Mount Hood

The ad-pocalypse hits streaming

March 5, 2025

Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor

“If I wanted to pay for commercials I couldn’t skip, I’d sign up for Hulu.” Who knew a throw-away line in a 2014 episode of “The Simpsons” would still be so prevalent today? I mean, the episode wasn’t even about commercials or advertisements — it was about Homer pirating movies and consequently being arrested by the FBI.

But, Homer did have a point. Why pay for streaming services when they have ads?

When companies like Netflix and Hulu first launched, they both offered an ad-free service as their basic plan, which now both have ads. Even Hulu’s so-called “ad-free” subscription — the most expensive of their plans at $18.99 — is adding ads to certain programming, alongside Disney+, which Hulu is now partnered with. 

There’s not really a definitive answer for why these services are including ads, but it doesn’t make sense in the first place. After all, when Netflix and Hulu first launched as apps, they offered ad-free services for a fraction of the cost of cable. So what’s changed?

The first is the very reason why Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ gained popularity: no ads for a fraction of the cost. As more and more users joined, the companies realized that they needed a solution to make up for the revenue they were losing. Even with every user paying the monthly fee, they still needed support from advertisers. Thus, they began to offer two services — ad-free and basic with ads. 

Eventually, these evolved into different subscription plans for each service, some being ad-free, some offering partnerships with live TV or other streaming services. Currently the most popular partnership is the Hulu bundle, offering no ads on Hulu, a Disney+ subscription with no ads and ESPN+ with ads.

The second reason for advertisements becoming more prevalent on streaming services goes hand in hand with the bundling of streaming services: the amount of content offered. As content becomes available through cross-platforming, like Hulu titles and ESPN+ live sporting events being available on Disney+, the cost of licensing increases. The only streaming services that seem to avoid the need for ads due to cross-platforming are HBO Max and Prime Video, though Prime still has ads on when watching titles from its library or other non-Max affiliated services. 

With all these ads, it seems that streaming services have become cable, but if streaming services have become the new cable, what’s the next step?

For starters, visit a local library. They have extensive collections of movies and shows on DVD, though a DVD or Blu-ray player is required. Thrift stores typically also have copies of movies and shows, and ownership of one’s favorite titles might bring peace of mind — especially with the way titles are traded between services. However, a major downside of this is that many newer movies and series are not available on DVD, especially with the popularity of streaming services and digital copies. 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Can’t sleep? Try these

Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor

Struggling to enter rapid eye movement? Want a movie or show that has calming qualities? Then look no further than this list. Made up of different kinds of movies and shows, one will surely find a movie or show that will help them get some shut-eye.

“Ratatouille” — Streaming on Disney+

“Ratatouille” is the perfect movie for sleep. It follows Remy, a rat, as he traverses through the streets of Paris to end up helping Linguini at the restaurant Gusteau’s. The movie is washed in soft blues and yellows, making it gentle on tired eyes. The soundtrack and ambiance are also extremely soothing, and the sounds of cooking and the Parisian streets are sure to lull even the biggest insomniac to sleep.

“The Devil Wears Prada” — Streaming on Max

Following Andrea “Andy” Sachs as she works for Vogue and its notorious editor, Miranda Priestly, the movie delves into the socialite side of working for a fashion magazine. With subtle overlays of white, gray and black to contrast where Andy starts in her career and where she ends up, the movie has a soft, almost dreamlike feel. Artists like Madonna, U2 and Alanis Morissette feature on the soundtrack, adding to this dreamlike feel. 

“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” — Streaming on Netflix

A movie with brighter colors and bubblegum pop for the soundtrack, which makes it perfect for when the body is in its earliest stages of exhaustion. The plot is easy to follow and the romance between Lara Jean and Peter is to swoon for, and the movie is best for soothing viewers to sleep. 

“Emma” — Streaming on Prime Video

Whether the 1996 or 2020 version, the movie follows the same plot: set in 1815 in the English countryside, it follows Emma — played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the ‘96 version and Anya Taylor Joy in the 2020 version — who goes about setting up affluent couples together. The soundtrack has a gentle piano accompaniment and the English countryside setting gives the movie a cozy, cottagecore feel. It’s best for when one is exhausted but their brain is fighting the urge to sleep.

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” — Streaming on Disney+

Similar to “Ratatouille,” this movie follows Mr. Fox as he makes his last big score against three poultry farmers. The film’s color palette is flush with yellows, oranges and reds, making it a warm, cozy movie for cold winter nights. The Wes Anderson movie features a folk music-based soundtrack with banjos and fiddles and features artists like Burl Ives and the Rolling Stones. When the cold, sleepless nights settle in, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is the perfect movie.

“Pride and Prejudice” — Streaming on Starz and Prime Video

Another movie based on one of Jane Austen’s novels, “Pride and Prejudice” gives the same vibes as “Emma.” Following the Bennet family as the five daughters search for suitable husbands, viewers will find themselves falling for Charles Bingley and Mr. Darcy as they woo the eldest two Bennet daughters, Jane and Elizabeth. Another movie best for when one is fighting the urge to sleep.

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

“The Simpsons” place in pop culture

Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor

When the Simpson family first appeared as an animated short in 1987, nobody could have predicted the series’s influence on pop culture.

