Entertainment

If The DVR Misfires During 'Switched at Birth'...

by Nicole Pomarico

Mondays are the worst, but this Monday is a little bit easier than others: Switched at Birth is officially back! The summer premiere (otherwise known as the first episode of Season 3.5) kicks off tonight at 8 PM on ABC Family, and spoilers for the show promise we have some good stuff ahead of us. After all, it looks like Bay and Emmett are officially back on — except for the part where Bay has to deal with the fact that she went against her promise to herself and cheated on Tank with him. I don't know you, but I will be on the couch, snacks in hand (Oreos work well for ABC Family teen dramas, if you're looking for a recommendation) at 7:59, and I suggest you do the same.

But things happen, DVRs occasionally explode (or record the old episode ABC Family plays right before the new one instead), and sometimes, we have to use different resources to get our fix. In case you end up in a serious TV emergency tonight, here are ways you can watch Switched At Birth online and on demand:

Hulu: Our First Line of Defense

If I ever miss an episode of one of my favorite shows, I immediately turn to Hulu, and rarely does it ever let me down. The same is true for Switched at Birth — the entire season is already streaming for free as it airs. Tonight's episode should be available sometime tomorrow. Problem solved!

And if you have Hulu Plus? See ya on the couch. For $7.99 a month, you can stream every episode of Season 3 through your TV instead of from your computer. Which is way comfier.

And if you prefer to stick with ABC Family...

Episodes are also streaming on ABC Family's website, although the show usually shows up on Hulu a bit faster. The bonus of watching through ABC Family is that you get a bit of a change from the repetitive Hulu commercials, which is good, because if I have to see that same Red Bull commercial one more time, I'm going to riot.

You do have to log in with a "participating TV provider," though — but that should only take a second!

There's always On Demand, too.

Should your cable provider be in on the deal, Switched at Birth is available the day after it airs on On Demand. This also gives you the added couch bonus, but usually requires you to watch those commercials you can't fast forward through. Eh, you win some, you lose some.

Need it now, and also maybe tomorrow? iTunes is the way to go.

You can download the summer premiere of Switched at Birth for the low, low price of $1.99 on iTunes, and you'll probably be able to watch it sooner than you could on Hulu or On Demand — iTunes tends to put episodes up for download very, very early the morning after the show airs.

Amazon video also offers the episodes in the same format for the same price, so it might be a good way to put those old gift cards to work.

Netflix

And, if you love watching entire seasons in one sitting like me, you can wait a couple of months and binge-watch the entire season over a weekend once ABC Family gives Netflix the go-ahead. It's fine — calories consumed while binge-watching don't count, and now you officially have plans for sometime in the fall. Everyone wins!

Images: ABC Family; Giphy