Opinion: Why Tubi and Pluto TV Are Actually Good Streaming Services

As stated before in a previous article, there are simply too many streaming services out right now and it costs too much for the average consumer to have a good handful at a time.

However, there are two great streaming contenders out right now that are good enough to rival the average services like Hulu or Paramount Plus and cost nothing.

That is right, those two services are Tubi and Pluto TV. You may have heard of them, but if you have not, now is your chance to take advantage of them.

Tubi and Pluto TV are two streaming services that exist online as a website and as an app for television sets that run off Roku TVs.

They are also free, which means you will not have to pay a single cent per month to watch movies on them.

However, some ads occur throughout your program, and you cannot skip them like on YouTube.

This might turn some people off, but considering that some versions of Disney Plus now run with an ad-based program and you still have to pay for it monthly, the ads on Tubi are the least of your concerns.

Another disclaimer, do not confuse Tubi with another online service called Mubi.

Mubi features more of the ‘art cinema’ and international films from around the world where directors of many kinds are allowed to share their creative visions.

Tubi is less of an art cinema and features more of the B-movie shlock that some people assume is all the service really is.

Here’s the thing, Tubi is not all cheap movie trash and B-movie shlock, even if some of it is so bad it's good.

It turns out, there are a lot of good gems that turn up on the service, both movies and television.

The original “Batman” TV series from the 1960s was featured on Tubi for a brief period and features the original movie serials from the 1940s that are seldom watched.

Even works by the likes of Quentin Tarantino have found their home here on occasion. Just last summer, “Django Unchained,” “Inglorious Basterds” and “Death Proof” were featured on the Tubi platform.

Old Saturday morning cartoons of the likes of “M.A.S.K.,” “G.I.JOE: A Real American Hero," "The Transformers” and “Yogi Bear” are featured in their entirety here, and do not have any intention of leaving soon.

See, Tubi is not all about cheap crummy movies with ads that interrupt your movie, there is many great stuff featured on there.

Who knows, you might find a TV show or movie from your childhood that you forgot about entirely and now you have a chance to rediscover old memories.

Tubi also features a decent selection of documentaries, and there is a good one about drive-in theaters during the post-pandemic period and how they adapted to the new standards for film viewing.

But like many streaming services, movies and TV programs tend to come and go whenever they please.

If you were busy rewatching the original "Indiana Jones" trilogy on Amazon Prime one day, and then decided to finish them after coming home from vacation, you might run the risk of them not being there anymore. It seems like there is no escaping that from any service at this point.

Then, there’s Pluto TV, which like Tubi is also free, but also contains ads. It is what it is, but it is what is featured there that matters.

Pluto is also the closest thing streaming has gotten to replicating the overall “program schedule” format of broadcast television.

Movies and television shows have a select time of day when they play. The original “Mad Max” movie might play from 8 to 10 PM on a random Monday night, commercials included, while “Wagon Train” might play every Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

It is close to what television originally was when people were dedicated to watching their favorite show at a specific time slot during the week (in other words, when television was TRUE television).

There are many kinds of programs on the service. It is one of the homes of “This Old House” which your fathers/grandfathers either enjoy watching or falling asleep to. There are many different shows from the History Channel that are featured occasionally.

Oh, and there’s also music from the 70s to the 2000s that you can watch and listen to. You might find a music video from the 1980s that you could never find until now or dedicate six hours of your time to unlimited 90s alternative rock.

It makes for some rather good radio, almost rivaling the music selection and experience Spotify and Pandora offer nowadays.

Like Tubi, Pluto features many programs that the average person may not be aware of, but will still enjoy, nonetheless. And they do not require any monthly payments, which should be a bonus.

The main problem with Pluto TV is that it does require a good internet connection to run it. In other words, if you have a reliable internet provider, and you don’t have more than three people using the internet connection, you should be fine.

But should you have a bustling household where everybody needs to use the internet all at once all the time, then Pluto might encounter some significant buffering issues. It cannot be helped, but it is what it is.

Despite advertisements and internet problems, these services are not that bad. They are quite great, better than 95% of the regular streaming competitors on the market.

You would not even have to download them and waste space on your phone or computer since both services can be accessed through a website, another bonus for those curious whether they should give these two a try.

But, in a way, Tubi and Pluto are like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.

Logan M. Sharp is a fourth-year student majoring in Film Production. To contact him, please email lxs5590@psu.edu.