Streaming Video Power Rankings #133: Still anticipating Halloween

The biggest fright of all came from the soul-sucking corporate overlords at AT&T.  Imagine being a megacorp so crummy that you make a megacorp as big as Warners look sympathetic.

1) Filmstruck: This week, it added an assortment of films by Jacques Tourneur as well as adaptations of works of Robert Louis Stevenson, but Filmstruck is #1 because AT&T killed it (despite the notices they sent to news sites claiming it was not an AT&T decision, who are they kidding?) because why make a little money when you can shutter something in the hopes of making more money a year down the road?

I can't say I'm surprised that AT&T wants to kill it off and focus on its forthcoming super-big streamer, but why do this now before anything is in place? Filmstruck had finally figured things out this year with the addition of the TCM movies and co-branding, and now it's gone. The TCM stuff may turn up somewhere...eventually. The Criterion stuff may turn up somewhere...eventually. The other licensed titles may turn up somewhere, too. But I really doubt we are going to get anything approaching having them all together in one place. Is anyone confident that the Warners library before 2000 will get any serious consideration in a future SVOD service?

2) YouTube/YouTubeTV:  I enjoyed dozens of ads uploaded by 5-star uploader SeanMc, who sure made up for lost time. Mainly I like having live TV if only for the World Series right now. The refreshing non-stingy approach they take to giving consumers a DVR capability comes in handy when you are occupied with sports all week.

3) CBS All Access: I watched it a lot thinking I would cancel it, and whaddya know, it lured me back in with a special offer to stick around for two months. So expect to see this remain a fixture over the coming weeks as I continue to explore the library shows and shun the new ones.

4) Hulu: To be honest. I didn't watch much Hulu the last few weeks, but I am starting to appreciate it more and more after seeing what else is going on in the streamosphere. Let's hope the current co-owners aren't too eager to start screwing it up.

5) Amazon Prime Video: This is one of those weeks I am thankful for Amazon Prime because it helped me do podcast prep, but there is a lot of other stuff going on, like the quiet addition of Kevin Brownlow's beloved 1980 Hollywood docuseries and a bunch of Classic Albums episodes.

My "What the hell is this?" of the week is this movie from 1988. Whoopi Goldberg, Herve Villechaize, John Heard, Elllott Gould...directed by Rip Torn!

6) Netflix: I am glad there is a home for Halloween episodes like the Friends one with Sean Penn and Chandler in the bunny suit and, better yet, Cheers' Bar Wars classics. Still, there is a lot of negativity around Netflix these days. The new Sabrina series is getting good reviews (I don't know if I want to go anywhere near it after seeing what happened to Riverdale), and even the new Adam Sandler standup special is well received. But the big news seems to be the cancellations, the latest being critical fave American Vandals. Is the future of Netflix hundreds of series a year...which are then canceled the next?

7) Pub-D-Hub: What better way to celebrate  Halloween week than by screening a vintage late-October episode of The Red Skelton Show with special guest Virginia Grey?

8) IFC: This app is frustrating in its overall lameness, and the Night Flight short compilation are frustrating in their shortness, but they are fun to watch.

9) WWE Network: I am not boycotting the Network over its decision to go forward with a paid event next weekend sponsored by the Saudi government. I do think it's appropriate to criticize them for it as well as for the cowardly way it has tried to just let the controversy fade away.

However, I made my peace with giving the company money a while ago...and plus I forgot when my renewal date was and it auto-renewed. This weekend's all-female Evolution event is a big deal, and I enjoyed the Last Battle of Atlanta special.

10) Showtime: It lands a spot by virtue of the return of my favorite TV show I've never watched:

RAY DONOVAN!