Streaming has benefited in 2020 from the pandemic, with three streaming services performing especially well with new subscribers over the third quarter 2020: HBO Max, Hulu and CBS All Access. Hulu more from their live TV subscription offering as more people ditch cable and satellite for streaming live TV.
Americans are streaming more video than ever before amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The average U.S. household now subscribes to 2.5 streaming services versus 2.1 a year ago, according to an estimate from analysts at UBS. Americans signed up for 9 million total new subscriptions last quarter, way up from the 2 million subscriptions added in the third quarter last year.
In 2020, I’ve been most impressed with Hulu. I didn’t really watch it that much before this year, but felt like I was missing something good. The Mandalorian aside, Disney+ has been underwhelming by comparison to Hulu, at least for what I want to watch.
We’re renewing Disney+ for another year, but it’s still mostly a play for our grandchildren, it’s not something we will watch very often. Again, except for The Mandalorian which is about to air episode #5 of 8. That’s three more to go and then another drought of new content until Pixar’s Soul drops on Christmas (see: Disney Diss? Rips Soul From Theaters To Be Disney+ Exclusive) and additional intended for theaters show up on Disney+.
Am also surprised to see CBS All Access on this list. They have a very small library of movies, but do have some good, mostly classic TV shows to watch. They are pretty much the only game in town to stream season four of the classic Twilight Zone. The one with the hour long episodes. They have the other four seasons also and Jordan Peele’s most recent version of The Twilight Zone.
Any big streaming channel surprises above for you?
Weekend #38 of 53 (9/18 – 9/20/2020) for 2020 Picks By Streaming Service
Once again this week, Netflix with their massive back stock of movies and TV shows already produced pre-pandemic is the focal point of what’s new on streaming.
Starting to make us wonder when they’re going to run out (we hope they don’t!), but it seems no other streaming channel has the ramp up and head start with originally produced content that Netflix has. Maybe in 2021 and beyond there will be more and better competition, but Netflix is at the top of the heap, somewhat easily, we are reminded week in and week out.
This week a featured movie starring Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson in The Devil All The Time and the TV series Jurassic World: Camp Crustaceous. Shudder also has an original, Spiral, that looks worth checking out.
As far as other TV, Netflix is also premiering Ratched, a series based on the popular nurse character from Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. HBO continues their weekly new movie on their platform with a good one, The Invisible Man (2020) from Blumhouse earlier this year. Although there hasn’t been a lot of competition that is currently our #1 favorite film watched in theaters in 2020.
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*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
Netflix TV September 18
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*The Devil All The Time
The Paramedic (Sept 16)
The Last Word (2017)
NETFLIX TV
*Jurassic World: Camp Crustaceous
*Ratched – Season 1 – 9 episodes based on Nurse Ratchet from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
*Dragon’s Dogma – Season 1 – 7 episodes Videogames, Anime
*Challenger: The Final Flight – 4 episodes Docuseries
As if Disney+ and AppleTV+ weren’t inspired names enough for the plus symbol, as if a name change was really necessary, ViacomCBS is dropping the name CBS All Access in favor of something new.
Here’s the press release intro.
Sept. 15, 2020 – ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC, VIACA) today unveiled “Paramount+” as the brand name for the company’s upcoming global streaming service, building on a legacy of innovation and superior storytelling that distinguishes one of the most iconic brands in Hollywood. The company’s transformed subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, CBS All Access, will be rebranded as Paramount+ in early 2021 as part of the service’s expansion to feature content from ViacomCBS’ leading portfolio of broadcast, news, sports and entertainment brands.
Processing. Not sure what to think of the new name. CBS and Paramount are both strong names, but which one is more recognizable? I’m going with CBS. So, CBS All Access sounded pretty good to me. Paramount+ is a one-liner so it will make headlines about it more compact, but not sure it’s a better name.
Is it a worse name? Not really. I mean, it’s miles better than Quibi, easily the worst streaming channel name to come along in awhile. Somebody was drinking some severe tech Kool-Aid when they put that name on the blackboard.
