Tubi is a FAST (free, ad-supported streaming television) service from the Fox Corporation, and has a wide selection of series streaming for free, just with the price of ads. What makes Tubi unique is its seemingly exclusive streaming rights to previously removed Max originals like Lovecraft Country and Generation alongside its various other offerings from different channels and networks.
No account is required to start streaming on Tubi, though creating one will allow you to keep track of your watch history, as well as add shows and movies to your watchlist. Tubi’s rolodex of movies is impressive, and while its television slate is slightly less-so, there are still numerous classics and must-see TV shows to watch on the platform. Below, we have broken down the best shows to watch on Tubi (listed in no particular order), all available for totally free.
Quantico
While the name Quantico may be more closely associated with Criminal Minds for crime TV fans, ABC’s short-lived drama delivered classic FBI intrigue in its three-season run. Starring Priyanka Chopra as Alex Parrish, the series follows a batch of new recruits at the FBI’s Quantico base for mandatory training before becoming field agents. Filled with betrayal, heartbreak, case-of-the-week capers, and soapy drama befitting the nation’s most fascinating organization (and a ridiculousness difficult to come by on television today), Quantico is broadcast TV at its binge-iest. —Anna Govert
The Jetsons and The Flintstones
Hanna-Barbera has undeniably created a TV empire, and both future-set The Jetsons and dinosaur-age The Flintstones remain classics in their repertoire. In many ways, these two series are very similar: a traditional nuclear family deal with their own personal brand of familial hijinks in the midst of their very specific time period. However, each series narrowed its focus to one form of the American workers’ life, highlighting two different perspectives through their unique settings. For The Jetsons, each episode’s speculative sci-fi made for a perfect mix of heartfelt and slapstick comedy, representing a white-collar, affluent lifestyle through this family (I mean, they even had a robot maid). On The Flintstones, Fred and Wilma, alongside their neighbors Barney and Betty, represent a blue-collar, working class lifestyle, giving the series a more grounded approach—all while still milking the prehistoric setting for delightfully silly gags. Though, even with its metaphors on different working classes and lifestyle choices, both series manage to be charming, hilarious, and heartwarming, and have each withstood the test of time as cultural staples. —Anna Govert
Farscape
Modern day astronaut John Crichton (sci-fi names) is testing an experimental aircraft when he is hurled through a wormhole and winds up in a living spaceship called the Moya with a crew desperately trying to get away from space fascists called peacemakers. Farscape is an ensemble-driven space drama in the vein of Firefly. Unlike Firefly, it has more than one season. Episodes explore sci-fi premises like alternate realities, omnipotent aliens and space bugs (y’know, those space bugs) while also developing each of the Moya’s crew members and filling in their backstories. Think Mass Effect if Shepard made a bunch of nerdy pop culture references. Plus, if the living spaceship thing didn’t tip you off, things get pretty weird, and occasionally pretty silly. —Harry Mackin
Astrid and Lilly Save the World
Released into the ether with little fanfare, Astrid and Lilly Save the World is about as obscure as you can get in our current streaming era. The series, which aired for just one season on SYFY, follows the titular Astrid (Jana Morrison) and Lilly (Samantha Aucoin) as they attempt to vanquish a gaggle of ridiculous and frightening monsters that they themselves accidentally summoned into their world. Pointedly starring two plus-size characters, the series examines the horrors of high school, including the brutal bullying that comes along with being outcasts, all as our central characters attempt to deal with their new supernatural problems. It’s charming, it’s silly, it’s heartwarming, and it’s hilarious. —Anna Govert
Everybody Hates Chris
