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FREE STREAMING CHANNELS

At one time, the only option was to use a TV antenna.  There was no cable.  You still can turn on your TV set and see a lot of channels for free.  In most cities, just with a home antenna, you will have access to 50 or more stations, and as many as 175 in the Los Angeles area.  These are full HD 1080, with 5.1 surround sound.   You can cut off from cable, but watch out for scams.  For one, there is no 150-mile TV antenna.  In fact, 70 miles would be the acceptable maximum.  Also, no 4K broadcasts yet.

However, most of us have some form of cable.  But there are still all kinds of free movie/series sources.  You need a supporting device, as for example Amazon Prime, apple TV, smart phones, Playstation 3, Roku, smart RVs, Blu-ray players, web browsers, etc., and here is one list of the best free streaming services:

#1    Freevee

  • Click here.
  • Clunky interface.
  • Part of the Amazon Prime family.
#2   Roku Channel
  • Download on mobile phones and tablets, or through the web.
  • Buy a Roku from $30-$90, something I have.  Through this box you have access to almost everything, especially not for free streaming links.
  • Roku itself, though, now also has a lot of free stuff, especially since they took over from Quibi.
#3    Pluto TV
  • Just click on Pluto TV.
  • If nothing works, try:  https://pluto.tv/us/live-tv/561d7d484dc7c8770484914a
  • But there are a lot of commercials and promos.  You can avoid them by paying $9.99/month.
#4    Tubi
  • Simply click on this.  Then in the box near the top with the Q, just type in the movie name.
  • Think of Tubi as a free version of Netflix.
  • 20,000 movies and series. 
#5    Crackle
#6    Sling Freestream
  • Remember, Sling costs from $40-$60/month.
  • This is their no-cost service, which has 210 channels and 41,000 on-demand titles.  More expected.
  • Just click here.
#7    Vudu
  • Owned by Walmart.
  • 10,000 movies and series.
  • Has a risque section.
  • Options for free, pay, no commercials.
  • Just click here.

#8    Xumo

  • Has live news and sports content.
  • 190 channels.
  • Easy channel surfing.
  • Just click here.
#9    Peacock
  • Best streaming service for TV shows.
  • However, free service soon to be discontinued.
  • By going to their site, you have an option to get Peacock for $19.99 for the next full year.
  • Might be worth it for the Paris Olympics.  Then you can quit in a year if you want.
Then there are streaming sticks.  Bought one.  Got it to work for the Amazon fire stick, but sometimes affected the operation of Alexa for music.  Two years later, meaning today, I've forgotten how to use it.

As I'm most acquainted with Tubi, and they do have over 200,000 movies and TV episodes in their library, here is a list of the 100 best movies now available on  that channel, compiled by Rotten Tomatoes:

  • #1    The Philadelphia Story, 100
  • #2    12 Angry Men, 100
  • #3    The Adventures of Robin Hood, 100
  • #4    Lady Bird, 99
  • #5    Paddington 2, 99
  • #6    The Maltese Falcon, 99
  • #7    The Third Man, 99
  • #8    God's Own Country, 98
  • #9    Strangers on a Train, 98
  • #10  Bullitt, 98
  • #20  Memories of Murder, 95, South Korea
  • #30  Amores Perros, 93, Mexico
  • #36  West Side Story, 92
  • #50  Dial M for Murder, 90
  • #64  John Wick, 86
  • #75  Doctor Zhivago, 82
  • #79  Fiddler on the Roof, 81
  • #92  Benny and Joon, 76
  • 100  Idiocracy, 71

Tubi has their kind of list (what kind?  click on this) highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes.  There are 200 films.

Paste has another best list for Tubi:

  • #1    Blue Velvet (1986)
  • #2    Stalag 17 (1953)
  • #3    The Changeling (1980)
  • #4    The Birdcage (1996)
  • #14  The Graduate (1967)
  • #25  Lak Mungo (2008)
Paste also has a best list for Tubi series:
  • Big Mood
  • The Flintstones
  • Swamp Thing
  • etc.
  • Mostly U.S. productions.
As Freevee is rated #1 above, here is the Paste list for the best 20 TV shows.
  • Pretty Hard Cases
  • Numbers.
  • Dinner with the Parents
  • The Twilight Zone (1959 and 2019)
  • Schitt's Creek
  • etc.
I can go on and on, but one more from Paste reporting on the Best 20 Movies on Freevee:
  • #1    Some Like It Hot (1959):   Marilyn Monroe.
  • #2    Emma (2020):  Any film with Nighy is interesting.
  • #3    The Vast Night (2019):  I actually saw this one.  Eeirie presence of extraterrestrials. 
  • #4    Southern Comfort (1981):  If you spent an early life in the Army Reserve or National Guard on maneuvers in the swampland of Louisiana with dummy ammunition, as I did, this horror film is about how they reacted when they really got attacked.
  • #20  Robot Carnival (1987):  Animated, which I hate.  However, a long time ago, Fantasia (Rotten Tomatoes reviewers gave it a 95 rating) by Disney was popular, and featured animated shorts to dramatic music.  This film is similarly constructed by Japanese anime directors.  No score by RT.

I yesterday noted that America's Got Talent mostly made fun of American participants, and lamented that most of the finalists were foreign, maybe to be expected, for all four judges come from afar.  One notable exception, though, is Richard Goodall.  Got a Golden Buzzer.  Watch this video on what you don't know about him.

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