When my son was little I made a hard and fast rule. He would never be allowed to have a TV in his bedroom. And I stuck to it. No matter how many times he asked for one over the years, he's never had a TV in his bedroom. So why do I feel like I won the battle and lost the war? Because he doesn't need a TV to watch TV any more. Hasn't needed one for years now. He can watch all the shows he wants on his computer. When I think he's in his room doing his homework? He's watching Season Five of The Office.
That's the bad news. The good news is that the rest of us can do the same thing, and since we're not supposed to be studying Algebra anyway, we don't have to feel guilty.
The subject of getting TV content onto your computer and conversely, getting internet content onto your TV is way too complicated to go into in any depth here. Just know that almost anything is possible. Photo slideshows streamed wirelessly from your computer to your plasma TV? It's possible, and perhaps will be the subject of a later post. But right now let's stick to the basics.
Why would you want to watch TV on your computer anyway? Who wants to sit in front of a computer screen for an hour and watch a TV show? It's not very comfortable, and you don't want to get popcorn bits all over your keyboard.
Well, let's say you missed the last episode of Lost. You're one of the last people on the planet without a DVR, or you accidentally recorded a Judge Judy rerun instead. Now what do you do? There's another episode coming next week, and it won't make any sense unless you've seen this one. What if that damned polar bear came back and explained what he's been up to and you've missed it?
You can find it, and lots of other shows, online. There's a popular website called Hulu that showcases TV shows, and most of the networks let you watch recent episodes of their more popular shows online on their own websites. The process can be a little annoying sometimes, but it's pretty straightforward in most cases, and the quality isn't as bad as you'd think.
Two or three years ago it was almost impossible to watch anything online. First you'd have to spend an hour downloading and installing special software, then once the show got started it would proceed in fits and starts, the sound wouldn't be synchronized with the video, and eventually it would quit entirely. At which point you'd have to start over. From the beginning, because there was no way to fast forward to where you left off.
It's much, much better now. Never my first choice. I'd really rather sit back on my couch and watch the real TV. But in a pinch, online TV can be a lifesaver.
The easiest way to find a source for any show is to use a website called SideReel.com. You just go their site and type the name of your show into the "search" window and then click on the search result.
At that point you'll be presented with links for "authorized" distributors of the program - iTunes, Amazon.com, Hulu, ABC, etc.
If you click on a link you will be taken to their website for further directions. But iTunes will charge you per episode, and so will Amazon, so beware. Hulu and the networks are free, so check there first, but they have only the most recent episodes.
Notice the link next to the magnifying glass toward the bottom. The "Search for links for...." item. If you click that you'll find even more links for places that will let you watch the show.
What kinds of shows are available? After all, not everybody is hot for Lost or The Office. Never fear, there's something for everybody:
Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, 24, Desperate Housewives, The Bachelor, Ugly Betty, Kitchen Nightmares, Bones, Project Runway, 48 Hours|Mystery, 20/20, Dancing with the Stars, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Survivor, The Amazing Race, and on, and on, and on.......
This is an even more attractive option if you have a laptop and a wireless network in your house, because then you're not tethered to your desk while you're watching. You can still sit on the couch, you just have to prop up the computer somewhere safe, and you'll probably want to use headphones, because laptop speakers aren't usually good enough for this kind of thing.
So have fun, and never miss your favorite show again.