This will probably be my only post ever saying something nice about AOL, but they have introduced a new service called In2TV. This service allows you to watch vintage TV shows for free. You can watch them on a browser page or full screen. Now the reason I am excited about this is that two of the shows they have available are Babylon 5 and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. They currently have ten episodes including the Pilot of Babylon 5 which is by far my favorite SF TV show of all time. They will be adding more episodes each month.
I watched B5 in spurts when it first came out since I was at sea a lot and finally got to watch the whole series when they replayed it al on TNT. I am looking forward to watching the whole thing again. Now if only they would have Deep Space 9 since I missed much of that series also. I always liked Brisco County Jr, though I pretty much like anything with Bruce Campbell in it (especially his roles as Ash).
The video quality is really good unlike Google Video especially if you download the Hi-Q versions which definitely requires a broadband connection. The downloads have Digital Rights Management (DRM) and will only play back via AOL’s player. Though at least you can play them back close to full screen and can pause and move to any part of the show easily enough. There is a fairly large selection of older TV shows including another one of my favorites Maverick with James Gardner.
14 comments
This is awesome! I love B5 as well.
I’ve been amazed how many theologians I’ve met enjoy watching b5 for its religious and cultural subplots…
PINKY AND THE BRAIN!? Oh, man…I am in SO much trouble…
Alas, there is a requirement of Windows XP, which thankfully means I can’t become a couch potato at work.
I never have seen Babylon 5 but have heard of so many fans, and now with you so clearly among them I am going to have to start watching those DVDs too I guess.
I did watch most of Deep Space 9 quite devotedly and it was, IMO, far and away the most original of the Trek franchises. Rather dark but interesting.
I can’t believe I’m admitting this in public, but I too am big fan of DS9. But it’s only good if you watch all the episodes in order – otherwise, you’ll really miss out. Watch the episodes in their continuity and you’ll find some of the best character development over an arc of a tv series ever. The other problem is that the first season isn’t very good – but from there on out it continues to get better and better – by season three it’s already great, and that’s nothing compared to what’s to come.
I’m off to try out B5 now – what reviews! BTW, what of SG-1 and Firefly? Did you ever catch those? SG-1 has a lot familiar faces for biblical studies majors (i.e., ancient deities). And Serendipity (the Firefly movie) was amazing.
Michael, I am a devoted Firefly fan (as well as Serenity fan, of course). Going to hop over to your place now to see what else you are a fan of.
I like Firefly, although when you listen to the commentary you realize Whedon wrote about morality despite himself; e.g. he thinks that the concept of “sin” just keeps you from enjoying yourself. 🙂 I liked Deep Space 9 far more than any other Trek show and better than Babylon 5.
The SG-1 series is fun. I haven’t seen the series since they replaced most of the regulars, but I enjoyed the early seasons. One of my favourites was when a planet appeared to be Christian and the characters realized that the bad guys would be unable to control a population by impersonating Jesus because His rules are contrary to subjugation. 🙂
See? I knew there was a good reason I don’t listen to commentary (except for This is Spinal Tap which is like getting a second movie for free as the actors all stayed in character when they did it).
Does free mean you have to be an AOL customer? With dsl I didn’t know anyone who is still an AOL customer.
Mary, Mary… as long as there are people who can’t afford cable, let alone DSL, AOL dial-up will always be with us. (Kind of like that thing about the poor, eh?) 🙂
AOL has a DSL version, too.
Well, there are much cheaper ways to get dial-up access.
Publius, please enlighten me. I have found that the cheap services tend to have dial-up numbers that are long-distance. I was thrilled when AOL had phone numbers in my dinky little town and the one down the road.
Well, before I got a cable modem I used local ISPs. Those tend to have the best local access numbers and one that I used to use in Virginia still has a $19.95 a month price tag. If you want to find one, the best place to start looking is in your local yellow pages.
“though I pretty much like anything with Bruce Campbell in it”
If chins could kill we’d all be dead…..