This is from a Canadian perspective. Some of the content is going to be different in the US. On whether they're worth it or not, I think the answer I can give there is an emphatic yes. It's probably not worth it getting all of them at once because we only have so much bandwidth when it comes to watching TV and films.
CRAVE - this is my newest one. The downside is probably the price, at $20 Canadian a month or $200 a year, it's the most expensive one. On the upside, it's basically a combination of Showtime and HBO with a lot of the Paramount Plus stuff. There was a channel back in the 90s and early 2000s called TNN, and it was virtually just trash TV and Star Trek, and Paramount has ALL that. It's filled with those sleazy dating reality TV shows (that are awesome!). But they're more woman aimed than stuff like ElimiDate and Blind Date in the golden era of this content.
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My favourite original show on the service right now is one called Yellowjackets (original to Showtime). OK, how do I explain it: kind of like Alive, but part Hannibal and part Ravenous with a dash of Ari Aster films - so lots of gory violence, drama, and dark comedy. Two timelines, the present day has among its main cast Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, and Melanie Lynskey (all played psycho killers in past films); then there's 1996, a plane with a soccer team of 18 year old girls and their male coach, and a couple of other guys, crashes in the Canadian wilderness and they're there for 19 months... stuff with cannibalism, sexually inappropriateness, and the occult occurs. Then in the present day, there's another potential conspiracy going on when survivors keep getting postcards with the cult symbol on it. The show has TONS of 1990s rock, hip hop, and culture in it.
Netflix: is a graveyard of unfinished shows. I actually enjoy a lot of the content, but a few years ago the service literally cancelled five of the shows I was watching. When I want to binge films, it will have stuff like Underworld 1 and 3 and none of the others, or Hangover 2 and 3, but not the first. On the bright side, it has A TON of content. It's great for documentaries, and it has all the Ghibli stuff - which IMO, puts it ahead of Disney. It also has the best animated TV variety in general... although, it's missing all the juggernauts (Simpsons, South Park, and Bob's Burgers) and they cancelled several of their potential competitors. So, while I think Netflix is absolutely worth it, I can't stand their cancellations... for anyone who's worked in or around the executive level of a corporate structure, you just KNOW it's a bunch of braindead assholes patting each other on the back for making brave moves like cancelling F is for Family
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My favourite original show on it currently going, is The Witcher and I'm expecting it to be cancelled soon. I don't think I have to say anything about it.
Apple TV Plus: It's got a lower amount of content, but a higher amount of high quality content than the other services--especially when it comes to originals. I'd say their bread and butter are dark comedy shows and the content . I have fairly expansive tastes, and one thing I love about this service is I don't even need to consider what show to watch because if it's on there's a 98% chance it's enjoyable. I didn't even know I really enjoyed the "guy's wife dies in a car accident, and this is his midlife crisis" genre
I also really like how they treat a number of the shows like a Director's Edition DVD box set, and just load them up with special features and easter egg content - it's interesting how when you're watching along, different things unlock. It's damn cool! Apple TV may be the smallest, but it has the most soul out of any of the streaming services (how weird is that to say about an Apple product?).
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This one is really hard to say what my favourite original show is because there are so many across so many genres, but I'd say For All Mankind. It's an alternate historical drama science fiction that (so far) spans from the 1960s to the 2000s following NASA and the Space program if the space race between the USSR and the US hadn't ended. The feature that's really cool on Apple Plus is that each year has a little 1-4 minute video of a snapshot of history to illustrate some of the changes: The Challenger doesn't crash, John Lennon isn't murdered and his return to music in the 80s is much more extensive, and so on. There is an episode that has both Lennon and Nirvana music in it. Also, the iPhone (or something like it) hit in 1993 instead of 2007 because technology was advancing much more quickly. Oh, and you remember that secret Nazi scientist, Werner Von Braun, who did all the space stuff? He's in it too.
Prime reminds me a lot of what Netflix was like 10-12 years ago. Lots of content, really cool shows, although some of the cool ones have been cancelled (like Paper Girls). This one is easily the most soulless of the services, and the most cold and corporate feeling because of all the add-ons and such. I understand tiers (most, if not all, services have them), but this one is kind of ridiculous. That said, I love the wide selection of content, and I think the film selection is a bit wider than Netflix. It suffers from some (but not as much) of the "here's part of a series" problem.
