A Web Dozen, for your viewing leisure

[Woodmonkey]

So what should you watch on the Web? Here are some ideas (restricted to full, free, legally approved episodes of shows originally produced for TV). A few caveats: There's no sense telling you to watch Family Guy, one of the most popular online, because either you already are or your kids don't want you to. While new series are being added every day, most are still missing - and not all episodes are posted. And many series are available through multiple sites, often looping back to one another. With that in mind, USA TODAYoffers a critic's Web Dozen.

Andy Barker P. I.

(Hulu.com). Let's start with a show that seems custom-made for Web-watching. This incredibly charming, sadly short-lived 2007 NBC sitcom from Andy Richter doesn't depend on the visual boost it would get from a big screen - and probably wouldn't have any outlet at all if the Web didn't provide one. There are only six episodes, but if you just want one, go with "Fairway, My Lovely," as Andy tries to track down the murderer of a shockingly sexually active golfer.
STORY: More TV on the Net

The Dana Carvey Show

(Hulu.com). Here's another show whose short-run status (six ABC episodes in 1996) is no surprise. Sketch comedy's a hard sell in prime time, and while Carvey is talented, it's painfully obvious in his question-and-answer sessions that he doesn't have enough rapport with an audience to carry this kind of show. So why watch? For the very early TV appearances of two of his co-stars: Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert, who help this hit-and-miss show provide some amusing moments.

The Dick Van Dyke Show

(Hulu.com). One of the great joys of the Web is its ability to make TV classics available to old fans and new audiences alike. Only the earliest episodes are available, which means some of the best are yet to come. Still, there are plenty of gems here, from Laura's battle with a rubber raft in "The Curious Thing About Women" to the original unaired "Head of the Family" pilot that starred show creator Carl Reiner in the role he later wisely gave to Van Dyke. Enjoy.

Firefly

(Hulu.com). With Joss Whedon set to return to Fox next season, his fans might want to take another look at his last Fox (and TV) effort, the flawed but unfairly treated 2002 failure Firefly. Whedon probably played the Western-in-space card a bit too literally, but the writing has compensating joys - and the cast is first rate, led by Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin. Plus, unlike Fox, which cut up the pilot and aired episodes out of order, the Web allows you to see the show as its creator meant it to be seen.

Hill Street Blues

(Hulu.com). Even in an era of exaggeration, it may not be possible to overstate the influence of this seminal 1981 NBC series. With its look, its pace, its adult sophistication, its realistic approach and its large ensemble cast, Hill Street redefined the TV drama. There is no ER, no 24, no Sopranos without Hill Street Blues. The clothes and hair and some of the film techniques may be dated, but the stories are not - and its handling of social issues is tougher and more honest than most network shows today.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

(Hulu .com). As the networks seem incapable at the moment of creating the next Mary Tyler Moore, we're just going to have to be content with the original. And why not, as this beloved 1970 CBS hit may just be the best sitcom of all time. And because Mary started out strong and got stronger as it went along, you can enjoy the early episodes safe in the happy knowledge that there's even better to come. While you're waiting, spend time with the show's sequel, Lou Grant.

The Tick

(Hulu.com). Come on. Patrick Warburton as a thick-as-a-brick superhero in a big blue tick outfit? Nestor Carbonell as the thickly accented Batmanuel? What's not to like? A lot, apparently, to judge from the ho-hum attitude of viewers at large and the show's network (Fox again). Still, if you're in the right, silly frame of mind, this short-run 2001 comedy is darn near irresistible. And if you're not in the mood, given the chance, The Tick might just put you there.

Twin Peaks

(CBS.com). The ultimate cult series - and the ultimate example of a show that never should have been a series. David Lynch's two-hour movie pilot for this much-admired 1990 mystery remains one of the greatest ever made for TV. But stretched out to series length, it was soon sideswiped by viewers' desire for intelligible answers and the show's inability to provide them. It remains an intriguing but frustrating viewing experience, as witness the fact that the pilot movie is not available on the Web.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

(Hulu.com). Some shows are meant only for the very young - or for those who first saw them when they were very young. What can I say? It was a more innocent TV age, when people didn't question why the dock for the super-secret Seaview submarine would sport a sign that says "Restricted: Seaview Dock." Revel in the show's goofy, nostalgic, sci-fi cheese-fest pleasures, but limit your explorations to the early, black-and-white episodes.

It Takes a Thief

(Hulu.com). Want to see the kind of TV Hill Street was rebelling against? Try Thief, a lighter-than-air 1968 ABC hit starring a startlingly handsome Robert Wagner. To an audience used to today's bigger budgets, speedier stories and more polished productions, Thief is bound to seem a little clunky, as most '60s adventures do - but there's still pleasure to be had here. Bette Davis' episode (above) isn't out yet, but you can watch "Lay of the Land," which gives you Hermione Gingold.

John Doe

(Hulu.com). When it comes to quirky Fox failures - a genre of which the network is inordinately fond - I'd rather watch 1996's Profit. But as that show is unavailable, settle for John Doe, an equally inscrutable if less interesting 2003 flop that starred Prison Break's Dominic Purcell as a man who knew everything but who he was. Who was he? Why did he see the world in black and white? What was the "Phoenix Group"? Don't expect answers; the show didn't last long enough to provide them.

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