Hulu Is Becoming A True Competitor For Original Programming

If you find yourself bored on a Sunday afternoon and Netflix is behaving like a boyfriend who you have been dating for several years then he suddenly buys you a gift that shows you he just doesn’t know you, switch over to Hulu for surprisingly refreshing and original series.

Two series, currently showing on Hulu are Only Murders In The Building starring legends Steve Martin and Martin Short and pop singer and actress, Selena Gomez and Dopesick starring Michael Keaton and Rosario Dawson.

Only Murders In The Building follows a group of people, living in the same condominium building in New York City, trying to solve the murder of one of the tenants. This series comes from the genius minds of Steve Martin (who created and executive produced it) and Martin Short (who was also apart of the creative process). The series incorporates 21st century storytelling by adding a podcast narrative to keep the mystery going. The season finale aired on October 19.

Dopesick, a limited series, based on the true story about the Sackler Dynasty. It follows the links in the medical chain of opioid addiction and how it escalated to a drug epidemic, causing addiction and crime to skyrocket in America. This series has a documentary style which may be because it was adapted from a nonfiction bestseller book, of the same name, written by Beth Macy.

Hulu is not as experienced as Netflix and Amazon Prime when it comes to original programming however, there is one method they use that makes their content have a lasting impression on viewers: weekly releases. This formula is different from the standard binge-watching formula that streaming servers use to build their subscriber base. As a viewer, I do like the old school method.

Looking back on shows that aired on Netflix this year, Clickbait for example, social media was enamored with the show for three days before moving on to the next one. If it were mentioned in a tweet today, audiences would need a refresher for context.

With Hulu and many other less popular streamers creating original programming to build their libraries, I see Netflix becoming less dominant in the television and movie streaming game.

Hulu’s weekly releases of episodes does keep its original programs relevant and have more staying power. However, I don’t see the other streamers adopting this method now that their viewers are accustom to binging content at their leisure.