With spring approaching, the thought of enjoying your PB&J spread with a bit of warm sunlight may sound appealing, but when rain or the inevitable heat of summer descends, you can instead stay at your keyboard and watch some TV. Although with the full slate of offerings I’m going to tell you about, you may find yourself sitting close to your laptop, digging into cereal or late-night ice cream.

Last month, MSN Video, via its Video Guide, queued up for your free viewing pleasure more than 140 full-length TV shows, thanks to enriching its catalog. Now you can watch episodes of favorites from "24" and "Adam-12" to more than 1,250 episodes of "The Young and the Restless," with some "Buffy," "Chuck," "Doogie," House" and John Doe" thrown in.

The appetite for Internet video is rising rapidly. Last year, rivals NBC Universal & News Corp., in efforts to protect its TV offerings from entities like YouTube, combined forces to create the video hub, Hulu.com, which debuted Wednesday. (MSN is allied with NBC, through its joint-venture with news partner, MSNBC.)

These days, with people's computers able to handle video – and with the supply of digitized TV shows growing, MSN naturally has focused on building its library of available video content.

"We are starting to hit our stride with distribution of full-episode TV, providing full shows within hours of their broadcast or – like the original "Star Trek" – years after," said Reed Price, editor in chief for MSN Entertainment & Video. This week his team has expanded the presence of old-show offering on the front section ofMSN TV.

Likewise, when he carves time to watch missed episodes of his favorite cancelled shows like "Arrested Development" or "Picket Fences," Reed may watch it from its hub at videoguide.msn.com. "That's where we feature our original premium content, in addition to the great programming from NBC, FOX and CBS. We’ll soon be adding Viacom content (Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Country Music Television and more)."

Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons," oncesaidthrough Homer, "All life's answers are on TV." While that statement is open to discussion, the ability to watch full-length TV on a PC is one great improvement.

Watching these TV shows is certainly convenient – and nostalgic. "Adam-12" takes me back to childhood memories of my mother, entranced for some reason by Martin Malloy and Kent McCord.

Similar to the cable TV experience but easier, I clicked on Season 1, Episode 8. I enjoyed insights into the '60s – and some pass-the-time TV, presented with "limited commercial interruption" by our friends at Intel. A conversation between Officers Reed and Malloy about putting food on the table made me suddenly notice the adjacent ad for Reese's Whipps. I quickly got my mind off chocolate by opting to expand the screen fully. And a big benefit to watching these shows on MSN Video rather than, say, Nick at Night, is that advertisements are far, far fewer – and shorter.

MSN's presentation of all this video provides plenty of user options, but Kim Oberg, a business development manager for MSN Video, sees ways for this experience to become more social. A late baby boomer, she favors catching up on laughs by watching "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "30 Rock" or "Family Guy."

"TV is a cornerstone of pop culture and no generation more than mine has appreciated what TV can convey; fashion sense, cool dance moves, cooking tips and tricks, social skill primers and fuel for water cooler or in-between-class chat," she recalls. "If you missed the hot show that was on TV last night, you were out of the loop.

"Now you can watch that show online and never miss a beat.  Those younger than me are not so intrigued by the appointment viewing that I grew up with. They want all the content that’s available on whatever device they have available at whatever time they want to watch it. Why not?"

With TV shows having escaped from the confines of the family TV to the computer, and making inroads on the mobile phone, Oberg says it's time to "make the consumption of the content just as fun as if you were viewing it with your friends, or talking about it afterward and actually being able to bring video from a particular scene or joke into the conversation.

"Admittedly the content that we have in our library from Hulu, CBS, Viacom and other video partners isn’t complete. We don’t have everything anyone could want to watch at any given time, but we do have an expanding library of interesting content, both old and new, both long and short form. We have a business model that allows the end user to watch the content they want to see without paying a dime.”

Helping people explore so much content presents a large challenge – one MSN's video user-experience team accepted last fall. "The guide is designed to highlight the premium content available in a visual and impactful way," explains Marcus Piña, design director for MSN Entertainment & Video. The goal, he said, is to encourage people to scan for new content, while allowing the design to accommodate new content and partners.

Whether your viewing habits lean toward drama, comedy or reality – current or cancelled – we hope you'll take a closer look at the MSN Video Guide, watch it grow and offer your comments.