A couple of times my wife and I have gotten into streaming shows, only to have them suddenly disappear from Amazon/Netflix. (IIRC, Californication - Netflix and Boston Legal - Amazon) In neither case do I recall seeing anything saying the show would cease to be available as of a certain date or anything. W/ Boston Legal, only the final season is still available - for purchase! (No big deal - we have ordered the DVDs through our library. But a bit of a pain in the ass.)
Am I correct in assuming this is just SOP for these providers? On a day-to-day basis they may be adding or deleting shows/movies, such that you have no guarantee/expectation of what is going to be available the next time you turn on your set?
Yes. They contract with the providers for a certain time of coverage (for example a year) and after the time of coverage is up it is removed–unless the contract is renewed. One major factor is that the major studios are now setting up their own streaming services and thus want the series and movies for those services, so now longer want to contract with Amazon, Netflix…
Your best solution is to start streaming as soon as it is available.
There are resources online that will let you know what shows are coming and going for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO for the coming month— I see those types of articles on Sites like lifehacker.com and slate.com as the current month winds down.
Yes, it’s SOP that they don’t post on the app the fact that a show is leaving soon. There are various websites, like https://www.whats-on-netflix.com , which will list what’s arriving & what’s leaving Netflix in the next month or so. It appears that Amazon doesn’t announce ahead of time what’s leaving, which sucks.
There are a bunch of websites that will tell you what is leaving and coming to the various streaming services. Just google “Leaving <service>” and click on almost literally any link that gets served up.
I’ve noticed Hulu specifically has started noting shows that are “expiring soon”, presumably to avoid watchers from getting caught out.
I posted a similar thread on Jan 1 when I discovered, much to my chagrin, that Doctor Who was no longer available on Amazon Prime (for free… I could pay for it though). Then a few weeks later discovered that Justified, which I was also in the middle of, was also no longer available for free on Prime. So yeah, it sucks. I guess one solution for me would be to quit starting new shows until I’m done with one that I’m in the middle of.
We got caught out by Doctor Who on Prime, also. My son and I were working our way through the older episodes and were up to the specials between Tennant and Smith, then went away for Christmas vacation. Got back home and were all ready to watch “Waters of Mars” when we discovered it.
Huh. I’m pretty sure on Netflix Parts Unknown was labeled “Available until 12/31/2019” before it left. But maybe they don’t do that for every show.
Funnily enough, Doctor Who was a big part of the reason I signed up for Amazon Prime in the first place. I had been watching it on Netflix, until I noticed it wasn’t there anymore. Amazon had snagged it away from them. I’d been on the fence about signing up for Prime, and that was the final push that got me to sign up. Apparently it was a pretty big coup for Amazon to get Doctor Who as it was one of Netflix’s most popular shows at the time.
When I first got Netflix, my main usage for it was to watch shows I’d missed when they aired on TV, like Breaking Bad, and Doctor Who. Now it’s not as useful for that anymore, as networks set up their own streaming services and keep their most popular shows for themselves rather than letting Netflix have them. Which of course is why Netflix and others are working so hard on producing their own original content.
The art show Fake or Fortune got labeled also - but it just happened. Maybe they only do it 2 weeks out. Only 4 episodes so easy to finish watching it.
Hulu has a category FOR stuff leaving their service soon, I always liked that and think the others should do it as well.
Netflix was supposed to lose the The Office because NBC was going to start their own service at the beginning of the year so I binged it over Christmas Break to finish it, but they must have struck a deal cause it’s still on.
ETA. I believe Rotten Tomatoes has a list of what is arriving and leaving any particular streaming service you care to name.
Got sort of caught out there watching Dead Like Me on Amazon Prime. It was advertised to me as FREE! With Prime! Which it was, if I was only interested in season one. Pissed me off since season one ends in a cliffhanger. I haven’t watched season two because I feel like I was tricked and manipulated and I refuse to reward such underhandedness.
Netflix used to be good about telling you when a show would be leaving. They would even have specific dates but as their competition increased they became more vague as to not give anyone a reason to cancel.
Doctor Who series since 2005 will be available on HBO Max, and as said above, Justified should be available on Hulu (as part of an overall deal where much FX content is on Hulu). In short, the streaming universe is very fragmented.
Or check one of those sites for the end date before you start it. I’m going to start doing this - I’ve never been caught like this myself, so it didn’t occur to me to do so until reading this thread.
2020 is the final year of The Office on Netflix. It’s leaving January 2021.
Very significant as I remember streaming it on my little laptop when streaming was brand new and The Office was still on. They have had it all, or almost all, the time Netflix has been streaming.
