New and vintage TV shows just a mouse click away

ShareThis

Remember the days when, if you wanted to watch a vintage TV show -- say, "Three's Company" or "The Pretender" or "Air Wolf" -- you dusted off the VHS tapes in the closet or trotted to the video emporium?You can still do those things, but TV networks, movie studios and others are making viewing the past just a mouse click away on your computer.They're doing so not just for your convenience, but for their profit margins. Tired of sites such as YouTube stealing their thunder -- posting clips and sometimes entire episodes of popular fare without permission or payment -- entertainment conglomerates are taking charge of their own content. In order to beat the little guys, content providers are joining them.Is viewing TV on the Internet the wave of the future? A December study by Deloitte & Touche found that 40 percent of consumers surveyed are watching TV online, up from 23 percent a year ago.So who knows? One day TV sets may be relegated to museums, and we'll all be watching our shows on the Internet.Here's a look at several popular network and hybrid Internet sites and the sort of content you will find on them.Hulu.comThis joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal offers movies, full-length TV shows, deleted scenes and clips. Anything from, say, a "Saturday Night Live" parody featuring Justin Timberlake to full-length episodes of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," old episodes of "Air Wolf" and the movies "The Big Lebowski," "Me, Myself & Irene," "28 Days Later" and "Planet of the Apes." You'll even find classic Hollywood fare such as "Some Like It Hot" and "The Jerk." The site is free; the operators make their money from commercials.Veoh.comWant to see a major TV network show? Clips of upcoming big-screen movies? The most popular videos from YouTube and Google Video? This popular site, launched in early 2007, offers a little of everything. It claims 100,000 content publishers, including CBS, Lion's Gate, PBS and National Lampoon. VeohTV claims 21 million unique visitors a month. It offers dozens of Web "channels," which preview such fare as Hip Hop Official, Funimation for anime fanatics and Egotv.com.Fancast.comOperated by Comcast Interactive Media, this site connects you to material from 100 content providers. The on-demand menu lets you watch full episodes of such TV shows as "Doogie Howser," "The Young and the Restless," "The Office," "The Twilight Zone," "WKRP in Cincinnati," "Simon & Simon," "Picket Fences" and "Nanny and the Professor." Plus, a limited selection of free, full-length movies, trailers for upcoming films and a celebrity-gossip section. One cool feature: TV listings by ZIP code for cable and satellite.Fanpop.comThis curious site offers a little bit of everything, from deleted movie scenes to full-length network shows. It even has a section for canceled TV shows, including "Jericho," "Surface" and "Arrested Development." Also, plenty of forums for people to gripe about what they like and hate about pop culture. The site can be a bit tricky to navigate, but patience will yield everything from "Ugly Betty" and "Lost" episodes to a catalog of TV show theme songs.Beelinetv.comBeelinetv plugs you into television channels from around the world. It's broken into geographic regions, from China to Vietnam and Bulgaria to Kurdistan. Many of the channels aren't live feeds but video stories you can watch or download. Be warned: Unless you speak or write the native language (and there are plenty of English-language channels here), you won't have a clue as to navigating these international sites. Best accessed with broadband; otherwise, you'll spend a month of Sundays waiting for material to load.CBS.comYou'll find the usual network information here, including clips from shows airing that night and full episodes of selected shows from earlier in the season. The site also streamed most NCAA basketball games. The new wrinkle here is an area devoted to full episodes of vintage shows, including "Hawaii Five-0," "MacGyver," "Star Trek" and "The Twilight Zone." Like on other sites, most episodes stream without commercial interruption, although they begin or end with a commercial. You can watch the first episodes from the first seasons of the vintage shows.NBC.comThis network site offers plenty of current fare. Catch complete episodes of "ER," "Friday Night Lights," "Heroes" and daytime soaps, among others. There's also a section called "Way Back Wednesday," with full episodes of "The A-Team," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," "Battlestar Galactica," "Miami Vice," "Emergency" and "Night Gallery." You can order DVDs of old shows and test your trivia knowledge. The "extras" section gives tips on how to try out for such NBC shows as "American Gladiators" and "The Biggest Loser." You can even find a list of jobs at NBC affiliates.ABC.comShows available online include "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives," "Men in Trees," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Oprah's Big Give." Only a few vintage shows, including "My So-Called Life," are available. You can watch three seasons of "Lost" in HD video on ABC's site, but you're required to download a special plug-in. You'll also find clips from daytime soaps.(Contact Mike Pearson at pearsonm(at)rockymountainnews.com.)