One of the most underrated crime series of this decade is back on streaming, and it’s free. If streaming services offer one gift for viewers, it is the fact that older shows networks canceled get a second chance at life. Before streaming, if a network canceled a television show after one or two seasons, the chances of seeing it again were rare, other than by buying it on DVD. Some genres, like sci-fi and fantasy, were an exception. However, unless a crime drama had the words Law & Order or CSI in the title, the chances of seeing it on regular TV were nonexistent. Now, streaming can bring these more obscure canceled shows back, and when it’s free, it’s a bonus.
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Tubi is one of the best streaming services for people who love older TV shows and love watching them for free, even if it includes commercials. Tubi just added both seasons of the crime drama series Accused, and it’s free to watch on the streaming service.
Accused Gets Second Life on Tubi
Accused was a brilliantly executed crime drama series that remains highly underrated two years after Fox canceled it. Based on the British anthology series of the same name by Jimmy McGovern, Howard Gordon (24, Homeland) ran the series on Fox that showed a person on trial without the viewer knowing what the crime was or how they ended up in court. This offered a fun ride, as the episode then showed the events that led to the trial from the defendant’s point of view.
This format helped differentiate Accused from police procedurals because this wasn’t about the cops investigating the case. This was only about the accused people, and the story was from their POV, whether they were guilty or innocent in the end. Making the viewer watch the story from the accused person’s point of view changed the entire dynamic of watching the crime’s story play out. It also helped Accused deliver a crime drama without having to follow the police officers, something some fans have preferred over the past few years.
The best part of the series is that the cast was full of familiar faces, some returning for different roles. The first season, which featured 15 episodes, included actors like Michael Chiklis, Jill Hennessy, Megan Boone, Aaron Ashmore, Rachel Bilson, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Rhea Perlman, Jason Ritter, Abigail Breslin, Keith Carradine, and more. The second season only had eight episodes, but brought in names like Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Taylor Schilling, Nick Cannon, Debra Winger, Cobie Smulders, Ken Jeong, and Sonequa Martin-Green.
The Accused premiere was the highest-rated for Fox in years, with 11.3 million viewers, but the numbers dropped to only an average of 1.27 million in Season 2. Whether it was the lack of consistent characters to follow or that people preferred the comfort food procedurals like NCIS and One Chicago, Accused couldn’t make it past two seasons. While the reviews were mixed, this was a show that did something very different and deserves a second look from fans who might have missed it the first time around. Luckily, Tubi is offering that chance for free.
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