STREAMING IS TEEMING

Disney will soon take on big fish like Netflix and Hulu

Have fun remembering all of your passwords.

With Disney+ slated to launch in November, the streaming landscape is set to become more comprehensive and complex. At $6.99/month, the flashy service should give fellow heavy hitters like Netflix, Hulu (in which Disney has stakes) and Amazon Prime a run for their money.

Here’s a guide to streaming services.

Disney+ $6.99/month, available in the U.S. as of Nov. 12

Disney+ (or Disney Plus) is being touted as “a treasure trove of long-lasting, valuable content” for fans of the world’s most beloved talking mouse and the seemingly infinite (and beyond) characters and canons his legacy has since ushered in. We’re talking classic Disney, new age Disney, Pixar, Marvel, “Star Wars” and following last month’s acquisition that overtook a good chunk of Fox’s properties, much, much more.

Netflix - starting at $8 (soon to be $9)/month

Netflix aimed for about 700 original series in 2018. The overwhelming number encompassed 80-some-odd shows from outside the U.S., as well as long-running U.S.made favorites like “Stranger Things,” “Grace and Frankie,” and “Orange is the New Black.”

Netflix currently offers Marvel hits (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Black Panther,” and “Thor: Ragnarok”), relics of Disney’s Golden Age (“Pocahontas,” “Mulan,” and “Hercules”) and “Star Wars” flicks (“The Last Jedi” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story”), but the majority of Disney-owned content will leave Netflix by year’s end.

Hulu - starting at $5.99/month

Best known for its television offerings, most of which are not original content but are largely exclusively distributed to the service, Hulu has ventured into creative territory in recent years, with some rewarding results.

Amazon Prime Video $8.99/month

Prime has nowhere near the slate that Netflix does, a bit at odds with its home site of Amazon’s reputation for selling everything under the sun, but sometimes less is more. And Prime’s work has already garnered plenty of critical acclaim, not least from the Emmy and Academy Awards.

HBO NOW/HBO GO $14.99/month w/out TV package; varies with TV package/digital subscription (Amazon, Hulu, etc.)

HBO has long been lauded by critics and fans for its original programming and films, both documentary and otherwise. Several of HBO’s widely regarded classics are available, at least partially, on Prime, though it’s only through the actual network and its streaming services that you’ll find the full slate.

CBS All Access - starts at $5.99/month

New kid on the block CBS All Access is small but mighty, offering few but celebrated programs.

Other options

Non-subscription-based but similarly minded services are also part of the vast streaming landscape. Sony Crackle offers shows like “All in the Family,” “Bewitched,” and “Charlie’s Angels,” alongside movies like “Bugsy,” “Closer,” and “Foxcatcher.” Relatively limited, the CW App offers original series “Riverdale,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”