Yes, you can watch some of your favorite prime time network TV shows without paying for cable or a satellite dish. You can watch them for free. Nobody will report you on Cabletheft.com on you, and these are not pirated videos. These full episodes of your favorite TV shows are available at network web sites.
The trade off may be that you don’t get to watch the show when it airs, but if you are using your DVR or TiVo anyway, you are accustomed to watching TV on your time. Here are the top official places where you can see full episodes of your favorite TV shows, and even some episodes of recently cancelled shows.
For each web site, there are technical specifications listed as well as a list of available shows, availability and frequency of updates.
It’s getting to the point that paying for cable Internet service and cable TV service is redundant. If you have a fast Internet connection, a fast computer, or AppleTV, or a an iMac with a quality monitor, you may be able to do away with your cable TV bill. If money is tight and you need to make a choice, the Internet may be the better option.
Access to these full episodes of your favorite TV shows also let you catch up on recent episodes you may have missed. How many previous episodes of each show that are available varies from show to show, and from network to network.
Free Network TV Episodes Online
ABC TV Free Videos
In order to watch full episodes of TV shows from ABC, Windows users running Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista need to use FireFox or Internet Explorer. Mac users can use either Safari or FireFox. You will also need to download the plug-in (you don’t have to find it, a window will pop up and ask if you want to install it).
ABC makes full episodes of shows like Lost available the day after they air. They also have entire episodes of the first three seasons in HD streaming.
The full episodes of ABC TV shows are shown with “limited commercial interruption.” (ABC)
According to Jim
Big Shots
Brothers and Sisters
Carpoolers
Cashmere Mafia
Dance War
Desperate Housewives
Eli Stone
Extreme Makeover Home Edition
Men in Trees
Oprah’s Big Give
Pushing Daisies
Samantha Who?
Squeegees
Ugly Betty
CBS Free Videos
On the CBS Video page, find the box which reads “Watch Full Episodes Here.” You can search for full episode by CBS TV show or by genre, which is a nice feature. The CBS videos uses Flash Player.
Full episodes of the following daytime CBS shows are available:
As the World Turns
The Bold and the Beautiful
Guiding Light
The Price is Right
The Young and the Restless
Full episodes of the following prime time CBS shows are available:
Big Bang Theory (no episodes listed)
Big Brother 9
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: New York
How I Met Your Mother
Jericho
Moonlight
NCIS
Numb3ers
Power of Ten
Rules of Engagement
Shark
Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites
CWTV.com Full Episodes
The CW is not as clear about which videos are full episodes and which ones are just previews. They do not have an easy text list from which you can pick full episodes. All of the other networks have a clear text list of full episodes.
Mac users can use either Firefox 1.5 or later or Safari 1.3.2 (build 312.5) or later according to CWTV.com
Instead, look in the box on the right after you click on the name of a show on the left. About three videos per show are available.
Aliens in America
America’s Next Top Model
Beauty and the Geek*
Crowned* (interviews)
Drillbit Taylor*
Everybody Loves Chris
Girlfriends
Girlicious (Pussycat Dolls Presents)
The Game
Gossip Girl
Life is Wild
One Tree Hill
Reaper
Smallville (previews and Director’s Cuts)
Supernatural
*at press time, these shows only have previews available. Expect to find full episodes after the shows premiere.
Discovery TV
Discovery TV shows full episodes of shows from the Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet.
You can watch the following full episodes for free:
Dirty Jobs
Flip That House
Petfinder
The episodes use the Move Player. According to Discovery TV, PC users need to download the player (available at Discovery) and then run the player.
Mac users cannot use Camino with the Move Player. It does work in Safari.
NBC
NBC has web exclusives, video clips and full episodes. NBC videos play on Adobe Flash Player. Full episodes of the following NBC prime time TV shows are available for free:
30 Rock
American Gladiators
Amesia
Bionic Woman
Celebrity Apprentice
Chuck
Coastal Dreams
Heroes
Las Vegas
Last Comic Standing
Late Night
Life
Medium
My Name is Earl
The Office
Quarterlife
Tonight Show
SciFi.Com Pulse
SciFi.com Pulse is where sci-fi fans will find full epiosdes of their favorite shows. You can watch Ghost Hunters International, Battlestar Gallactica (new), Eureka, and Who Wants to be a Superhero?
In addition to full episodes of those SciFi Channel TV shows, SciFi.com Pulse offers “featurettes” from other shows including Flash Gordon (new) and the miniseries Tin Man.
SciFi Channel fans can also find some original programming and coverage of special events.
SciFi uses Adobe Flash Player. The entire SciFi.com site is compatible with both Windows and Mac.
Sources
ABC, http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing
CBS, http://www.cbs.com/#
Discovery, http://video.discovery.com
CW, http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video
NBC, http://www.nbc.com/#
SciFi, http://www.scifi.com/pulse