Just to go off on a bit of a tangent. Many so-called "true fans" of Tolkien hate Rings of Power, but I think it's a great introduction to the world of the second age. Also, those so-called "true fans" are mostly just pessimists who want to sound important by pointing out differences between Peter Jackson films and Rings of power. They get so angry if you say you enjoy the show. Telling me I'm not a true fan: although, I'd read The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion multiple times each before the Peter Jackson films were ever announced. In fact, by the time I was in High School, September 1996, I'd read the entire 12 volume series of the History of Middle Earth, a collection of multiple versions of the Silmarillion (including the poetic renditions) and an early draft pieces of Lord of the Rings So, fuck them and their 800 pound mothers! They ain't shit
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The Boys is my favourite original series, easily. I'm not a big fan of super hero stuff, but when you make it into a dark comedy, with gore, heroes driven vy social media influence, and so on... I love it. It also stars anti super hero terrorists led by Billy Butcher (played by Karl Urban), and he's fairly psycho.
Disney Plus is my most watched of the services, right now. The reason is not because of their new content, or even their Disney content, but because they have VAST libraries of existing shows: 34 seasons of The Simpsons (a product I had the privilege of working on for about 7 years), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (although they removed like 7 episodes because they're too inappropriate), and Bob's Burgers. There are also all the Disney films... yeah, I'm an adult now in my forties, but I really enjoy the Silver Age stuff like Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, and Lady and the Tramp, and the new stuff like Frozen and Tangled; but I give the edge of feature animated films to Netflix as the Ghibli stuff is more my thing... plus, for whatever reason Disney Plus is missing fantastic Bluth content, like The Secret of NIMH, that's on Prime. So, for me, it's mainly about the Fox library.
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Unfortunately, Disney doesn't have any original shows I watch. I'm aware Star Wars stuff is on there, but I haven't been able to get into any of it. I worked on the Star Wars brand, briefly, as well. So, despite being my most watched service, it's the only service where I watch exclusively catalogue content or previously existing shows.
Pair this one and Apple up, and it's 75-85% of what I watched last year.
I'm not saying Netflix is bad, just that I think the other services are superior. And when I look at all the content I'm going to watch that's probably on Netflix for the next 5+ years or so (like Ghibli, Seinfeld, Satoshi Kon, Akira, American Psycjo, and other stuff) I either already have it all on DVD and Blu ray, or I can buy it digitally on other platforms: most of Netflix's library is 8-18 dollars Canadian (which is like 5-13 US). From a straight up budgeting calculation, it's probably cheaper to just do Netflix in October, November (because of all the horror films on there), and maybe December, and then take the rest of the year off.
CRAVE - this is my newest one. The downside is probably the price, at $20 Canadian a month or $200 a year, it's the most expensive one. On the upside, it's basically a combination of Showtime and HBO with a lot of the Paramount Plus stuff. There was a channel back in the 90s and early 2000s called TNN, and it was virtually just trash TV and Star Trek, and Paramount has ALL that. It's filled with those sleazy dating reality TV shows (that are awesome!). But they're more woman aimed than stuff like ElimiDate and Blind Date in the golden era of this content.
----
My favourite original show on the service right now is one called Yellowjackets (original to Showtime). OK, how do I explain it: kind of like Alive, but part Hannibal and part Ravenous with a dash of Ari Aster films - so lots of gory violence, drama, and dark comedy. Two timelines, the present day has among its main cast Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, and Melanie Lynskey (all played psycho killers in past films); then there's 1996, a plane with a soccer team of 18 year old girls and their male coach, and a couple of other guys, crashes in the Canadian wilderness and they're there for 19 months... stuff with cannibalism, sexually inappropriateness, and the occult occurs. Then in the present day, there's another potential conspiracy going on when survivors keep getting postcards with the cult symbol on it. The show has TONS of 1990s rock, hip hop, and culture in it.
Netflix: is a graveyard of unfinished shows. I actually enjoy a lot of the content, but a few years ago the service literally cancelled five of the shows I was watching. When I want to binge films, it will have stuff like Underworld 1 and 3 and none of the others, or Hangover 2 and 3, but not the first. On the bright side, it has A TON of content. It's great for documentaries, and it has all the Ghibli stuff - which IMO, puts it ahead of Disney. It also has the best animated TV variety in general... although, it's missing all the juggernauts (Simpsons, South Park, and Bob's Burgers) and they cancelled several of their potential competitors. So, while I think Netflix is absolutely worth it, I can't stand their cancellations... for anyone who's worked in or around the executive level of a corporate structure, you just KNOW it's a bunch of braindead assholes patting each other on the back for making brave moves like cancelling F is for Family
----
My favourite original show on it currently going, is The Witcher and I'm expecting it to be cancelled soon. I don't think I have to say anything about it.
