I am – Hercules!!


The official premieres of NBC’s four new fall dramas are still at least 11 days away, but the network is determined you see them early.

We’ve known for a while that Blockbuster has been renting the pilots of “Bionic Woman,” “Chuck,” “Journeyman” and “Life” to its customers.

I got an email late Wednesday telling me that cable systems carrying something called HD Showcase On Demand are also making the pilots available. (I get On Demand and HD via Time Warner here in Studio City, Calif., but my customer care rep just assured me that I don’t get HD On Demand in my area for at least another seven months.)

Finally, those who crave instant gratification (but don’t want to risk NBC Universal and the MPAA suing them - or their parents – for hundreds of thousands of dollars over bittorrent copyright infringement), can currently also rent the pilots via Unbox, which apparently works with both computers and TiVo. Click on the photos to watch. All are FREE!

I recommend starting with “Chuck,” which is a sci-fi comedy actioner created by “O.C.” mastermind Josh Schwartz. It co-stars “Full Metal Jacket”/”Firefly” vet Adam Baldwin as an angry government goon.

For those content to wait, the NBC premiere dates:

Chuck: Sept. 24
Journeyman: Sept. 24
Bionic Woman: Sept. 26
Life: Sept. 26

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