How can I find syndicated shows from the start?

April 8, 2006 9:50 AM

Is there a site that lists when shows in syndication are being run in order from the first episode? The goal is to get a TiVo season pass and watch the episodes in order.

Spike TV just finished running Deep Space 9 from the start (word to the wise, they're rebooting on Monday with the pilot episode) which I'd never gotten into before because I had no idea WTF was going on, but because my season pass caught the pilot episode first, I really got into it.

I am looking to find more series I can watch from the start, but can't find TV listings that show me what I'm looking for. Ideally I'd like to find shows that have multi-episode (or even multi-season) stories; there's no point in seeing The Simpsons in order.

I typically miss shows like Lost or Alias that might be good, but because I don't get in on the ground floor they're inaccessible. No, I don't have a Netflix account, but I'm aware that's a pretty common way to get shows from the start.

posted by revgeorge to media & arts (6 comments total)

Epguides
posted by quin at 10:03 AM on April 8, 2006

Er, on re-read, i'm not sure epguides is what your looking for. It doesn't show when the syndicated shows are actually airing, but it does show the order of episodes for almost every show made. You could probably use it and cross reference with something like TVguide to accomplish what you are looking for.
posted by quin at 10:05 AM on April 8, 2006

I have a wishlist on my Tivo that looks for "pilot" in the description. It works pretty well. I use it mainly to see the first episodes of old sitcoms.
posted by smackfu at 10:13 AM on April 8, 2006

Try going to the sow website. It worked for me; I just got in Battle Star Galatica and went to their site where they list the times and episodes in order.
posted by Cohiba4009 at 10:23 AM on April 8, 2006

On my TiVo, you can set up a Wishlist by going to Category Only Wishlist > Show Types > Premier (or Season Premiere).

Once you find one, I guess you could check other shows against a web episode guide to determine whether they are being run in order.
posted by willnot at 12:39 PM on April 8, 2006

Fire up your favorite bittorrent client and just download the episodes and watch them in order. (Yes, this is illegal, but arguably not immoral.)
posted by Rhomboid at 3:07 PM on April 8, 2006