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The Download
- You can watch many TV shows for free online using sites like Fandango, Pluto TV, and Tubi.
- These free streaming options often have ads, but they provide access to lots of popular shows.
- Remember that not all platforms offer the latest episodes, so you may find older shows more often.
There are plenty of websites out there that let you stream free TV shows online—many of which include some of today’s most popular programs.
We’ve spent hours on the couch compiling this list of only the best free and legal TV show sources currently out there.
There are pros and cons to each, but there’s definitely something for everyone, no matter what kind of show you might be looking to watch.
What We Like
Good mix of live and on-demand shows.
Similar to traditional cable television.
Desktop and mobile apps available.
With the live-streaming Pluto TV platform, you can channel surf over 250 free channels in genres such as news, entertainment, sports, comedy, and more.
Some of the content is live, and some of it is on demand. So, it’s similar to traditional cable; you can check out what’s currently on without a goal in mind for what to watch.
Although you won’t be able to catch hit network shows, you’ll be able to tune into many major networks’ news broadcasts and find familiar episodes of other relatively popular shows.
What We Like
Access to thousands of shows and movies.
Multi-platform availability.
New content added weekly.
On-demand and live TV.
What We Don’t Like
Tracks your viewing history.
Targeted advertising platform.
No clear way to filter TV shows from movies.
Tubi is another alternative that operates legally through license agreements. And just like Pluto TV, it also includes movies.
Tubi is totally free with a user account, which you can use to set up your watch queue or pick up where you left off watching something previously. The platform tracks your viewing history so that it can learn about your preferences to make better suggestions for you.
Browse through all your standard categories, such as Action, Drama, Comedy, and others, or take a look at some of the interesting categories like Cult Classics and Highly Rated on Rotten Tomatoes.
With over 250,000 shows and movies available and more being added all the time, Tubi TV is quickly growing to become a TV favorite for internet users everywhere.
Fandango at Home is an online on-demand TV show and movie streaming service, with a number of shows and movies available to watch for free.
The free ones have ads, but for a platform that offers high-quality, relatively popular shows from networks like CBS, Fox, HBO, and more, those ads are definitely tolerable.
You can filter TV shows by genre or select the checkbox for Free TV only, which filters out all the paid content, so all you see is what’s available to watch for free.
As a nice bonus, you can also browse by Most Watched, Release Date, and Recently Added to find hidden gems you might not be able to find otherwise.
What We Like
Familiar interface and search tools.
Lots of related content, like fan cuts or highlight reels.
YouTube offers an official list of legal-to-watch shows.
Lots of people don’t realize that YouTube is actually a great place to look for television shows.
While you won’t exactly get access to the most current or popular shows (unless you pay), nor a guaranteed high-quality viewing experience, you might still be pleasantly surprised by what’s available on the web’s largest video-sharing network.
For example, if you search Boy Meets World—an old ABC family sitcom from the 90s—several uploaded episodes from virtually every season will come up. On the other hand, if you search for Grey’s Anatomy—a more current and popular television drama—you’ll notice results will come up where you’ll have to pay a fee to stream it legally on YouTube.
Some people get away with uploading popular TV show episodes for a certain time before they’re eventually reported or caught by YouTube. Depending on the timing and the show you’re looking for, you might be able to find something that actually shouldn’t be there due to copyright restrictions.
What We Like
Great layout and ability to search/filter lots of content.
Detailed info for each show, including reviews.
Save shows to watch again or later through account.
The Internet Archive isn’t an official streaming service, but it’s one of the best places to look for public access to digital content. You can access old websites, software, games, music, video content and a massive library of public domain books.
In its Television section, you can browse through TV recordings that include shows, commercials, and even government proceedings. Many of these pieces of content have hundreds of thousands of views.
The site organizes content into collections based on type. You can also use the filters on the left side to find shows by year, topic, collection, creator and language.
Yidio is a TV show source aggregator that points you in the direction of other third-party hosts where you should be able to watch a particular episode.
You can use the sidebar to browse by genre and filter available shows by what’s available on several premium streaming services. If you’re looking for something to watch for free, you’ll want to select the Free filter.
When you select a show, you’ll be shown a summary based on IMDb info, along with several thumbnails of episodes that are available. Select any thumbnail to be taken to the specific episode listing.
The downside to using Yidio is that its free listings aren’t the most accurate or up to date, and you may come across a show that only has short clips rather than full episodes available to watch for free, despite its listing in the Free category.
Don’t Forget Your Favorite Network’s Website!
If you have a TV show you love and you want to watch it for free because you missed it, or maybe you don’t get that channel, a great way to catch up on it is to visit the network’s website and see if it’s available for streaming.
All of the networks below show some full episodes, but also clips as well.
Here are some of the popular TV networks out there that provide options for streaming their TV shows:
- NBC: NBC does a great job of quickly posting and keeping their TV shows around so you have plenty of time to watch them. It’s even possible for you to catch up on an entire series right from their website.
- USA: Part of NBC, the USA Network brings you access to all of your favorite USA shows, including full episodes the day after they’ve aired.
- ABC: They have full-length videos of the latest episode of every show as well as video clips, highlights, and sneak peeks into all your favorite ABC shows.
- CBS: At CBS, you can watch shows for free after they’ve aired on CBS. There are quite a few advertiser interruptions during the streaming video, but you’ll know when they’re coming because they are clearly marked on the screen.
- FOX: FOX posts free TV shows for you to watch one day after they’ve aired on TV, but they remain locked so that you can watch them until eight days after they’ve aired.
- The CW: The day after the CW television shows air, you’ll be able to watch them for free at their website.
- PBS: PBS has a ton of free TV episodes online, including Ancient Skies, PBS News Hour, and Antiques Roadshow.
- MTV: MTV has full episodes of all your favorite MTV shows, including clips and after-shows.
- Freeform (ABC Family): The day after the TV shows air on Freeform, they post online so that you can enjoy them.
- A&E: Watch full episodes of shows like Bates Motel, Storage Wars, and Dog the Bounty Hunter.
You might be required to provide your television provider information to watch certain streaming content on network platforms.
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