A whole bunch of new television shows have popped up on the file-sharing system BitTorrent ahead of their airing on US networks. The shows include The Sarah Connor Chonicles, Pushing Daisies, Californication, Reaper, and Chuck.

Most are set to debut soon. But the leak of The Sarah Connor Chronicles is the odd one of the bunch. It is a show that is bound to appeal to fans of The Terminator, but it is not scheduled to launch until next year.

So some are speculating this supposedly “massive leak” of preview and review DVDs may not be the work of piracy. Rather, could it be an attempt by TV networks to get the hype going ahead of broadcast?

After all having the remake of Battlestar Galactica appear on the the internet before it aired on the SciFi Channel in the US did it more good than harm.