Doc is back tonight for its third season on FOX, and if you cut the cord years ago like most of us did, you've still got plenty of ways to watch the premiere live without paying for a full cable package.

The show, for anyone who skipped it, follows Dr. Amy Larsen, a brilliant internist who loses her memory in a car accident and has to rebuild her entire career and life from scratch. Not a water-cooler mystery box, just solid weekly medical storytelling with a lead who's easy to root for. My kind of network drama.

So how do you actually watch it? Per Syracuse.com's guide, it's pretty simple: FOX is carried live on the major live-TV streaming services, and most of them offer free trials for eligible new subscribers. Sign up tonight, catch the premiere as it airs at 9pm ET/PT, and decide afterward whether the service earns a spot in your monthly budget.

The usual suspects all carry FOX live depending on your market: Fubo, DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV. Philo is the cheapest option out there but it skips local channels like FOX in most areas, so double-check before you commit an evening to it. And if you're patient, episodes typically land on Hulu the day after they air, which is the old one-day-late workaround if a free trial isn't in the cards.

A couple of quick tips from someone who has done this dance many times. Check your local FOX affiliate before the premiere starts, because live channel availability varies by ZIP code and nothing kills a premiere night faster than a blackout message two minutes before showtime. And set a reminder to cancel the trial if you're only in it for Doc, because these services are counting on you forgetting. They really are.

As for the season itself, a third-season premiere is usually when a network drama either leans into what's working or starts rearranging the furniture, and I'll be watching tonight to see which way this one goes. My money's on leaning in, but I've been wrong before.

Medical drama or streaming trial roulette, either way your Tuesday night is handled. Jess Wingo keeps telling me I should just pay for one service and stop doing trial gymnastics, and tonight is not the night I prove her wrong.