Chris Rock is one of the funniest comedians of all time. This is far from a controversial stance. Upon developing a period sitcom about his Brooklyn childhood for the (now defunct) UPN back in the mid-2000s, however, the question emerged of whether or not his brand of knowing, acerbic comedy could survive the transition to network TV. The answer proved to be both yes and no. From the opening seconds of its pilot, Everybody Hates Chris positions itself as an incisive, utterly confident comedic tour-de-force that is perfectly in line with Rock’s brand. And yet, in the hands of co-creator/showrunner Ali LeRoi, the show aimed to be much more than simply the comedian’s stage work reformatted into TV storylines. The result was a family sitcom that both harkened back to the Norman Lear comedies of old, while still retaining the rapid pace and tight construction of the best single-camera productions. The show was never more successful, however, than when it came to its casting, with Tyler James Williams demonstrating immense charisma and comic timing as a young Chris; meanwhile, Terry Crews and Tichina Arnold would promptly enter the pantheon of great TV couples as Chris’ larger-than-life parental units. And though low ratings and frequent schedule shifts would ultimately snuff Chris out after four seasons, it quickly sketched out its place as one of the greatest sitcoms of the new millennium. —Mark Rozeman
Next Level Chef
Gordon Ramsay—or at least his production company—represents a creative font unparalleled in its prodigious output on television these days, as a quick browse through streaming services will attest. It’s barely possible to even nail down how many disparate shows have Ramsay’s face attached to them at this point, and one wonders if even the celebrity chef could name every iron he has in the fire. Few are as flamboyantly silly, though, as Next Level Chef, a cooking competition built around the gimmick of a three-storied kitchen, where chefs on each level have the advantage (or hindrance) of working with progressively better or worse ingredients and equipment. Like the Netflix dystopian film The Platform, those left on the shabby bottom floor, dubbed “the basement,” are left cooking with whatever scraps are left when the show’s moving platform arrives, establishing a simultaneous satire of socioeconomic class and a fantasy of upward mobility, where contestants can “bootstrap” themselves up to a higher level with grit and determination. In truth, though, what we’re watching the show for is the pure sense of unfiltered chaos it radiates, the sight of a contestant blindly grabbing at ingredients for 30 seconds and only then taking a step back to wonder “Is it possible to cook a dish with these things?” TV is full of cooking competitions, but few thrust as much entertaining stress on their competitors. —Jim Vorel
Midsomer Murders
With 23 seasons to its name since its debut in 1997, ITV’s Midsomer Murders is the UK’s longest running detective drama. Based on Caroline Graham’s crime-novel series Chief Inspector Barnaby, Midsomer Murders takes place in the affluent Midsomer county, where the eccentricities of its residents lead to compelling cases. While the series began with Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) at its center, Nettles’ retirement from the show in 2011 resulted in Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon) taking the reins from his older cousin. Still as popular as ever, this charming series is a staple of British television, and specifically British crime dramas. —Anna Govert
Unsolved Mysteries
“This program is about unsolved mysteries…”
That introductory message was followed by a Halloween-inspired theme song and the voice of host Robert Stack, a voice that would feature prominently in my nightmares for years to come. For the unfamiliar, Unsolved Mysteries is a documentary-style TV show that originated in 1987 and went through multiple hosts and networks over the course of its run. But the height of its popularity came during the Stack years, which lasted from 1987 to 2002. Each episode features three or four unsolved cases, covering a wide range of subjects: murders, kidnappings, supernatural occurrences, lost treasure, and even historical mysteries, such as the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. The producers used actual evidence, interviews with those close to the case, and some of the most mullet-heavy reenactments ever recorded to tell the story. At the end of each episode, Stack would plead with viewers to contact the authorities with information on the cases they’d just seen—and give updates on any previous cases that we, the viewers, had helped solve. (Most recent “prestige” crime docuseries still follow much the same narrative template that Unsolved Mysteries helped pioneer: Each introduces a case, the theories that might explain it, and the potential suspects, then sorts through the evidence for and against each.)