Apple TV Plus: It's got a lower amount of content, but a higher amount of high quality content than the other services--especially when it comes to originals. I'd say their bread and butter are dark comedy shows and the content . I have fairly expansive tastes, and one thing I love about this service is I don't even need to consider what show to watch because if it's on there's a 98% chance it's enjoyable. I didn't even know I really enjoyed the "guy's wife dies in a car accident, and this is his midlife crisis" genre
I also really like how they treat a number of the shows like a Director's Edition DVD box set, and just load them up with special features and easter egg content - it's interesting how when you're watching along, different things unlock. It's damn cool! Apple TV may be the smallest, but it has the most soul out of any of the streaming services (how weird is that to say about an Apple product?).----
This one is really hard to say what my favourite original show is because there are so many across so many genres, but I'd say For All Mankind. It's an alternate historical drama science fiction that (so far) spans from the 1960s to the 2000s following NASA and the Space program if the space race between the USSR and the US hadn't ended. The feature that's really cool on Apple Plus is that each year has a little 1-4 minute video of a snapshot of history to illustrate some of the changes: The Challenger doesn't crash, John Lennon isn't murdered and his return to music in the 80s is much more extensive, and so on. There is an episode that has both Lennon and Nirvana music in it. Also, the iPhone (or something like it) hit in 1993 instead of 2007 because technology was advancing much more quickly. Oh, and you remember that secret Nazi scientist, Werner Von Braun, who did all the space stuff? He's in it too.
Prime reminds me a lot of what Netflix was like 10-12 years ago. Lots of content, really cool shows, although some of the cool ones have been cancelled (like Paper Girls). This one is easily the most soulless of the services, and the most cold and corporate feeling because of all the add-ons and such. I understand tiers (most, if not all, services have them), but this one is kind of ridiculous. That said, I love the wide selection of content, and I think the film selection is a bit wider than Netflix. It suffers from some (but not as much) of the "here's part of a series" problem.
Just to go off on a bit of a tangent. Many so-called "true fans" of Tolkien hate Rings of Power, but I think it's a great introduction to the world of the second age. Also, those so-called "true fans" are mostly just pessimists who want to sound important by pointing out differences between Peter Jackson films and Rings of power. They get so angry if you say you enjoy the show. Telling me I'm not a true fan: although, I'd read The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion multiple times each before the Peter Jackson films were ever announced. In fact, by the time I was in High School, September 1996, I'd read the entire 12 volume series of the History of Middle Earth, a collection of multiple versions of the Silmarillion (including the poetic renditions) and an early draft pieces of Lord of the Rings So, fuck them and their 800 pound mothers! They ain't shit
----
The Boys is my favourite original series, easily. I'm not a big fan of super hero stuff, but when you make it into a dark comedy, with gore, heroes driven vy social media influence, and so on... I love it. It also stars anti super hero terrorists led by Billy Butcher (played by Karl Urban), and he's fairly psycho.
Disney Plus is my most watched of the services, right now. The reason is not because of their new content, or even their Disney content, but because they have VAST libraries of existing shows: 34 seasons of The Simpsons (a product I had the privilege of working on for about 7 years), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (although they removed like 7 episodes because they're too inappropriate), and Bob's Burgers. There are also all the Disney films... yeah, I'm an adult now in my forties, but I really enjoy the Silver Age stuff like Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, and Lady and the Tramp, and the new stuff like Frozen and Tangled; but I give the edge of feature animated films to Netflix as the Ghibli stuff is more my thing... plus, for whatever reason Disney Plus is missing fantastic Bluth content, like The Secret of NIMH, that's on Prime. So, for me, it's mainly about the Fox library.
----
Unfortunately, Disney doesn't have any original shows I watch. I'm aware Star Wars stuff is on there, but I haven't been able to get into any of it. I worked on the Star Wars brand, briefly, as well. So, despite being my most watched service, it's the only service where I watch exclusively catalogue content or previously existing shows.
Pair this one and Apple up, and it's 75-85% of what I watched last year.
I'm not saying Netflix is bad, just that I think the other services are superior. And when I look at all the content I'm going to watch that's probably on Netflix for the next 5+ years or so (like Ghibli, Seinfeld, Satoshi Kon, Akira, American Psycjo, and other stuff) I either already have it all on DVD and Blu ray, or I can buy it digitally on other platforms: most of Netflix's library is 8-18 dollars Canadian (which is like 5-13 US). From a straight up budgeting calculation, it's probably cheaper to just do Netflix in October, November (because of all the horror films on there), and maybe December, and then take the rest of the year off.
