Saturday, February 17, 2018

Streaming Video Power Rankings: Week 99

Welcome back to the longest-running weekly feature in the history of...this blog. Thanks for coming back after a week hiatus. Things are looking good at Cultureshark World Headquarters, and we're ready to start countin' em down--well, up--once again.

(I'm keeping the numerical sequence even though we missed a week because, well, why not?)

1) Netflix: Everything Sucks looks like another pandering, uneven nostalgia-fest...and I will probably watch all of it. I'm intrigued by the Joel McHale show debuting tomorrow, though I still haven't seen the Letterman show (love Dave, but I am just not that thrilled about sitdowns with Obama and Clooney right now).

Still, though, Netflix is top dog, and not just because I finally got around to watching that Eagles documentary and finishing season 1 of One Day at a Time. You notice how when someone like Disney talks about creating a streaming video service, everyone wants to call it a "Netflix killer"? To be the man, you gotta beat the man, I guess.

2) Amazon Prime: I don't know anything about Mozart in the Jungle except that some of the Golden Globes voters apparently love it, but I think it's time for me to start watching Bosch.  What's the deal with this new movie The Ballad of Lefty Brown, a Bill Pullman Western that apparently got a limited (token?) theatrical release?

The main reason for the #2 spot is the recent addition of scores of episodes of a vintage program: Laugh-In. I'll discuss this more in a post tomorrow.

3) Hulu: I have not been using Hulu much lately, but my kids sure have. I like that while we wait for the rest of the MTM library and MASH, random old shows like GaryUnmarried pop up.

4) WWE Network: The giant (if far from complete) Coliseum Home Video drop brings this SVOD service one step closer to being the network it should have been from the beginning. It has many, many El Gigante-sized steps to go, but it's on the way.

5) The CW: News that the network is expanding to Sunday nights worries me. I already feel like I watch too many superhero shows on this channel, and this is just gonna give me more. Hopefully it'll just be more Vampire Diaries spinoffs I can skip without guilt.

6) YouTube: My man SeanMc is coming through in a major way with tons of old promos and ads lately, but I want to talk about MGM posting the original Stargate movie as a way to promote its upcoming Stargate streaming service called "Stargate Command." Whaaaaa? Not for me, but I admire the effort to do something different. For a price, of course--for a price.

7) Shout! Factory TV: I have to give Shout! credit for promoting its collection of Soul! episodes, one of which proved that African-Americans could have conversations on public TV that were just as pretentious as those white people had. Also, Shout! would be higher this week if it celebrated Black History Month by returning Black Omnibus.

8) Warner Archive Instant: In case you were wondering, WAI did not update its Twitter feed while I was off. Nor did it add any content. As long it has Eight Is Enough, it will contend for a spot on this list as it clings to its spot in my heart.

9) Unnamed Roku Channel: Well, I might as well name it now. It was Time Machine Channel, it was awesome, and it is apparently gone. I was afraid it was too good to be true. Imagine offering old TV shows and movies that you can't get elsewhere for free.

10) MLB.TV: R.I.P. "the Chief," who years ago would have been stunned to learn you could access every baseball game that was on at once.

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