Facilitating my Stargate SG1 obsession.

Although, I was a television child, dubbed "The Walking, Talking TV Guide" by my cousin, I am not a television adult. Not only do I not currently own a tv, but I have never owned a television as an adult. How, then, am I a Stargate SG1 addict?

Back when SG1 was in syndication, I lived with someone who owned a tv. It would come on at midnight, Saturday night on Fox, following MAD tv, which, at that time had Will Sasso, the only cast member worth watching. (As an aside, Kenny Rogers Jackass was the most random, funniest thing I had ever seen because it would be a couple of years before I heard of the real, not so funny, MTV version.) Scifi saved SG1 from certain death, I guess, but it also confined it to cable, which I refuse to pay for or to watch; too many other things to do.

And then came BitTorrent, sweet, merciful BitTorrent. Thanks to this incredible program and to other dedicated fans, I have seen every episode in order. At 41 minutes a pop, that's a lot of time, but this really is the only television worth watching. (Okay, the Daily Show is too, but, again, it's on cable and it isn't as available due to its timeliness.)

What I don't understand is why it can be considered illegal to download and watch something that was freely broadcast, if no one is profiting from it. Isn't it like borrowing a tape from a friend? (This is something I could do, but it's a much bigger hassle.) If Scifi posted episodes for download at a reasonable price, say $1 each ($19-$22 a season), I would do it. I am not going to buy a tv (minimum $100 for a decent one) and cable (minimum $40 a month, but Scifi is more, I think) so that I can watch one 41 minute episode a week for 19 weeks out of the year.

Recently, thanks to the new BitTorrent search, I found the entire 8th season for 400MB. That's two thirds the size (and one quarter the quality, but I so don't care) of what one episode used to be. Much better for speed.