I’ve never been much of a fan for brand name changes. Customers get used to brands and names and changing them is risky business. Did Comcast really get cooler when they became Xfinity? No. Will the name change matter here? I don’t know. Am sure they felt like if they just added a bunch of expanded content to CBS All Access it wouldn’t get as much media attention as also changing the name. Not the case for us here, as we report on any significant new changes on content regardless if the the streaming channel name changes or not, but ViacomCBS isn’t thinking about tiny little us. They’re wanting the ability to blast out multiple press releases. First, they get one for the name change, another when they pick the launch date, another when they launch — see how the game is plaed.
They’re telegraphing the name change six months or so in advance, maybe three months, if “early 2021” translates to January 2021. My guess is “early 2021” means first quarter to early second quarter, so this launch could be anywhere from January – May, 2021. If they’ve settled on a name, you’d think a launch date might be close behind.
What do you think of the name, friendly readers? Does it make any difference to you what a streaming service is called? If they have the content, we’re there, right? Without it a name is just a name.
AppleTV+ isn’t better because they have the “+” at the end. Neither is Disney. Peacock stayed out of it and just called themselves Peacock. HBO wanted to be cooler than a plus, so added the word “max” to the end. Or maybe they decapitated the Cine-“max”. Har har.
Weekend #37 of 53 (9/11 – 9/13/2020) for 2020 Picks By Streaming Service
Our home movie theater is still not reopened. We still have that one Regal Cinema theater 30 miles south, and that’s been our go-to option for the movie theater experience. Everything else, still remains shuttered in our area, including at least one independent theater.
This means probably a lot of moviegoers in our area are either staying with streaming for their entertainment options or also making the trek 30 miles south to the lone Regal Cinema near Olympia, Washington that’s open. It hasn’t been very busy any of the times we’ve been there, so I think a lot of people are staying home and streaming.
HBO Max: Sept 10, 2020
Still close to the first of the month, there are a bunch of good streaming movies to check out and some new movies and TV shows as well.
Shudder is doing a 61 days of Halloween countdown in 2020. They normally do 31 days, but have expanded to 61, I guess because of the Thing That Should Not be Named. They have a movie I’ve been wanting to see that was previously VOD only and it’s a Shudder exclusive, Color Out Of Space starring Nicolas Cage. We need to get our horror on because it’s that witching season!
Peacock movies rotated in September 1st and their roster of originals are included in this weekend streaming post as well.
Next week or the week after, we’ll try to check out some of the free streaming channels (Roku, Tubi, IMDB, etc). There are way too many streaming choices available out there right now to choose from and keeping up with the ones we pay for is challenging.
Chances are really good if you want to see a movie released in the last 20 years, it’s available to stream somewhere. We like using the FREE services: Reelgood.com and JustWatch.com to see what movies are playing where. If you’re reading this post past the dates indicated in the title, then you might need to check those services to see where the movies and TV shows have moved onto.
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*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*The Babysitter: Killer Queen – Original, directed by McG
Weekend #36 of 53 (9/4 – 9/7/2020) for 2020 Picks By Streaming Service
Here we are again, armed with detailed listings of first of the month rotated movies. A holiday three day weekend as well. With too many folks still grounded by the Thing That Should Not Be Named, at least we have tons of movies for solace.
Yes, still a lot of movie theaters are not reopened, including our home theater (but we do have one Regal Cinema 30 miles south), but streaming remains a strong alternative. When we say there’s plenty to watch from the safety and comfort of home that’s not hyperbole, just reference this post.
The theaters really only have Tenet ⭐️⭐️⭐️½ as the big new film — and it’s been one that many have waited eagerly to see — and Mulan is the big VOD stream this weekend, testing the $30 price point. We saw a poll saying a pretty decent percentage of people will pay the VOD for Mulan. Did you? Let us know (spoiler-free, please) in the comments.
Again, the first of the month is an exciting time for that new paint smell at your favorite streaming service. The streaming services flood with rotated movies. Have lists of those below as well for the main streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, Hulu). Our favorite streaming categories are “recently added/what’s new” and “leaving soon” because they help us find what’s changed on the service, but these first of the month lists are handy.
The car is started, let’s roll.
