Blinkx does TV shows with Blinkx Remote

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Tired of searching YouTube for clips of TV shows, only to find it barren of your favorite show? Well, if it's a Viacom program you're out of luck anyway, but for most everything else, search tool maker Blinkx rolled out a new service yesterday called Blinkx Remote, a search engine for full-length TV shows. Blinkx sorts through clips and full-length programs, providing direct links to off-site sources where you can watch the entire episode.

In the case of CBS' Jericho, Blinkx sent me off to CBS' Innertube service, where I had to install a Real Player plug-in to get the video to work. Alternately, if I knew the episode I wanted, I was able to pull up Flash versions at other video providers like Dailymotion and MySpace Videos. For other popular shows like Heroes and The Office, I was simply redirected to NBC's Rewind service.

One big thing missing with Blinkx Remote is an easy way to find older programs. For many of the popular shows, you're lucky enough to simply visit the network's Web site. Where search engines like this come in handy is for shows that fall out of syndication like Seinfeld, Friends, and Cheers. For those, you're better off exercising patience and using Netflix.