Global TV becomes first Canadian network to offer classic series online

[Sal]

For a couple of years now, all the major Canadian networks (CBC, CTV, Global, CityTV, plus minor networks E! and A) have offered or are beginning to offer their primetime lineups online with full episodes of popular Canadian based shows plus a few US imports as well. Now for the first time, one of the networks has gone deeper into the vaults and put on some classic series to be seen for free in the same manner as Hulu and TV Land (and hopefully TV Land Canada will follow soon!) This week, Global TV has added several classic series to their website which are currently running on their TVTropolis and DejaView specialty channels, some of which had been on Hulu before but because of licensing issues and just plain stubbornness have never been available in Canada before. The shows in question are:

Dawson's Creek, Facts of Life, Good Times, Just Shoot Me, Married with Children, Maude, One Day at a Time, Silver Spoons, The Nanny, and Who's The Boss?

All shows can be seen on the TV Classics Page at GlobalTV.com

There are currently only 10 episodes of each series that are up and running for a neat, tidy total of 100, but there's a good chance that your favourite episode may not be among them. If that's the case, there's a form to the right of the video player that you can use to make requests. I'm not sure if you can request different series on there---because honestly the current group doesn't thrill me that much---but it's worth a shot. There's also a good chance that they might pull a Hulu on you and not allow the videos to be played in your area, in which case I'd say that turnabout is fair play, but you can use the form for that as well. The more feedback they get, the better chance you have of getting what you want, but, knowing the way Global is, I'd say you have to be very patient with them. But this is a good start and I'll take it for now.

[Pavan]

They are all from Sony, interesting.