Streaming Video Power Rankings #117

1)  Hulu: It added all umpteen seasons of MASH--As I said on social media, finally some concrete evidence that something good came out of the Singapore summit. But why did it take one year after the announcement it had been acquired? Does this mean we'll get the rest of Bob Newhart Show next summer, The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 2020, and St. Elsewhere in 2021?

And I just happened to see this episode this week on Hulu, which is itself to earn a high ranking:

2)  Netflix: It didn't offer much new apart from The Last Jedi, but, hey, it's Star Wars. Netflix gets to brag that, "Hey, we got the Disney movies, yo!" Well, until next year when it loses them. I'm looking forward to season 2 of Glow, which just dropped, and my kids are gonna be thrilled to see another set of Nailed It episodes on the heels of discovering Alexa and Katie last week.

Sure, Netflix had to can an executive for allegedly being cluelessly racist, but other than that, it was a strong week, and the swift action seemed to dissipate any controversy. Hey, maybe he was the guy who authorized getting all those Streisand movies.

3) YouTube: As I compile this week's list, I am enjoying a 1989 Pirates/Cubs Game of the Week telecast from NBC with the great Bob Walk on the mound. Vin and Tom Seaver in the booth. I just love that this exists. YouTubeTV had some outages, but it also unveiled a deal to give viewers 3 free months of its premium service (see Cordcutters News for the details). I  feel I should take advantage of that, but, man, I can't keep track of everything else let alone this.

Uh, except for these weekly rankings, of course. I pay close attention to everything for the purposes of the prestigious top 10.

4) PIX 11: Still riding high on the strength of its 70th anniversary special, but it also posted a timely clip of Justice Kennedy's original nomination. Plus I saw a vintage Magic Garden and in an instant was transported back to simpler, better days when there was no such thing as Netflix and therefore no danger of it streaming Streisand concerts.

5) HBO: Farewell, HBO, and thanks for the entertainment you gave me at a heavily discounted rate. Is HBO worth 15 bucks a month? No, on a regular basis, there is no way it should cost that much. But it is strong, and I got my money's worth while I had it. This week it premieres It, which isn't enough to make me sign back up but is still a fairly big deal.

6) Hoopla: While trying to use my allotted "borrows" for the month from this library-affiliated service, I enjoyed an old Disneyland TV special and The Sultan and the Rock Star, another Disney TV effort, with Timothy Hutton and a tiger!

7) Amazon Prime Video: This may be the only place this week you see someone give Amazon credit for adding two episodes of Robert Montgomery Presents. I think The Closer (complete series) is also new, but it's no Robert Montgomery Presents.

8) WWE Network: I was watching an episode of TNT, and it still amazes me that even as "early" as 1984, The Fabulous Moolah was still holding a championship in the WWF.

9) Slacker Radio: I had some time to listen to some music and put on the TuneIn channel and was prompted to sign up or log in. So I immediately went to Slacker and listened to some good music for an hour or two without logging in.

10) Starz: I signed up for a 7-day trial so I could watch [redacted because it will show up in one of my other ventures soon]. So I will be "seeing Starz" this week! Heh heh!

Hey, these rankings take a lot longer to do than you might think, and I'm often a bit fatigued by the end. Cut me some slack.

Inside that comics grab bag part 2

I am breaking down in more detail the comics I got in a 10-issue grab bag at Ollie's Bargain Outlet. Part 1 is here, and the first closer look is here.

Last time out, I was disappointed to read two comics that left me hanging. I don't think the trend will change this time, but we shall see!

What If Inhumans Infnity Something or Other #1: This is a one-shot associated with a big Marvel Universe crossover EVENT of some kind. I would have loved to have scored an issue of the original series of What If?, but that was not to be. This is What If Black Bolt Betrayed Earth? Since it's an offshoot of a big epic, I am sure it would resonate more if I remembered/knew that event.

 

 

The thing I loved about the old What If? was that each scenario more or less culminated in half the characters dying a horrible death. It was a wonderful, morbid series that had all these abominable things happen to well-known characters. This new one is not so shocking or depressing, but it is kind of a bummer.

