Although I love adding more of my physical media to my Plex server, sometimes I just want to kick back and watch television. With over a thousand live TV channels on Plex, only a handful come out on top.
10At the Movies
While I hesitate to call myself a film buff, I do watch a ton of movies, paying close attention to older ones released between the 70s and 90s. I consider those decades to be some of the best years for film. As luck would have it, Plex hasAt the Movies, a TV channel that broadcasts movies from said decades.
At the Movies mainly focuses on classic films, but lesser-known titles and even box office bombs do show up from time to time, likeDeep Cover, One Crazy Summer, Drop Dead Gorgeous, andThe Hudsucker Proxy. Either way, you’re going to find some underrated gems here, though there are numeroussites with free movie streamingthat are worth checking out, too.
9Hit Sitcoms
Hit Sitcomsis a TV channel that delivers exactly what it says on the tin—constant reruns of popular sitcoms from the past couple of decades, likePerfect StrangersandThe Drew Carey Show. However, it’s limited to sitcoms produced by Warner Bros., which isn’t much of a limitation since Warner Bros. is probably responsible for your favorite sitcom, too.
The way Hit Sitcoms works is by running a string of episodes from just a few sitcoms, making it really easy to find a comfy spot on the couch and enjoy a sitcom you like. It’ll then alternate to a different sitcom, then rinse and repeat for the next few days.
8BBC Earth
BBC Earthproduces many of the best documentaries about our planet to date, and I cannot get enough of them. The product quality alone is worth a look, but it’s the beautiful shots they capture of animals in their natural habitats that I enjoy the most. More importantly, BBC Earth being free on Plex (and ad-supported) means you don’t have to add yet another subscription to your bill.
Perhaps not every documentary will interest you, but I highly recommend catchingDavid Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities,Wild Japan, andAmazon Abyss. Additionally, there are documentaries about global warming, and those are always worth watching to stay informed. If you’d like a choice in the matter, trystreaming services with dedicated documentary libraries.
While At the Movies is much more focused on a handful of decades,Miramaxdoesn’t have that limitation, and it’s what I turn to when I want to step out of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. You’ll find a wide variety of genres, too. I caught the tail end ofTrue Gritbefore it when hundreds of years into the future with the immediate start ofStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. That was then followed up withThe Hunt for Red October.
Miramax gets pretty cozy with blockbusters, so I can usually count on there being some exceptional movies, or at least a part of something that interests me enough to look for it on streaming. If you have a good media setup, maybe even a projector, Miramax is a great channel for movie night!
6National Lampoon
Self-described as knowing “comedy from A to Z,“National Lampoondelivers comedy of all shapes and sizes. It truly is an expansive library of slapstick and sophisticated comedies. One night I went fromCheech and Chone: Still Smokin’toTommy BoytoTropic Thunder, so the channel doesn’t just stay in one decade.
Beyond the decades the movies were released, you’ll also notice, like I did, there is a good mix of popular hits and cult classics, long recurring actors. For example, I see Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, and Paul Rudd show up frequently, and that’s to be expected when they’ve been in numerous well-known comedies.
5CW Forever
TheCWis home to quite a number of great dramas, whether it’s a movie or series—Veronica Mars,Smallville, andSupernatural, to name a few. My personal favorite isCharmed, which I can no longer watch since I cut cable many, many years ago.
To my surprise, I discovered CW Forever gives you the best of two worlds. On one hand, you could watch newer CW dramas likeWild CardsandGood Cop/Bad Copor take a stroll down memory lane and watch reruns ofCharmed.
4Scares by Shudder
As a streaming service,Shudderis aparadise for horror fans, myself included, with a library that includes just about every facet of the genre. Not even comedy is left out. If you were ever on the fence about the service—or hesitant over adding another streaming service to your bill—check out Scares by Shudder on Plex instead.
What you’re essentially getting is Shudder’s library in TV format, so content you see broadcast on live TV is likely to be on the platform, too. With that said, Scares by Shudder is completely fine on its own, because it has the same ratio of slashers, thrillers, and bloody spectacle.
3FilmRise: Sci-Fi
When I considered the kind of live TV channels I wanted to put front and center on my Plex server, sci-fi was one of the first to come to mind. Luckily for me,FilmRisehas multiple channels dedicated to specific genres, and in this case, it’s the FilmRise: Sci-Fi channel.
Now, the channel isn’t like Miramax, where movies are usually well-known classics and blockbusters—FilmRise: Sci-Fi is equally likely to have something good, likeI’ll Follow You Downor a stinker, likeAlien Siege. And when you aren’t in the mood for a movie, you might even get to catch an episode ofBeyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.
2Amasian TV: Anime 24/7
Having a TV channel dedicated to anime every single day is like putting my childhood on repeat, though I do admit I was only able to catch shows that were popular on TV channels like Toonami. Once streaming took off (especially withCrunchyroll), that’s when the world of anime opened up more for me. The reason that matters is becauseAnime 24/7mostly focuses on well-known anime, likeHunter x Hunter.
Sure, you do miss out on more obscure anime, but it does mean your Plex server will have the best content right from the word go. FilmRise: Anime and RetroCrush are solid alternatives if it’s classic anime you’re after, but Anime 24/7 will still cast the widest net.
1Non-Stop ’90s
I am of the opinion that the 90s are one of the golden decades of film—a lot of phenomenal movies that artists cite to this day as inspiration come from that era. ThinkJurassic Park,Toy Story, andThe Shawshank Redemption. I could go on and on! TheNon-Stop 90schannel plays 90s content exclusively.
It’ll also have reruns of 90s television series, like the dramaSilk Stalkings, but the channel also has series from outside the U.S. For example, the Non-Stop 90s channel has reruns ofReBoot, which is a really weird Canadian animated show with incredibly shiny and dated CGI.
It was a tough battle, but these TV channels have been consistently good to me, and you can enjoy them too, once you’veenabled live TV channelson your Plex server. You don’t even need a Plex Pass. If it’s content you want to expand, I’ve managed togrow my Plex library for cheap.
