Technician Online

September 4th, 2008

No TiVo? It’s not a problem

The closer we get to the fall TV season premieres, the busier it seems I will be on the nights of my favorite shows. Of course, I’m not going to plan my schedule around the TV Guide, but I also don’t want to miss a single episode.

Fortunately, for those of us without TiVo, there’s the Internet, which offers a few free (and legal) options for catching up on shows.

The first places I check for missed episodes are always the network sites. The big networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) all have full episode players where you can watch streaming video right on your computer screen. Most of them have advertisements throughout the presentations, but in reality, the breaks are much shorter than the ones you’d see during primetime. Typically, all you need is Adobe Flash Player.

Some of the networks’ interfaces don’t mesh well with certain browsers, and several of the players still have bugs that keep them from working smoothly. In general, though, the players do a good job of making the TV-on-computer process smooth and simple, and the glitches only seem to arise occasionally. The networks will do almost anything to keep you coming back to watch their shows.

The WB, which became the CW in 2006, is catching up with other networks by increasing its online presence on theWB.com. On Thursday it will launch its episode player, which will offer a very searchable database that encompasses many of the WB’s shows (pre-CW, on and off the air), including Gilmore Girls, Friends, The O.C., Veronica Mars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You can also string clips of your favorite shows together and watch them in remix form.

Other television networks have also started streaming video sites. The Disney Channel and Cartoon Network have kid-oriented sites, and you can even catch shows and movies on TBS, USA, ABC Family, the CW and even Lifetime.

And then there’s Hulu, which is like YouTube for a myriad of TV shows and movies. The company works with Fox, Universal and Lionsgate to provide users with a catalogue of things to watch. Its interface is easily navigable through a modular design, and it has a lot of shows, some in high-definition, ranging from The Daily Show and The Office to House and Bones. They also have quite a few feature films available to view, including Lost in Translation, The Girl Next Door and Sense & Sensibility. (Note: You should also check out Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, a cute three-part musical project done by Joss Whedon — the guy who did Buffy, Firefly and Serenity — and his family. Watch it for free on Hulu or purchase it on iTunes — you pick.)

If you’re looking for past seasons of shows, though, you might just be stuck with the $1.99 iTunes downloads. Some of the networks host older episodes, as does Hulu, but not all. If you love a show that much, I would stake out Amazon.com until the DVD box set goes on sale.

But if you have to miss your show next week, try the Internet. You can always pause it, after all.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 12:57 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Science & Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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