Unfortunately, Discovery Plus is not as technologically advanced as some other streaming services. There are no parental controls to prevent kids from watching explicit content, and the app does not include downloads for offline viewing when traveling. Its library is also lacking when it comes to scripted series, so the service will really only appeal to fans of nonfiction programming. While most people know that they can go to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and find a wide variety of television shows to watch, sometimes you just can't find something good there. With such a big focus on these streaming services and other newer ones like Peacock and Discovery+, many forget that premium television networks like Showtime and Starz are fantastic places to find good series worthy of binge-watching. When comparing catalogs, we try to consider the range of entertainment offered by each streaming service, how much the platform has invested in exclusive programming, and which age ranges are best suited to watch.
While most streaming services will have a rotating list of movies, it's important to pay attention to which series and franchises will remain platform exclusive, like "The Office," "Star Wars," and "Stranger Things." Premiering on the premium channel in 2011, Web Therapy actually began in 2008 as a web series created by its star, Lisa Kudrow, featuring largely improvised comedy. It then transferred over to Showtime and became a full-fledged series with four seasons total. Kudrow is at the center of Web Therapy as Fiona Wallace, a therapist who decides to forgo the traditional 50-minute therapy sessions for a new structure she is pushing that consists of very short conversations via online video calls. Over the course of the show, it is revealed that Fiona's life is just as complicated as those of her patients, many of whom are eclectic characters played by an extensive cast of major guest actors. Web Therapy showcases Kudrow's stellar comedic ability to great results, while a few of the A-list guest actors are Meryl Streep, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steve Carell, and David Schwimmer, to name a few.
Gifting a streaming subscription — especially a new or underrated service — can be a nice way to help you and your loved ones stay on top of the rapidly growing library of content. No worries, we'll take you step-by-step on how to start shopping for streaming services for your loved ones, co-workers, friends, or even yourself. You can watch Showtime series the old-fashioned way on your local cable or satellite provider.
You can also watch directly via the Showtime streaming service. In order to access that service, you can sign up for a 30 day free trial at the link below. After the trial period ends, the service costs $10.99 a month.
Is Shameless On Amazon Prime Or Netflix The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. It's a comedy and drama show with 168 episodes over 11 seasons.
Shameless is no longer running and has no plans to air new episodes or seasons. With this subscription, you get access to Hulu's library of streaming content, as well as 60 live TV channels and on-demand channels, including news and sports. Plus, if you create an individualized profile, you'll get the option to save up to 50 hours of content on Hulu's Cloud DVR service. This streaming service offers access to over 100 live TV channels, including various premium sports channels such as NFL Network, NBA TV, Big Ten Network and Fox Sports. The service offers other cable channels as well, including A&E, E!
New Shameless season 11 episodes air on Showtime at 9pm ET/PT each Sunday from December 6. Those without a cable package can stream Showtime via Sling TV by adding it to their core plan. If you're abroad, download a VPN to access your OTT subscriptions no matter where you are.
If you are looking for a show that perfectly blends comedy and depression, well, Back to Life is it. One of the newest shows on the list, this British series premiered its first season in 2019. The show stars Daisy Haggard, who also co-created and co-wrote the series with Laura Solon, as Miri Matteson, a woman who returns home to her small town of Hythe, Kent after serving an 18-year prison sentence for murder. Back to Life keeps you in the dark as to what exactly happened so long ago until the end of the first season, but there's plenty to keep you entertained until that reveal.
A kind, genuine woman, Miri simply wants to live a normal, calm life after getting out of prison, but for obvious reasons, people in town don't trust her. Even her mother, Caroline , is having a hard time dealing with her daughter's return. While the show digs deep into Miri and her family's emotions as she transitions to this new period in life, Back to Life deftly intertwines spot-on humor into every episode, so that despite the sad story, it never gets too dark to handle. The Showtime series stars Ruth Wilson as Alison Bailey and Dominic West as Noah Solloway, and it follows the two characters' affair with one another and the fallout of their decisions. The Affair presents the story in a very unique way, with each episode being told in two parts, one from Alison's point of view and one from Noah's.
As each character remembers the affair from their perspective, there is a bias that challenges what really happens. For Alison, she connects with Noah at a time when her marriage with Cole is at its worst, having just lost their four-year-old child, while Noah has what seems like a picture-perfect family with his wife Helen and four kids. Throughout the show's five seasons, The Affair further explores the aftermath of Alison and Noah's extramarital activities in innovative ways, and it's a great pick for fans of tense relationship dramas. You can add Showtime as an extra channel to your Hulu Plus Live TV subscription. As with the stand-alone streaming service, it costs $10.99 a month with a seven-day free trial.