The truth is that we’ll never stop being fascinated by the very worst of humanity, but the way in which we want to consume it has changed and will continue to do so. UM changed the landscape of true crime on television and changed what we expect from it. The show, like the series that have followed it, didn’t always provide the answers we wanted—but then, neither does real life. Robert Stack did, however, always leave us with one comforting message: the hope that the unsolved would be solved and justice would be served. “For every mystery, there is someone, somewhere who knows the truth,” as Stack says. “Perhaps that someone is watching. Perhaps it’s you.” —Stephanie Ashe
Hunter X Hunter
There are countless shonens (and American TV shows, even) that focus on a group of young characters using supernatural abilities and deductive reasoning to problem solve. Hunter x Hunter is a rare find among this homogeneous archetype because of its attention to detail and emotional investment. This anime is filled with whimsical subplots that don’t always end with a major event, but let you know characters in this world were alive before you started watching them.
Hunter x Hunter begins with Gon Freecss, as he sets out on a journey to become a Hunter. He’s your typical savior-figure protagonist unique to shonen, but fortunately he keeps the annoying, repetitive mantras to himself. His determination to see the best in people becomes a marvel of the series, and his dedication to others drives the plot. He makes friends with a young boy from a family of assassins, and their polarized dynamic creates a connection that makes the series inspiring. The compelling relationship between these two boys demands emotional investment from you. Togashi emphasizes their youth and inexperience by pitting them against much older, more experienced villains, and introduces powerful mentors that help them evolve. He’s meticulous about tailoring his characters’ abilities to their personality, but everyone draws their strength from resolve. The feats of pure determination you’ll witness in this anime will change you.
Togashi has struggled with a medical condition for some years, but he claims the manga is far from over. Hopefully, the remastered anime gets a seventh season soon.—Jarrod Johnson II
Hell on Wheels
Like Rectify, Hell on Wheels’ availability on Netflix gave it a fighting chance at wider, belated recognition. Not that it’s at Rectify’s level, or even in its time period. But this Western—which dramatized the lives of real and fictional players during the construction of competing, cross-country railroads after the Civil War—was never less than a richly sourced imagining of our nation’s great expansion West, with a few can’t-miss psychopaths and tortured heroes for good measure. Its final season never relented until the final spike was driven into the last slat of Union Pacific track, detouring only to resolve long-standing conflicts and foreshadow the challenges America was then readying to stare down. Anson Mount, as Civil War vet-turned-vengeful gunslinger-turned unlikely tycoon Cullen Bohannon, carried the final episodes through their bloody, heat-stroked twists and turns. And there may never be as resilient and nightmarish a mortal villain as Christopher Heyerdahl’s Thor Gundersen. Just don’t call him The Swede. —Kenny Herzog
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
For some time, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has been the anime I turn to when I need some R&R. Not that anything about it, at least at first glance, is particularly chill. It’s an anime full of men built like classical sculptures arguing as loud as they can over psychic battles they’re having, seemingly in molasses-slow time. What feels like hours encapsulates little more than a minute in JJBA’s universe. The anime is so much more than that, though; it’s a journey that spans a century and obliterates the rules of how to tell a traditional adventure story, taking liberal inspiration from Indiana Jones, Versace, classic rock, and any other fleeting interest of mangaka Hirohiko Araki to make an explosive hodgepodge of fast-paced absurdity, a language you’ll pick up on quickly and soon fine cozier than Sailor Moon. There’s a reason JJBA continues to be one of the most influential pieces of media to come out of the anime world. – Austin Jones
Luther
Idris Elba as a sad, violent and genius detective, tracking down the weird serial killers of London? It’s a formula that should work, and does. “You care about the dead more than the living,” John Luther’s estranged wife accuses him. She’s right. The detective chief inspector is consumed by his cases, and a months-long suspension seems to have done little good for his mental health. Luther is nothing short of mesmerizing, slicing through suspects with the angry efficiency of a man on the brink. His already tenuous grasp on civility and basic sanity is tested further by the mind games of a woman (The Affair’s Ruth Wilson, seductive and threatening) he knows to have killed her own parents. Psychological sparring aside, this is Elba’s show, so white-hot is Luther in his rage and determination to overcome it. “Do you not worry you’re on the devil’s side without even knowing it?” wonders the tormented cop. Luther’s dread is palpable and contagious. —Shane Ryan and Amanda Schurr