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*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*Love, Guaranteed
*I’m Thinking of Ending Things
*Freaks – You’re One Of Us
NETFLIX TV
Away – Season 1 (10 episodes) Sci-fi, Hilary Swank, Original
Sister, Sister – Season 1-6
Borgen – Season 1-3
The Promised Neverland – Season 1
Movies rotated into NETFLIX on September 1
Adrift Anaconda Back to the Future Back to the Future Part II Back to the Future Part III Barbershop Barbie Princess Adventure Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices — Netflix Family The Boss Baby: Get That Baby! — Netflix Family Children of the Sea Coneheads Felipe Esparza: Bad Decisions — Netflix Comedy Special Glory Grease La Partita / The Match — Netflix Film Magic Mike The Muppets Muppets Most Wanted Not Another Teen Movie Pineapple Express Possession The Producers (2005) Puss in Boots Red Dragon Residue Sex Drive The Smurfs Wildlife Zathura
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO Movies
*Dino Dana The Movie
*Hell On The Border (2019)
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO TV
*The Boys – Season 2
A Chef’s Life – Season 1
Cedar Cove – Season 1
Codename: Kids Next Door – Season 1
George Gently – Season 1
Hero Elementary – Season 1
How to Become a SuperStar Student, 2nd Edition – Season 1
I’m Dying Up Here – Season 1
Keeping Faith – Season 1
Last Hope with Troy Dunn – Season 1
Nazi Mega Weapons – Season 1
Stuck With You – Season 1
Texas Metal – Season 1
The Blood Pact – Season 1
The Bureau – Season 1
The Celtic World – Season 1
The Crimson Field – Season 1
The Jack Benny Show – Season 1
Movies rotated into AMAZON PRIME VIDEO on September 1
1/1 1 Million Happy Nows A Birder’s Guide To Everything Abe & Phil’s Last Poker Game Addicted To Fresno Alex Cross American Dragons Bachelor Lions Barney Thomson Beach Party Bewitched Big Time Bitter Melon Bully C.O.G. Carrington Casino Royale Close Encounters Of The Third Kind Dark Matter De-Lovely Defense Of The Realm Die, Monster, Die! Don’t Talk To Irene Dr. Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine Eaten By Lions Employee Of The Month Enemy Within Extreme Justice Face 2 Face Gas-s-s-s I’d Like To Be Alone Now I’m Not Here Kart Racer Kramer Vs. Kramer Lakeview Terrace Lord Love A Duck Man Of La Mancha Microbe And Gasoline Miss Nobody Muscle Beach Party Music Within No Way To Live Patriots Day Rambo Sex And The City: The Movie Sex And The City 2 Slash Slow Burn Snapshots Sunlight Jr. The Bank Job The Billion Dollar Hobo The Birdcage The Dunning Man The Festival The Go-Getters The Graduate The Hanoi Hilton The Haunted Palace The House On Carroll Street The Last House On The Left The Mechanic The Ring Thing The Video Dead The Visitors The Weight Of Water The White Bus The Woods The Yes Men To Keep The Light The Turkey Bowl Twice-Told Tales Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls Warrior Road Weather Girl What Children Do What If It Works? Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? Yongary: Monster From The Deep Zoom
Raised By Wolves – Limited Series Ridley Scott, first full episode by HBO Max on YouTube for FREE
*Lovecraft Country – Season 1, Episode 4: “Holy Ghost” (Sep 6)
*Infinity Train – Season 3, Episode 4 Animated, Episode Run Time: 11 minutes
Doctor Who: Season 12
Forensic Files II: Season 1
Impractical Jokers: Seasons 5-8
Lazor Wulf – Season 1
Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart– Episodes 1-30
Moral Orel – Seasons 1-3
OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes – Seasons 1-3
Sealab 2021: Seasons 1-5
Squidbillies – Seasons 1-12
Superjail! – Seasons 1-4
Tigtone: Season 1
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! – Seasons 1-5
Young Sheldon – Seasons 1-3
Movies rotated into HBO MAX on September 1
93Queen All The Right Moves The Astronaut Farmer Badlands Ballmastrz: 9009 Bandidas Barnyard The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Black Dynamite Blood Diamond The Bodyguard The Brak Show Butterfield 8 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Caveman Charlotte’s Web The Cider House Rules City Of God Clara’s Heart Clerks Cold Creek Manor Congo The Conversation Cop Out The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button Date Movie (Unrated Version) Dave The Devil Inside Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Dog Day Afternoon Dolores Claiborne Election Fatal Attraction Father of the Bride Final Destination 5 Flight Of The Phoenix Going the Distance A Good Year Grease Harlem Nights Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law Heartbreakers A Hidden Life Honeymoon in Vegas Idlewild Impractical Jokers: After Party Impractical Jokers: The Movie Infomercials In Good Company Jackson JFK
