what I’m looking for on either Youtube, as you mention, or third
party sites that sell “bootlegs” of programs otherwise not available.
Of course, as you know,
I’m reviewing these obscurities for purposes of genre history, art
appreciation, and scholarship.
You wouldn’t think there’s
a huge demand for writing about Quinn Martin’s Tales of the Unexpected,
but that post last week on the subject garnered quite a lot of hits. There are lots of folks out there who want to
know about these older, unreleased programs, and are hungry for information
about them.
I am hoping to get my
act together and contact a friend about garnering some more TV obscurities,
mainly from the 1970s. This is one of
my favorite aspects of blogging: re-visiting old series that are hard to find,
or not officially available. It would be
a shame for great old programs to disappear down the memory hole, and if I can
shine a new light on them, I’m always happy to do so.
But please, if you have
any recommendations about the best peer-to-peer download sites, please let me
know. Like I said, I really know nothing
whatsoever about this subject.
Don’t forget to ask me
your questions at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com
It's not just genre shows/movies that have the problem. Entertainment is part of our culture, and it's a shame when any of it gets lost down the drain. Think of how many TV series there's been over the years since 1939 (the first year the Met opera was broadcast). And many of them locally produced. Think of the first shows on videotape that were taped over ebcause the tape was expensive. Think of how much as been lost.
ReplyDeleteNow think of what happens when any new media competes not only with new media, but all media ever produced. This is rapidly happening on the Internet. Why should I pop for the newest show, when I can see old shows I've never seen for a fraction of the cost (not factoring in free downloads here). It completely changes the landscape.