‘Lost’, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Dexter’ Top Most Pirated Shows of 2010

Jan 3, 2011 by Michael Crider 

2010 sees torrented downloads decline about 10%, but the top 3 pirated shows still have over 15 million individual downloads between them.

As the 2010 retrospectives roll by, one of the more fascinating statistics out there is online downloads. We examined the top 10 pirated movies of 2010 last week, and now BitTorrent observer TorrentFreak has released its list of the most pirated  elevision shows. There’s not a lot of surprises, but the sheer volume of illicit downloads is impressive.

Network dramas Lost and Heroes take the top two spots, while cable smash-hit Dexter finishes in the money. The latter doesn’t surprise, since Dexter is only available on premium channel Showtime or pay services like iTunes and Netflix. But the top two shows, together totaling more than ten million downloads, are shown on free broadcast TV in the U.S. on ABC and NBC respectively. They’re also shown for free on both the network websites and joint-effort streaming service Hulu for weeks after their television premiere. The same can be said for eight out of the top ten pirated shows.

This brings the need for illegal downloads into question, not to mention the wisdom – Heroes was cancelled this year after its fourth season, and if TorrentFreak’s analysis is accurate, more people watched it via illegal download than on television. If fans wish to keep their favorite TV shows in the black and on the schedule, they should consider watching or at least recording them on their first television run.

Here’s the full list:

1. Lost – 5,940,000 downloads

2. Heroes – 5,480,000 downloads

3. Dexter – 3,880,000 downloads

4. The Big Bang Theory – 3,270,000 downloads

5. House – 2,610,000 downloads

6. How I Met Your Mother – 2,490,000 downloads

7. 24 – 2,240,000 downloads

8. True Blood – 1,920,000 downloads

9. Glee – 1,700,000 downloads

10. Family Guy – 1,620,000 downloads

The rest of the list is made up of predictably popular network comedies and dramas, with the exception of HBO’s True Blood. Surprise hit Glee is the only new show on the list, and it’s an oddball in a demographic that skews towards the younger male crowd. Comedy favorites The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Family Guy are well-represented, along with House and the final season of 24.

Again, all of these except for True Blood are available as free streams or cheap, legal downloads 24 hours after their initial television run. That may be why torrent downloads are down about 10% from last year, when Heroes topped the list with 6,580,000 downloads – although once again, more people downloaded the superhero drama than watched its TV airings.

Another possible explanation for the dip in torrented shows is a rise of illegal stream sites, which broadcast full TV episodes commercial-free and on-demand. These are becoming more popular because better streaming technology and more bandwidth allows for faster, better viewing. Streaming sites are also much harder to track, emboldening copyright violators who might fear retribution from intellectual property owners.

Source: TorrentFreak

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Geoff Johns Shows Off The Green Lantern Known as Tomar-Re

Green Lantern is, along with Thor, one of the most highly anticipated superhero films of next year. But whereas Thor’s trailer garnered nearly universal acclaim in the geek community, Green Lantern’s trailer has been criticized for its over reliance on hokey CGI and Iron Man-meets-Van Wilder comedy stylings.

The creature designs on the other hand have thus far been fairly well-received. Though we’ve only seen a few – Kilowog, Sinestro and Tomar-Re, for example – they’ve all looked pretty good, or as good as can be expected this early in the production process. Now, courtesy of Green Lantern issue #61, we’ve got the clearest look yet at Tomar-Re with a personalized note from author Geoff Johns.

Click the pictures below to see the full scans:

For those that don’t know the first thing about the fishy-looking Green Lantern known as Tomar-Re, Geoff Johns, the current writer of the Green Lantern comic book and the Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment, has the full rundown:

“Growing up on the planet Xudar, Tomar-Re comes from a peaceful avian race that focuses their efforts on the arts and sciences instead of war. His nature to examine everything has led the Guardians of the Universe to appoint him the archivist and protector of the sacred Book of Oa. When not studying the nature of the Corps, Tomar-Re patrols sector 2813 where he developed a close friendship with neighboring sector 2814’s Green Lantern, Abin Sur. Tomar has taken an interest in Abin’s replacement, Hal Jordan. Though Hal is not one for details, Tomar hopes to teach Hal what it means to be a Green Lantern.”

