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Say you’re NBC, you’ve got a potential hit sitcom starring Joel McHale and Chevy Chase on your hands, and you want to create a little online buzz for your new fall lineup. You’d probably publish the pilot episode to your hit premium online video site, Hulu, prior to its television debut, right?

If that’s what you would do, then you’re not thinking like NBC. The network has just snubbed its own video site in favor of debuting the pilot for Community on Facebook, which doesn’t air on network television until September 17.

What seems to be a departure from reason is actually a very obvious social media marketing ploy that could prove beneficial to the network. Here’s why: by putting the pilot on Facebook, NBC is able to force would-be viewers to fan the show’s Facebook Page, and in turn tap into the activity feeds of 250 million Facebook users. Additionally, they can encourage viewers to share it will all of their friends and post show comments that also get pushed out to user profiles.

Hulu just doesn’t have the same social appeal that Facebook has, and clearly NBC thinks there is power to be had in accumulating Facebook fans. Like Hulu, however, the Facebook video for Community is only available to those in the US for the moment.

With actors like Joel McHale, a comedic personality you’ll remember from E’s The Soup, and comedy legend Chevy Chase, there’s bound to be plenty of interest in catching the debut right now. That lineup alone suckered us into becoming fans, and we’re watching the pilot episode right now. Did the strategy work on you too?

[via NewTeeVee]

Tags: chevy chase, community, facebook, facebook page, hulu, joel mchale, nbc