Free Reference: the Big Kahuna of TV and Movie Sites, Hulu.com

If last month’s column hit a new high explicating the diversely informative features of the controversial advocacy site created by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML; see Free Reference, LJ 3/15/11), then the paucity of reference purists left following this insouciant jaunt down the Ref Free-Way might opt to detour at the next Stuckey’s because this latest offering is decidedly lowbrow: TV land.

But before you pony up $4.95 for that famed sugar-shock-inducing Pecan Log Roll confection and abandon me, consider that no less an august body than the Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS) of the Reference and User Services Association of ALA bestowed its imprimatur of respectability by including the Big Kahuna of TV and movie sites, www.hulu.com, on its 2010 Twelfth Annual List of Best Free Reference websites.

Let’s just cut to the chase. With an ever-expanding inventory of thousands of movies and selected TV series episodes, Hulu is the cat’s ass of free Internet TV sites. Design and content are beautifully and inextricably wed. A large flash banner profiling nine shows or themes prominently greets the visitor on the home page (at press time, highlighting Bones, Naruto, and Parks and Recreation, which guest-stars the inimitable Megan Mullally as a sex-crazed, stereotype-stomping public librarian competing for meager municipal funding). Browse, Most Popular, and Recently Added buttons all have drop-down menus providing access to TV shows, movies, trailers, genres, and documentaries.

A representative sampling of a given week’s recent television episodes, popular clips, and featured content occupies most of the home page, while an array of ancillary features including discussions, genres, labs, jobs, and a blog is found at the bottom of the page. And, of course, a free text-search window invites discrete searches, with a killer suggestion engine that tries to predict your intended target as you type.

Missed last week’s Michael Scott shenanigans on The Office? Hulu’s got you covered. Jonesing for some retro eye candy à la Charlie’s (not Sheen) Angels? In the mood for a little goth kitsch? You’re invited to dine with Barnabas Collins and Angelique at Collinwood Mansion in Dark Shadows: The Revival Series (1991). We haven’t even gotten to the movies. Oy! Worth noting, however, is that there’s a rolling embargo on new network shows—meaning that patrons directed to Hulu for last month’s Glee high school shenanigans may find themselves blocked today.

BOTTOM LINE How could you not be over the moon for this? Cognizant of the library’s inability to deal with a seemingly insatiable demand for TV series and movies, Hulu is not just a fun diversion but media manna from Hollywood heaven.—Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX