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A spreadsheet mix-up transforms this week’s Full Experience into the accidental “Flul Experience,” as Tom and Brian watch Remington Steele’s lowest-rated episode while expecting its best. They find flashes of charm beneath the whackety-smackety plotting, then discover that streaming-rights complications may make the final episodes harder to watch than the show itself.

Next week: Remington Steele (420 - "Beg, Borrow or Steele")

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Microdramas continue exploding in popularity while studios unveil a packed slate of trailers, adaptations, and franchise revivals. Meanwhile, Peacock finally turns a profit, Roku raises hardware prices, and the Paramount–Warner merger inches through the legal process.

This week on The FULL Experience: Remington Steele (208 - "Scene Steelers")

Next week: Remington Steele (420 - "Beg, Borrow or Steele")

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Tom, Brian, and Amos begin their four-episode test of Remington Steele with the 1982 pilot, finding its feminist premise, con-man energy, and Pierce Brosnan’s effortless charm more compelling than expected. The mystery itself is flimsy and occasionally goofy, but the clever identity games and surprisingly strong origin story hold up better than they feared.

Next week: Remington Steele (208 - "Scene Steelers")

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Netflix is still growing, but softer forecasts have Wall Street wondering where its next wave of growth will come from. We grade the streamer’s possible answers—including live sports, bundles, social features, acquisitions, creator video and a whole lot of AI.

This week on The FULL Experience: Remington Steele (101 - "License to Steele")

Next week: Remington Steele (208 - "Scene Steelers")

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The second half of our streaming guide moves from services to the boxes, sticks, smart TVs, antennas, and oddball gadgets that actually get video onto your screen.

Roku remains one of the most affordable and widely supported streaming hardware options, with both boxes and sticks available. It began as the original Netflix streamer, but today its biggest advantages are interface preference, ecosystem familiarity, and broad app support.

Fire TV sticks and boxes make the most sense for people already deep in Amazon’s ecosystem, especially if they use Prime Video and add-on channels heavily. The Fire TV Cube also gets praise as an easy “hotel-like” setup for guests, with strong voice-control features.

Apple TV is the easiest recommendation for people already using iPhones, Macs, and iPads. Its ecosystem integration makes passwords, purchases, authentication, and playback smoother, and older Apple TVs can remain useful for years.

Chromecast is gone as a hardware brand, replaced by the Google TV Streamer. It is a good fit for people invested in Google, YouTube, YouTube TV, and Android, though Google’s TV hardware strategy has been less consistent than Roku, Fire TV, or Apple TV.

The NVIDIA Shield TV remains the power-user option for gamers, tinkerers, VPN users, and people who want more control over their streaming box. It has not been substantially updated since 2019, but it still works well, even if it is starting to show its age.

Game consoles can still stream video, but Sony and Microsoft have mostly moved away from treating them as primary TV boxes. The crew also gives a farewell nod to retired or fading hardware like TiVo and Microsoft’s old TV ambitions.

The Xumo Stream Box from Comcast and Charter may be worth considering for internet subscribers who can get it free or discounted. It can replace some traditional cable-box use cases while still offering access to streaming apps.

Many viewers simply use the apps built into their smart TVs, and that can work fine as long as performance holds up. Samsung’s Tizen, LG’s webOS, Roku TV, Fire TV, Google TV, Vizio’s SmartCast, and TiVo OS all get a rundown, with the main advice being to consider long-term speed, app support, and whether you may eventually want a separate streaming box.

For over-the-air broadcast TV, devices like HDHomeRun and Tablo can turn an antenna into a networked live-TV and DVR system. Amos explains his HDHomeRun Quattro setup feeding Plex for local DVR recordings like Saturday Night Live, NASCAR, major sports, and local news during severe weather.

Amos also points out that Alaska’s over-the-air TV can sometimes be delayed or degraded because local signals are rebroadcast by satellite. That means streaming apps can occasionally be ahead of the antenna feed, proving once again that every “simple” TV setup has an exception hiding somewhere.

The crew closes by talking about how they actually choose what to watch now that almost everything is available somewhere. Brian compares modern TV to a book-club experience, Tom breaks down different household viewing use cases, and Amos describes his viewing as deliberate, focused, and ad-free whenever possible.

