Hulu: who knew?

As in, who knew such a resource existed on the Internet? Who knew you could find your favorite TV shows, movies and media clips in one place and view them any time, all the time and for free? Sound too good to be true? I thought so too, and so I read and reread Hulu's About page looking to answer the all-time popular question, "So what's the catch?" I couldn't find one. (If you know of one, please share.)

Hulu's mission is to "help people find and enjoy the world's premium video content when, where and how they want it." I have to say I like their mission. Hulu is basically an online video service offering popular TV shows, movies and clips for free, anytime in the U.S. And these aren't popular-in-what-country shows. You'll find programming from over 100 content providers (FOX, NBC, MGM, Sony, Warner Bros.). You can choose from over 900--and that's no typo--current primetime TV shows, from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to Ugly Betty, and classics like The A Team and Airwolf (you must remember Airwolf!). I haven't even mentioned movies like Men in Black, The Karate Kid and even clips from Saturday Night Live.

Shows are either watched at Hulu.com or other online sites. Hulu's search feature lets you find any premium video online even if it is not directly available on Hulu.com. For example, I searched for Ugly Betty, and though the results showed on Hulu's site, I was redirected to ABC's website to watch the episode. Though that's where I watch it anyway, it's nice to click through directly to the episode page rather than working my way through ABC's site.

You can browse Hulu's collection by channel (Action & Adventure, Food & Leisure), popularity and most recently added. You can share full-length episodes and clips and Hulu even has a clipping feature that allows you to select the portion of a video you would like to share. Who knew you could do that so easily?

I could go on and on but by now you've probably already visited Hulu.com and asking, "Who knew I could get addicted so dang quickly?" I know...I asked the same question myself. I leave you with one of my favorite clips from Napoleon Dynamite. Enjoy!