HBO's "How to Make it in America" Premieres Free on YouTube [VIDEO]

From now until February 20, the first episode of the half-hour comedy series (starring Bryan Greenberg, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Luiz Guizman and, get ready for this, Kid Cudi) will be available for your viewing pleasure online. The show, from the creators of smash hit Entourage, follows two Brooklyn 20somethings as they try to break into the New York City fashion scene. The video is not embeddable, and you have to have a YouTube account to check it out (it's rated TV-MA), but it has already racked up more than 43,000 views since it was posted on February 7.

This isn't the first time YouTube has aired premium programming prior to launch. According to NewTeeVee, Showtime released The United States of Tara -- embed code-enabled -- via digital channels last year. Consequently, it racked up more than 500,000 YouTube views in the first day. That staggering number makes How to Make it in America's premiere look rather sad by comparison, but Steven Spielberg was the director on that project, which is a factor that should be taken into account.

Regardless, this move just stands as more evidence of YouTube's intention to become an even more legit entertainment source. As we reported back in December, the video site is thinking about offering “variations of monthly subscription models such as those seen with cable TV providers,” according to Reuters. And recently, YouTube debuted movie rentals (which didn't really work all that well). Therefore, it's not all that far-fetched to think that YouTube could be getting more content like this -- perhaps at a price. In the meantime, the cable channels are hoping putting pilots online will drive more subscriptions.

As we reported yesterday, YouTube has recently introduced parental controls, which could come in handy if the site introduces more shows in the realm of HBO and Showtime.

In the meantime, we suggest checking out the HBO pilot via YouTube. Since we can't embed it here, we'll just leave you with the preview below.