I just got Hulu!

[Artemis97]

So my family is making the switch from regular old cable/satelite TV to fun new digital streaming services. We're doing a 7 day trial of Hulu right now and I wanted to know if the Playground had any good recommendations of shows to watch. Thanks!

[Peelee]

Community. First three seasons are magical.

[KillingAScarab]

It is subscription only now, isn't it? Too bad. I had used it when I missed the broadcast of an episode of the X-Files miniseries (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X-Files_%28season_10%29), and it worked well enough. That has a disc release now, though.

If you only have 7 days with it, you're probably going to want to focus on something you can finish and judge in that time. What genres are you looking for? Are you specifically looking for something a large range of ages can watch? Even if you were interested in X-Files, and that miniseries was just 6 episodes, I felt the quality was mixed. I wouldn't prioritize that, plus it certainly wasn't for children.

There's a Wikipedia article listing Hulu's original programs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Hulu).

[Guttercleaning]

Be careful. Hulu will charge you different than what they say. Told me 11 dollars a month and it's 22. Can't unsubscribe because I forgot my password. They won't send me a password renewal.

[Artemis97]

Oh no worries about whether or not it's for children. I'm the oldest kid in the house and I'm 28, unless you count the dogs, but they don't watch TV.

I'm going to say something potentially controversial, but I didn't really like Community. It seems like something I should like, but I just didn't.

Let's see... Mom likes crime and medical dramas. She's watching Blue Bloods right now. Unfotunately, Hulu doesn't seem to carry the CBS shows we like. Dad likes action movies and westerns. I think he'll find a greater variety of new stuff on Hulu compared to Netflix. I like anime and sci-fi.

Thanks for the warning about pricing. I'll keep a close eye on that. They're supposed to charge me on the 25th for their basic $7.99 service.

[Peelee]

I'm going to say something potentially controversial, but I didn't really like Community. It seems like something I should like, but I just didn't.

No worries. People have different tastes. You're totally allowed to be wrong.:smalltongue:

[Thinker]

Oh no worries about whether or not it's for children. I'm the oldest kid in the house and I'm 28, unless you count the dogs, but they don't watch TV.

I'm going to say something potentially controversial, but I didn't really like Community. It seems like something I should like, but I just didn't.

Let's see... Mom likes crime and medical dramas. She's watching Blue Bloods right now. Unfotunately, Hulu doesn't seem to carry the CBS shows we like. Dad likes action movies and westerns. I think he'll find a greater variety of new stuff on Hulu compared to Netflix. I like anime and sci-fi.

Thanks for the warning about pricing. I'll keep a close eye on that. They're supposed to charge me on the 25th for their basic $7.99 service.

On Hulu:

The Awesomes is pretty good. It's cartoon comedy about a team of misfit super heroes.
The Mindy Project is a fun comedy, too. Started on broadcast TV, but is Hulu original now about a modern single woman living in New York City.
The Wrong Mans was a funny deadpan British comedy about a pair of unlikely ordinary fellows caught up in a British spy story.
Deadbeat was a funny comedy about a guy who can see dead people and helps them resolve what's keeping their spirits around.


On Netflix:

Your dad might like Longmire. It's a modern Western that uses a lot of common tropes, but with modern touches. It centers around a sheriff in Wyoming as he deals with the pulls between citizens, local businesses, his deputies, a young upstart wannabe sheriff, and the Native Americans on the reservation. It treats the Native Americans with respect, too.
Stranger Things was an excellent miniseries on Netflix capturing nostalgia from 80s scifi/horror movies.
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a good comedy if you like the Tina Fey/30 Rock style. It's about a quirky girl who overcomes the challenges of reemerging into modern life after being trapped in an evil cultist's bunker since the 90s.
My girlfriend really likes Grace and Frankie, a show starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterston, and Martin Sheen. I've also seen Ernie Hudson (Winston from Ghostbusters) and Sam Elliot on there. It's about two old women who never really liked each other, but whose husbands were best friends. It starts out with them both being served divorce papers by their husbands who have had a 20 year affair with one another.
I enjoyed a lot of the Marvel original TV shows. They're less flashy than superhero movies and are more street-level. My parents liked them, too and they don't have any background in super hero stories.


This might help:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Hulu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Netflix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Amazon (if you have Prime, it includes access to these video options in addition to being able to rent individual episodes, series, or movies from their library)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Crackle (entirely free streaming service, supported by ads)


While I also enjoy mystery shows (Monk and Psych are two of my all-time favorites), it doesn't seem to be a popular genre currently and I've had difficulty of my own in finding it. Keep in mind that Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and Crackle will also have things that aren't originals by them and will have a lot of additional content in their libraries. CBS is lame in that they want to do their own streaming service for $6.99/month, including their catalog. They're banking on the new Star Trek series to bring in a lot of subscribers.

