TorrentFreak released the list of the 2011-2012 television season’s most pirated shows, and, in a shock to pretty much no one, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” took home the title by a substantial margin. Almost four million people illegally downloaded each episode from BitTorrent, which was not only a full million more than the second place show (CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother,” which makes sense because wait nope no it doesn’t), but also just 300,000 fewer than the number of people who watched the show live. There are a number of factors that play into this — it being awesome, HBO’s refusal to offer web-only access, programming delays on other continents, and the show’s younger, generally more web-savvy audience — but I have chosen to believe that it is due mostly to GIFs and weird perverts. In my defense, this is my answer to every “Hey, why did such and such a thing happen on the Internet?”-style question, but I feel like it’s an especially good answer here.
Speaking of “Game of Thrones,” “Parks & Rec” showrunner Mike Schur tweeted this idea out earlier this afternoon, and I swear to God I had like five heart attacks just thinking about it. A GIF of Ron Swanson slapping Prince Joffrey would probably grind the entire Internet to a halt, shutting down electrical grids across the world and triggering mass hysteria in the process. Worth it, I say.
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I don’t know, Parks & Rec has a strong female cast, and Game of Thrones is kinda rapey.
They talk a good fight, but I’m pretty sure we’ve now gone 19 episodes without a main character getting raped.
Near miss with Sansa in season 2
They skipped the Lollys portion of the King’s Landing riot, which was basically, like, a hundred rapes at once.
Hodor carrying Bran : Ron carrying passed out Tom
Night’s watch First Ranger Mark Brendanawicz: lost beyond The Wall.
Ron Swanson thinks that Cersei would make a great brunette.
For what it’s worth, Daenerys does make an incredible brunette.
[www.imdb.com]
Hmm, Cersei looks like a brunette, too.
Must be a shortage of blonde actresses.
Living outside of the US of A, i had no other choice but to torrent it. No way i’m waiting half a year for it to air here.
Despite living outside of the US of A, I don’t torrent it. Because, dash it all, it’s one day. I can wait one day.
That said, I had a power cut in the middle of the finale. The moment the electricity came back I downloaded the fudge out of that episode. Watched it before work the next morning, and all the anger and bitterness went away.
No link/love for The Oatmeal?
Fixed
[theoatmeal.com]
Neat! Rationalizing theft!
Super Neat! Completely (or deliberately) missing the point!
No I got the fucking point. Stealing something you cant get legally is still stealing.
Precisely what I say whenever that thing is posted. I’ve seen this story all over the place and people can’t seem to get it through their heads that cool TV shows are not a human right.
I want a Ferrari but can’t obtain one through legal means presently. Do I have the right to go take one?
+1s to both of you….fuck these theives and their sense of entitlement.
It must be a relief for your tired little brains to shoehorn everything into black and white, but too bad, that’s not reality.
I bought the 1st season blu-rays as soon as they came out, am I thief?
I purchased all the books and even got a second set as a gift for someone, am I a thief?
I will buy 2nd season on blu-ray as soon as its available on Amazon, am I still a thief?
I’ve been enjoying the show by borrowing a friends hbo go password, does that make me a thief?
No it fucking doesn’t.
The issue is ACCESS but go ahead and cry about the dirty pirates if you want little fucking children.
Would GoT be the most pirated show if it was available on Itunes? Probably not.
Would GoT be the most pirated show if people could just buy a HBO Go subscription? Probably fucking not.
The cable companies pay HBO to not change their biz model so fuck em and fuck you hypocrites too.
@ Badger
Using someone else’s HBO GO password *is* stealing. I personally don’t give a single backflipping shit whether you do it or not, but trying to justify it by saying you have bought (and will continue to buy) the product when it becomes available, or that big greedy corporations are conspiring against consumers, doesn’t change the fact that you are acquiring it by dishonest means now. If you want to pirate shows, fine. That’s your choice. But pirating is stealing, and stealing makes you a thief, and pretending otherwise ain’t fooling anybody but you. If you’re gonna do it, own up to that. That’s all I ask.
Danger when you spank me you need to use the end of the belt with the buckle or I’m just not gonna feel it. (point taken)
The ability to torrent/watch shows online has helped with my mental health. Before technology helped me, I would become a rage filled lunatic when I missed something by forgetting to set the VCR properly or it cutting the beginning or the ending off.
Oh and why would you torrent HIMYM when CBS.com shows it for free by midnight?
Dragons and titties and pirates. Nice.
Lol, I’ve torrented HIMYM before. And it’s not like I could get in trouble for it, they give it away for free!!!
I think Jon Snow will be in for a big surprise when he enters the wildlings camp only to find Tom and Donna posted up with the King-Beyond-The-Wall Mayce Rayder getting massages and sipping mimosas. Jon, through proper training and instruction, finally learns the essence of “treating himself” after all of those years of bearing the painful weight of being a bastard.
regarding HIMYM- you would not believe how much Europeans LOVE that show. That, 2.5 Men, According to Jim, BBT- shows that people with, you know, taste, fucking hate, they eat up like some socialist economics. I think it’s cause there’s nothing specifically American they need to know. And the laugh track tells them when to laugh.
Don’t forget how simplistic the language is in those shows. I’m guessing if English is your second (or third) language that a number of jokes in a show like Community completely miss you due solely to language (in addition to the cultural references you noted).
IE: If you ever want an instant migraine, try watching the West Wing or Sports Night in french.
I was stationed in Croatia and had to bunk with a German dude at a hotel in Split one time back in ’98. We watched an episode of Family Matters, and he lost his shit. My takeaway: Germans have awful, awful taste.
“IE: If you ever want an instant migraine, try watching the West Wing or Sports Night in french.”
So, they translates perfectly?
“My takeaway: Germans have awful, awful taste.”
Norm McDonald may have something to say about that.