# Quarantine Entertainment Freebies and Early Release Things **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335 "2020-03-26T16:15:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/1 "2020-03-26T16:15:28Z")
With the pretty much nation-wide(world-wide?) quarantine and social distancing going on, many entertainers and companies are releasing things early and putting stuff up free for all of us. What have you found or seen that has been cool? [Nine Inch Nails just released two new albums entirely free. It’s that “Ghosts” stuff that isn’t as good, but Reznor wrapped them up and gave them away for the quarantine.](https://news.avclub.com/nine-inch-nails-just-dropped-2-free-albums-to-both-soot-1842507576) Note: his site has been down today due to traffic, but they are permanently free I believe, so no rush. [Audible has made many(all?) of their children’s audiobooks freely stream for the next while. No downloading or owning them free, but many kids books are now streaming free of charge.](https://stories.audible.com/start-listen) [My personal favorite: Within Temptation, one of my favorite bands, did a live acoustic concert online. It’s actually just two of them, but it is still really fun of them.](https://youtu.be/153abYeVA3g) What is some of the better stuff you have seen be offered because of the quarantine? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/2 "2020-03-26T16:35:27Z")
Good idea for a thread. Some movies, like Disney/Pixar’s Onward, are going to streaming very soon after being in the theaters. Others, like Trolls: World Tour, are skipping the theaters entirely and going directly to streaming. Comcast claims it has a bunch of stuff available for free On Demand, but I don’t know exactly what. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/3 "2020-03-26T16:43:43Z")
I watch A LOT of documentaries, and both Smithsonian and BBC Earth, which I normally don’t have access to, seem to be extending their free trial periods considerably. Hooray! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/4 "2020-03-26T17:02:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Good idea for a thread. Some movies, like Disney/Pixar’s Onward, are going to streaming very soon after being in the theaters. Others, like Trolls: World Tour, are skipping the theaters entirely and going directly to streaming. Comcast claims it has a bunch of stuff available for free On Demand, but I don’t know exactly what. Onward is for sale now, but is also hitting Disney+ for streaming April 3 I think. Insanely quick since it just came out. My wife and I watched The Invisible Man, which also just hit theaters and went on TV super quickly. It was actually quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/5 "2020-03-26T17:52:29Z")
Amazon Prime has a “In cinema now” section. I was able to watch “The Hunt” last week on it. (Not for free though) ---
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/6 "2020-03-26T17:58:02Z")
Movies and TV to watch free online. I’m not sure if this is available due to the quarantine, but it is a good freebie that might not be well-known. > **[Introducing IMDb What to Watch - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/tv/)** > > Stop scrolling and start watching. Play quick games to get great picks with the IMDb What to Watch app, available now on Fire TV. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/7 "2020-03-26T18:05:33Z")
Burger King is giving two free kids meals to anyone who buys even $1 through the mobile app. My family ate BK dinner for very little cash the other day. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/8 "2020-03-26T18:31:59Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Amazon Prime has a “In cinema now” section. I was able to watch “The Hunt” last week on it. (Not for free though) At $19.95 to rent, I think I’ll wait for these to stream on cable. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/9 "2020-03-26T18:39:20Z")
Piled Higher and Deeper, AKA PhD Comics, is a webcomic about life (or the lack thereof) in grad school. The comic itself has been almost nonexistent lately, but a few years back, the creator actually made a couple of movies. [They’re now online for free](http://phdcomics.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/10 "2020-03-26T18:40:52Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Burger King is giving two free kids meals to anyone who buys even $1 through the mobile app. My family ate BK dinner for very little cash the other day. So did we, and stashed some applesauce and chocolate milk from the kids meals for the next day. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/11 "2020-03-26T20:28:34Z")