On one hand, I kind of enjoyed it because I never liked the Inhumans. I liked Black Bolt because he looked cool, but the rest of it annoyed me. Sometimes it was a fun little part of the Marvel U, but other times all their hoity-toity talk about being regal and so superior drove me up my decidedly unroyal walls. The Inhumans acted as if just because Black Bolt had a literal throne his inhuman poop didn't stink.

So it's kind of interesting to see what happens in this Imaginary Story (oops, that's the other company). Yet I just can't get fully invested. This book has that modern Marvel art style that I assume every other of their books has had for the last 15 years. The lettering annoys me. I just can't really get into it. And Uatu is nowhere to be found. It seems like a pointless cash grab rather than the good, old-fashioned gory Faces of  Death that the old What If? was. Thumbs down for this one overall, but as filler for a grab bag, I guess it doesn't offend me.

Today on Battle of the Network Shows!

Just looking out of the window, hearing the podcast show...

That's right it's Good Times on this week's pod!  The Evanses vs. The Haters! James vs. Easy Money! Jimmie Walker vs. John Amos!

Click right here to go to our website, or you can grab the episode wherever you get podcasts. Don't you dare miss it!

Classic Shows That Should Be Streaming: 5 for that new Disney thing whenever it shows up

Disney could really half-ass its new streaming video on demand service when it debuts in 2019, and part of me worries it will be stingy with catalog content. Even without the Fox library, though (much of which is supposed to be showing up on Hulu--still waiting for a lot of that), there are all sorts of great possibilities for Disney Take All Your Money (working title). Here we continue this series of posts with a look at 5 older shows that can be good fits:

1) Every Marvel cartoon ever: Some of these may be locked into other streaming rights deals, but I can't believe this is even in question. I thought for sure that Disney/Netflix deal a few years back meant a bonanza of old 'toons, but in fact, Netflx has dropped animated Marvel product over the years.

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and the 1981 Spider-Man used to be on Netflix, but that was a long time ago.  Lesser seen in reruns is the 1982 Incredible Hulk. And I am sure there is a tangle of rights with the various Fantastic Four cartoons, but so what? Let's get them all. Get the 1960s limited-animation cartoons with the awesome theme songs. Even recent stuff like the endless variations of Avengers series is impossible to keep track of because Disney buries a lot of it. The Marvel animated library should be a big part of the new service.

2) Disney Channel Flashbacks: A long time ago, The Disney Channel was a premium service that offered programming for little kids in the morning, for older kids in the day, for families in prime time, and nostalgia-oriented shows for adults later at night. We're talking shows like Ozzie and Harriet but also clever originals like Mousterpiece Theatre putting vintage Disney shorts in a fun package presented by a tongue-in-cheek George Plimpton. Ready Steady Go was even a thing on the old Disney. Maybe shows like Welcome to Pooh Corner and Dumbo's Circus are dated 30 years later, but you have kids who watched them back in the day now ready to spend $ on this streaming video service. Why not throw them a dose of nostalgia and make some of this available?

3) The Mickey Mouse Club/Zorro: These series also aired on the original version of The Disney Channel, but I give them their own joint entry. I am talking the original TV versions of each that kids saw in the afternoons. Disney gave up on these after abandoning its Vault Disney concept on the channel, and DVDs are looooong out of print. Again, nothing else is happening with these properties. Add them to the new service.

4) Wonderful World of Walt Disney Presents in Color: There are countless variations of the Disney anthology TV show that had a place on network TV for decades. I don't care what you call it or how you organize it--OK, I care a little bit because it could be really confusing--but all that footage should be available. Even in limited doses, it would be great to see Walt himself have some kind of presence on whatever this Disney OTT venture turns out to be. Nature shows, live action, cartoon collections...whatever. Just give it to us in some form with original intros.

5) The Muppet Show: This also belongs in the "I thought this was a no-brainer, but Disney keeps proving me wrong" category. Disney tries everything to reinvigorate Jim Henson's prized creations except  promoting the original series. First the show stalled out on DVD. Then, when streaming video seemed to provide a suitable home, the syndicated variety show remained MIA.

