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Posted in Rabbithole, free, tv, video, youtube |

With the economy the way it is, everyone’s cutting back on the non-necessities. One of the little luxuries that has become a necessity in modern times in television. Cable and satellite prices are outrageous, and usually you’re paying for channels you don’t even watch, just to get the few that have your favorite shows. And don’t even get me started on the premium channels like HBO and Showtime.

Thankfully there are alternatives available on the internet, and there are countless websites where you can watch your favorite shows anytime day or night, for free.


1. Hulu

I love Hulu–I’ve been using it since it launched. It has a clean, simple design and features full length episodes of many of the shows I love (The Office, The Daily Show, & Heroes) plus older TV shows (like Alfred Hitchcock Presents), and even movies. New episodes are usually posted the day after they air on TV. You can browse by popular episodes or shows, and also genre, network, and recently added shows. The site also features a queue, so you can add several episodes (or clips) and then sit back and watch them back to back without having to pull up each one separately.
Networks available here: Bravo, Comedy Central, DIY, FOX, FX, The Reality Channel, NBC, Scifi, USA, & more.



2. Joost

Similar to Hulu, Joost features a variety of TV shows, including Adult Swim shows, How I Met Your Mother, and others. The site also features movies, and unique from Hulu, has a music section with collections of music videos by popular artists.



3. Various Channel’s Websites

If there’s a specific show you like, try checking the network website. Many sites feature full streaming episodes. Some have all the episodes up all the time, other feature episodes for certain periods. Some places to check include ABC, NBC, TBS, Discover Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, VH1, & MTV.
The only downside to these sites is they often feature a lot of advertising, or cranky pages that take awhile to load or require a lot of plugins. I recommend searching for episodes online elsewhere before resorting to these.



4. Youtube

Yes, even Youtube has full episodes of TV shows. These are usually lower quality and split up into chunks since they’re uploaded by users, but you’ll be surprised what you can find on there. I often watch Daria, The Soup, and MST3K on Youtube, and with the quicklist, I just put all the parts on there in order and it will automatically play each clip in order.
Because YouTube is a stickler about removing copyright material, creative naming is often used for the files i.e. daria = dar1a. Though you can often find channels that feature certain shows (highwind44029’s channel features each week’s episode of The Soup ETA 3/15/09: The account was suspended from Youtube, but luckily those videos can still be found online in their full-length glory here).



5. Sidereel

Though you can’t actually watch the episodes at Sidereel, it is the ultimate reference for finding TV (and movies) streaming online. Unless I know I can find a specific show on Hulu or Youtube, Sidereel is the first place I go to find online episodes. Just search for the show you’re interested in and you can find links to watch specific episodes online. Often there will be links to buy the episodes on iTunes or Amazon, but a lot of the time there will be links to other random sites to stream the videos.
Sidereel also features an active community for news and discussions about TV shows. If you join for free, then sidereel automatically keeps track of the last episode you watched (helpful for forgetful people like me!).


Posted at 4:33 pm, December 1, 2008


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