I'm not trying to be an "Um, ACTUALLY" jerk, honest, but I think you're telescoping the timeline. The WB ordered the pilot, which was shot in the fall of 2004. They passed on it that winter. The following June it was leaked online.
At which point Rogers looked the possibility of direct-to-DVD production, and there was also a question as to whether the pilot could be put on iTunes for download. WB (the company, not the network) was apparently annoyed enough by the torrents that they had no interest in doing either. You can argue that those were bad decisions, too, but "smothering it in its sleep" makes it sound as if the network killed the show in response to the torrents. It was already dead & buried by then.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 12:38 am (UTC)At which point Rogers looked the possibility of direct-to-DVD production, and there was also a question as to whether the pilot could be put on iTunes for download. WB (the company, not the network) was apparently annoyed enough by the torrents that they had no interest in doing either. You can argue that those were bad decisions, too, but "smothering it in its sleep" makes it sound as if the network killed the show in response to the torrents. It was already dead & buried by then.