When Disney Plus launched it seemed amazing in so many ways. Almost the entire Disney collection of movies, classics and tv shows at your finger tips to scroll through and stream for the same price that just a few years ago we would have paid for four or five Classic cartoons on VHS or DVD. But we’re in the streaming era now (check out all of our streaming shows on Extreme Improv + on this website) and nowadays people will happily be 50 or 60 smackeroos for a huge selection of movies and shows to watch each year.
Yes we don’t actually own these films any more, but when you consider that we have to rebuy each film on VHS then DVD then Blu Ray every few years anyway, having the studios just admit that we’ll have to keep paying for the same film over and over is the closest they’ve been to honest ever.
But if we accept that we’ll be permanently renting the things we watch we want a endless supply of options, and that is something where Disney Plus was losing it’s steam. A year ago it was amazing to have the likes of Dumbo and Hercules to take that trip back to our childhoods before having an Avengers marathon and then diving into the latest episode of the Madalorian. But I think many people started to feel the fatigue of the Disney and Pixar movies, and there’s only so many times you can watch Avengers or Star Wars in one year. We needed something else.
Fortunately Disney have taken a bold step with Disney Plus in much of the world and added hundreds of extra TV show and movies that lean heavily into what they got when they acquired Fox (though apparently this is not available in the US so it doesn’t conflict with Hulu). In the UK Disney Plus came out a year ago, and the new ‘Star’ section of Disney Plus is just the ticket to guarantee that many people will stay with Disney Plus for at least another year.
So what is on offer here? We’ll do a separate article looking at movies, but for now let’s take a look at the top 10 series that have been added to Disney Plus Star for you to binge watch to your heart’s content
10: How I Met Your Mother
With nine seasons to binge watch you’ll certainly have a lot to enjoy of this sitcom that came into our lives hot on the heels of the ending of Friends to fill the void it left when it ended the year earlier. And though it may not have reached the status of Friends and it’s star has already faded, there’s no denying that How I Met Your Mother does have it’s share of laughs and a certain charm to it’s quirky style of humour.
A big draw to the series was the promise set up by the show’s title as viewers await to find out how Ted would meet the mother of his children. But it’s Neil Patrick Harris’s star making turn as the loveable rogue Barney Stinson who steals the show of almost every episode.
9: Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty was a huge show when it first started and was one of those shows that everyone would love to discuss with it’s charming humour and regular plot twists. Based on the Colombian show Yo soy Betty, la fea, the show lost some oomf in it’s later seasons before being cancelled after four seasons.
It made a star of America Ferrera, and followed her character Betty who was the unlikely new recruit working at a Fashion magazine surrounded by often shallow co-workers. But with a great supporting cast the show had a lot of heart and was a sitcom/drama which was a few production value points above many of its contemporaries.
