FAQ

Don’t see the answer to your question below? Check out our full FAQ and discuss with fellow SideReelers on our support forum, Helprace.

Questions

General Questions

Q: What is SideReel?
A: SideReel is a free site created to help TV fans track, rate, review, list, and watch their favorite series.

Q: Is this site free?
A: Yes, SideReel is completely free! However, if you're trying to watch a show, keep in mind that some external viewing sources may require payment before viewing.

Although the site itself is free, we could always use your support! Learn how to help.

Q: Can I watch TV on SideReel?
A: We don't host any video directly on SideReel, but we try to provide links to partners who offer ways to watch episodes.

Q: I can't find the show I'm looking for! Can you help me?
A: First, check and make sure you've spelled the title correctly. If it has any special characters like ! or &, try just entering the first word of the title and leaving everything else out. If you're still unable to find it, you can ask us to add it to our database by submitting a request from our Helprace page. If you'd like to speed up the process, try to include extra information such as where the show is airing (examples: on USA Network; on ITV in the UK), and how many seasons have aired. If you can give us a link to its site or Facebook page, that would also help a lot.

Q: You have a show listed with the wrong status (example: Hiatus instead of Concluded) or airing date/time. How can I get this fixed?
A: Please let us know via our Helprace page and we will get any errors corrected.

Q: I am missing some features that used to be on SideReel. Where are they?
A: In mid-2020 we had to do a rapid overhaul of SideReel to overcome some technical issues. While almost all of the functionality of the site (tracking shows, reviewing and rating shows and episodes, creating lists and seeing airdates) are back online, some features are still in the works as we have time to tackle them. This includes setting your specific time zone, the Premieres and Finales calendar, showing how many shows you have tracked/how many episodes you have watched, and the New and Upcoming section. Some older features like badges, following other SideReel users, posting your reviews to Facebook and the Daily Calendar Emails are no longer supported.

Q: Why was my comment/review deleted?
A: We love that our community is so passionate about TV, and we've worked to create a space for fans of all genres and series. When commenting or reviewing on SideReel, please keep that goal in mind. So that we can be totally transparent, here are the reasons the site's admins might delete a comment or review:

It contains hate/threatening speech
It uses excessively obscene language
It exposes any commenter's personal information (e.g. phone numbers, emails, and addresses)
It contains watch links
It's not relevant to the review or discussion (e.g. customer support inquiries, bug reports, or spam)

If you see a comment or review that falls under one of those categories, please flag it for us so that we can review it. Thanks for keeping the SideReel community awesome!

Q: I have a question that isn't on this page. Who can help?
A: Please visit our user forum page (called Helprace)and search for the topic there. If your question still isn't answered, please create an account on Helprace and ask your question.

Account

Q: I used to log in with a username but now it asks for an email address. Can somebody help me?
A: Please email nppbhagf@fvqrerry.pbz and let us know your old username.

Q: I don't like my profile URL and/or my username. Can I change them?
A: Once you select a username and/or profile URL, it's chosen and can't be changed.

Q: I created my account through Facebook. Can I disconnect it from FaceBook and still keep the same account?
A: You can, but it's a little complicated. Please email nppbhagf@fvqrerry.pbz and tell us your email address and/or username or anything you can that will help us identify your account.

Q: What does a SideReel subscription offer?
A: By subscribing to support SideReel you receive a number of benefits including an ad-free experience, the website loading faster, and you'll get a warm feeling knowing that you're helping to support a site that has been providing TV information for decades. More detail is available on our subscribe page.

SideReel uses Stripe and PayPal to manage the payment side of things. We don't hang onto your credit card information.

Payment is $12 USD for one entire year. We are not doing recurring payments at this time, but we notify you when your subscription is nearly expired.

If you'd like to subscribe for an additional year, visit the Paid Subscription page in your user account and enter in your credit card information again.

