Streaming Video Power Rankings #121

We're doing this a little early this time because I have visitors this weekend and may well end up doing more...actual living...than watching streaming video. Wow, it really does look ridiculous when I write it down like that.

Here we go with a very sports-centric list:

1) MLB TV: Life is much, much better when your favorite team wins ballgames. It's also a pleasure to flip around and catch the endings of games. It would be great if they put up classic games as added value at some point. Then again, maybe not, because it might affect...
 
2) YouTube: There's a fantastic channel here that uploaded a slew of old games, including the 300th wins of the likes of Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton, and Tom Seaver. I like that the sports leagues are (apparently) turning a blind eye to some of this stuff, especially considering ESPN Classic is all but dead and the leagues don't show vintage material on their own networks as much as they used to do.

3) Netflix: I'm sure Orange Is the New Black fans will welcome a new season this weekend, but I am docking Netflix because there was one day this week I wanted a no-muss, no-fuss experience, so I sat down to watch a Cheers episode...and saw an error message that the title wouldn't play.

4) WWE Network: I had a blast watching the Network this week, and it only got better when it uploaded 3 rare Hidden Gems. Kudos to WWE for putting true rarities in that section lately. It is also adding a ton of old Coliseum Video releases. Of course, it was supposed to have all that up when it launched years ago, but who's counting?

5) Pix11: The vintage "Pine Tar Game" special hosted by Jerry Girard is a delight, complete with original commercials, multiple interviews, and Bill White talking to Billy Martin. Bless WPIX for treating this like such a big event back in the day, and bless them for making it available now. It's fantastic stuff and a great watch for baseball fans who remember that event.

6) Hulu: Castle Rock, a new series based on the StephenKingiverse (not to be confused with Steven Universe), is generating discussion but mixed reviews. I enjoyed some classic TV on here this week, and my kids enjoyed prepping for the Teen Titans Go! movie with some of the episodes. Aw, who am I kidding, they didn't need the excuse of prepping for the movie.
 
7) Filmstruck: I think the frequency of updates has gone down this summer, but I have to rate it when it makes my boy Humphrey Bogart the Star of the Week. I mean, I own most of the movies on DVD, but seeing that still makes me want to resubscribe.

8) Hoopla: If your library system supports this, you really owe it to yourself to check it out.  It has an impressive collection of British TV courtesy of Acorn.

9) PBS: The PBS app frustrated me in recent years, but the American Masters on Ted Williams is great, and, all credit to PBS, it was 100% free to stream the day after it premiered on air, with only one commercial at the beginning.

10) Sony Crackle: Last week I mentioned the deal Sony made with Pluto, licensing a host of its movies and TV shows, and I thought it would probably be much easier to watch them there than on Crackle. In the interest of fairness, I watched a movie on Sony Crackle: the original Point Break. Isn't it sad that there is a remake of Point Break?

I give Sony Crackle a spot because I did watch and enjoy the movie, but, oh, lordy, the interface is still awful, and I think it took 3 hours to watch a 2-hour flick because of all the commercials.