A guide to the things you actually care about in pop culture... or we do at least.
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By Allie Windergerst Aug 28, 2013
TV Without Cable: Netflix Vs. Amazon Prime Vs. Hulu Plus
I’m one of those people that refuses to pay Mediacom $60 a month (or even half that split with my roommate) for cable, especially considering how inconsistently their service works. They’re the only cable provider nearby, which is why they are allowed to charge such ridiculous prices for entertainment, but I digress.
I’m also one of those people who gets addicted to numerous TV shows and has to binge watch all of the seasons at once if possible. Waiting week by week for new episodes brings out my most impatient side. In order to cope with my lack of cable I’ve turned to three outlets: Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu Plus.
Both Netflix and Hulu Plus are $7.99 per month for streaming, and both offer a selection of TV shows and movies to stream. Hulu Plus beats Netflix on the availability of recent episodes and seasons of TV shows, since Netflix only has older seasons and takes awhile for new seasons to get uploaded. It’s the only site through which I’m able to watch all (or most of) my favorite shows the day after they air on regular cable. Netflix wins in terms of movie selection (especially with all the new Disney movies it added!) although it’s becoming more hit or miss in my opinion. However, I’m pretty pleased with both overall and would recommend either.
As far as Amazon Prime goes, I’m still exploring it, but I’m fairly pleased. The free prime streaming comes along with the $39/year student prime membership (and regular prime memberships), which also gives you free two day shipping and access to the kindle owners’ lending library. This is by far the cheaper option at about $3.20 per month. I’ve found so far that the Amazon Prime movie options are more hit or miss than Netflix, and there’s a lot of overlap between what movies are available both places. Amazon Prime does have different TV options than Netflix, especially for children’s TV. It also seems to have a lot of different options than Netflix for shows; there’s not as much overlap as in the movie options on both sites.
There are quite a few shows I used to watch on each platform that I can’t wait to re-watch. Here are a few of them:
1. Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime).
Let’s face it, the love I have for Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina the Teenage Witch will never get old. Both Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime have 7 seasons of the show available for streaming.
2. Avatar: The Last Airbender (Amazon Prime)
Amazon Prime has seasons 1-3 available for streaming. I couldn’t find it elsewhere, but HuluPlus says it’s available for streaming from Nickelodeon’s website, but only 6 episodes are available for streaming there.
3. Little Bear (Amazon Prime)
I’ll be honest; I’m more excited about the fact that this is available than I am about actually watching it, although the five year old in me wants to at least check out an episode or two. Prime has seasons 1-4 as well as a movie.
4. Greek (Netflix)
I don’t think this show is that old, but it’s definitely discontinued. I’m currently in the middle of the third season, and still can’t get enough. It paints an entertaining (though dramatized and not wholly accurate) picture of Greek life on college campuses, and as far as ABC Family shows go, it’s worth the watch in my opinion.
5. Numb3rs (Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime)
This show was one of the first crime drama shows that I watched. Little did I know it’d pave the way to obsessions like Law and Order SVU (available on both Netflix and Hulu Plus) or Sherlock (available on Amazon Prime and Netflix), both of which never get old no matter how many times I’ve seen every episode. Some of the math has always been a little above my head but either way it still fascinates me.
