In recent years, streaming services have replaced cable television as the primary way to watch TV. Here is a ranking of the six streaming services that I use:
- Peacock ★☆☆☆☆
Peacock is easily the worst of my streaming services. For starters, it is nearly impossible to navigate the menu to find a show or movie you want to watch. Every time you click on something there is a slight pause before what you selected appears which leads to lots of errors and selecting something you didn’t want to watch. Once you finally get to the show you wanted to watch, about two minutes in the first of many sets of advertisements throughout the episode pop up. The only way to get rid of the ads is to pay for Peacock Premium Plus (having both “premium” and “plus” in the same name is ridiculous) which is double the cost of the already horrible streaming service. If it weren’t for “The Office” being on Peacock it would easily get 0 stars.
- Hulu ★★☆☆☆
Hulu has a couple of shows that I enjoy thoroughly including “Family Guy” and their original show “Dave”. Other than those two there isn’t much else for me on Hulu. In my experience, Hulu has had a tendency to randomly crash or buffer in the middle of a show which can be irritating. Hulu has also occasionally logged me out for no reason and logging back in is an annoying process.
- Prime Video ★★★☆☆
“The Boys” and “Jury Duty” are two Prime Video original shows that I had a blast with. One of my favorite things about Prime Video is that their original shows have no filter and push boundaries but don’t cross them. “Jury Duty” is absolutely hilarious and “The Boys” is a wild ride from start to finish. Like the previous streaming services, Prime Video is difficult to navigate and has lagging problems. I often have to wait a while before a TV show starts playing after I select it which can get aggravating.
- Max ★★★☆☆
Max was my favorite streaming service for a long time up until recently when HBO executives have made some questionable decisions regarding the streaming service. They have made lots of episodes from shows like “Impractical Jokers” unavailable to stream and licensed out some of their original shows to other streaming services including Netflix. Despite the recent loss of content, Max has a massive collection of original HBO shows like “The Sopranos” to stream which can result in hours-long binge sessions on Max. Max also has the entire collection of DC films which I also enjoy.
- Disney+ ★★★☆☆
Disney+ has the best back catalog out of any of these streaming services by far. It has every movie and show from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. However, when it comes to original shows Disney+ is unfortunately lackluster. While shows like “The Mandalorian” are incredible, there are other originals that are underwhelming. It is hard to mess up content in the universes of Marvel and Star Wars, but somehow Disney+ found a way. It is extremely disappointing to turn on a show in one of those universes and find that it is boring and does not make sense. If it weren’t for its impressive back catalog, I would no longer use Disney+.
- Netflix ★★★★☆
The original reigns supreme. From stand-up comedy specials to intense war movies, there is always something to watch on Netflix. Netflix has my favorite show of all time, “Breaking Bad.” I don’t love nor do I dislike its original TV shows and movies. Netflix does tend to shoot out an original movie once a week it seems, so some are bound to be horrible. All in all, Netflix is the best streaming service, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
