It's official. I'll finally be able to watch Lost online for free without having to get up from the couch to click "Continue" after an ad plays on ABC.com.Disney, owners of ABC and ABC Family, has become a joint venture partner and equity owner of Hulu.
That means a slew of ABC shows will be popping up on Hulu soon. Here's the list of ABC/ABC Family shows Disney reportedly plans to make available for free streaming on Hulu (ranked by awesomeness):
Lost
Scrubs
Ugly Betty
Desperate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice
General Hospital
Greek
Less Than Perfect
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Commander in Chief
Hope & Faith
The View
It's a good start, but I hope they'll offer more from the back catalog soon. I'd love to see old eps of The Practice and Green Hornet show up on Hulu.
Disney also pans to offer select Disney Channel shows on Hulu, including Wizards of Waverly Place and Phineas and Ferb. (What? No Even Stevens!)
This news comes on the heels of a possible Hulu iPhone app for wi-fi and 3G. Being a consumer of mass TV quantities, I see nothing bad about these recent developments. (I'd give Hulu and Disney high-five if I could). The questions that do pop up are: Will CBS eventually join Hulu? What about the premium cable networks like HBO and Showtime? Is Hulu the right place to offer more mature shows like True Blood and Weeds?
Like most TV addicts, I'd love to see the premium cable shows streaming for free on Hulu. It was always a long-shot to begin with, but I doubt it'll happen now that Disney is in the mix. The site will now offer more family-friendly content, so it looks like we'll never get to see Sookie Stackhouse flirting with Vampire Bill on Hulu. But we will get to see Jack and Sawyer running away from Smokie! That seems good enough for now.
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-30-2009 @ 2:25PM
Skutner said...
finally... just hope CBS follows suit. i'd like to watch himym on hulu instead of cbs.com.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 2:52PM
treacherous said...
What I want more than anything regarding Hulu is a Windows Media Center plug-in. Waiting for Windows 7? Fine, just get me that plug-in and I'll be a Hulu fan forever.
5-01-2009 @ 11:15PM
CParis said...
"The site will now offer more family-friendly content, so it looks like we'll never get to see Sookie Stackhouse flirting with Vampire Bill on Hulu."
Not sure if this is really an issue anyway - wouldn't expect HBO or other premium channels to give up content that people are currently paying $15+/month to get.
Also, Hulu does have some content that requires viewer to declare they are 18, but they don't have any way of verifying the age.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 2:38PM
Fred said...
Personally, I like the CBS player just fine and don't mind watching HIMYM there. (I just wish they'd start making The Mentalist available there again.) ABC's web player, though, leaves a lot to be desired: you have to install a program to run it, it's often slow and unresponsive, and, mysteriously, it forces you to click to continue after every commercial break. I'm really happy that Lost will be available on Hulu.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 2:45PM
Kris said...
I never watch anything on the abc player because I don't like videos that take up my whole screen (I'm addicted to the pop-out video feature on Hulu). However, i was fooling around in the settings on ABC's player and you can opt to go straight back to the show after a commercial break.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 2:51PM
Dan Buckley said...
Until Hulu adds more HD I'll stick with the ABC player.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 3:32PM
rahat said...
old episodes of the practice ARE on there. not all the seasons, but atleast the first two.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 3:32PM
Modwild said...
I cannot stand ABC's media player. It only works for me 50% of the time and then the commercial thingy...ick. I like to have all of my online content in one place. Hulu works for me!
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 3:32PM
Edward said...
Does that mean Family Guy will be taken off once Disney Channel stuff comes on? Noooooo!
Glad to see Not All Dogs Go to Heaven came back to Hulu.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 3:40PM
Brett Alan said...
Most of the first three seasons of The Practice ARE available on Hulu. http://www.hulu.com/the-practice
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 3:48PM
Argus said...
Less Than Perfect seems like an odd one to throw in there. I guess because Sherri is on The View? (Zachary Levi is on Chuck?) (Will Roberts is in it?) None of the cast is really "big" in any way.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 4:42PM
David said...
HBO, Showtime & the other pay channels should should set up a pay site or Hulu should or better yet add their programing to Netflix!
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 5:06PM
Bubbameister33 said...
They really are trying to takeover the world.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 5:35PM
john said...
Nice - sadly no Better off Ted...
Reply
5-04-2009 @ 4:50PM
K. said...
Even now, they don't fully appreciate Sports Night. Maybe it's out of embarrassment from the laugh track they shoved down Sorkin and Schlamme's throats in season 1.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 7:01PM
john eddy said...
Sportscenter. Sportscenter. Sportscenter.
Please?
My biggest complaint with ABC's player was always the 'Click to Continue' button which would always be offscreen if you happened to put the window in the corner.
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 7:02PM
Elisabeth said...
I've posted this before, and I'll post it again. If this is a blog that has "global" reach, then why do you keep talking about Hulu, which is only available in the US??? Let me say it again: I will not and do not care about Hulu until they allow non-US residents in.
As for Hulu taking over the world, that would be a little difficult under the circumstances, no?
Reply
4-30-2009 @ 9:19PM
Nathaniel said...
This is excellent news, and I hope it tips the scales so CBS and the CW join in (would that give CBS an unfair control percentage, though?).
As for the international thing, Elisabeth, I'm sorry you don't get our streaming services, but this is primarily a blog about American television, so these stories are relevant.
Reply
5-01-2009 @ 2:25AM
Matt said...
Trecherous if you buy playon and use the playit plugin you can watch hulu ,cbs, and netflix through windows media center
Reply
5-01-2009 @ 3:16PM
stg said...
I actually found the ABC player better than CBS, which has a shitty player.
Anyways, I hope ABC and HULU bring back shows that that they canned early, aka shows which isn't LOST or geared towards chicks..eg...Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Carpoolers, Knights of prosperity, ICE, etc.
And enough with the disney crap, nobody's buying the whole christian family values anymore.
Reply