Download free HD episodes of 'Battlestar Galactica', '30 Rock', and more

Get free HD episodes of 12 popular shows when you install iTunes 8.

(Credit: Apple)

Best thing about the just-released iTunes 8? HD versions of TV shows. To help kick things off, Apple is offering one free HD episode from each of a dozen shows (some of which are actually worth watching!). I've rounded up the links for you; just make sure you have iTunes 8 installed.

• 30 Rock (welcome back, NBC!)
• Battlestar Galactica (the dazzling Season 4 opener)
• Eureka
• Heroes (Season 2--meh)
• In Plain Sight
• Lipstick Jungle
• Monk (I've never seen a single episode--any good?)
• The Office (strong as ever in its fourth season, which is amazing)
• Psych
• Life
• The Rachel Zoe Project (never heard of it)
• Top Design

I'm loving this. I've wanted to check out shows like Eureka, In Plain Sight, and Life, and now I can--in full HD glory. Grab these freebies while ye may and stock up your laptop, iPhone, Apple TV (if you're one of the five people who own one--hi-yo!), or whatever.

[sticks1839]

Give Monk a try. It's good and deserves the Emmy recognition it's gotten over the years.

[r0gue518]

Monk is an awesome show! It's worth adding to your list to check out.

[Galaxy5]

Great tip - I love Monk. Tony Shaloub (sp?) is great, and writing is superb. Columbo for our times.

[gsmiller88]

Meh, all those shows suck.

[rickbroida]

And your idea of a show that doesn't suck would be....? :)

[sanjayb]

gsmiller88 probably thinks VIP or COPS should be Emmy award shows!

[jmpetersen]

Only five of us have Apple TV? Over the air HDTV is awesome. The few cable selections worth watching are available on iTunes. Really, only five of us have ditched cable?

[rickbroida]

I agree about OTA HD... that's what I watch. But I still have basic cable as well. Anyway, no offense regarding Apple TV. I like the little guy, but it's not a good solution for me.

[jumpjetta]

Ditched cable several years ago. My Macbook pro is my iTV.

[rumblestrut]

Monk is a great show. I've got it on my Apple TV, but hadn't heard of some of these others. Thanks!

[ewelch]

I avoided Heros, but got hooked on it while spending time in hotels in Brazil. May have to use iTunes to see the old stuff. No Blu-ray sets yet.

[paulmwatson]

*sigh* U.S. only? Bah humbug. Come on Apple. I have an iPhone, an iBook, an iBaby, iSony HDTV, and an iWife, please give me iTV in iReland.

[planblove]

Monk is should seriously be on a major network in prime time. Its really that good imo. Check it out.

[docinaustin]

While Monk is certainly entertaining, it wouldn't work on any of the major networks. NBC (the sister station of USA) attempted to air Monk and the ratings tanked. The current ratings that Monk gets on USA wouldn't have been enough to warrant a second (let alone 7) seasons.

[argid1980]

I don't want to be a jerk here, but did you really round up these links yourself? If I had to guess, I'd say you "borrowed" them from a slickdeals type of website (and I am quite sure this is not the first time). No problem doing that, but giving credit to your sources would be the right thing to do. If I'm wrong, accept my apologies.

[jumpjetta]

Are the freebies supposed to make up for the fact a lot of these TV episodes are now $2.99?

[rickbroida]

Ummm...no. They're supposed to save you $2.99 x 12. :) I believe you pay the $2.99 price only for the HD versions of any given show.

[kfloydh]

The Rachel Zoe Project and Top Design are not in HD.

But maybe if the all of us download the free episodes the Big Businesses out there will realize we're not going to pay $2.99 per episode.

Cable or satelite TV give you hundreds of channels for under $100 a month. I'd be willing to pay $99 a month for unlimited TV and Movie viewing on iTunes/Apple TV.

Television is more of throw-away entertainment than Movies. I can rent 4 shows per DVD from Blockbuster for $3.99, why would I pay $1 less to keep an HD version of 1/4th of that content?

Maybe soon, but not soon enough, we will be able to pay for a service that lets us download and view whatever TV content we want rather than paying for the extra 90 channels we never watch, not to mention all the shows that air while we're asleep or at work.

[rickbroida]

FWIW, my media center botched the recording of Monday night's Prison Break, but we were able to stream it in nearly-full-screen HD via Fox's Web site. Which begs the question: between options like that (along with Hulu, Fancast, etc.), DVDs for older shows, and so on, why am I subscribing to cable at all? Hmmm....

[jtaylorhoopla]

I love monk, i wasnt patient enough for the hi def downloads, so i just kept the standard def ones,