Generation
It’s not everyday that someone creates a TV show before they can legally drink. But that was the case for Zelda Barnz, who co-created Max’s YA dramedy Generation at just 19. Working alongside her dad, Daniel Barnz, Zelda created the series she had always wanted to see: a Gen Z-specific series that actually felt like it was made by Gen Z. The series follows a group of mostly queer high schoolers in Los Angeles as they deal with the drama and pressures of growing up amidst the social media age, and all the societal awareness that comes with it. Starring quite a few familiar faces (you may recognize Justice Smith from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and Chase Sui Wonders from Bodies Bodies Bodies), the ensemble cast each shine in their respective roles. Hilarious and heartfelt, this series lived a short life on Max before being pulled entirely during the streamer’s content purge. Despite only having one season, the relatively short binge is absolutely worth it, if not just for the outrageous laughs, but also for the well-rounded characters created in just 10 episodes. —Anna Govert
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Technically a spinoff because it features existing characters, but also technically a reboot, Degrassi: The Next Generation is a product of the long-running Degrassi franchise, which launched in 1979 in Canada. This series, which debuted in 2001 and ran for 14 seasons, is perhaps the best example of what makesDegrassi special: it takes the very real challenges teens face and confronts them head-on with a perfect mix of educational lessons, melodrama, and self-aware humor to make must-see TV. Even as characters came and went over the years (such is the nature of a show set in high school), The Next Generation never lost its ability to reach young, impressionable audiences and tell important stories while tackling timely topics, such as teen pregnancy, drug abuse, abortion, and gang violence, just to name a few. So there’s a reason the Degrassi franchise has existed for as long as it has, but The Next Generation is the reason it’s as popular and well loved as it is. —Kaitlin Thomas
Scooby Doo, Where Are You!
In our popular culture, there might not be another group of characters as timeless as Scooby Doo and his band of meddling kids. In their first appearance on the now-iconic Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, jock Fred (Frank Welker), original “it girl” Daphne (Stefanianna Christopherson), brainiac Velma (Nicole Jaffe), hippie Shaggy (Casey Casum), and their dog Scooby Doo (Don Messick) travel around in their blue and green Mystery Machine van, solving seemingly supernatural mysteries. Scooby Doo, Where Are You!’s formulaic episodic structure and archetypal characters may have made the series memorable, but it also had a pattern that simply could not be replicated—though not for a lack of trying from Scooby Doo-studio Hanna-Barbera. Jabberjaw, Clue Club, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Speed Buggy, and many more “4 kids and a pet—or sentient car—solving mysteries” cartoons were made by the studio in an attempt to replicate the runaway success of Scooby Doo, but lighting only struck once. Now with countless films and shows having been produced around the Scooby Gang, Scooby Doo, Where Are You! laid the groundwork for what would become a pop-culture empire. (And if you’re looking for more Scooby to watch, Tubi also has numerous other series featuring Scooby and the gang). —Anna Govert
Merlin
A lot of fantasy is based on existing myths, legends, and folklore, and although you might think you know the story of the famous King Arthur and Merlin, you’ve never seen it told quite like this before. The fan-favorite Merlin, which aired on the BBC from 2008 until 2012, is set in a version of Camelot in which magic has been outlawed. The story begins when Arthur Pendragon (Bradley James) and the wizard known as Merlin (Colin Morgan) are young men who cannot stand each other, but after the latter becomes the former’s personal servant, they put their issues aside and become fast friends. And this is a good thing for both men, since Merlin has to often use his gifts in secret to save Arthur—often without him knowing—so the latter can one day fulfill his destiny as the man who will restore magic to the kingdom. If you’re looking for a lighter fantasy show than some of the others on this list, this is a really good, quite fun option with plenty of bromance. —Kaitlin Thomas
Wallander