[KillingAScarab]

I found this wiki (http://redditanime.wikia.com/wiki/Hulu_Streaming_Anime) for anime streaming on Hulu. Important notes on there about whether something has subtitles, is dubbed in English, has original English, or some mixture.

[lunaticfringe]

Sci-fi

All the Stargate TV shows
The Invisible Man
12 Monkeys
All the Star Trek shows, but I think Netflix has those too

[Artemis97]

Thank you for all the suggestions, everyone. The wikis will be really helpful, too.

[Mato]

So my family is making the switch from regular old cable/satelite TV to fun new digital streaming services. We're doing a 7 day trial of Hulu right now and I wanted to know if the Playground had any good recommendations of shows to watch. Thanks!Yeah, find the unsubscribe button and watch that.

Hulu's pay service is full of commercials and only gives you a one-day-late access to currently airing programs. You could watch the show when it airs for free, TiVo it and watch it with fast-forwarded commercials whenever you want, or go to the network's website and watch it anytime you want with less commercials for free.

Hulu's network is notoriously slow and throttles you worse than Netflix does, around here it's often totally unwatchable due to loading breaks during the day. Then network wise they keep losing shows. Last year they had the Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl and this year they don't because they canceled the contract with CW. So CW extended their contract with Netflix in return.

They also don't have anything from CBS, which is also fine because recently aired episodes are offered for free over there too but more pragmatically you already have to open a network's website if you want to keep up with NCIS or Elementary so why not open a second instead of paying ten bucks a month so you can switch apps?

To go commercial free it'll cost you another five bucks per month which I've heard is going up next year and who knows who they will end up dropping next season. But instead of paying fifteen bucks to not watch your CBS shows commercial free you could just pay five bucks for commercial free CBS and full access to pretty much every show they've ever aired. I think ABC does the same so you could save sixty bucks a year just by going to the networks directly.

Looking at movies, they do have a lot more independent B movies no one watches unless they are 12 and looking for nudity scenes (srsly, look at their top watch / trending lists and you'll see the trend). But it seems for every recent movie that shows up on Hulu, Netflix also grabs a copy and offers it. Finally several of Hulu's "unique" shows are reality TV, boring, or are early access to Youtube videos (like rocketjump's deal).

You will never shake the feeling that you are paying for stuff already have access to, either by Netflix or the network's them selves, for as long as you continue to pay it. Each month you'll wonder if you should even bother with it but just decide you won't want to go through the effort of canceling because "it'll probably get better". And the truth is it won't. Besides, Disney owns it and when of they ever not screwed someone over for profit?

Unsubscribe and forget about it. Consider instead spending a hundred bucks (still twenty cheaper than Hulu) on setting up a wireless HDMI center so all your devices can stream all your favorite shows without the 2-at-once limit.

[darkrose50]

I cut the cable cord about six-months ago. I have a few of those Roku devices.

I picked up:
Hulu without commercials.
Netflix
HBO
Stars
Amazon Prime

Hulu is great for watching TV shows on your TV.
Netflix is good for movies and just about dominates kids television.
HBO for GoT and John Oliver.
Stars has some neat shows.
Amazon Prime has some neat shows.

[Artemis97]

That's the thing, we don't have access to cable anymore. We're cutting the cord. I'll talk to my parents about getting CBS from another $5, but I doubt they'll got for it. That's a lot for a single channel, as good as it is. That said, I'd be willing to fork over the $10 for HBO. I dunno. *shrugs*

[Thinker]

That's the thing, we don't have access to cable anymore. We're cutting the cord. I'll talk to my parents about getting CBS from another $5, but I doubt they'll got for it. That's a lot for a single channel, as good as it is. That said, I'd be willing to fork over the $10 for HBO. I dunno. *shrugs*

We cut the cord, too. For broadcast channels, we spent $20 for an antenna and it picks up around 30 channels (though, only for a single TV and no on demand). We only really watch CBS and occasionally PBS on it, but it was a good alternative for us compared to the cost of CBS per month. We went with this one. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FVTM8ZO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=27JE4SSQ166BN&coliid=I3V8ZJUV4QO168

[Mato]

I'll talk to my parents about getting CBS from another $5, but I doubt they'll got for it.You only have to fork $5 over to CBS if you want commercial free and plan to run more than a month behind on shows. They typically have the last five or six episodes up for free and they only post pone them by a day, that way you can't watch them online before they air over prime time TV.

And if paying five bucks for CBS's all access is too much then paying ten bucks for what other networks already offer for free is too. Just keep that in mind...


Hulu is great for watching TV shows on your TV.
Netflix is good for movies and just about dominates kids television.
HBO for GoT and John Oliver.
Stars has some neat shows.
Amazon Prime has some neat shows.Netflix's originals are pretty good too and they cycle the more expensive shows too. Like last year they had all of Showtime's Californication up.

Prime TV really shouldn't be under estimated either and the TV service is just a small part of their Prime benefits.

[Peelee]

I think Over the Garden Wall is on Hulu. That show I HIGHLY recommend. It's very, very short, though.