Tag Archives: Masters Of Sex

Netflix, Stan, Streaming TV

Getting to Know Stan

Bringing binge TV to the masses

Stan goes live in Australia on Jan 26th
Stan goes live in Australia on Jan 26th

Stan, the streaming subscription service created in a joint venture between Nine and Fairfax, has announced it’s official ‘live’ date – Jan 26th with the service going live just 12 days after Presto (Foxtel’s effort) went live.  Stan will cost subscribers $10 a month with no lock-in contracts (offering movies and television) and is cheaper than Presto who charge $14 per month for access to its movie and television catalog.

I’ve been playing around with Stan for the past week and wanted to share my thoughts on what to expect for those looking at possibly signing up.  Stan’s interface is simple, clean and easy to use with it’s landing page set up to showcase it’s draw-card programs and shows segregated into genres.  You want ‘groundbreaking comedies’ or ‘premium drama’ then it’ll be easy to find.

Dramas including Masters of Sex and Dexter will be readily available when the service launches
Dramas including Masters of Sex and Dexter will be readily available when the service launches

There’s an array of older content (which i’ll get to in a bit) and there’s also some selected new dramas being touted as ‘first on Stan’ including sci-fi cult Lost Girl, award winning drama Transparent and Amazon Original series Mozart in the Jungle all readily available when the service launches.

The rest of the programs available are made up of dramas, comedies and documentaries long since finished: Absolutely Fabulous, Will & Grace (only 4 of 8 seasons available), Dawsons Creek, The L Word and Deadwood among others or those currently airing but featuring seasons past – Hannibal, The Fall, Community, Masters of Sex and Nurse Jackie.

Like with Presto and the imminent arrival of Netflix (sometime before March), Stan’s catalog features a small selection of new content packed in between a slew of old programs we’ve all probably seen and long forgotten.  It’s best to think of these services as walking down the weekly isle at your local DVD rental shop where you can watch all you want but pay monthly for the ability to do so.

Do you need Stan?  To be honest, if you binge watch TV or your TV DVD library doesn’t exist then Stan will be useful.  If you have your weeknight free-to-air schedule worked out and can live without seeing certain shows as they go live, then no.

Stan goes live in Australia Monday Jan 26th.

Do you plan on singing up with Stan or Presto or Netflix?  Sound off in the comments below!

Comedy, Drama, Foxtel, FRONT, Homeland, Local TV, NBC, Pretty Little Liars, Reality Television, TV

TV News Roundup: Body of Proof, Homeland and More.

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Rebecca Gibney is Moving on From Rafters

Check out the bits and pieces of interesting news from the world of television below in my TV Roundup!

Renewed: USA network Showtime have renewed thriller Homeland (airing Monday nights on Channel 10) for a fourth season! It’s no surprise with the show creating some of the biggest character and story line talk this year (I’m talking about you Dana Brody) but will be interesting to see who comes back if the rumors that Damien Lewis has been attached to a new show are true or not.  Showtime also gave it’s newest drama Masters Of Sex (airing on SBS) an early second season pick-up.

I’m Back!: Jane Hall is coming back to Neighbors!  It may only be in a short guest stint and won’t be seen until next year, but we can only imagine why her character Rebecca is returning to Ramsay Street!  You’ll remember, she tried to kill her husband Paul Robinson when we saw her last! 

Actress Nadia Dajani confirmed with TVNOW this afternoon that she will be back for the second season of FOX8’s The Carrie Diaries as Tom Bradshaw’s girlfriend Deb and will be appearing in three episodes.

Also possibly back – Body Of Proof starring Dana Delaney.  The ABC network in America cancelled the medical/police drama earlier this year but may already be regretting it’s decision.  New shows Betrayal (which is god awful) and Once Upon a Time – two shows filling the old time-slot, have been rating extremely poorly (making up about half the audience Body Of Proof used to bring to the network).  There’s still no official word, or who will actually make the return.

New Aussie Drama: Channel 7 announced it’s 2014 line-up announcing that TV favorite Rebecca Gibney will be making her return to series television after the end of Packed to the Rafters.  In a show which feels very similar to that of UK drama The Fall and starring Gillian Anderson, Gibney will be seen in The Killing Field as the head of a special police task force sent to a small country town to investigate a shocking crime. The team must delve into the closed lives of a seemingly quaint hamlet in order to find and outwit a killer.

Channel 7 also announced it has picked up one of my favorite new comedies – The Goldberg’s set for airing next year!

Ratings Hit: It was a massive night for the ABC last night with The Gruen Planet nabbing over one million viewers while Ja’mie: Private School Girl grabbed 925k viewers.  Overall, last night showed lower than normal viewing numbers with only three shows hitting that all important one million viewer mark.

On the opposite scale, in America, Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D continues to drop in ratings with the latest episode hitting an all time low of 8.6 million viewers.

On Hold: NBC have put comedy Parks and Recreation on hiatus.  The show will still air four remaining episodes (in two lots of back-to-back runnings) in November and then returning in Jan 2014.  Season six will also see regulars Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe both depart the show.  Word has it, the hiatus was put in place to try and help bolster ratings for sinking comedy Sean Saves the World.

Spin-Off Mixed Results: ABC Family drama Pretty Little Liars’ annual Halloween episode once again drew remarkable ratings and topped as the number one viewed program in key demographics.  The episode also made way for the new spin-off Ravenswood which drew mixed reviews from fans.  While it rated well, fans took to social media giving mixed opinions of the new show.