Joe Pera Talks With You Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Joyful Noise A Kiss Before Dying The Lake House Lassie Come Home Lean on Me Life with Father Little Little Women (1949) Lost in Space A Man Apart Marathon Man The Mexican Miracle Workers: Season 1 Midnight Run Miracle At St. Anna Miss Congeniality Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous Murder by Numbers Netizens Observe and Report Off the Air An Officer and a Gentleman The Operative The Outsiders Over the Garden Wall Over The Hedge Point Break Private Benjamin Prometheus PT 109 Red Riding Hood The Replacements Replicas Reversal of Fortune A Room With A View See No Evil Shrek Forever After Sin Cielo The Sitter (Unrated Version) Snakes on a Plane Son of the Mask Star 80 Sunrise at Campobello Tennessee Johnson Three Kings Too Beautiful: Our Right to Fight Two Weeks Notice V for Vendetta Victoria and Abdul The Wedding Singer Wes Craven’s New Nightmare When We Were Kings Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Wind and the Lion,
Streaming on Monday September 7, Labor Day, this Hulu Original
Hulu TV
Mike Tyson Mysteries – Complete Season 4
Movies rotated into HULU on September 1
50 First Dates Absolute Power Aeon Flux American Dragons An American Haunting Any Given Sunday Anywhere but Here Back to School Bad Girls from Mars The Bank Job Because I Said So The Birdcage Broken Lizard’s Club Dread Call Me Carrington The Cold Light Of Day Cool Blue Criminal Law The Day the Earth Stood Still De-Lovely Demolition Man Desperate Hours Deuces Wild Employee of the Month The End of Violence Evil Dead II Extreme Justice The Festival Hanoi Hilton Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle Hoosiers The House on Carroll Street I Feel Pretty The Impossible Invasion U.S.A. Jessabelle Julia The Last Boy Scout The Last House on the Left The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane Love Is All There Is Mad Money Man of La Mancha The Mechanic Mississippi Burning Mr. North Music Within Not Another Teen Movie Notorious The Omen Outbreak
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure Pieces of April Practical Magic Rambo Reasonable Doubt Religulous Slow Burn Some Kind of Wonderful Stargate The Terminator Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her This World, Then the Fireworks Top Gun Trolls World Tour Turkey Bowl Twilight The Twilight Saga: New Moon The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls The Weight of Water Wanted The Woods
Weekend #35 of 53 (8/28 – 8/30/2020) for 2020 Picks By Streaming Service
As more movie theaters continue to reopen around the United States and, just to present all sides, some educated and uneducated people are saying: “don’t go to the theaters, it’s unsafe!” you, friendly readers, must decide for yourself whether to wait or head back to theaters. Whatever you decide, it’s all good 🙂
If you don’t go out, or even if you do, there are still plenty of streaming options available to check out from the safety and comfort of your home.
Hopefully, we give you a couple possible ideas below.
Movies
VOD/PVOD – Bill & Ted Face The Music ($24.99 at Google Play, Vudu and others)
Netflix – Unknown Origins (8/28)
Hulu – The Binge (8/28)
TV
Netflix – Cobra Kai – Season 1 & 2
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*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*1BR (2019)
*Santana (2020)
*Unknown Origins
*Blaze (August 30)
*All Together Now
NETFLIX TV
*Cobra Kai – Season 1 & 2 Karate Kid TV series
*I Am A Killer – Season 1 True Crime, Reality – Original
Weekend #34 of 53 (8/21 – 8/16/2020) for 2020 Picks By Streaming Service
If movie theaters aren’t reopened in your area, or not in your entertainment plans for the coming weekend, it’s all good, plenty of options streaming at home and below we’ve got our eyes on that movie and TV scene.
Movies
Netflix – The Sleepover (8/21)
DC Universe – Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (8/21)
TV
High Score – Netflix (6 episodes) – While writing this post, am already digging deep into this docuseries on the history of videogaming. Episode run times are approximately 40 minutes each.
