Is there a TV show missing from Netflix that you want to watch? We are a nation of Netflix lovers, but one of the most annoying things about Netflix is when you know there is something on there you are itching to watch, and that those particular Netflix shows are available to watch in the US, but not the UK. Grrrrrrr!
TV show missing from Netflix – why does this happen?
According to Kristiana Kripena from tvshowpilot.com, a blog about all things TV shows, this annoying phenomenon exists because of copyright.
“Since copyright of films and TV shows are enforced by country rather than by streaming service, Netflix has to make a deal with the studio that produced the movie or TV series for every country it will be distributed in. Therefore Netflix carefully considers each property and how well that movie or show will do in different countries before making the streaming deal.”
That said, you can watch US TV shows not available in the UK or anywhere else in the world using a VPN. A VPN or Virtual Private Network (VPN), which encrypts all of your traffic and tunnels it through an intermediary server in a location of your choice. So by connecting to a US server, you’ll be able to watch US shows if you’re in the UK. Find out more about the best VPN for streaming movies and how this works below.
So can you watch these shows on Netlflix UK?
- Imposters: Yes
- New Girl: No
- The Inbetweeners: Yes
- Frasier: No
- US’s version of The Office: No
- Parks and Recreation: No
- Portlandia: No
- Young & Hungry: No
- The 100: Yes
- The Fosters: No
- Halt and Catch Fire: No
- Grey’s Anatomy: Yes
- Madam Secretary: No
- The Magicians: No
- Parenthood: No
- Switched at Birth: No
- The West Wing: No
- The Blacklist: Yes
- Blue Bloods: No
- Criminal Minds: No
- Dexter: No
- NCIS: No
- Twin Peaks: No
- Arrow: No
- The Flash: No
- Supergirl: No
- Charmed: No
- Supernatural: No
- The Walking Dead: Yes
- The Great British Baking Show and The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass: Yes
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Yes
- Arrested Development: Yes
- How I Met Your Mother: No
- Shameless (US): Yes
- Mad Men: No
Little Great Britain
She goes on to highlight that as it currently stands, the Netflix UK library only contains over 3,500 TV shows while the US Netflix library has closer to 4,500 shows.
Sob!
So not all is lost?
No, because you can actually use a VPN or any similar proxy technology to stream Netflix outside of your geographic location. Thankfully it’s completely legal to get access to US Netflix from outside the US but be sure to use the best VPN for Netflix.
How so? According to my research, just because the Netflix licensing agreement prevents specifically Netflix from providing access to certain shows for non US customers, it doesn’t mean those shows cannot be viewed by international customers (legally speaking). You technically break copyright laws only when you watch content that is legally explicitly forbidden to be accessed in your country.
Since VPNs are legal and gaining access to content that you pay for is legal as well, when you access Netflix from outside the US using a VPN, the only thing you need to be aware of is that you are breaking Netflix Terms of Service – which may result in Netflix account termination, and that’s up to you whether that’s a risk you want to take.
Do you get frustrated if when you discover a TV show missing from Netflix and not being able to access so many US only shows on Netflix? Do leave a comment below.
Picture credit: photo credit: marcoverch WoW-Video: Wenn World of Warcraft eine Netflix-Serie wäre via photopin (license)
