And now for something completely different

Have you heard about Pioneer One? If you like such shows as, say The X Files, then I think you might like it. I read about it this morning and watched 2 of the first 3 episodes tonight. While it obviously has financial limitations that prevent more extravagant sets, it's fairly well written and acted. I never thought I'd ever follow an Internet TV program. I think I was wrong about that.

Here's a brief synopsis:

Pioneer One is an independently produced drama series made for the Internet. In the pilot, U.S. Homeland Security agents investigate a possible terrorist act, the cause of which is discovered to be the return of an old Soviet space capsule. What the capsule has returned will have implications for the entire world.

In March 2010, writer Josh Bernhard and director Bracey Smith quit their jobs and set out to produce the pilot episode of Pioneer One as a proof-of-concept for how the series could be produced and released. Funds were raised through a Kickstarter campaign, favors were called in, and much sleep was lost. The pilot was finished shooting by the end of April 2010 and was released online on June 15th through VODO.net.

Then something unexpected happened.

Within two weeks, the pilot was downloaded nearly half a million times, and $20,000 was raised from viewer donations alone. By the end of the summer, we had raised well over $30,000 from people all over the world whose sole interest was seeing the show continue and succeed. We made plans to produce the next three episodes of our 6-episode first season with that money.

In October 2010, off the heels of the pilot’s win for “Best Drama Pilot” at the 2010 New York Television Festival, production began on episodes 2, 3 and 4. These episodes continue to be released as we’re raising funds for the final two episodes of season one, with production planned for May, 2011.