Kenneth Branagh is marvelous in this moody procedural based on the novels of Henning Mankell, and the original Swedish film adaptations. A police officer on southern Sweden’s picturesque coast, Branagh’s Kurt Wallander must solve a run of freakish crimes. He’s also up to his grizzled scruff in the throes of an existential tailspin, which makes, say, the image of a 15-year-old girl seeing him, panicking, and setting herself on fire an even tougher trauma to process. Branagh gives an aptly measured, introspective performance, a man who observes everything, but can’t make sense of anything anymore, the very least of which is himself. Wallander is a study in visual contrasts: saturated color schemes, dramatic plays of shadows and light, extreme changes in focus. It’s an artful complement to the detective’s largely internal struggle, which also includes issues with his adult daughter and Alzheimer’s-afflicted dad (David Warner, exceptional as ever). —Amanda Schurr
The Fall
Let it be known that before he was Christian Grey, Jamie Dornan proved his acting chops and charisma as a disturbingly un-disturbable murderer in this superb psychological thriller. Dornan’s mild-mannered husband, father and grief counselor (!) is among the most terrifying onscreen serial killers in recent memory. Paul Spector is a stalker, as exacting and methodical as his eventual pursuer. Enter Gillian Anderson’s Stella Gibson, a British detective superintendent called to Belfast to look into a spate of gruesome murders. As the cat-and-mouse game intensifies, Anderson’s characterization is its own triumph: analytical, uncompromising, reserved, but brazenly sexual on her own terms, entirely unfazed by the politicking and dick-swinging of her male colleagues. That we know the identity of the killer from the show’s first frames, and yet can’t take our eyes off the screen is a testament to the stealth creep with which The Fall operates. —Amanda Schurr
Lovecraft Country
Lovecraft Country, an adaptation of Matt Ruff’s book of the same name, belongs more in a series of Weird Tales issues than in the current understanding of H.P. Lovecraft’s tentacle-ridden boogiemen, non-Euclidean geometry, and otherwise unknowable Old Ones. It’s a true pulp story, collected by showrunner Misha Green straight from the mill and bound with an exciting cast and setting to enrich its adventure. Savvy and sensational, you’ve never seen Lovecraft like this.
Ranging from Chicago’s South Side to the eerie East Coast where Lovecraft’s tales haunted their hapless sailors and professors, Lovecraft Country tracks the cruel magicks of legacy while pointing out at every turn that its genre’s legacy is steeped in racism. Just because Lovecraft was a racist dickhead on a cosmic scale doesn’t mean Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) doesn’t love his brand of fiction. Tic and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) kick off the series on a Jim Crow-defying quest to find Atticus’ missing father (Michael K. Williams)—who’s off in search of their family’s secretive and spooky “birthright”—accompanied by Tic’s childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollet).
While Lovecraft Country’s plot moves fast, fast, fast—with head-spinningly quick consequences seemingly abandoned, only to manifest as high concept plots themselves—there’s so much good to hold onto that its pages turn themselves. Thanks to its perspective, the exploration of wild dreams and strange justifications of an unjust society, as well as the magical bounties residing in its oppressed corners, shines. Turns out lots of genre tropes become more interesting when the lead looks like someone other than Logan Lerman. Lovecraft Country does the work, whether through its in-universe interrogation of patriarchal systems inside of inherently racist structures, confrontation of closeted shame and the drag scene, or through utterly bomb needledrops. Each episode’s conceit is fascinating enough to deserve its own thinkpiece; each episode’s twist a shocking and gruesome delight. —Jacob Oller
Hannibal
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; Hannibal airing on a broadcast network was nothing short of a minor miracle. After a stellar inaugural year, Bryan Fuller and company dared to up the stakes for their second go-around, taking major creative risks in the process. These risks came in the form of (among other things) sealing the protagonist in jail for a third of the run, killing off a major character, and ending the season with what I can only describe as the visual equivalent of a mic drop. Even in its weaker moments, the show always offered something memorable, whether it be an impressive visual, or an intense dialogue exchange. And while some viewers no doubt came to Hannibal purely for its inventive, if highly gruesome imagery (there’s certainly that in spades), chances are they ended up staying for the compelling writing, hypnotic performances, and luscious, evocative cinematography. —Mark Rozeman
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