Saturday, October 13, 2018

Streaming Video Power Rankings #131

1) Hulu: Numero Uno for one reason, and it's not because I think I'm going to start watching one of the telenovelas it just added: After months of me complaining and asking about the rest of the old Fox shows, Hulu finally added the rest of Mary Tyler Moore and St. Elsewhere. So kudos to you, Hulu. Next on the clock: the remainder of The Bob Newhart Show and Lou Grant. But for this week, Hulu gets a pat in the back even if the jury is out on that "ruining TV for you" ad campaign.

2) YouTube/YouTube TV: Folks, I am doing something potentially controversial and combining You Tube proper and the live TV service for the purposes of the rankings...at least while I have the latter.

I must say, while I don't really "need" a cable-lite package, it is great having the ability to just put on sports at night, and I am enjoying the MLB playoffs. So far, YTTv impresses me and is by far the best value out there as far as features, usability and most importantly channel assortment for the price.

3) Netflix: Netflix continues to throw more content at the wall than I can scrape off with a stick--did I say that right--but I ain't complaining. I finally tried out the new Norm MacDonald show, and, man, after 1 1/2 episodes I think it may be the funniest thing on Netflix all year. You can't tell me Hannah Gadsby and One Day at a Time are any more amusing than Norm and his awesome trainwreck of a talk show.

4) CBS All Access: I really don't care for the new CBS shows I am watching on here, but I sure like the oldies. I hate to say this again, but put Cheers, Andy Griffith, Star Trek, etc. on here and take them off Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, etc., and you would have something totally worth the $$$.  CBS should be (and apparently is, but slowly) bolstering the exclusive classics on here.

5) Prime Video: I suppose I should start talking about new series now, right? The Romanoffs seems too pretentious for its own good, and I doubt I--wait, Christina Hendricks is in it? Well, might be worth at least a look...

Actually, I am more excited about this flood of movies from Shout! Factory, many of them not on Shout's own streaming service, as far as I know. Anyone up for a screening of The Dirt Bike Kid?



6) WWE Network: Another stellar Hidden Gems update complements the old territory show episodes I have been enjoying.

7) Tubi TV:  First Pluto had it--credit where it's due--and now Tubi has...Mac and Me! I need to watch this, folks. Would it make a good double feature with Peter Billingsley's The Dirt Bike Kid?



8) CW: Now that this network has reopened for business (Oh, I know they had shows this summer, but my "stories" are back), it's time to remember that CW gives viewers episodes free on its app. As soon as I catch up on the hundreds of other things on my list, I will be using CW's Roku channel on the regular.

Who am I kidding? I will never get caught up but will watch stuff like The Dirt Bike Kid (Hey, Stuart Pankin is in it, too) instead.



9) NewsOn: Another natural disaster, another reason to appreciate this free aggregator of local newscasts. It really is a valuable channel even when there isn't a hurricane, though.

10) DC Universe: Titans looks horrible, but its premiere has people talking about this new streamer. I'd love to sign up for a month to check out the archive content, but with all the other stuff available, I am in no hurry considering the only real new content is one poorly reviewed episode of this series. DC may have made a mistake launching without more than this.

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