This Program Is Brought To You By Me
I appreciate watching television online. Hulu is awesome. I just got back from vacation where I didn’t watch much new TV (my family and I watched a season and a half of Friday Night Lights, but more on that at a later date) so I’ve spent a considerable amount of online. With Community on an interminable hiatus, I’ve filled the “quirky friend-group” hole in my life with ABC’s Happy Endings (though this season is considerably worse than last). Since ABC really has nothing going for it, they’ve aired two new episodes per week; that’s a lot of catch up. Plus there was an Office episode and a 30 Rock that I missed.
Every half hour episode on Hulu comes with 3 or 4 commercial breaks. I end up seeing the ad for Wheat Thins with Family Guy characters and for the health insurance plan where “amazing things happen when people work together” over and over. Oh, and the one where the guy who got dumped by his girlfriend for being boring becomes cool and meets Alicia Keys. Usually, I check my email.
Sometimes, however, Hulu lets me choose. I get a vote and can pick the ad experience that I prefer! So exciting. I love voting. Election Day is my favorite secular holiday. I wish we got to vote more frequently. Hulu gets me.
I hate it when the choices are all different kinds of Toyotas or pharmaceuticals. Or worse, when it’s three ads for the same product. It’s not a Massachusetts primary; I demand variety! I always pick the State Farm ad when it is an option. I also like Allstate. Apparently car insurance companies and I have a similar sense of humor. Though not Progressive, Flo is insufferable.
Every once in a while you hit the jackpot. Hulu decides it “would like to give you the option of watching this next video commercial free, courtesy of” an antidepressant or a new movie. I love movie trailers – double bonus! A preview plus 23 uninterrupted minutes of Phil Dunphy, wow, who could ask for more? Thanks, corporate sponsors. Next time I’m in the [fill in the blank] aisle, I’ll be sure to smile at your product while I buy the one my dad found a coupon for.
Sam Cohen took a surfing lesson, saw a volcano, and watches too much television.