(Also known as: Why I’m Canceling Netflix)
Have you ever wondered how you can watch movies and TV online for free, and easily? You can watch close to any movie or television show online for free if you only know where to look. No shady downloads, torrents, or applications required. This may or may not be legitimate (um, I’m thinking not), so use your best discretion. You can always watch many shows from ABC, FOX, NBC, and CBS online for free (with commercials) completely legitimately, if you feel uneasy.
Click the link below to read on for the full how-to!
The best place to look for movies and television is Tudou.com. It’s an Asian site, and I can’t read a word on it, but many of the shows/movies I’m searching for are labeled by their American names, and the “play” button is pretty universal, so it’s not impossible to find what you’re looking for.
How to Use Tudou.com
The main keys to mastering Tudou:
- The further back you go (say, page 13 versus page 2) the earlier in the television series you’ll be.
- Most shows occur in order, so if you’re at Battlestar Galactica season 2, episode 10, part B, the clip directly before (or above) it should be episode 11, part A.
- Check the running length of the video. Most TV shows are split into two 20-something minute segments. If you see that the time says 2:44, then you know you’re probably going to find a trailer or a short clip. Look for longer clips.
- Search using the simplest name of the TV show or movie (use the search box at the top of the page – even if you can’t read the labels, you should still be able to find it quite easily). If you want Desperate Housewives, that’s what you should type. Don’t include season numbers or episode numbers. Once you’ve brought up the Desperate Housewives search page, start clicking on clips of adequate length (see key #3). The titles should be something like “Desperate Housewives -???????.???????? 5B” for epsiode 5, part B. You won’t know the season until you click on the clip and figure it out. That brings us to key #5.
- Wikipedia is your best friend for figuring out which season/episode you’re searching for. Do a search for “[Insert show name here] episode list.” This should bring up a list of episodes. You can start searching for key points.
- Once you figure out where you are in the season, bookmark the Tudou search page containing the link to the next episode you want to watch. That way you won’t have to search through again and again.
An Alternative Source for TV Shows
Looking for something a little less complicated? Fanpop.com also has a pretty good selection of American TV shows (& it’s all in American-English), but you won’t find everything you’re looking for, and any video linked from YouTube is going to be kaput shortly after it’s posted because of YouTube’s strict policies.
Speaking of YouTube.com, it’s another place you might want to check. I’ve found episodes of old favorites (cartoons, mostly) such as Talespin and DarkWing Duck. YouTube seems to be less strict about older shows, especially the ones that haven’t been remastered onto DVD yet.
I’m not sure if Big Brother is watching us stream TV shows, but at least you won’t be taxing your system’s resources anymore with gigabytes of video files! Happy hunting.
Ideas for Great TV Shows to Watch
No idea where to begin? Try one of these (the shows in green can be watched on their respective network sites):
Alias, Battlestar Galactica, Big Love, Brothers and Sisters, Carnivale, Desperate Housewives, Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl, Heroes, House MD, Pushing Daisies, The Riches, Sex and the City, Smallville, The Sopranos, Weeds
Oh yeah, and if something goes wrong, I won’t be held responsible.