One of the problems with trying to watch a TV series is that most folks have real lives and can’t always be around to watch the next exciting episode Sex and the Single Slug (not a real show): People get sick, the garbage disposal refuses to dispose garbage, visiting Aunt Mildred would rather watch Apes Gone Wild (another unreal show) which happens to come on in the same time slot as Single Slug.

Life happens and the shenanigans of fictitious folks take a distant back seat to stuff that really matters, or it should anyway.

To make matters worse, the TV stations and networks will often play around with schedules, so there’s no guaranty that Bling Palace (yep, not real too) will air when it’s suppose to air.

Sure, you have TiVo, but it’s not smart enough to find Blaster Ace and His Cool Moped if it was preempted by the National Cowpie Tossing Championships.

What’s a hardcore couch potato to do?

Well, if you have access to the iTunes Store and the shows you are after are offered up by ABC then you are in luck, kind of.

See, ABC is offering a free download of a condensed version of many of its popular shows so you’ll be caught up and fired up to watch new episodes this Fall. Grey’s Anatomy,Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, and more are available. These Reader’s Digest versions of the previous season are only about 4 minutes long, but they do a good job in giving you the major plots so you won’t be totally in the dark if you find the time to watch this season.

It’s a good idea really and I think more networks should do the same.

If you’d prefer a full free episode to a 4 minute season-dump then trot on over to NBC and get free season’s premiers of Lipstick Jungle, In Plain Sight, Life, The Office, and others. NBC is the parent company of USA, SciFi and Bravo networks, so you can also catch a free episode of Psych, Eureka, and Top Design.

Even better, many of the freebies episodes are in HD, so watch Battlestar Galactica, Psych, or Knight Rider in glorious 720p and 5.1 Surround Sound.

OK, I gotta say this: When the first Knight Rider series appeared back in the early 80’s I knew it was a bad idea and a silly show. Come on, an intelligent talking, crime fighting car? There was a bit of camp in the show so there was no way to take it seriously. After all, David Hasslehoff was in the show. Knight Rider enjoyed several seasons and then, along with The A-Team and padded shoulders, it was gone.

A talking car was a bad idea then, it’s a bad idea now. Giving KITT, the Cylon-eyed hotrod, an infusion of Transformers genes won’t help. Then again, what do I know? I thought The Brave Little Toaster was a really good movie. But I digress.

Oddly missing from this freebie bonanza is CBS. None of the new shows offer synopsis or free premier episodes. This is odd because last week they did offer a few free episodes.

Oh well, the only show CBS offers that I’m even remotely interested in is Jericho, and that show is ending.

Another network not offering freebies this week is Fox, and they really should. The new X-Files-like Fringe is definitely worth seeing, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Story really should get more attention, it’s a bit slow and preachy at times, but it’s a good addition to the Terminator franchise.

So, free previous season synopsis for most of the returning shows in ABC’s Fall lineup and free premier episodes of many on NBC’s Fall shows. Plenty to keep you busy.

One last thing before I check out: If you do miss a show and you don’t have TiVo then you might take a look at Hulu.com where you can watch many of the latest shows on your computer for free.

Well, free is a stretch since you do have to put up with commercials, but then, you have to do that on regular TV anyway, so what’s the diff?

Burn Notice (great show), Sons of Anarchy, Bones, and many of the latest episodes of your favorites are there as well as episode of some classic TV. Hulu also offers movies, soap operas, sports and other shows for you viewing pleasure. You can even watch the show in 480p and full screen if your computer and net connection can handle it. What’s not to love?

The downside to this freebie goodness is that you have to watch it on your computer, no downloading for viewing later or on bigger TV, and, as I mentioned before, there are commercials. Still, it’s free and available anytime. So have a look at Hulu.com.

That will do it for this week. Here’s some more free shows available at the iTunes Store (with direct links):

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.