As Chief Creative Officer, Johns got an inside look into how the Green Lantern design team brought the various Green Lanterns and creatures to virtual life:

“We’ve watched test after test supervised by digital effects master Jim Berney based on the amazing design work by Grant [Major] and Ngila [Dickson]. Their passion for detail is much like Tomar-Re’s. Something I found extremely interesting was the mix of motion capture and straight-up animation they used in creating the Green Lantern Corps. Some of the more humanoid Corps members like Tomar-Re and Kilowog started with motion capture, but most of their flying and movement beyond simple interaction was animated, some based on the movement of insects or animals and others created completely from scratch – giving them all a unique, and alien, feel. It’s this attention to detail – from the scales on Tomar-Re’s skin to the way he turns when he flies into the air – that will give the Green Lantern Corps more life than it’s ever seen.”

Lastly, for those doubting the quality of the coming Green Lantern film, Geoff Johns, who has absolutely no reason to exaggerate the quality of anything related to Green Lantern ever (nope, no sir, nuh-uh!), is here to reassure you:

“With talented people like Grant, Ngila and Jim and his team pouring their heart and soul into [the movie], it makes you realize even more than you might already know how truly amazing the Green Lantern universe is.”

In the note, Johns referenced the fishy, scaly texture of Tomar-Re’s suit (above), which is very reminiscent of the muscular texture of Hal Jordan’s suit. Does this mean that the suits visually reflect the biological nature of the creatures who wear them? It seems that way, yes. It’s very possible that this creative choice will prove to be incredibly successful, but I have to wonder – did we really need to complicate something that was already working? Perhaps the busy look of the Green Lantern suits is one of the reasons they haven’t worked for so many. Sometimes, as they say, less is more.

You can find the above images in the back of the most recent issue of Green Lantern (#61), written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Doug Mahnke. The Green Lantern movie, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Ryan Reynolds, hits theaters June 17th, 2011.

Source: Green Lantern #61 by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke

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First ‘Dredd’ Image Shows Karl Urban As The Judge

A first image from the upcoming Judge Dredd reboot, Dredd has surfaced online, and it shows the new Judge Dredd (Star Trek‘s Karl Urban) looking ready for some judgement / execution action.

The image comes our way courtesy of 2000AD and it apparently depicts Urban in the Judge Dredd uniform (helmet on, of course!) in the midst of rehersal for the film, which is being written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later) and directed by Pete Travis (Vantage Point).

Now I know that like me, some of you reading this still find Sylvester Stallone’s 1995 version of Judge Dredd to be a guilty pleasure that didn’t completely ruin the iconic anti-hero. While I respect that reverence for the Stallone film, I know that I – and a lot of other hardcore Judge Dredd  fans – are expecting something a little different from this reboot, which will supposedly stick closer to the comic book rendition of the character.

Karl Urban himself recently promised that Dredd will be darker in tone, and that his version of the character will be rolling with his helmet on for the film’s duration – just what fanboys have been clamoring for.

Check out the first image of Urban as Dredd below and tell us what you think:

I’ve been a casual fan of the Judge Dredd comic books, but I definitely agree that one of the character’s principal strengths is the almost mythical status he has within the world he inhabits. It’s why the guy never needs to take his helmet off: his legend precedes him and the mystery of his identity makes him even more of the icon of (vengeance? skewed Justice?) he is meant to be.

However, one still must wonder if the narrative arch of an entire movie can be sustained by a guy who never really shows his face. Before you rush to say “Of course it can!” Remember that we live in the age where even the baddest boys seem to require some touchy-feely backstory to make them sympathetic or explain how they came to be so hardcore (see: Hannibal Rising - or rather, don’t).

For now I’ll say the obvious: Urban looks pretty good as Dredd. We’ll find out just how well his version of the character translates to the big screen when Dredd 3D hits theaters (most likely) sometime in 2012.

Source: 2000AD via Cinematical

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