Two Guys, a Girl and a Blog

and sucks at it. I respect that its in beta testing but it seems far more like alpha with its consistently breaking down. Though I know all online players have this weird thing where the commercials are louder than the show itself, The WB takes it to a whole other level. I’ve had to decrease my volume by over 75% just to stop it from blasting me and my speakers away. Of course the program resumes and I have to turn it back up.  Perhaps this is just a new fun level of interactive TV! Regardless I am not impressed. Their lineup is decent but there’s a few WB classics missing like Dawson’s Creek, Felicity and Can I get some Unhappily Ever After?  The issues with the  player are apparent. In my day and a half using the program I’ve got to know this screen well.

Their lineup includes Veronica Mars,  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Gilmore Girls, The O.C., and more.   If you’ve not seen any of these shows then here’s a venue to try to catch them. The most important being Veronica Mars. You should’ve seen its genius by now but just in case you haven’t its available for viewing here and is the only show on the lineup worth slogging through the issues.  Other than VM most of the shows can be found elsewhere on already established and way less buggy websites.  The site offers an Adobe Premiere Express interface called WBlender to remix bits of the shows into new clips but this cute little inclusion isn’t quite enough for me to finally make that Buffy/Veronica Mars crossover I’ve dreamed about.  Also sorry foreigners the player doesn’t work outside the states.  As a competitor for Hulu, TheWB.com falls far from the mark but maybe soon it’ll work out the kinks and be a true alternative with great programming.  For now I’ll try to play this episode of Gilmore Girls for the 4th time today. *fingers crossed*

I’m going to come out of the closet and admit my secret shame — I don’t own a DVR yet. Many people do (elitist bastards who’ll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes) but there’s still quite a few of us out there that have to deal with VCR program settings, trying to avoid leaving the house during prime time, and fighting the desire to procure television by all means necessary. The major networks have provided online players as an alternative for the dvr-less.  I’ve been using the major networks ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX for some time now. I recently used a few cable networks as well. Here I’ll list the top network players from best to worse.

Pluses (+)

(+)You can view most of their television shows online.

(+)They utilize lesser commercials breaks than the aired television shows.

(+)You can chose clearly marked episode chapters. Just missed the last few minutes of an episode? You don’t have to sit through the full airing to get to the good stuff.

(+)The full screen is decently sized.

(+) There is continuous episode play.

(+) The streaming player doesn’t require a pop up so that’s always nice  when you’re wanting to use less memory.

(+) The website updates episodes the day after it airs on TV.

Minuses(-)

(-) They typically only offer the past 4 shows.

(-) They do not offer their full lineup online rather two minute replays for a few.

Pluses (+)

(+) ABC offers pretty much all its shows online. They even offer every season of Lost just in case you’re wanting to catch up.

(+) In the past they’ve also offer a few online exclusives such as Voicemail.

(+) They stream unaired television shows online as well.  Remember when October Road was pretty much cancelled before the writers strike? Well you could’ve viewed the unaired eps here.

(+) They offer an expansive HD showcase which looks quite nice on the larger/high quality monitors.

(+) They have online sections for speciality items such as interviews between intermingled ABC actors and music videos of the most viral ABCesque videos

(+) ABC.com typically offers the full current season for viewing.

Minuses (-)

(-) In order to continue viewing the show after the commercial breaks, you must consistently press ‘continue’

(-) Depending on the show they may insert more commercials than the typically aired amount

(-) It is a pop up the player.

(-)  ABC.com experiences more downage than the competitors.

Pluses (+)

(+) Very memorable link. It’s the only I can remember by heart.

(+) Fox online offers most of their shows sans some reality TV offerings

(+) Tech wise I’ve yet to find a computer that will not play their streaming media.

(+)  I’ve yet to see a commercial played so its pretty much commercial free. They keep threatening commercials but I’ve yet to see one.

(+)  They seem to utilize the surround sound better than any other show as well. Shows come through crystal clear in sound as well.

Minuses (-)

(-) They can take up to 2 days to upload an episode. The others typically have next day availability.

(-) FOX only offers 3 previously aired episodes.

(-) The images get stuck playing ever so often.

Pluses (+)

(+) CBS offers full episodes of past great shows such as Macguyver, Beverly Hills 90210,  Twin Peaks & Dynasty

(+) CBS has recently started offering a HD showcase which features clips and a few episodes of its prime-time programming.

(+) They offer full episodes and clips of their daytime  programming which is a rarity among online players

Minuses (-)

(-) Incredibly disorganized. It takes a few moments to try to find what  you’re looking to see

(-) The commercial breaks are poorly timed

(-) CBS does not offer all or much of their prime-time programming via full episodes rather offering small clips of popular shows like The New Adventures of Old Christine and Criminal Minds

(-) The player often gets stuck and replays a section unless you intervene and try to fast forward to the next section.

(-) No true full screen abilities and the larger the image the poorer the quality.

Other networks and online entities make viewing offerings as well. Here are a few links you might want to bookmark.

http://www.tnt.tv/dramavision/

http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video

http://www.usanetwork.com/fullepisodes/

http://www.tbs.com/video/index/

http://www.adultswim.com/video

http://www.comedycentral.com/funny_videos/index.jhtml

http://www.hulu.com/tv

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I’ve been using NBC’s new video website, Hulu, since November. It’s by far one of the best video sites on the net. . It has lots of cool little features like the “dim the lights” button which turns the white area of the screen dark grey to help you see the video better. The videos are high quality, and the amount of content is amazing. Hulu has tv shows, movies, and clips of tv shows such as continue reading »