I’ll start this off by admitting that I don’t have Netflix. I have used it at other people’s houses from time to time, and enjoyed it, but haven’t pulled the trigger to get my own account.

Why? Because it doesn’t have what I want in its streaming library 90% of the time. I can find something to watch, sure, but usually not what . . . → Read More: Netflix becomes stupider, Warehouse 13 returns]]> Yes, I know stupider isn’t a word. It applies to Netflix nonetheless.

I’ll start this off by admitting that I don’t have Netflix. I have used it at other people’s houses from time to time, and enjoyed it, but haven’t pulled the trigger to get my own account.

Why? Because it doesn’t have what I want in its streaming library 90% of the time. I can find something to watch, sure, but usually not what I want to watch. Periodically I browse their website for shows I’m interested in. Most of the time if they’re there they are DVD only – no streaming.

Why would I pay for that? That’s essentially what I get with my cable subscription and a Redbox.

Here’s the other downside for me with Netflix (and all streaming services): no special features. I love special features. I like listening to the commentaries, watching the “on the set” and “behind the scenes” featurettes, and especially the deleted scenes. I don’t know of any streaming service (with the exception of Zediva) that provides for any of those. (Of course some studios are making separate versions of their DVDs for rental purposes that don’t include these features either in an attempt to force me to buy the retail disc – which is a whole other level of stupid. They actually spend more in order to provide me with less for worse return.)

So yesterday Netflix announced they are “changing their plan structure.” You now get to pay $8/month for exactly half of what you paid $8/month for yesterday. You can get streaming OR DVD by mail, but not both for that price. Or you could pay double to get the whole enchilada again. So they’re basically saying that their streaming service is equal to their DVD service, even though it has a fraction of the titles available.

I’m sure it has a much better profit margin for them, so I can understand their enthusiasm, but from a consumer side … they simply don’t have a big enough library yet.

I can’t find many of my geek wants, for example. The new Green Lantern animated lead up to the  live action film, any Justice League cartoons, the old Superfriends cartoons – pretty much any super-hero content, really with a few minor exceptions; any Looney Tunes; most kids’ shows (no Mister Rogers); Babylon 5 … heck even Star Wars isn’t on streaming! Even huge hit sitcoms like The Big Bang Theory, Friends, How I Met Your Mother… I could go on.

Where’s the value? I can watch a lot of documentaries … that’s great. I enjoy documentaries. And they have plenty of shows I don’t watch, too. And there are a handful I want to see. But $8/month for the privilege? No.

They don’t have Warehouse 13 on Netflix streaming either (it’s on DVD). So if I wanted to catch up on the last 2 seasons to prepare for the third season premiere, I’d be out of luck.

I did watch the premiere on Monday, by the way. It wasn’t one of the best episodes, but it was solid. Even though some parts felt like filler when you look at what actually happened, it was enormously fun to watch. The acting and writing are awesome. Even the “boring” parts had me laughing. If you’re not watching this show yet, you should.

You can catch it on Hulu.

Let’s start with the end. The finale to Warehouse 13 on Tuesday was really good. [SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH TO AVOID SPOILERS.] They still managed to keep the light tone of the show intact while also . . . → Read More: Premieres/Finales Fall 2009]]> Well, this week was the one to launch three shows I’ll be following this year (Heroes, FlashForward, and Smallville) and close out the opening season for a summer series I watched (Warehouse 13). How’d they do? Read on.

Let’s start with the end. The finale to Warehouse 13 on Tuesday was really good. [SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH TO AVOID SPOILERS.] They still managed to keep the light tone of the show intact while also introducing some more serious elements. I like how they’re setting up MacPherson to possibly be a better agent (if not a better person) than Artie. Is Artie going to show up next season? I haven’t read one way or the other, but yeah, I think so. They seeded the entire show with hints to how he’ll survive. Decent misdirection, though, at the end. I wish I was more emotionally invested in Pete and Myka, but despite being the stars, they’re the ones I’m least interested in. All of the secondary characters intrigue me more. Artie and Mrs. Frederic, of course, are the best. I predict the cliffhanger threads will all be tied up by the end of the premiere next year. It’d be nice if they’d drag one or two out a bit, but I don’t think that will happen. In all, I think it was a good end to a fun season. I’m looking forward to season 2.

Okay, moving on to the premieres.

Heroes. At the end of the episode I was left with one question: would I have liked this episode more if they hadn’t had to recover from the sour taste left over from last year? It’s hard to say. There was certainly nothing in the episode that made me sit up and go “whoa!” The closest I got was some curiosity about the carnival group. In all, pretty disappointing, but it did set up some stuff that might get interesting, if they move things along. I do like that the characters are mostly trying to go back to their lives, which sets up some dramatic potential, but if I’m being honest, I think the show went so far off track last year that sticking to continuity at this point is a huge weight around its neck and it just feels forced. The Nathan/Sylar “body sharing” thing is killing me, for instance. I’ll stick with it, but with the news that ratings for the premiere were horrible, I won’t be too shocked if it’s cancelled mid-season. If they do that, hopefully they’ll at least give them enough warning to put some kind of end-cap on the story. Still, I hope it improves.

FlashForward. This is the one I was really looking forward to seeing. I think it will be a great story by the end of the season, and will watch the whole thing. At this point, though, it hasn’t grabbed me the way I thought it would. Maybe it’s because I knew too many of the twists ahead of time. I hope so. One thing I was disappointed in was that we only saw glimpses of the future as if it was a dream, and we didn’t see 2 min 17 seconds worth. I really expected that it would be like we were suddenly transported 6 months into the future and then suddenly yanked back to the present two minutes later. Instead we got maybe a minute of blurry, filtered camera tricks with lots of quick cuts screaming out at us “this is a vision!” Not as effective or engrossing, in my opinion as “actually being there.” The guy walking around at the end, though… that was cool, if over-explained. I hope they don’t spend the entire series explaining the plot to the “stupid viewer.” Other than that, though, I’m in.

Smallville. Despite a few clunky elements and a less than stellar “last time” recap, this looks like it’s going in the right direction. Finally! This season Clark is finally going to leave “Dawson’s Creek” and get down to some seriousness. To be fair, they started this trend last year, but while the overall arc was good, I wasn’t satisfied with the Doomsday finale. On the plus side, because of the events of the finale, this year Clark is eschewing his human upbringing (or trying to) and leaning on his Kryptonian heritage. It’s gonna be a bit darker this year, it appears, and that’s exactly where it needs to go. If they can elevate the Zod plot and maneuver it into a worthwhile finale, it’ll be a great season. Here’s a quick review of last season….

And a preview for this season…

If rumors are to be believed, we’ll see Metallo (that’s actually definite – he’s in the trailer), the Wonder Twins, and Green Arrow’s sidekick, “Speedy” this season. Hopefully that turns out better than it sounds…

Next week, Stargate: Universe and Star Wars: Clone Wars.