Classic Shows That Should Be Streaming: 5 for Hulu

Welcome back to my ongoing series identifying 5 classic TV shows that should be added to each of the major streaming video on demand services. The idea is that the shows are not currently streaming, and there might be some realistic chance of them appearing. I looked at Netflix and Prime Video, and today it's time to examine the other member of the SVOD trinity, Hulu.

Hulu has acquired so many shows in recent years that it is stockpiling them. I was told on Facebook that, in essence, it is spreading them out, hence the long delay for something like MASH, which was acquired over a year ago but still isn't there. Owned by several major industry players, Hulu should have at least a foot in the door in trying to get some of these series. It has relationships with all the big content providers, so I consider just about everything on the table, but I am not including the Fox and MTM shows because supposedly they are already coming and because many of them are there now in partial form.

1) The Love Boat: CBS' sloooooow pace of DVD releases shouldn't be an obstacle to a big streaming deal. Hulu is a service about TV and celebrating TV, and what show is more quintessentially showbiz and TV-y than Love Boat, with its cheesy theme song, its endless guest stars, and...pretty much everything about it. Beautiful-looking videos of the episodes have circulated online. Bring it to streaming, where we don't have to watch all 250 installments (though I might) but we can seek out interesting guests and goofy plotlines.

2) The Drew Carey Show: This series tailed off a bit in its later years but at its peak was one of the best sitcoms on the tube. Warner Brothers has done very little with it, only releasing one season on DVD and licensing it to little-known diginet Laff.

Would you believe this ran for 9 years and over 230 episodes? That's a staggering total--great inventory for a big streamer like Hulu. The show was hilarious at its best and deserves better than the semi-obscurity it now endures. Carey himself said music clearance issues prevented further DVD releases and streaming deals. Is that true? I don't know; it doesn't seem like streaming always follows the DVD rules, but what do I know? I tell you what I know: I know that I want to see those early seasons of this series again.

3) Columbo: Now we get to the "used to be on Netflix" portion of the list. Netflix used to have a broad deal with Universal that gave it access to tons of classic TV from that studio. At first I thought maybe Universal (Comcast/NBC/whatever it calls itself now) denied a renewal of the deal so it could save properties for its own streaming services. Then SeeSo came and tanked, and we never got the classic cop/detective show service I thought we might. Netflix didn't bother replacing any of it, and now I think Netflix just didn't want to pay for any of it.

Well, that leaves a whole lot of stuff floating around without a streaming home. Cloo was supposed to be the cable home of the old detective shows, but that didn't work out so well. You can still see Columbo on Hallmark and Me-TV but it needs a streaming home for uncut episodes. Hulu would be a great spot for the show.

4) Quincy, M.E.: See above. Hulu has made a habit of picking up shows that Netflix loses, including Universal properties like 30 Rock, so why not add another one? Yes, I want to see Quincy on Hulu.

5) Leave It to Beaver: One of the iconic baby boomer sitcoms deserves a spot somewhere. It's another Universal show in limbo after leaving Netflix, and Hulu could stand to beef up its library from this era after hitting the 90s and up hard the last couple years. There are 234 episodes for the taking here.

Shout Factory licensed home video rights years ago and put the series out on DVD, but does it have streaming rights? I dunno. If it does, hey, my feelings won't be hurt if the series appears on Shout! TV, but since Shout and Hulu already have a working relationship, I think one way or another The Beav could make a great addition to either service (The Munsters is in a similar situation, only with about a couple hundred less episodes).