in which there is free Paramount+

[phosfate]

Long story short: Bought large/heavy stuff, Uber from the grocery was $45 (there was a concert), sent for Lyft that never arrived but by then Uber was back to $10, but got a free trial of Paramount+ out of it.

I finally remembered I had it last night and started watching Star Trek: Lower Decks. I like it very much, though so far it's not as good as the comic, but the comic's written by Ryan North so it's a high bar. The opening credit sequence is charming and the design is excellent. The Cerritos has that real-place feeling that is hard to get in TV animation, and is the reason they spent big bucks planning New New York for Futurama.

It's the version of Paramount+ with ads, and JESUS H. CHRIST DO I EVER HATE ADS. It's a half-hour show and there are 3-4 ad breaks per episode.

Also, if you don't care for Star Trek, there is very little to watch on Paramount+. If you do like Star Trek, your money is better spent on discs.

Comments

[ashenmote]

Oh yes, so much better on a disc and without ads! IN U.S. series there's often this spot when there is clearly a break intended (for the extra long ad block or something) and lower decks has that too! And every time things go dark and kind of freeze for the break and then just come back immediately I'm so happy I was spared!

Maybe I should nag the library into aquiring the comics.

[phosfate]

We have a free with ads streaming service, Pluto or Tubi (I have trouble telling this stuff apart, they all kind of look the same) that streams super old series, so I was watching Tenspeed and Brown Shoe and Greatest American Hero from the 80s. They're both set up to have that classic teaser/act 1/act 2/act 3/act 4/tag structure with ad breaks in between, with light cliffhangers/dramatic moments at the end of each act, fade to black. Which is fine, it's a solid story structure when you do it right. But whoever puts the ads in the shows doesn't do it to fit the act breaks, so it's annoying and often hilarious.

Yes! Bug the library!