Rejected TV pilots are turning up on the Web, and creators hope they can drum up enough viral interest to persuade TV execs to take another look. "The Adventures of Big Handsome Guy and His Little
Friend" is the latest pilot reject to find its way to the Net. Passed on by Fox for the fall schedule, "Handsome" has already popped up on at least three different viral video sites. It's the second
known program left over from the 2005-2006 season to mysteriously emerge on the Web. Leaking these shows is, of course, illegal--and 20th-Century Fox Television has vowed to track down and fire the
source of the link. However, online viral distribution has benefited rejected pilots before: "Nobody's Watching," a comedy initially rejected by the WB Network last year, turned up on YouTube last
month. It was able to generate enough interest that NBC Universal picked it up. "Handsome" may not be as lucky. Fox has already sent cease-and-desist letters to the offending sites and issued the
following statement: "We take the protection of our intellectual property very seriously and have launched an investigation into this matter. We will take any steps necessary to zealously protect our
ownership of this program." That said, at Break.com, a viral site with 1 million daily users, "Handsome" was streamed 250,000 times since Saturday, when it was posted. Fox will definitely take note of
that.
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