Hulu

Hulu is a new website where fans of TV shows can get a variety of products for instant viewing online. Hulu is a legal site and features shows from major networks. Hulu has some good TV content, including full episodes of today's hit shows, but in general, it's usefulness doesn't live up to the hype. Hulu is not the new blockbuster catch-all site for finding your favorite old and new shows legally and quickly. Instead, Hulu is not really any more useful than other tv sites. You will probably still be watching your favorite shows on their network websites or downloading them by various either pay or other legal-or-illegal means.

I signed up for the beta, or trial run, of Hulu a few months ago. I was really looking forward to getting on board, because so many great shows were listed on the home page. There was Damages, the great new FX series; Psych and Monk, two of my favorites on USA, NBC's The Office was there. And hey, maybe I can finally get into Heroes. Wow, this would be a veritable TV online bonanza. I had great expectations. Almost all of these hopes were dashed.

Please note, I'm not complaining about Hulu to be a big over-privileged baby "Waa, I can't get every single thing I want on demand." My problem is with the fact hulu is presenting itself as "awesome" while it's really nothing new. They're suckering us into believing, through implication, that we're going to get our favorite, current, primetime series on demand, for free. And that simply isn't the case.

Here are some hulu complaints:

1. A lot of top shows are not on Hulu:
If you look at the top twenty shows on TV this season, they include shows like Dancing With The Stars, American Idol, Grey's Anatomy, CSI, Desperate Housewives, NCIS, Survivor (really?), 60 Minutes, Deal or No Deal, Lost (really?), Without A Trace, House, Samantha Who?, Oprah's new Big Give show, and some football.

Of these shows, how many are on Hulu? ....Lost, House, and Deal or No Deal. (There are some football-related shows, too)