No matter who you are or what sort of life you're living, there are going to be some times when you just need to relax and unwind. For many people living in North America that has meant, for more than the last half century, sitting in front of the television. But while you might sit down to watch the evening news or a prime time program the way that your parents did, there are some things that have changed over the years. One of them is the possibility of heading to the computer in your home office or bedroom instead of the television set to get your fill of your favourite shows.

When looking for shows online there are many different ways that you can watch. If you're interested in a program that's been on recently that you just missed while you were out then you can usually find it on the network's website for the next month or more. This is a great (and legal) way of watching the top shows in the nation, like Heartland or The Amazing Race Canada.

Another way to watch television online without breaking any laws or rules is by renting or buying episodes from services like iTunes and Netflix. While you probably used to go to the video store around the corner to get a movie on a Friday night when you felt like staying in, you can now find all of the titles that are available on the shelves right on your computer. And this is true for television shows as well. You can find seasons of shows that have long since come off the air and some that are still broadcast on a weekly basis.

The last choice for watching television online is all of the available videos that people have posted from burned DVDs or recording episodes when they were broadcast. While millions of people are watching around the world every day through these websites, you must keep in mind that the people posting the videos are technically breaking the law. But, currently in Canada it is not yet illegal for you to watch the videos that they have posted as long as you're not distributing them yourself. This might change in the years to come.