Friday, June 9, 2017

Streaming Video Power Rankings: Week #63 (Special "Hey, Gene Upshaw wore #63" edition)

1) Netflix: A slow week volume-wise, but original movie Shimmer Lake and a new season of Orange Is the New Black will make some people happy, and on a slow week of me watching, nobody else stepped up to unseat the big dog.

2) Hulu: I'm trying to get caught up on Gotham via Hulu, but I was in the mood for an episode of I Love Lucy the other day. Now, I have no idea why Hulu skips every other episode, but at least it has some I Love Lucy.

3) Warner Archive Instant: Not a lot going on--WAI added some new titles, and some of them are quite good, but they were on WAI before. The channel is coasting, but as I said, it's a slow week.

4) YouTube: I may have to drum YT out of my top 10 for good if my kids don't keep watching these inane vlogs and getting the songs stuck in my head and--man, I need to dive into some old network promos or something to cleanse my brain.

5) PIX11: It continued to add content this week, and that 1980 newscast I mentioned last week is great. I also enjoyed a feature on the 1978 Yankees/Red Sox confrontations with a New York suoerfan claiming the phrase "BOSTON SUCKS" "isn't derogatory."

6) Days of Dumont: There's an awesome station ID on here: A drawing of the Statue of Liberty along with the call letters WABD and the slogan, "New York's Window on the World." Modern TV could learn a lot from defunct networks and their affiliates. Exactly what, I do not know, but it's a cool station ID.

7) Pub-D-Hub: The highlight for me in this week's adds: the premier of 13 Demon Street, a short-lived anthology series made in Sweden (!) and hosted by Lon Chaney Jr. I could have sworn this was already on here, but, hey, I never saw it, so it's new to me. Also of note, a striking American Cancer Society PSA. After a lackluster stretch in the spring, Pub-D-Hub seems to be back.

8) Shout! Factory TV:  Just added a batch of episodes of The Dr. Ruth Show. Dare I watch? I should at least watch the episode with Burt Reynolds, right?

9) Acorn TV: I just realized Acorn has the third season of Count Arthur Strong, with a new episode each week. I got into the series on SeeSo, which does not have the third season. Well, I do not have Acorn, but this is tempting, and it's a good reason to rank Acorn (and to not rank SeeSo).

10) Filmstruck: Well, I have been asking for months, when is Filmstruck coming to Roku? It has finally arrived, so it earns a spot in the top 10, though frankly, I still think it looks a little overpriced.

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