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*Title with asterisk – newly released Title is linked and has star rating – already watched, rated and reviewed Title bolded – on our schedule to watch/rewatch, rate and review (or in progress)
NOTE: If you’re coming to these posts weeks or months later, some and/or all of the picks listed below may no longer be on the streaming services indicated. Anything marked as “Original” typically doesn’t expire on the streaming services.
NETFLIX Movies
*The Sleepover (2020)
*Good Kisser (2019)
NETFLIX TV
*Hoops – Season 1 (10 episodes binge watch release: August 21) Animated, Sit-Com, Adult – Original
*Lucifer – Season 5 (Aug 21)
*Biohackers – Season 1 (6 episodes binge watch release: August 20)
*High Score Video games, Docuseries – 6 episodes
*John Was Trying To Contact Aliens Documentary – Original
*Great Pretender – Season 1 (binge watch all 14 episodes: August 20) Anime – Average run time: 23 minutes
*Alien TV – Season 1 (August 21) Animation, Science Fiction
On July 30, CBS All Access not so quietly added more content for subscribers, including hubs a la HBO Max for Bet, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickoledean and Smithsonian Channel.
CBS All Access showed a bit of its hand today, announcing it added some 3,500 episodes to its service from roughly 70 new shows, including series from BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, TV Land, VH1, and the Smithsonian Channel. It’s also added more Paramount Pictures flicks since its initial announcement in May, with more than 150 movies now available to stream. That’s on top of CBS’s already expansive library on the service.
We resubscribed late last month in preparation to watch Star Trek: Lower Decks (FIRSTLOOK) and Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone Season 2. I binged all episodes of the latter one and enjoyed it a little more than the first season. Am waiting for them to release the black and white versions, as I enjoy watching that series (more) desaturated. Weird? Nah, just classic minded I guess. I think of Twilight Zone in black and white, not color.
At any rate, what else has new has been added of interest to CBS All Access, or what was there all along that we haven’t paid much attention to?
A few more movies added
Emphasis on the word “few.” You can quick scroll from top to bottom all the movies A-Z on CBS in very short order. I’d say, without counting, that’s it’s less than 200 total movies.
By contract, HBO Max has around 1,000 or more. Peacock? Less than HBO Max but an overall decent amount of titles (see: ). Netflix has over 3,000 movies. Amazon Prime has over 10,000 movies – sure, most aren’t worth watching, but they slay all competition in the volume department. Hulu for number of movies is somewhere between CBS and Peacock. If you want Marvel, Star Wars or classic Disney, well Disney+ has you covered.
After this update, CBS still isn’t exactly a destination for movie lovers — yet. They are reportedly working on a rebranding in 2021 and adding even more movies.
Live CBS TV – has it been there all along?
Live TV is something I wasn’t really aware they offered before — and maybe it’s been there all along — but sure enough we can watch the local CBS channel as part of the subscription. That’s cool for watching news. We also get that through locast.org and if I we installed an over the air antennae, we’d get even more free local broadcast.
This would be useful for watching the NFL Sunday CBS broadcasted games, coming up in a couple months. I don’t know if/when they broadcast any MLB, but that would be of interest.
MTV – Aeon Flux, Beavis & Butthead, Celebrity Death Match
Something I was looking around to watch recently after seeing Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux was the original animated series.
Good news for fans, as season 1 of Aeon Flux is now available on CBS All Access.
Celebrity Death Match Season 5 and 6, Beavis & Butthead Season 1-3 are also available.
CBS All Access is a decent value for TV fans and they made it a little better.
What are CBS All Access streaming competitors doing with Live TV?
I wish that Disney+ included live TV for Fox. So +1 for Live TV offering from CBS, even if we rarely watch live TV, at least we know it’s there as part of the subscription.
Peacock sort of flirts around with Live coverage, offering some Live Sports and organizes some of their TV content as “live channels.” It’s not the same as offering the full live TV channel, but at least they are moving in that direction.
Netflix offers no live TV, they are strictly on demand streaming. While this has worked well for them to date, one could see them being behind the curve in this area as more cord cutters move to streaming but also desire some amount of Live TV programming.
Amazon Prime has flirted with live TV, offering Thursday night NFL football games. Think I watched one of them and it was done well. There are rumors circulating that they are working on adding 24/7 live TV, no idea how much more they will charge or if this will be included as part of an existing Prime subscription.
