tiggy -- I've read as much of mi.net as I feel I can without getting spoiled. I need an output forum where I can gush. A thread somewhere that's synchronized with the reruns, perhaps. Although I'm rabid enough that I may surpass the reruns soon. And yes, sumi, I'm all over the DVDs when they arrive.
I really wish the TV execs would figure out Internet distribution. I've downloaded VM eps on BitTorrent. This is technically illegal. I would gladly pay a couple of bucks to legally download these now, though. And I'd still buy the DVDs when they come out!
On top of this, my viewing of past episodes that I have no other way to obtain has only made me more likely to watch broadcast episodes. If there was no BitTorrent, I wouldn't be a fan of Veronica Mars. I would never have seen the pilot, so the reruns wouldn't have made much sense. I would have no way to convince my friends to watch, and the show would be arguably more screwed than it already is, viewer-wise.
P2P trading of TV shows is going to happen no matter what the networks try to do. They're making $0 from it right now. If they let us legally download episodes immediately after airing for a reasonable fee, they'll get some number of customers and make $X. As long as $X is greater than $Y, the cost of hosting the downloads, they make money.
Dammit TV industry! Someone give us iTV! It won't stop dishonest folks from stealing, but it'll give us honest folks a chance to reward good work where we find it, disseminate it more easily to our friends, and help spread the work that much more easily.
Not that I'm passionate about this or anything.