Streaming Video Power Rankings #111

1) MLB.TV: I still have this, and I'm not sure how, but I have to rank it up there considering I turned it on each night after work. The fact that I missed most of the last two Pirates losses probably works in MLB's favor. Anyway, I am gonna ride this while it lasts.

2) YouTube:  It deserves credit for renaming YouTube Red to YouTube Premium. Clearly it's feeling cocky after getting an actual hit series in Cobra Kai. It gets a demerit because my kids saw a DIY slime video and the formula just DID NOT WORK!

3) Netflix: On one hand, 13 Reasons Why dropped a new season, and it's one of the buzziest shows Netflix has. On the other, part of the buzz is because of the controversy, and premiering the day of a high-profile school shooting is unfortunate (though not at all Netflix's fault, obviously). And taking those issues out of it, this is the kind of show that didn't really need a second season.

However, I am enjoying Wild Wild Country, and my kids like the new comedy sketch/history show, the Who Was? Show. Well, one of them did, and the other called it "cringey," but I suspect that opinion will change, and I appreciate the combination of Ben Franklin and fart jokes, so I am breaking the tie.

They are also into the cooking competition show Nailed It. Finally, we watched The Angry Birds Movie together, and it was much better than I expected (I expected "atrocious"), and one crude gag made me laugh for about 75 seconds.

4) Filmstruck: I have to knock it down a bit because I just didn't watch anything on it this week. In my defense...I don't have it anymore. Yes, the make-good for Warner Instant subscribers finally expired. Filmstruck is still that rarity: Something that gets better every single week.

The service just added a bunch of John Huston movies--and we're talking the big ones like Treasure of the Sierra Madre included--and a bunch of Danny Kaye movies (not just including the same old ones you always see) plus a theme of "West Africa." I probably won't watch any of the West African movies anytime soon, but it makes me feel cultured to mention them. I will get this again, likely after something else runs out and I have more time to watch it, but I will rank it somewhere in the top 10 each week if this continues.

5) Hulu: Well, my 2018 "watching on Hulu" shows are just about over, so it's time to dive into the library and get back into some of the older stuff. There still isn't that one original series I feel I must see, but I do want to check out a few more of the documentaries this summer.

6) TuneIn: Purely on the strength of Deep Oldies Radio, but that's worthy in itself. If you listen to classic rock/oldies radio, you have probably heard The Who, but when was the last time you heard Call Me Lightning by The Who?

7) NBC: All the better to watch Punky Brewster with--and, oh, hey, that just happens to be the subject of this week's Battle of the Network Shows podcast! Hey, I didn't make the shameless plug in the YouTube entry, so I gotta do it somewhere.

8) WWE Network: Do you know the pain of sitting down to watch an old Clash of Champions and discovering the network cut out Dick Murdoch vs. Bob Orton and Road Warriors vs. Varsity Club for no apparent reason? Well, just believe that it hurts. It's enough to take some of the shine off adding dozens more episodes of Mid-South Wrestling. Yes, I realize many of you are rolling your eyes.

9) The Roku Channel: I ripped this one for losing Good Times and a few other classic sitcoms. Well, they are back...but with a catch. Now it's seasons 3 and 4 up instead of 1 and 2. It's better than nothing, but a heads up would have been nice.  I give Roku Channel credit for re-adding this and I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched (It apparently pulled the shows while deleting the first seasons and adding new ones), but it's still a bummer. The channel also gets props for showcasing free content from a variety of sources in honor of Streaming Week (apparently that's a thing), like Billions season 1.

10) Acorn TV: Sneaks into the list for sending me an email asking me to sign up again. Hey, get Drop the Dead Donkey, and I will consider it. Still, it's nice to know you remember me and that you care.