Desperate over missing season finales? Pearl TV lets you get caught up online

Mad at yourself for missing the season finale of Lost or Desperate Housewives when your business dinner went late? Now, you can catch some of your favourite American series from TVB Pearl online. On Tuesday, the English side of the local station along with reps from Disney-ABC International Television, announced the creation of CatchUp TV, a platform where several popular series will be available for free viewing 12 hours after their broadcast on TVB Pearl. Through the channel's portal, pearl.tvb.com, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, and the highly touted new drama, Dirty Sexy Money (premiering tonight, its cast pictured above), will be streamed on-demand the next morning.

It sounds great, but we doubt it is about to change the way Hongkongers watch TV. First, this Web viewing is limited to the four shows mentioned. Also they are ad-supported, so you'll have to sit through the same commercials.

Most of all, these hits are still arriving months after they have already made their debut overseas. Dirty Sexy Money, for example, started airing in North America last November. Still, CatchUp TV is a nice option if you don't own a VCR.