HBO Max is all on demand. They don’t offer any access to their cable TV and satellite Live TV channels.
Hulu offers Live TV as a paid add-on service.
Will CBS All Access Rebranding Really Matter?
This could and probably should be a separate post, because I have a lot to say about name and branding changes, but will summarize here.
I don’t care that much about names and branding. Sure, it makes sites easier to visit on the web if their name isn’t Quibi, but what is CBS All Access going to rebrand to? Don’t think that’s been announced yet, but if they want to attract more movie fans, than they need to bulk up their movie library. Their TV offering is compelling enough to bring us back once or twice a year.
It’s their originals right now, as mentioned above, that caused us to resubscribe. I might have resubscribed to check out Aeon Flux because that’s not available anywhere else and costs $1.99 an episode on Google Play. Can binge the whole first season as part of the subscription, so excited there.. Also, I’d definitely be interested in revisiting Beavis & Butthead. Fondly remember that MTV show.
Will Star Trek: Lower Decks be a hit or miss? Don’t know, but am looking more forward to checking that out next week when it debuts.
What are you looking most forward to seeing on CBS All Access? Anything there now or coming soon?
The Comic-Con@Home version is now playing (July 22 – July 26) and yesterday there was a virtual Star Trek panel where more was revealed about the upcoming Star Trek: Lower Decks (FIRST LOOK) adult animated series coming August 6.
All of the main voice actors and actresses are included. An enjoyable group discussion listening to their take on each of their character’s roles on the Ceritos. Was also glad to hear from the showrunner Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) that while there is a lot of zany fun planned in the first season, they tried to stick close to cannon of the time period around when Star Trek: Next Generation.
They bleeped and SPOILER title tagged it, so they give enough away to tease, but don’t spoil, which I enjoyed.
A clip of one of the lower decks crew mates drunk on Romulian whiskey was also shared.
Romulan ale will give a serious buzz
I thought this clip was humorous. It’s the kind of comedy that pokes fun from the inside out. Klingons? Yeah, they are all about honor and dignity. Next Gen would poke fun at Worf from time to time, but this takes it to a different level. I liked it.
From what the voice talent revealed, this show sounds very promising to me. Without seeing any of the episodes, I’m most drawn to Jerry O’Connell’s character Ransom and the overzealous security officer, Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore) that just goes all in (something about a security officer that wants to go nuclear on every situation offers a ton of comedic potential). I also liked the voice of the security character. Reminds me of Rip Torn’s voice on steroids.
Am more looking forward to this then Picard before seeing any episodes, because my fear of Picard beforehand was he was too old and they weren’t going to be Star Trek enough.
Neither appears to be a problem here. They are taking the light — sometimes very light — tone of the Star Trek we know and love and amplifying it.
There is a vibrance and youthful aura around this show. Will it deliver or be too much for mass appeal (after seeing Harley Quinn, I hope they go into super “too much” mode here)? I don’t know how this will turn out, but am intrigued by the idea and concept and, as mentioned in the FIRST LOOK last week that from what little I’ve watched of Rick & Morty so far, I’ve enjoyed that series, too. Mike McMahon seems to have the right mix of enthusiasm, love and respect for the older Trek. McMahon admits being more in tune with Next Gen than any other series, but I’m OK with that. I liked Next Gen. Not as much as the original series, of course, but it’s a solid second place in my Trek ranking.
The one area that concerns me is that nobody else wanted to buy into this series. It’s strictly CBS going it alone. Amazon and Netflix passed from what I’ve read. If they saw the show and it was great, logic suggests they would have bought in.
Then again, maybe the price tag was higher than they thought it was worth? Amazon and Netflix know the numbers for Star Trek streaming on their platforms — since they’ve been streaming those shows for years — and maybe they didn’t think Lower Decks would bring enough new eyeballs? Either that or the potential controversy with Trek fans concerned them (doubtful Netflix would be concerned about that with shows like 365 DNI, but Amazon might be a little more concerned about negative publicity fallout).
Whatever happens, we don’t have much longer to wait. I’m stoked, anyway. I want to review the first season, but am going to wait until after watching the entire first episode before making the weekly commitment (sorry, the Picard stain is still fresh in my memory). The timing of Lower Decks starting is excellent because Stargirl is wrapping up its first season on August 10 and I am missing watching a new adult animated TV show since Harley ended (Rick & Morty is always there, though).
