Tag: Peacock

Which Streaming Services Are Worth a Subscription?

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Helpful chart via Axios

These days, it seems like every major media outlet is putting out their own digital streaming service. Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Amazon have become well-established in this space over the past few years, while Disney, CBS, and NBCUniversal (among others) are all gearing up to launch their own services within the next few years. Here’s my personal guide to which streaming services are worth a monthly subscription or if the service should be ignored altogether (although the economical choice is to bum a login for each service off of one of your friends).

Netflix

Price: $8.99/month for basic plan; $12.99/month for Standard plan with HD; $15.99/month for Premium plan

Content Highlights: Original movies like Roma, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and the upcoming Breaking Bad movie El Camino; original series like Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson; a wide array of movies and TV shows from other networks; a ton of stand-up comedy specials

The Verdict: Netflix is the OG when it comes to streaming services. They had a head start when it comes to creating content specifically for their service, and while some of it falters, it’s definitely worth a subscription.

Hulu

Price: $5.99/month for ad-supported Basic plan; $11.99/month for ad-free Premium plan; $44.99/month for Basic + Live TV plan; $50.99/month for Premium + Live TV plan

Content Highlights: Original series like The Handmaid’s Tale, Future Man, and The Path; TV shows from other networks like Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine; movies such as Ocean’s Eleven, Airplane!, and 50 First Dates

The Verdict: Hulu has a great selection of TV shows available. If you’re subscribing strictly for movies I would stay away, but at $5.99 a month, I would certainly say it’s worth a subscription. Also, if you’re a student paying for Spotify with a student discount, a Hulu subscription is included for free!

Disney+ (Launches November 12)

Price: $6.99/month or $70/year, per Disney

Content Highlights: Disney+ is going to be packed. It will feature Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and original TV shows, Star Wars movies and TV shows, Pixar movies, plus National Geographic programming. It will also integrate Fox properties over time as their acquisition goes through.

The Verdict: Once Disney+ launches, it will be the king of the hill for streaming services in my book. At only $70 for a year-long subscription (basically $5.83/month), it’s most certainly worth a subscription.

HBO NOW

Price: $14.99/month

Content Highlights: HBO series like The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Succession, Barry, and Curb Your Enthusiasm; movies like Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, and Can You Ever Forgive Me?; a ton of HBO comedy specials

The Verdict: HBO has made the most compelling shows on TV for years now and it constantly rotates in a wide selection of decent-to-good movies. Most people can bum a login from their friends or parents, but if you’re a friendless orphan, HBO is worth a subscription.

Amazon Prime Video

Price: $12.99/month or $119/year; included with Amazon Prime Subscription

Content Highlights: Original series like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, and The Boys; movies like Eighth Grade, A Quiet Place, Lady Bird, and The Big Sick

The Verdict: Most people have Amazon Prime accounts (or at least use someone else’s). This is worth the subscription if for no reason other than to get anything you would ever need delivered to your house in two days with free shipping.

CBS All Access

Price: $5.99/month with limited commercials; $9.99/month commercial-free

Content Highlights: CBS series like NCIS, Young Sheldon, and Survivor; All Access Originals like The Twilight Zone, Why Women Kill, and Star Trek: Picard; CBS live streaming for sports, local news, and more

The Verdict: The last time I watched/enjoyed any CBS series, it was the early seasons of How I Met Your Mother. Other than that and live sports coverage, I could go the rest of my life without ever watching anything from CBS. If Young Sheldon and The Young and the Restless tickle your fancy then go for it, but to me this is not worth the subscription.

Peacock (NBCUniversal)

Price: NBCUniversal hasn’t specifically said how much Peacock will cost, but have said that the service will be ad-supported (the price listed in the graphic at the top has not been confirmed). There is also speculation that cable subscribers with access to NBC will be able to use the service for free.

Content Highlights: NBC original series like The Office, Cheers, Parks and Rec, Friday Night Lights, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine; series from other networks including Downton Abbey and Everybody Loves Raymond; reboots of shows like Saved by the Bell, Punky Brewster, and Battlestar Gallactica; Universal Pictures movies like Bridesmaids, Casino, Back to the Future, E.T., and the Bourne and Fast and Furious franchises

The Verdict: Peacock’s price will play a big factor into whether or not I think it’s worth a subscription. If they keep it under $10 a month, I would definitely consider this worth the price. Anything higher than that and I’ll stay away. Undecided, but leaning toward yes.

AppleTV+

Price: Apple’s yet-to-be-launched service will cost $5/month. Also, anyone who buys an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, or Mac will get a free one-year subscription.

Content Highlights: Original series including The Morning Show, See, Dickinson, and Snoopy in Space; Original movies like On the Rocks and Wolfwalkers

The Verdict: Nothing here jumps at me. Maybe if I get a yearlong subscription with a new phone or computer I’ll be drawn in, but for now this is not worth the subscription.

Showtime Anytime

Price: $10.99/month or $109.90/year; free if Showtime is part of your cable package

Content Highlights: Showtime series including Shameless, Billions, and Ray Donovan; movies like When Harry Met Sally, Evan Almighty, and Hotel Artemis

The Verdict: Showtime has to do a lot of work to change my mind that it’s not just a bootleg version of HBO. The series aren’t as strong and the movie selection is significantly weaker. Not worth the subscription.

STARZ

Price: Direct subscription to STARZ is $8.99/month; streaming is free when included in your cable package

Content Highlights: Original series like Power, Black Sails, and Party Down; movies like Toy Story 3, Moneyball, Venom, and The Other Guys

The Verdict: Eh. Better than Showtime, I think, but still not enough to do it for me. Not worth the subscription.

Rebooting ‘The Office’ Is A Big Mistake

I’m a huge fan of The Office (basic, I know). When I was in seventh grade, my family got a box set of the show’s first four seasons (called “The Ultimate Package, That’s What She Said”), and ever since then I’ve loved the show. I’m not alone in feeling this way; since the end of its run in 2013, the show has gained a second life thanks to Netflix, becoming one of the streaming service’s biggest draws.

Last month, Netflix announced that in January 2021, it would lose The Office to NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service, Peacock. A lot of Peacock news dropped today:

People are understandably freaking out because several beloved NBC sitcoms will be available on the service, including Friends, Parks and Recreation, and Cheers, and a few beloved shows will be rebooted, including Saved by the Bell and Battlestar Gallactica. The reboot news that garnered the most attention, though, came from NBCU Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises Bonnie Hammer, who had this to say:

It is my hope and goal that we do an Office reboot … The Office comes back to us in January 2021. It is my hope that we can figure out what that great reboot would be. We are having conversations.

Here’s the thing: a reboot of the show would almost certainly be bad.

After Steve Carell’s Michael Scott left the show at the end of its seventh season, The Office felt pretty soulless. It seemed like the cast’s heavy hitters were preoccupied with other projects while writers were scrambling for ideas and in turn we ended up with weak characters like DeAngelo Vickers, Robert California, and Nellie Bertram to fill space.

Plus, the show’s finale ended on such a great note. Every character had what seemed like a perfect sendoff, and a reboot would cheapen every character’s happy ending. If the idea is to try to do the show with new characters, then I say keep it. Remember how terrible it was when Scrubs had a fantastic finale, then they forced a ninth season with all new characters? I’d prefer not to have my favorite show’s perfect ending sullied because NBCUniversal can’t think of any original ideas for their streaming service.