When a friend of mine renewed her membership last year, she was able to give someone a gift of 6 months free...and I am the lucky one who got it. I wish I had more time to visit the site, but do love what I do watch, and the programs I have missed are still there for me to watch....anything that was available during my membership remains available to me, even if I don't renew. My renewal comes up next month, and I am planning on renewing...I do get a lot of inspiration from the shows I have watched.
I agree that it would be a good idea to buy one of the shows to watch before deciding, and there is a lot of free things you can check out on the site too.