What are you thinking? Does this additional teaser/promotional content make you any more or less interested in the show? Now that we know a little more, has any of this changed your level of interest?
Bonus – Star Trek: Prodigy
There is a main title reveal of the Star Trek animated children’s show in association with Nickolodean that will be officially called Star Trek: Prodigy. No trailers or anything for that. It sounds from what little we’ve been told about this series that it’s going to be more serious in tone, but of course focused on children. Will it be more like the original animated series? Perhaps.
Star Trek: The Lower Decks season 1 first episode will premiere on CBS All Access on August 6, 2020.
Let’s see if we can wrap our hurting heads around what’s going on with SpongeBob: Sponge On The Run – FIRST LOOK
But first a word of advice to studios: don’t make it so hard to understand when and where your movies are coming out. Entertainment is supposed to be fun, relaxing, not driving your customers to the medicine cabinet.
In January 2021, unless there’s another change, SpongeBob’s sequel will be released to VOD and shortly thereafter an exclusive on CBS All Access, but since CBS All Access isn’t available internationally, this left those abroad unable to view the movie. Netflix — internationally only — is stepping in, except for China.
Yup, brainfreeze.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is now heading to the streaming service, allowing UK and international fans of the Bikini Bottom inhabitant to watch his latest adventure from the comfort of their own homes.
So, Netflix is getting an international exclusive for the new SpongeBob movie in January 2021 (I think?), except for China and the US. In America we’ll get to see it on VOD on January 29, 2021 and shortly thereafter on CBS All Access. I’m not sure what the plan is for China, but maybe that is the plan — no plan for any kind of distribution in China.
Especially in our current times, I’m having enough challenges following the changing release dates in America, but this movie release plan is needlessly complex.
I sure hope this isn’t the path that other movies go down. Multiple different streaming services having exclusive premiere dates? Maybe it’s always been that way and I’m just late to the confusion party, but it’s a mess for people who follow movies, much less casual moviegoers who like SpongeBob and just want to see the freaking movie when it comes out … someday, somewhere.
What I don’t understand is why the movie decision not to have a theatrical release? Presumably in January 2021 movie theaters will be reopened. Are they possibly thinking they’ll make more money going straight to VOD like Trolls World Tour did? I’m all in favor of day and date releases for some movies, yes, but skipping theatrical release when you could have one internationally seems misguided.
It seems like Paramount is missing an opportunity to show the movie in theaters worldwide and then can cut up the streaming release premieres thereafter however it wants. It’s the most convoluted movie release we’ve encountered to date.
In June, Deadline explained more of the plan with CBS All Access.
ViacomCBS is using the movie as part of a big-rebranding of CBS All Access in early 2021, also making previous seasons of SpongeBob Squarepants available on the expanded service.
Other than being an opportunity for branding and promotion of the SpongeBob TV series and movie brand in CBS limited geographic territory, I don’t completely understand what’s happening here.
Why didn’t Paramount just sell SpongeBob’s premiere distribution rights to Netflix from the beginning like The Lovebirds and also to CBS All Access shortly thereafter? Instead it’s almost like they didn’t want to release the movie — ever — in China? Is that what is happening? Or did CBS come with an amazing deal for the United States that Paramount couldn’t say no and Netflix wouldn’t pay up for premiere licensing in America (seems unlikely considering they are ponying up over $200 million for an action film franchise from the Russo brothers)? Did Paramount realize, oh no, we have to release this to other countries? How do we do it? Could Paramount management possibly be this short-sighted?
Bottom line: SpongeBob: Sponge On The Run in the United States as of this writing won’t be available to watch until January 29, 2021 on VOD first, then CBS All Access soon thereafter (no specific date mentioned). International readers, except those in China, will be able to see it on Netflix … perhaps sooner? (this seems to be the inference, but no confirmed date) From my limited research this morning, I don’t see any mentioned release date for Netflix international (except for China), probably because they haven’t announced that yet (they don’t mention many of their release dates that far in advance).
Let’s all hope more movies don’t choose convoluted premiere releases like our good friend, SpongeBob. Seriously, Paramount.
