Online Viewing Providers
It started with the networks making episodes of current series available on their websites for online viewing. Now, with the arrival of providers such as Hulu, In2TV, and CBS Classics, the options for online viewing of Science Fiction and Fantasy television shows from the past to the present have exploded.
Hulu was started by NBC but they have also partnered with video providers such as FOX, NBC Universal, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, and Warner Bros. and therefore the site has quite a number of television shows available (the site also has movies, shorts, clips, etc.). The Science Fiction and Fantasy shows that Hulu offers ranges from current shows such as Heroes and Fringe to sixties classics such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Bewitched. The site also has some hard to find series which have yet to find their way to DVD such as Exosquad and John Doe. Episode availability varies for each series. In some cases all episodes are offered, but with others only a sampling is available (especially frustrating with Exosquad, but hopefully more episodes and the missing eleventh are coming soon).
CBS Classics is an offshoot of their main website where they have started offering classic series from their vaults for online viewing. Currently, they have only a few Science Fiction and Fantasy offerings: like Star Trek (Original), The Twilight Zone, and MacGyver. All episodes of Star Trek and MacGyver are available for viewing, but just a sampling of Twilight Zone episodes from seasons one through three are currently available. Hopefully they will expand the list of Twilight Zone episodes soon and start making other series available as well.
ABC has yet to open up the vault on their website, but has made a nod in that direction by offering all four seasons of Lost for online viewing. The complete seasons one through four are available on their site in High Def streaming video. Several other ABC series are available on Hulu, such as Land of the Giants and Battlestar Galactica (original).
As far as video quality, I have found Hulu to be the best and simplest to use. It is basically click and play, and it never asked me to install new software or make updates to existing software. And the videos that I watched played with little or no interruption to service. CBS Classic played a little slower than Hulu, but it wasn’t too bad (and I am cursed with DSL so that could be contributing to the problem).
We have compiled a list of shows available on these and other providers and will continue to add to that list as new shows and sources for viewing become available.
Below is the list of providers that we currently know about offering televisions shows for free online viewing. If you know of Science Fiction and Fantasy shows available at these sites that we have missed and/or of other (legitimate) sources for online viewing, please contact us at mail@axiomsedge-scifi.com
Hulu.com
Currently contains the largest offering of Science Fiction and Fantasy shows available for online viewing with selections ranging from the sixties to current programming. Watching videos on this site is simple click and play.
In2TV.com
This is AOL’s version of Hulu.com and it has good selection of Science Fiction and Fantasy shows including Max Headroom which is currently unavailable on DVD. Like Hulu.com, it is simple click and play, though their website is not quite as easy to maneuver through.
CBS Classics
This site currently only has a small number of Science Fiction and Fantasy shows, but it includes such classics as the original Star Trek and Twilight Zone.
ABC.com
This site currently has all four seasons of Lost available for online viewing plus current series running on ABC.
