In these times of economic uncertainty you may find yourself questioning whether you have the extra cash to rent a movie. If you end up not being able to afford that luxury, go to the internet — you’re paying for it already. Technology has made it possible to legally watch television online free of charge.

Websites like Fancast.com and Hulu.com allow viewers to watch a variety of television shows, movies and even newscasts. Both sites are generally easy to navigate and give the option of searching for shows or browsing through shows by title. Popular titles like “Family Guy,” “The Office” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” can be found as well as old favorites like “Friends,” “Sex and the City” and “The Twilight Zone” to name a few.

“I love watching shows on Fancast,” said junior theater major Amanda Morish. “It is really nice when there is nothing on TV and then I remember that I can always watch my favorite shows online.”

Not all episodes of all shows are available to watch. Due to copyright laws these websites are only allowed to have small samples of television shows and the selection and variety of episodes are pretty much random.

Fancast and Hulu both contain thousands of titles but each website seems to have its own specialties. Hulu contains programs found on television including news programs, President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech, award shows, sitcoms and dramas. Fancast specializes in not only entertaining shows but hundreds of full-length movies and documentaries. Although Hulu has movies available as well, Fancast has a much larger selection of full-length pictures. Hulu contains very few full-length movies and an extensive amount of clips from different movies.

If you are having trouble locating a program Hulu will redirect you to websites that might have the show you are looking for. In my search for “Sex and the City” on Hulu I was redirected to HBO’s website where they have a few episodes streaming.

If you are not able to find the show you would like to watch go directly to the station’s website. Many television stations like TBS, HBO and E! have a few of their television programs available to view on the internet.

Hulu also allows you to browse shows by category. If you are looking for a program that would be found on the Food Network, just look under the “Food and Leisure” option. A sports fan can catch highlights from their favorite teams by looking in the “Sports” option.

Hulu contains a convenient “Most Popular Clips” section which features shows and clips from shows that are popular that day. For example if you happened to miss “Saturday Night Live” you can catch all the sketches on Sunday.

Fancast is a simpler website that gives viewers legal access to countless television shows and full length movies. Fancast seems to have a larger variety of shows as well. Fancast does not have many icons and options when searching for shows so it is easier to use in comparison to Hulu. For someone who is new to the internet movie watching thing I suggest starting with Fancast. On the other hand more experienced internet movie goers might be more stimulated by Hulu.

Whichever website you choose to view be aware that you have an option and there are always other ways to get your entertainment.

Cozette Roberts can be reached at [email protected].