You'll need to pick the Movies + HBO plan to get access, which will cost CND$19.98 per month. It's twice the price of the basic plan, but does include simultaneous access to the hottest HBO programmes and Hollywood films, in addition to Showtime content and 6 live channels. Plus, you'll enjoy a 7-day free trial before you pay a thing, and you can cancel whenever. The best on-demand streaming services have set a standard for 4K video quality, with support for HDR color and contrast on compatible TVs.
TV channels rarely broadcast in 4K, so we have lower expectations for live TV streaming services, which still use HD resolutions like 1080p or 720p. The service costs $7 a month, and you can bundle it with Disney Plus and Hulu for $14 a month. Another Chicago-set drama like Shameless, The Chi is about life for a community of people living in the South Side of the city. The first episode of the series sets up what is a story of joy, innocence, loss, and violence, all centering around a core group of young Black boys who call the neighborhood home. Throughout Season 1 and beyond, The Chi addresses the presence of gun violence and inequality in the South Side of Chicago, as these characters attempt to keep their life in order and maybe get out the other side unscathed. I can only hope that one day we as a society give Six Feet Under the energy we give that other classic HBO drama about all those dudes in the mob.
In any case, Alan Ball's series follows the lives of the Fisher family, who take over the Los Angeles funeral home that was left to them by their recently deceased father. You may or may not know that Six Feet Under is best remembered for its iconic series finale sequence, but most everything that happens before that is incredible too. The Fisher family is dysfunctional and troubled, and the show is unique for its willingness to have frank, complicated discussions about the many facets of dying and grief. Like Shameless, Six Feet Under is also interested in the idea that kids are doomed to become their parents, and the ways they struggle to fight against it in preservation of their own identities.
While you should probably know before going in that this one is pretty dark , don't let that deter you from watching. Showtime on its own costs $10.99 per month, though it comes with a free trial period. The add-on to other streamers costs the same, though it can help make sure the catalog is available on your preferred hardware.
Either way, it's best to double-check that your cable package does not include Showtime before you sign up since you might have access already. The premium cable channel sometimes gets bundled in with other services or subscriptions. Additionally, Xfinity customers with X1 can add their favorite streaming channel or premium network to keep watching all year long.
Just say "Watchathon" into your Xfinity Voice Remote to add HBO Max, Hulu, Starz, and Showtime with Xfinity! Or, simply click here to learn more and upgrade online today. Whether you're looking to take advantage of Hulu's cheaper price, or you're able to spend a bit more to get access to live TV, you have more streaming options than ever.
Disney and NBC recently announced plans to launch their own streaming services in the coming months, too. Similar to Starz, Showtime's streaming service gives users access to the channel's original programming, including shows like "Homeland," "Billions" and "Shameless," as well as access to curated movies and programs that change monthly. If you plan to use a live TV streaming service to replace cable on multiple TVs in your home, be prepared to pay a bit extra so you can stream simultaneously on separate devices. Also, keep in mind that these TV services have the same commercials and general experience as cable even though they're broadcast online. Showtime's Shameless is a comedy-drama based on the British series of the same name.
The popular show stars William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher, a deadbeat alcoholic and drug addict who is a horrible father to his six kids. This leaves Emmy Rossum's character of Fiona Gallagher, Frank's eldest daughter, to parent her five younger siblings, which include Lip , Ian , Debbie , Carl , and Liam . Living in near-poverty in Chicago, the close siblings do whatever they can to help each other, with family friends Veronica Fisher and Kevin "Kev" Ball their main support system. But also be prepared for some crying, because Shameless doen't shy away from the tough topics, with some of the biggest issues covered on the show being mental illness and economic inequality.
If you're looking to stay on the South Side of Chicago, The Chi is the perfect show for you. The Showtime series was created by Lena Waithe and will return for a fourth season in May 2021. The Chi is a coming-of-age story about a group of people who live on the South Side of Chicago and become linked and bonded together through their experiences. The Chi features an incredible cast, including Jacob Latimore, Yolonda Ross, Curtiss Cook, and more. Of course, if you just can't wait that long, you could always pony up a few extra bucks and give Showtime's streaming service a tryout.
That'll cost you a cool $10.99 a month, but it'll also give you access to a bevy of other Showtime series like Ray Donavan,Homeland,Billions, and that limited Twin Peaks series from David Lynch. You can also hook up the streamer as an add-on to your Hulu account if you're so inclined. When "Halt and Catch Fire" premiered on AMC in the summer of 2014, it was sold as a computerized riff on the network's hit "Mad Men" — to its ultimate detriment, as viewers and critics found a show much pricklier and harder to grapple with than that. Since the goal is entertainment, choosing the best on-demand streaming service for your needs will largely come down to your personal tastes. However, we can judge the different on-demand platforms based on a few common factors, like their library size, selection of critically acclaimed exclusives, video quality, app functionality, and price. Philo TV - Philo TV is the most affordable option at $25 a month for 60+ channels.
