Leave it to the guy who wrote about how he still pays for Netflix’s DVD plan to get frustrated with streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+, but it’s true. I am frustrated. And not even a little bit, but a lot! That’s not to say that I hate them, as I love watching great big monster movies on HBO Max, as well as the convenience of booting up an app and watching shows like Squid Game, and Werewolf By Night. That’s all fine and dandy.
But, that’s the good side of streaming. When I actually know what I want to watch, it's awesome. For example, I love the new Star Wars show, Andor, which I think both fans and non-Star Wars fans should check out. I also highly recommend She-Hulk. I think it’s the best Marvel show by far. But, those are probably the only two recommendations I can give you since I’ve actually watched those two shows. I haven’t seen shows like Dahmer, The Peripheral, or The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power yet, and I probably never will. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here are five reasons why I’m getting super frustrated with streaming services.
There’s Way Too Much Overall Content
As I was alluding to earlier, there is just WAY too much overall content to keep up with these days. My coworker asked me the other day if I finished Dahmer yet, and I had to sheepishly admit that I hadn’t even started it yet. "Yet" I say, but I know I’ll NEVER watch it. Not because I don’t want to, but because there’s just way too many other shows and movies that I still need to catch up on instead.
Like Arcane! Everybody tells me that Arcane is amazing! And Blonde. My coworker said it reminded him of the Roman Polanski movie, Repulsion, and I love Repulsion! Gotta put Blonde on my list. Oh, and what about The White Lotus? I’ve heard such great things about that show. Oh, oh, oh, and Hocus Pocus 2. Our very own Mike Reyes said the sequel is “very much a treat” in his review.
So, yeah, I’m sure you can see what I’m getting at here since you’re probably in the same boat. There is just way too much content to watch these days, and not enough hours to watch it in. I mean, I saw The Queen’s Gambit just a few months ago, and that was setting records on Netflix all the way back in 2020, so you can tell just how backed up I am. It’s bananas.
The Prices Keep Going Up
Seriously, every time I check my email, I get another message that prices are going up. Like, I remember when I used to pay $10 a month for Netflix, and now I’m paying almost $16. This is on top of the $15 DVD plan I already have running up my credit card bill. Disney+ was like, $8 a month at launch, and now I hear it’s going up to $11, and look, I get it. Season 3 of The Mandalorian isn’t going to be cheap.
That said, it’s also getting to be a bit too much now. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of how people have decided to drop Netflix, or one of the other streaming services, but it’s true. I seriously might have to consider what needs to go, and what I can keep. And even with Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime Video, it’s still somehow not enough to watch everything I want to see, which I’ll get to next.
We’re Missing Certain Types Of Shows We Used To Get On Cable
You know, I feel like ten years ago, a critical darling like Severance would have been on AMC. Now, it’s trapped on Apple TV+, which I don’t have, by the way. I really wanted to watch the new Beavis and Butt-Head, since they’re two of my favorite characters from the old MTV days, but they’re on Paramount+ now…which I also don’t have.
Wait, there’s more! Heels? That’s on TBS, right? No? It’s on Starz. Rats. I don’t have Starz. How about an old show like The Twilight Zone? Surely I can watch that on any of the streaming services, right? No? It’s only on Paramount+ now? Bloody hell. The fact of the matter is, shows that I’m pretty sure I could have tuned into basic cable to watch before are now scattered all over the place. Lord knows I’m going to eventually have to subscribe to Paramount+ for my Avatar: The Last Airbender fix since the Avatar Airbender Universe will eventually be on there, but not today, my friends. Not today.
There’s No End In Sight
Not only that, but when does it ever end? In the beginning, there was Netflix, and Netflix was good. Then, there was Hulu. I think. Then Disney+, and HBO Max, and Shudder, and AMC+, and The Criterion Channel, etc. God; my friend, Jeremy, who’s the only movie nerd bigger than me, thinks I’m a real plebeian since I don’t cough up $11 a month to watch The Bicycle Thieves on The Criterion Channel. I mean, come on now, I could be watching Kagemusha, and instead, I’m watching Arcane (or, at least, I will watch Arcane…eventually). What’s going on here? How pedestrian could I possibly be?
The fact is that once Disney got into the streaming game, the floodgates really opened up. Like, did you know that even though I don’t pay for Paramount+, or Starz, or the ad-free (oh, don’t worry. I’ll get to ads in a minute) version of Peacock, I do subscribe to Troma NOW. Yes, you heard me right. Troma NOW! And if Troma has their own streaming service, then by God, everybody must have their own streaming service. I might even have my own streaming service for all I know. It’s seriously that out of control. Rich Knight+. Currently streaming this article. For $15 a month. Or free with ads! Speaking of which…
Ad Tiers For Streaming Might Slowly Turn Services Into Something Like YouTube
Lastly, can I just say that I can’t stand YouTube anymore? What was once the home of young New Mexicans looking for their future girlfriend, and “Chocolate Rain” is now nothing…but…ads. Or, at least it feels like that to me these days. It’s like I’m watching regular TV all over again, just like when I was a kid.
And, I have a feeling that streaming is going to be that way, too, soon. We already know that services like Netflix, and Disney+ will soon have cheaper, ad-tiered versions of their service, sort of like Peacock does right now. But, one of the reasons why streaming used to be cool was because it was a completely different model from regular TV. Hell, Netflix drops entire seasons in a weekend, as the whole binge culture was pretty much created by them. And now, we’re going to have an ad-tier? How awful is that going to be to binge through?
Yes, you can just pay like you’re doing now to not have ads, but what if this ad-tier is effective, and more people downgrade to use it? Will the cost keep rising, until it gets to a point that it’s unbearable and many of us will have to downgrade just to keep our Netflix? If that happens, then we’ll be back to a time when we used to have to sit through dish soap and car commercials just to get back to Roseanne. And who wants that?!
What do you think? Are you still as enamored with streaming as you once were? For more news on all things streaming, make sure to swing by here often!