I have no idea why no one seems to want to stream the Muppets, but maybe now Disney is planning on making it a piece of its new offering. The franchise may be a little weakened as a TV and movie thing, but I believe putting up the originals will draw plenty of eyeballs on streaming. The original version hasn't been on Disney Channel in 20 years, so I think it's time for a resurgence of the material that made all these reboots possible.

'Mooners Monday: Before we leave "The Safety Award"...

...can we talk about Alice's dress?

Yes, the dress that was SO special, not only did SHE have to snag it at the department store when she saw it, but somehow Trixie did as well.

I mean, the Kramdens may be in Brooklyn, but I think part of that bowtie is in Queens. That monstrosity would make Ralph look small.

Now, the polka dots are a nice touch and give the outfit some pop, but, really, ladies, is this dress worth arguing over? Maybe one of you could wear the dress and the other could wear the tie. Actually, 4 or 5 of you could wear the tie.

Now, it does strain credibility that Ralph and Ed wind up in the same suit (not inside the same suit, though that might make a nice follow-up to the railcar segment in Unconventional Behavior), but...it's funny:

Before we leave, one more look at that dress AND another great Norton/Alice double reaction shot to something happening to Ralph off camera:

Streaming Video Power Rankings #116

 

1) PIX11: I have sort of a compact with WPIX. If the beloved New York television broadcaster I enjoyed so much as a youth puts something cool on its PIX11 Roku channel, I'm-a gonna rank it. The upload of a recent 70th anniversary special is enough to deserve a high spot--so much fun, so many memories, I only wish it were longer--but there's also a handful of original Magic Garden episodes to stream. Those who know will know how cool that is. 11 is a clear 1 this week!

 

 

2) Hulu: I don't know how all the recent upheaval will affect us--new execs, new ownership structure--but let's hope it continues to be aggressive about programming even though it is losing 400 million bucks a month or whatever. This week, Hulu adds a bunch of shows from Viacom networks, including Daria.

 

 

 

Hey, should I start watching Rick and Morty (new season now available on Hulu) even though I have a hundred other shows I want to start watching?

3) Netflix: Is the drop of season 2 of Luke Cage enough to redeem Netflix from its Streisand debacle last week?

 

No, of course not. However, my kids got a lot of entertainment out of it. So help me, I am starting to kind of enjoy Mr. Young (look it up and realize why I am embarrassed to admit that).

4) YouTube: I am considering starting a movement to declare certain YouTube channels national landmarks that receive federal protection from copyright claims.

5) Highspots: This pro-wrestling-on-demand streamer did a class thing. On the anniversary of Bruiser Brody's death, it made its original documentary on the life and times of the renegade star available for free.

6) HBO: Friends, I am about to conclude my stint with HBO, but I will return to it at some point.  I have been very happy with the service, but then again, it's much easier to be pleased with something that's 5 bucks per (DirectTV Now) as opposed to 15 bucks per (everywhere else). Expect this one to be much higher next week as I race to get some more movies in before I say bye-bye.

7) WWE: In addition to continuing its welcome drop of Mid-Atlantic wrestling from the 1980s, the folks running the Network put together a collection honoring the deceased Vader with impressive speed.

 

Yes, I have two pro wrestling networks in the list this week. If you want to make something of it, just know that I have mastered several different suplexes and the Daddylock.

8) Prime Video: A quiet week for Prime (Suits season 7 is one of the headliners), but I like the ongoing influx of movies from Shout!, including this must-see with Leo Nimoy:

 

 

9) Filmstruck: It slipped out of the rankings for a few weeks, partly because I don't have it right now, but it gave us a solid week of adds including collections devoted to Natalie Wood and to Miss Marple. I tell you, the pre-TCM version of Filmstruck never would have offered a Miss Marple collection.

10) MLB TV: I had an evening to myself and wasted much of it seeing a horribly played baseball game that went into extra innings and ended with the Pirates losing to the Diamondbacks. I don't blame MLB TV, though. I blame the New York Yankees because...do I need a reason?