The original article is posted below and the additions/changes are highlighted in green.

“The web site Clicker aggregates streaming television from all corners of the internet into one clean, simple-to-search interface designed to help you find any show you want to watch online, no matter who’s hosting it.”**  This single site gives you a one-stop shop for finding a program you want to watch.  Until now, you had to do the hunting yourself and it wasn’t difficult to get lost in the sea of options available on the internet.   A recent article from mashable.com indicates that Clicker will “connect you to a database of 650,000 online TV episodes.”

Whether you are focused on finding a particular episode of a show or you are just bored and looking for a new program, Clicker seems to have it all.  Search by title, keyword or even category to find a show you are interested in.  Browse the results and let the links guide you to the site(s) containing the viewable program, even if they are only available on a paid site, like Amazon.com, Netflix or iTunes.  This TV Guide for the internet is exactly what the television watchers of today needed and I plan on bookmarking it immediately.

Interface on 11-16-09

The example above shows a typical show page.  A quick description and some direct links to the location of the hosted episodes are accompanied by other titles that might be of interest.   The recommendations for shows related to Alf were spot on, giving me options to watch another “alien show” 3rd Rock From the Sun or some of my 80’s favorites like Family Ties or Growing Pains. The site is easy to use and the interface is quick and simple.

Windows PC Remote

The new interface (show below) now works with a remote control (if you have one attached to your PC) and includes just a few simple buttons.  Even a search for a particular show can be entered using only the remote, via an iPhone-esque on-screen keyboard.

The chosen episodes are viewed directly within the portal or linked to an outside source.  This can sometimes be confusing, but you are always a Backspace away from the clicker web site.  CEO Jim Lazone indicated that a toolbar will one day accompany you to the external site, which should make navigation a little more consistent.

The New and Improved Interface (05-10)

There were a few issues I noticed while testing out the clicker.tv site.  Keep in mind that this is a BETA site and the bugs are still being flushed out.

• After clicking on an episode of Lost then returning to the home screen, all future clicks to other shows still took me to episodes of Lost.
• The Lost episode guide indicated that I could only view the show via iTunes (indicating a paid option).  A quick trip over to the ABC web site shows otherwise.
  
• The recommendations that made the original interface so interesting are now gone.

So, next time your DVR acts up, don’t forget that you have Clicker.com to turn to. While every show is not available, you won’t have to search through 10 sites to find the answer. Clicker.com will tell you in just a couple of clicks.

** quote taken from the LifeHacker.com article titled Clicker Is a One-Stop Shop for Streaming Television

We are a 2-DVR family and both of our units were put through some serious stress-testing this season.  Every so often, bad weather or a power outage caused one or both of our DVR units to miss a show, or at least a portion of it.  Being the true television fans that we are, we didn’t want to miss out on important plot-lines and details, so we headed out to the world wide web, in search of the episode in question.  In almost every situation, we found the solution on the web site of the television station itself.  There were however a few situations that required additional searching.  That’s where the fun really started.

Episode Failure 1: Smallville

Description: Our DirecTV DVR only recorded a portion of a critical episode, so I headed out to CWTV.com.  Their site does allow users to watch full episodes of some programs, but only stores the 2 most recent at any given time.  I am not sure what the reasoning is, but it meant we couldn’t watch our missing episode there.  I decided to try the Playstation Store (from Sony) next.  The PS3 needed a quick update, but a few minutes later we located our program and had to simply decide on SD (standard definition) or HD (high definition).  Since the HD version was $2.99 and I thought it would take longer to download, we opted for SD at $1.99.  We were able to begin viewing the program as it downloaded and the service worked perfectly!

Verdict: The Playstation Store experience was great.  The SD program was amazingly crisp and clean (nearly HD) and it only took a few minutes to begin watching the show.  I highly recommend the PS3 and the Playstation Store.

The Playstation Store on PS3

Episode Failure 2: Big Bang Theory

Description: Our favorite new comedy on CBS this season is a must watch.  Due to an operator error (my fault), we missed an episode.  I immediately went out to the CBS web site and found the page for the show.  To my surprise, CBS did NOT offer full episodes at all.  Off to Amazon.com, then iTunes, then some intense Google searching.

Verdict: FAIL! FAIL! FAIL! I couldn’t find a legal method for watching the episode, paid or not.

Episode Failure 3: The Mentalist

Description: Just like the Smallville recording, we only got a portion of the program.  Not very helpful for a crime solving mystery.  Off to CBS.com I went again and then on to Amazon.com, iTunes …  Nothing.  Finally, through some Google searches, I found a site called Yidio that provided a link to www.watch-mentalist-online.com.  I’m not sure if this site was operating legally, but we took a chance and watched the show anyway.  Unfortunately, the quality was so bad that we could barely make out the faces of the actors.  At least we got the storyline.

Verdict: FAIL! FAIL! FAIL! I couldn’t find a legal method for watching the episode, paid or not.  The site I found filled the void just enough, but I feel like I did something wrong by watching it.

Overall Verdict

Being able to watch TV online just seems logical.  For the most part, the programming I want is available, but you can see that there are still some holes.  Until Apple, or some other mega-company, makes some serious changes, I will have to hold onto my satellite and DVR boxes and give up on my dream of just buying the shows I want to watch online.  For now, there just seems to be a lack of information on where to go when I want to watch a show.  I couldn’t find a single site that provided information on every show and what sites you could buy it from (there is a FREE business idea for some lucky soul out there).  TVGuide.com did provide valuable information on where to buy some shows, but fell short on the 2 programs I was looking for.

@CBS – I am not sure what is going on, but it seems to me that you are missing out on a HUGE market.  You have some great programs and there are millions of us who think so.  Why are you not taking advantage of any of the services available to distribute your content?  You missed out on at least $4 of my money.  With 110 million TVs in the U.S., you are probably giving up on quite a bit of money.  Yes, I might buy a series on DVD/Blu-Ray, but I can’t get that until a year after it is shown on TV.  That doesn’t help me much.  We are a nation of “here and now.”  You should probably take advantage of that instead of banking on media that will begin to fade as quickly as it came to be.