With the proliferation of streaming services that never seem to end, Nick Ciarelli and Brad Evans offer up what it might be like (and what might actually happen) with what Google’s streaming service would be like.
Nick and Brad show off what would be a great episode of Black Mirror as well as their mastery of making satirical lists. Enjoy Google Drive Deluxe here.
While Seeso ended up not working out, NBC is taking another crack at an exclusive streaming service, though it won’t be limited to just a vast library of original and acquired comedy programming.
Peacock, announced today, will carry a bunch of NBC exclusive content including a scripted series that will bring Mike Schur and Ed Helms back for the first time since The Office, former Late Night with Seth Meyers writer/star Amber Ruffin with her own streamlined version of a late night show in The Amber Ruffin Show, and SNL behind-the-scenes series called Who Wrote That.
Also, a movie sequel to the off-beat detective comedy series Psych and the third season of A.P. Bio are line-up for Peacock.
There are a bunch of drama properties that NBC has planned for Peacock as well, but we do think that much of Peacock success will have to do with a new Schur/Helms series.
Also, when this launches, NBC will technically be the first network to have four late night style shows (Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, and soon The Amber Ruffin Show).
If this all sounds good to you, look towards spring of 2020 to get in on NBC’s Peacock.
L.A. Public Library Membership Now Gets You Access to Niche Streaming Service Kanopy
While Netflix does have access to pretty much everything, they don’t have streaming rights to everything.
That’s where other streaming services have come in amassing their own special collections of movies, TV shows, etc. in order to entice you to subscribe.
The LA Public Library has now partnered up with Kanopy, which allows you to stream plenty of documentaries, indie, and foreign movies that you can’t stream on Netflix (you can order a DVD and wait if you’re still into that).
Such titles that popped to us include:
Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Charade starring Audrey Hepburn
Dave Made a Maze
Le Weekend
Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator
Computer Chess
Buster Keaton’s The General
Oscar Winning Short Films
If you have a LA Public Library card, then you get access to all of this for free, FYI. It may have been awhile, but maybe you should get one?
Boomerang Will Be Getting Its Own Subscription Based Streaming Service
For $4.99 a month, you’ll be able to stream more than 1000 episodes of cartoons old and new including Looney Tunes, and Tom & Jerry, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, and much more. Some of these will even be airing on the Boomerang cable channel.
You can essentially have Saturday morning cartoons whenever you want.
You Can Now Binge Watch “Absolutely Fabulous” on BBC and ITV’s New Streaming Service BritBox
Seeing the writing on the wall, BBC and ITV have launched their very own streaming service that will serve as a way to get all the British TV you could ever want. They’re hitting that notion on the noggin by calling in BritBox.
Now, Seeso does already offer up a good deal of great British comedy from Alan Partridge to Blackadder to Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and so much more. However, they didn’t get access to one of the most beloved comedies under the Union Jack, Absolutely Fabulous.
If you don’t have the DVDs, you’ll now be able to binge Ab Fab through BritBox as well as Fawlty Towers and Gavin & Stacey.
If you truly are an Anglophile, the $6.99 per month subscription fee might just be worth it to you.
YouTube Announces Live TV Streaming Service, YouTube TV
Watching live TV on your laptop was inevitable and, from the looks of it, the time for that innovation is here. For comedy, that could start to make a much clearer bridge between web content and television.
YouTube will be offering up a skinny bundle of channels that can be watched live or DVR’d including major broadcast networks as well as prestige networks like FX allowing you to watch Atlanta or Baskets live. However, they’re missing such necessary channels like HBO. Also, they will only to be initially offer up YouTube TV in major markets.
This is a step in the right direction, but there is still a lot of ground to cover by combining live television and streaming services. Whoever can figure out a well priced bundle that includes live TV networks and access to the big streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu) so you can watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Veep, Broad City, and Catastrophe wherever and whenever might just have the keys to the web/TV kingdom.
When that happens, the playing field might be even more level than it is now and highly respected web series might start to be seen in the same regard as highly praised half hour sitcoms. Shows like High Maintenance are obviously ahead of the curve here.
(via The Verge)
Right now, you have to get the cable box of whatever cable company that you’re a subscriber of. Thus, it’s at the sole discretion of that cable company as to what curated, contractually-agreed-upon programming that they’ll offer.
This vote changes might just change all of that and could allow streaming services and cable TV to co-exist meaning watching Broad City and BoJack Horseman on the same box might soon be a reality.
This recent FCC vote in favor, three-to-two, of a proposal to break the stranglehold that cable TV companies have on the cable boxes that subscribers have to use might usher the future of TV a little sooner than anticipated. The proposal will allow third party companies to develop their own set top boxes with the ability to subscribe to various cable TV services.
If passed, any number of set top boxes that are meant for streaming TV that exists exclusively online could potentially be expanded to include live television and bring another drastic change to the already drastically changing landscape of television.
Still, the proposal has to go through a final vote and the decision’s effects would have to be seen, but it’s hard to see this as anything other than a good thing.
You might have the chance to press fewer buttons to switch fewer devices in order to watch the latest episodes of The Simpsons and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
(via Deadline)
For $3.99 a month, it looks like you’ll be getting quite a lot.
Starting in January, NBC will be officially launching Seeso, which will not only offer ad free access to all seasons of The Office, Parks and Recreation, Kids in the Hall, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Mighty Boosh, SNL, and more, but also feature boat loads of new content and shows exclusive to Seeso.
Starting off with 20 new series from the likes of Dan Harmon, Amy Poelher/Ian Roberts/Matt Walsh/Matt Besser, Scott Aukerman, Cameron Esposito/Rhea Butcher, Wyatt Cenac, Tom Lennon, Ben Garant, Kulap Vilaysack, Jonah Ray, they’ll feature anything from scripted sitcoms, live stand-up, travel shows with a comedian, reality show parodies, and more.
It would almost seem that the whole of all of this represents the comedy that has been missing from NBC’s line-up for awhile.
They’ll also be bringing a curated collection of movies and series into the Seeso fold as well.
Sound good? Good. Well, make sure you start saving $3.99 a month after Christmas then.
(via Wall Street Journal)
NBC must be taking cues from how well comedy does online with the dedicated fan bases of The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Community as they’re now developing a subscription online service targeted for comedy. It’s not clear how this service will work specifically, but if it’s more like HBO GO, then that’s probably a step in the right direction.
NBC is saying episodes of The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live will be available, we’re more curious about the fates of the aforementioned Office, Parks and Rec, etc. and whether they will be taken off of Hulu and Netflix to live exclusively at this NBC streaming service.
Also, more content will be developed for this service, which, we hope means that they will be putting more backing behind certain pilots like Adam Scott and Joe Mande’s dispensary comedy.
Looks like you’re going to have make more free time in your day for binge watching.
Shout! Factory has just launched a free streaming service that will allow you to instantly watch some more niche comedy movies/series/specials/live events that isn’t perhaps available to immediately see on Netflix or Hulu.
So far, you’ll get to watch the likes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Home Movies,The Ernie Kovacs Collection, Steve Martin, ASSSSCAT, Mel Brooks, The Weird Al Show, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, and more.
So, you can kiss the rest of this week goodbye and start getting into all of this right now for free right here.