Cordkillers 592: The Streaming App Trap
Streaming apps are trying to become full-blown entertainment destinations, not just places to watch shows. Meanwhile, Firefly may fly again, lost Doctor Who has resurfaced, and studios keep fiddling with theaters, sports, and premium pricing.
This week on The FULL Experience: Mr. Show (101 - "The Cry of a Hungry Baby")
Next week: Mr. Show (404 - "The Story of Everest")
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Supply Run
Disney+ is rolling out Verts, a new short-form mobile feed that points toward a future where streaming apps borrow more from social video and fandom culture than traditional TV guides. The broader idea is that streamers want to be the place you hang out, not just the place you open when you already know what to watch.
Peacock is leaning even harder into the “entertainment platform” idea with casual games, vertical live sports video, and an AI Andy Cohen guiding viewers through Bravo-related content. It is a very clear signal that streamers think the next phase is less about clean catalogs and more about trapping you inside a fandom sandbox.
Search Party
Nathan Fillion says the Firefly cast has agreed to return for an animated continuation set between the end of the series and Serenity. It still does not have a home yet, but the pitch is catnip for exactly the people you would expect.
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot from Chloe Zhao appears to be dead after a pilot failed to impress enough to move forward. Joss Whedon reportedly gave a blessing to the general effort but was not involved.
Two long-missing Doctor Who episodes from The Daleks’ Master Plan have been found in a private collection and are headed to BBC iPlayer. Any time missing sixties Doctor Who turns back up, the nerd alarm goes off at full volume.
Apple says the 2026 Formula 1 season is off to a strong start on Apple TV, with viewership up year over year and early fan response beating expectations. That is a promising sign for Apple’s very expensive bet on live sports.
AMC has set Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat to premiere on Sunday, June 7. The Immortal Universe train keeps rolling.
Channel Surfer is a new web app that makes browsing YouTube feel like flipping through a retro cable guide. It is a clever reminder that sometimes the future of discovery looks suspiciously like the past.
KPop Demon Hunters is officially getting a sequel, with the original directors returning. Netflix and Sony clearly know when they have a hit on their hands.
Jada Pinkett Smith is returning for Netflix’s A Different World sequel series, reprising her role as Lena James. The new show follows Deborah as she attends her parents’ HBCU alma mater and deals with the weight of family legacy.
Will Ferrell’s golf comedy The Hawk is coming to Netflix this summer. The teaser is out, and the premise sounds like exactly the kind of sports-adjacent nonsense he was built for.
One Piece season 2 opened with 16.8 million views in its first four days on Netflix. That is slightly down from season 1, but still plenty healthy by normal-human standards.
Paradise has been renewed for season 3 at Hulu before its season 2 finale even airs. Somebody at Hulu clearly likes how this thing is going.
Buried Treasure
Brian: Hail Mary
Tom: World Baseball Classic
Scanning the Horizon
Warner Bros. tied the record for most Oscar wins by a studio in a single night, powered by One Battle After Another and Sinners. It was a very good evening to be standing near a Warner logo.
Sports made up 29.2 percent of all ad-supported TV viewing among adults 25 to 54 in the fourth quarter, according to Nielsen. Sports remain the closest thing television has to cheat codes.
Universal is extending its theatrical windows, promising a minimum of five weekends in 2026 and seven weekends in 2027 before movies move to home entertainment. The studio that helped shorten the window is now quietly admitting maybe theaters still matter.
Pew says 53 percent of U.S. adults saw a movie in theaters in the prior 12 months, while 7 percent said they have never seen a movie in a theater at all. That is both reassuring and a little bleak, depending on which half of the sentence you are staring at.
Amazon is raising the price of ad-free Prime Video from $3 to $5 per month and putting 4K and Dolby Atmos behind that pricier tier. It is a neat little reminder that “premium” usually means “we found another way to charge you.”
Chatter
James Thatcher says Amos sounds like Master Control from Tron, which is either a compliment, an accusation, or both.
Sean asks why Cordkillers prefers per-creation billing on Patreon instead of a flat monthly model, while also noting he has been a Boss since nearly the beginning and plans to increase his support.
Rob Scrivo recommends Piers Anthony’s Blue Adept series as another strong science-and-magic example, reminds everyone that Thundarr the Barbarian already nailed the pitch decades ago, and throws in a recommendation for Task.
David Pick reports successfully getting Cordkillers episode 591 playing on a vintage analog TV through a gloriously cursed chain of adapters, proving once and for all that modern streaming can be forced through old glass if you are stubborn enough.
Biocow resurfaced a reminder that Tom once said he would go to Austin and personally concede to Brian if K-pop Demon Hunters won both Best Animated Movie and Best Song.
Sean Finnerty recommends Dark Winds as a crime drama with True Detective vibes, but set on a Navajo reservation and shaped by Diné medicine and mysticism.