If your credit card has a charge listed as "Netaktion" it is because you have signed up to become an SideReel Subscriber to receive an ad-free and faster SideReel experience.

As is stated in our Terms of Service (section 3.5), we are unable to provide refunds on annual subscriptions after purchase.

There are some things to note:

Becoming a subscriber does not give access to stream tv shows, to upload shows, download episodes, or alter the editorial content (reviews and airdates) provided on SideReel.

Subscribing does not guarantee uptime or that the site will never have hiccups. If the site craps out, we're all in the same boat.

Q: I am a subscriber, why am I still seeing ads?
A: It could be any number of things:

If you've just logged in, your browser may still be caching the pages you've already been to. Try doing a hard refresh of the page or clearing your browser cache.

Make sure you're logged in and your subscription has not expired.

A couple of other things to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Are you seeing ads while logged in and visiting a page you've never been before?
Like this random page: https://www.sidereel.com/tv-shows/crash-test

Do you get ads if you are logged in and add a "?test" to the end of the URL and hit enter?
Or follow this link: https://www.sidereel.com?test

3. Do you get ads if you log in on a different browser?.

Q: What is Scroll? Does it remove ads from SideReel?
Scroll, an online membership program which removes ads from SideReel (as well as from sites like AllMusic, AllMovie, The Verge, Vox, Gizmodo, Slate, The Onion, The Atlantic and many others). With Scroll, users pay $5/month and receive an ad-free reading experience on hundreds of sites, which allows pages on SideReel load faster and with fewer tracking cookies. Then Scroll distributes that money back to the sites you visit the most.

Help us by supporting SideReel and allowing us all to build a better internet by signing up at Scroll.

Q: I want to delete my account. Who can help me with that?
A: Go to your User Profile page. Towards the bottom of the left side you'll see a "Delete Account" link. Click that and follow the instructions.

Q: I deleted my account but now I've changed my mind. Can I get it back?
A: Sorry, once an account is deleted, it is gone.

Q: I used to get a daily email from SideReel. Where did it go?
A: Unfortunately we are no longer able to offer the daily calendar emails.

Q: I need to reset my password! What should I do?
A: Please visit our Forgot Password page and put in your email address. You will receive instructions on how to reset your password.

Tracking Shows

Q: I don't need to see all the shows I track in my tracker right now. How can I hide some of them?
A: You can filter your shows by status or hide shows you are up to date on. You can also keep track of shows you aren't currently watching by adding them to a list or rating them, after which you can untrack the show.

Q: My "Track Show" button disappeared. Are you trying to trick me?
A: Of course not! You may have a browser extension like HTTPS Everywhere installed that's not playing nice with our site. We suggest disabling extensions one-by-one to see where things are going wrong.

Q: I live in the UK or Canada. Is there any way I can only see UK or Canadian airdates for a show?
A: SideReel is a US-based site, so it will always default to US airdates. Right now there's no way to only show UK or Canadian airdates.

Q: I live in the US. Is there any way to make my tracker hide UK or Canadian airdates? I hate spoilers!
A: Sorry, unfortunately right now there's no way to hide UK and Canadian airdates.

Watching Shows

Q: How do I watch a show through SideReel?
A: SideReel doesn't host any videos directly, but we do provide links to external services! Just click on any of the "Buy or Stream" links next to the big poster image on a TV show page.

Q: I live outside the US. Can I still watch?
A: SideReel doesn't host any videos directly, so we don't have any control over the geographical restrictions for the sites to which we link. Some sources are available outside the US and others are not.

Q: If a show doesn't have any links, does that mean it's not available to watch?
A: We only provide high-quality, official links that comply with copyright restrictions and are authorized by content owners.

Mobile & More

Q: Do you have an app for my iPhone/iPad, Android, or Windows phone/tablet?
A: We don't, but the good news is that SideReel's adaptive website works with any mobile device!

Q: Do you have a public API?
A: We do not have a public API at this time.