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Tom, Brian, and Amos turn the streaming TV maze into a map: platforms, bundles, live TV replacements, FAST channels, library freebies, and the subscriptions you forgot you still had.

Streaming Platforms

Platforms collect subscriptions in one place, usually through one bill and one app. Roku, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google TV/YouTube, Walmart+, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, YouTube TV, and cable-provider apps can all act as your main streaming “bucket.”

The advice: pick one bucket if you can. It makes cancellation sweeps easier and helps avoid paying for services you are not using.

Amazon Prime Video has the most add-on choice, Apple TV has strong subscription management, YouTube TV works well for live TV plus premium add-ons, Roku is budget-friendly, Sling TV is customizable, and DirecTV Stream is the cable-like sports-heavy option.

Links: Roku⁠, Prime Video⁠, Apple TV⁠, Google TV⁠, Walmart+⁠, YouTube TV⁠, Sling TV⁠, DirecTV Stream⁠

Discovery and Audits

JustWatch, FreeCast, Plex, Apple TV search, and Roku search can help find where something is streaming. AI finance tools can also help identify forgotten subscriptions.

Links: JustWatch, FreeCast, Plex⁠

Bundles

Bundles are smaller collections of services, often offered directly or through a phone, internet, or retail membership perk. Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN remain a major bundle. Peacock offers an Apple TV bundle, while T-Mobile, Verizon, Cricket Wireless, Metro by T-Mobile, and Google Fi include streaming perks on some plans.

Brian gets HBO Max through a legacy AT&T Fiber perk and uses T-Mobile benefits for Netflix and Apple TV+. Amos uses Verizon for the Disney Bundle and Walmart+ for Paramount+ or Peacock.

The warning: bundles save money, but canceling a phone or internet plan may mean losing perks you rely on.

Links: Disney+⁠, Hulu⁠, ESPN+⁠, Peacock⁠, T-Mobile⁠, Verizon⁠, Google Fi⁠

Live TV Replacements

Internet-based live TV services provide linear channels without traditional cable installation or long contracts. Options include YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, Philo, Frndly TV, and Sling TV.

Tom uses DirecTV Stream for sports and specific channels. Brian does not currently rely on a paid live TV replacement. Amos uses an antenna with HDHomeRun and Plex for broadcast TV, which comes up more in the hardware special.

Links: Hulu + Live TV⁠, Fubo⁠, Philo⁠, Frndly TV⁠, HDHomeRun⁠

FAST and Library Streaming

FAST services are free ad-supported streaming TV, often built around always-on channel grids. Pluto TV, Xumo, Tubi, Prime Video Free Streaming, Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel, Zeam, Plex, and Sling Freestream are all options.

Tom and Brian call FAST “waterfall television”: familiar, low-pressure programming you can leave on without thinking too hard. Kanopy and Hoopla are also worth checking through your local library.

Links: Pluto TV⁠, Xumo⁠, Tubi⁠, Samsung TV Plus⁠, Roku Channel⁠, Zeam⁠, Kanopy⁠, Hoopla⁠

Part two covers streaming hardware. Feedback: [email protected]⁠

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V holds up better than its 1983 laser budget has any right to: a sharp, human, uncomfortably relevant fascism allegory wrapped in lizard-people pulp. Part one soars, part two wobbles, but the whole thing still proves that nothing says “timeless sci-fi” like charismatic authoritarians, gullible collaborators, stolen water, and mice with very dramatic instincts.

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Disney’s Bob Iger reflects on the empire-building acquisitions that reshaped the company, the deals that got away, and the principles that guided his run. Plus, Netflix heats up Hot Ones, King of the Hill returns, Comcast splits itself again, and California turns down the volume on streaming ads.

This week on The FULL Experience: V: The Original Miniseries

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Apple TV may be chasing the prestige-TV crown that HBO once owned, but the big question is whether that model can work in streaming when even HBO muddied the waters. Meanwhile, Amazon MGM may be looking for a new home for its Sam Altman biopic, Instagram wants more time on your TV, and Netflix’s K-pop Demon Hunters keeps dominating globally.

This week on The FULL Experience: V (Part I)

Next week: V (Part II)

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We loved it AND we hated it for all the reasons you might suspect.

Next week: Murder, She Wrote (1224 - "Death by Demographics")

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