Unfortunately, Philo viewers don't have access to their local affiliate networks, and the service doesn't offer many upgrade options for watching sports or cable news. It does offer popular channels like Comedy Central, MTV, and AMC, though, so there's still plenty to watch. Hulu + Live TV - Hulu's Live TV plan costs $70 a month for access to around 75 channels. You need to pay for an upgrade to stream on more than two devices at the same time, however, and it also costs extra if you want more than 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage. On the plus side, Hulu + Live TV automatically includes Hulu's entire on-demand service, Disney Plus, and ESPN+, so you get a bit more value there. Like Prime Video, Apple TV Plus also lets you access a huge library of additional movies and shows that you can pay to rent or purchase.
Though it would be great to have more programs included as part of your subscription, being able to order more titles within the Apple TV Plus app is convenient. You can also add extra channels to your subscription, like Showtime, for an extra fee. Hulu offers two main packages that provide on-demand streaming, including a basic option with commercials and a premium plan without commercials.
The service also offers upgrade packages that add live TV channels. Viewers now have more places to watch their favorite movies and shows than ever, and studios are producing more original content to fill their streaming libraries. These new choices come with a price tag though, and signing up for every streaming service out there will quickly start to weigh on your wallet. The best streaming services include on-demand, live TV, and channel-specific apps.
Another classic queer drama like The L Word, Queer as Folk is based on the British series of the same name, transferring the story from Manchester, England, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The story follows five gay men living in the city, with plenty of interesting surrounding characters that their stories intertwine with, both LGBTQ+ and not. Starring are Gale Harold as Brian Kinney, Randy Harrison as Justin Taylor, Hal Sparks as Michael Novotny, Peter Paige as Emmett Honeycutt, and Scott Lowell as Ted Schmidt, rounding out the main five. Airing between 2000 and 2005, you can imagine how controversial Queer as Folk was at the time.
In particular, Queer as Folk is very open and realistic about sex, and it includes the first sex scene between two men on American television in the pilot. Overall, it's an emotional, no-holds-barred, queer drama, and an important part of television history. Living in Los Angeles, California with many celebrity clients, Ray seems to actually enjoy his job, but it strains his home life with his wife Abby and two kids. To make matters worse, his whole life is thrown for a loop when his father Michael "Mickey" Donovan, played by Jon Voight, is released from prison early.
Mickey heads right for Ray to return to the family that he believes was taken from him, digging up old family trauma and dragging his son into his new scams. Ray Donovan is one of Showtime's most successful series, and the crime thriller is perfect for someone looking for a gritty, tense drama to binge. Sling TV is also a cord cutting service but one which starts at just $20 a month. The service streams live channels both via a regular web browser and its apps for various devices like iPhones and Android devices making it possible to stream on the go. However, fans of Shameless will have to upgrade to a package which includes Showtime.
The Streamability Score factors in where something can be watched at a given moment and weighs it against the popularity and cost of the available streaming services. The higher the score, the easier it is to stream for the largest number of people. The actor-comedian created, co-stars, writes, and directs this series about the Gemstones, an internationally famous televangelist family working to expand their network of megachurches. McBride plays Jesse, the pompous eldest son of Eli , lead pastor at the family's "Salvation Center," while Adam DeVine and Edi Patterson co-star as Jesse's younger siblings.
Together, they're a maladjusted family unit, tightly knit out of necessity and working overtime to preserve their own best interests. The show is a great satire of the sinister undercurrent of televangelism, and it's full of McBride's specific brand of big, broad comedy, which anyone who delights in watching Frank's scheme of the week on Shameless will surely appreciate. The Dirty Work director kept in touch with many of his Full House co-stars after the show finished its run in 1995. And of course, the cast and crew seemed closer than ever when they all reunited for Netflix's sequel series in 2016. From there, the gang would exchange sweet birthday wishes and other sweet messages off camera.
They even united for Bob Saget's wedding in 2018 and seemed to have a blast. The comedy legend had a lot of love for the show, even going so far as to belt on the theme song during a live performance with Carly Rae Jepsen. Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen opted not to return for the new show, but that doesn't mean they hadn't kept in touch with their TV father. A subscription to Sling gets you access to over 20 live TV channels, including ESPN, CNN, Disney Channel, Food Network and HGTV without signing up for cable.
There's no additional back catalog of movies or TV shows, however. The cheapest version of Hulu's streaming service includes ads. You can opt to go commercial-free, though, and you can also pay extra to add premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Starz. I enjoy watching Netflix in my spare time, but it was really a headache for me to find the best movie or web series to watch.
