To Plus or Not to Plus: That is the Hulu Question

In case you aren't familiar with Hulu.com, it is a website that brings together all your favorite TV shows onto one site.  On Hulu you can watch streaming episodes of many TV shows that appear on various networks including brand new episodes.  And, it's all FREE, but there are commercial breaks, but they are usually only 1 minute long - two 30-second ads usually.   I have been getting my TV fix for a few years now through hulu since we don't have cable or anything and have enjoyed not paying to watch a few of my favorite shows. However, not every show is available on-line or on hulu.com (for some shows you have to watch them on the network website) or for free, because for some shows they restrict viewing to hulu plus subscribers.

 

Josh and I recently tested out hulu+.  The main reason we decided to try it out was because we did not like sitting in our uncomfortable computer chair and art chair in our small office (in the room immediate next to our kid's bedroom) to watch our free shows.  With hulu+ you can stream the shows on your TV, through your PS3 (or other gaming consoles, as well as mobile devices).  With the ability to watch TV on our TV we could sit on our new wonderful sectional couch and cuddle and enjoy our shows properly on our new TV.  It seemed like a good idea for only $8 a month!

However, we were disappointed to learn (after we signed up) that not everything that is available to watch for free on-line (or web-only) is available through hulu+.  We figured if some new episodes of shows, like Glee, New Girl, House, AFV, and Kitchen Nightmares, were only available on hulu+ then everything must be available on there.  But we were wrong in that assumption.  We never paid attention to fine print on a show's page on hulu.com that tells you what is or is not available on hulu+, mostly because we never had to think about it before.

This was a big deal for us since we really like to watch new episodes of Psych, 30 Rock, and (for me) The Bachelor, all which are not available on TV or mobile devices.  In case you are wondering what else is not available through hulu plus's subscription service, check the show's website on hulu.com.  But I found that The Ellen Show, Good Morning America, Face Off, Project Runway, The Voice, and even the Simpsons are also NOT available on hulu plus either.

Also, it is frustrating paying the $7.99 monthly subscription fee to still have to watch commercials, and often the same ones over, and over, and over again.  I have too many of them memorized.

One last thing is that sometimes the internet connection (so not really hulu plus' fault) lags and the show repeats a short scene occasionally and sometimes stops completely.  So if you don't have a great internet connection, it may not work out well for you to get hulu+.

So while hulu+ is great to be able to watch TV on our TV again (something we've rarely done in our marriage), and to watch old episodes of our favorite shows or old shows, we are still unsure if it is really worth it in the end.  Although $7.99 a month isn't much, we originally got hulu+ to watch our favorite shows together but we can't.  Also, it has made us watch way, way more TV than we did before, looking for something to watch.  Maybe having uncomfortable chairs in a small room was good for us in the end since we didn't sit there for very long after all?  For us the verdict is still pending...  

So tell us: What has been your experience with hulu, hulu+, or even netflix?