I know I say it every week, but it’s been a pretty lean summer when it comes to streaming content. After years of seeing direct-to-streaming releases, we’re seeing movies spending time in theaters. That’s a great thing in general, but it’s created sort of a vacuum in the streaming world as we return to the cadence we had back in the pre-2020 days.
Add to that a writers’ and actors’ strike which will affect production for the next 18 months, and it’s looking like it’s going to be harder and harder to find content to stream.
I was trying to pick something to stream when I found a secret weapon.
The Zaslav factor
You can read this blog or plenty of others if you want to know how David Zaslav, head of Warner Bros. Discovery, has gutted the Max app. Tons of shows that there there at one point are gone now. Others were canceled before even airing. So I won’t go into too much detail on that.
However, I found out something I didn’t know. I bet you didn’t either.
A lot of HBO shows are gone from the Max app, but they’re still available on DIRECTV’s On Demand if you subscribe to HBO through DIRECTV. Someone told me that I should watch Mrs. Fletcher. It stars Kathryn Hahn, who for my money could read a cereal box label and I’d watch her.
Mrs. Fletcher is not available on Max. It’s available on DIRECTV On Demand. Not only that, it’s available through the DIRECTV App for your streaming box. If you don’t want to switch inputs, if you haven’t gotten your Gemini yet, all you need to do is search the DIRECTV app on your streaming box. You’ll find a lot of content that’s disappeared from the Max app. Some of that content is also available in other places like The Roku Channel and Netflix, but a fair amount of it can’t be seen anywhere else for any price. That’s the worst part about what’s being done to the Max app. A lot of very good stuff is now totally unavailable no matter how hard you try to find it. It’s enough to drive you back to physical media.
Get it while you can
I have a feeling that this particular loophole only exists because the wizards at Warner Bros. Discovery haven’t had the time to close it. Seems to me that it’s just a matter of time before the HBO, Discovery, and TBS/TNT content on DIRECTV is gutted just like the Max app.
Luckily for you, though, it’s summer, you don’t have much to watch anyway, so you can get going streaming stuff through the DIRECTV App while there’s still time.
As for Mrs. Fletcher, it’s well-crafted. That said, it’s definitely not the sort of show you want to watch with kids in the room. But, it does have its appeal. You’ll like it if you’ve ever struggled with empty-nest syndrome. There’s something for you if you’ve ever gone to college, to. You’ll appreciate its wry humor and elegant plotting. Check it out before Zaslav figures out it’s still available to stream.
