Reel 13

It's always a little depressing to stay home on a Saturday night, especially in NYC. However, when you have young kids, you find yourself at home on such nights more often than not (unless you want to bankrupt yourself on babysitters).

In the age of streaming services there's literally billions of hours of "content" to watch when you're stuck at home on Saturday nights. However, for my money (or actually, for no money), the best thing you can do at home on Saturday nights in NYC is watch Reel 13 on Channel 13.

Unlike a streaming service that overwhelms and blinds you with more movies or TV shows than you could possibly ever watch, Reel 13 is a carefully curated selection of two movies and a short film, shown on Saturday nights, chosen specifically for an NYC audience. There's a 9 PM main feature that's usually a classic film (like Citizen Kane or Dr. Zhivago or An American in Paris), often followed by an independent film that was produced in the last few years (like 2014's A Most Wanted Man which was Phillip Seymour Hoffman's last movie). In between both films is a short feature that viewers can chose by voting for on the homepage. There's even a host, usually a film professor from Columbia or NYU, who does a short intro or outro.

It's a friendly, fun, and culturally edifying experience, and helps fight against the "at-home on Saturday night" blues. 

Some of the best things in life are free -- even in NYC.