Behind the Rankings: DC Universe

In this week's rankings, I give DC Universe the #10 slot despite it not existing. It's coming this fall, though, and it generated some chatter at last week's San Diego Comic Con. I'm not thrilled about the price point--7.99 a month, but to be fair it includes some kind of access to digital comic books--and the early glimpses of originals like Titans doesn't impress me, but as a longtime (if lapsed) DC Comics reader, I just want this to be cool.

A while back, I made some suggestions for classic TV shows that should stream on this new streaming video service. Well, we now know some of--hopefully not all--the content DC will give us at launch. It's more than I would have feared but not as much as I hoped.

Perhaps the big showcase effort as far as classic TV is concerned is the 1970s Wonder Woman series. If this is remastered and uncut, hey, I'm there for Lynda Carter in HD. In that earlier post, I wrote:

I already suggested Batman (1966) for Netflix and Wonder Woman (1977) for Amazon. Wouldn't it be fantastic if DC, which is reportedly "securing rights" to old shows and movies, is going to announce each will be on DCU instead? I may even shell out for this thing if it gets both of those.

I think Batman streaming in high-def would be a real game changer for a new service like this, and maybe it's still in the works (or maybe even--I can dream--a surprise announcement being held back for launch), but for now, hey, one out of two ain't bad.

The other shows I picked:
The Adventures of Superman: No sign of that here yet, which is a shame.
Lois and Clark: It's not being touted in the publicity for this service, but the released promo pics indicate the entire series will be on the service. Thumbs up, DC!
The Flash (1990): This is included as well!
Filmation cartoons: I don't see anything about these...yet. I still think it's a natural fit considering many of these
Justice League: Also included!

That's 3 out of 5 I wished for, plus, according to that promo pic, "9 seasons" of Super Friends. You can parse that show many different ways--The New Gods know Warner sure confused things with its endless DVD releases--but I think that means the entire run will be there.

All this plus Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series (though I read it may just be some and not all of the episodes) makes a decent package. Is it worth 8 bucks a month? Well, with the originals, it's worth a look-see, I think. However, at 8 bucks a month, I don't think I would have this an automatic purchase every 30 days. Now, the comic book component could blow me away, and with access to a huge back catalog of comics, I might see it a little differently.