In our house, we heard that [Scholastic.com](http://Scholastic.com) has offered their entire library of content for free during this mess. It’s made daily lesson planning for a 4-year old about 1.5 hours shorter, which is a godsend. We also purchased Onward (if you buy it on [FandangoNow.com](http://FandangoNow.com), use the code “HOME” for a 20% discount). My wife had been planning on taking the 4 year old to see it in the theaters, and that didn’t happen - so we saved money, considering the price of tickets and popcorn these days. CBS Access is free right now as well. I’ll be checking out “Picard” soon. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/12 "2020-03-26T20:31:10Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > CBS Access is free right now as well. I’ll be checking out “Picard” soon. I believe Picard is going to be free for over a month and CBS Access for just awhile. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/13 "2020-03-26T20:48:55Z")
The [Metropolitan Opera](https://www.metopera.org/)is offering free streaming of one opera from its repertory each day, available starting at 7:30 pm through 3:30 pm the following day. They started Wagner’s Ring on Tuesday, so it’s _Siegfried_ today, and _Gotterdammerung_ tomorrow. On the first day they offered this (last Monday, I think), their website and their Roku app were both overloaded, so we couldn’t watch _Carmen_, but we have since seen _La Boheme, La Fille du Regiment_, and _Tristan und Isolde_. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/14 "2020-03-26T21:21:36Z")
I loved Neil Diamond’s PSA on youtube, [“Hands, Washing Hands”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPLgsV_Ms3Q) ---
**Author:** ![Orr\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ee59a6/32.png) [@Orr\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orr_G)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/15 "2020-03-26T21:31:27Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I believe Picard is going to be free for over a month and CBS Access for just awhile. I signed up just the other day (a few hours after Stewart announced it) and double-checked that I won’t be billed at all for CBS all-access until the 24th of next month. - The e-mail I got from Comcast said you can find the free content by saying “free” into your voice remote. I checked out a lot of what they had available via that method. Some of it’s not bad, but it’s pretty much stuff you might find surfing around at random, like movies you might see on TBS or whatever. Still, that’s probably pretty nice for someone who doesn’t do the streaming services. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/16 "2020-03-27T13:44:00Z")
[The Detroit Symphony Orchestra replay is entirely free during the coronavirus situation.](https://www.dso.org/watch-listen-and-connect/newsroom-2/dso-replay-on-demand-video-streaming-archive-of-past-performances-now-free-for-all-during-coronavirus-outbreak) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/17 "2020-03-27T15:32:36Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I believe Picard is going to be free for over a month and CBS Access for just awhile. No. It’s their entire library. This is the second time someone on this board said it was only Picard. I don’t understand why? 😕 > **[CBS All Access is offering a free one-month trial, just in time to binge Star...](https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/25/21194378/cbs-all-access-free-one-month-trial-binge-star-trek-picard)** > > Watch all of Picard (and every other Star Trek episode) for free. > [@](#): > > The month-long trial doesn’t just give access to Picard, though; it’ll give viewers free access to the entire CBS All Access catalog, which includes every Star Trek show ever made (including CBS All Access exclusive Star Trek: Discovery), Cheers, CSI, CSI: Miami, Frasier, The Good Wife, The Good Fight, all of the NCIS shows, Survivor, The Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, and more. You’ll also get access to live CBS broadcasts from your local station. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/18 "2020-03-27T15:46:46Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > No. It’s their entire library. This is the second time someone on this board said it was only Picard. I don’t understand why? 😕 Because as of earlier this week, it was just Picard. They only opened up the rest of Access on like Wednesday, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/19 "2020-03-27T15:56:21Z")
Right. In another thread someone linked to a [space.com article](https://www.space.com/watch-star-trek-picard-free-patrick-stewart-gift.html) about the Picard series freebie, which said, "On Twitter today, Stewart announced that Trek fans in the United States can now watch “Star Trek: Picard” for free on CBS All Access using the code “GIFT.” The code is valid through April 23, so you’ll have to act soon to binge the series. CBS All Access is a subscription service that starts at $5.99 a month. In addition to the free “Picard” episodes, you can try CBS All Access for a week free here." So the offer changed. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335/20 "2020-03-27T16:50:22Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Because as of earlier this week, it was just Picard. They only opened up the rest of Access on like Wednesday, I think. Ah, thank you. I had not heard they went free across the board for the month. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quarantine-entertainment-freebies-and-early-release-things/850335.md?page=2)