Created by cartoonist Matt Groening, “The Simpsons” originally started as a 30-second short on “The Tracey Ullman Show” — a variety program akin to “Robot Chicken” — airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Eventually, it expanded to half an hour and aired Dec. 17, 1989, as a Christmas special titled “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.” The rest of season one began airing regularly in January 1990.

Oregon-born Groening partnered with seasoned producer-director James L. Brooks as the show’s executive producer with Sam Simon attached as a writer. Brooks is best known for “Mary Tyler Moore” and “As Good As It Gets,” while Simon is known for “Friends” and “Cheers.”

The show centers on a family with all the dysfunctions of the modern world but with the demographics of the 1950s: two married parents, two preteen children, an infant and plenty of living extended family. Springfield — named after Springfield, Oregon — is filled with all kinds of strange residents, ones that often fulfill stereotypical roles seen on television. An endless rollout of walk-on guest stars eventually joined the show and were voiced by their real-life counterparts — former President George Bush and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking were among these guest stars. 

In the ’90s, the show’s popularity skyrocketed and was so successful in its first two years that the term “Simpsonmania” was coined and used to describe the show’s rise to fame. In 1990, as many as one million Bart Simpson shirts were sold in a day, and Simpson merchandise generated $2 billion in revenue for the series. “The Simpsons” was Fox Network’s first television series to rank among the top 30 highest-rated shows in 1990.

As time went on, “The Simpsons” began to pass other shows in terms of series longevity. “The Simpsons” surpassed “The Flintstones” as the longest-running prime-time animated series in the United States Feb. 9, 1997. In 2004, the series surpassed “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” which ran from 1952 to 1966, as the longest-running sitcom — animated or live-action — in the United States. “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” was also originally the leader in number of episodes — a whopping 453 — but in the spring of 2009, “The Simpsons” surpassed it. 

“The Simpsons” and “Scooby-Doo” battled it out in October of 2004 for American animated show with the highest number of episodes, but when network executives canceled “Scooby-Doo” again the following year, “The Simpsons” reclaimed it with 378 episodes at the end of season 17. By season 18, the series had 400 episodes. It is now recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s longest-running sitcom.

“The Simpsons Movie” was released July 27, 2007, and grossed $536.4 million worldwide,  becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2007, the second-highest-grossing traditionally animated film —  second only to Disney’s “The Lion King” —  as well as the highest-grossing film based on an animated television series and the highest grossing adult animated movie of all time. The film was nominated for numerous awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

The movie, much like the series, includes celebrity cameos, with Tom Hanks and the members of Green Day playing themselves. 

However, by the time “The Simpsons Movie” was released to theaters, critics began calling the show “tired” and fans were becoming disillusioned with the series. Jim Schembri of The Morning Herald believed the show’s decline was due to an abandonment of character-driven storylines and overused celebrity cameos and references to popular culture. 

“The central tragedy of ‘The Simpsons’ is that it has gone from commanding attention to merely being attention-seeking. It began by proving that cartoon characters don’t have to be caricatures; they can be invested with real emotions. Now the show has in essence fermented into a limp parody of itself. Memorable story arcs have been sacrificed for the sake of celebrity walk-ons and punchline-hungry dialogue,” Schembri said. 

Many fans and critics say the show’s golden era was in its first ten seasons and claim that when showrunners Mike Scully and Al Jean were added to the roster, then began the show’s true decline. 

Groening was quick to defend the show, as well as his showrunners, saying: “I honestly don’t see any end in sight. I think it’s possible that the show will become too financially cumbersome but right now, the show is creatively, I think, as good or better than it’s ever been. The animation is incredibly detailed and imaginative, and the stories do things that we haven’t done before. So creatively there’s no reason to quit.”

Currently, viewership of “The Simpsons” has been on the decline since season 21, which first aired in September 2009. While season one had an average viewership of 13.4 million viewers, season 21 had a dismal average of 7.2 million viewers. The first two episodes of season 36 have even worse numbers — episode two did not even break a million viewers, currently stagnant at 886,000.

Although, even as the show’s viewership declines, fans still come together to share their love of “The Simpsons,” especially the first ten seasons. Instagram accounts such as @bortposting, @the_simpsons_man and @bortofdarkness regularly post memes about the show’s golden era and all three accounts have a combined following of 281,200. r/Simpsons on Reddit has 43,000 members and is among the top three percent of Reddit pages.

Critics and fans alike do have hope for season 36. The season’s premiere began with a fake series finale and featured altered clips from classic episodes that were given tragic outcomes. On X (formerly Twitter), user @tonygoldmark shared their theory that the show’s recent quality could be because “the show is now being run by people who grew up watching it, and precisely understand the memetic impact it’s had.” Many fans also attributed this increase in episode quality to Matt Selman taking over as the primary showrunner starting in season 33. And although the season premiere was very standalone, its references reminded viewers that it is still the same show they loved watching years ago. 

Episode three of season 36 aired on Fox  Oct. 20 and is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

The Disney Company’s recent controversy

The company that brought you the “happiest place on Earth” is worse than you thought

Camille Lenning | Entertainment Editor

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

We’ve all enjoyed a Disney movie or two. How could we not? They own everything from Star Wars to Marvel to Pixar, and cornered the market on fairytale princesses. Disney is everywhere, and that’s the problem.

The company has faced numerous controversies since its founding in 1923 by Walt and his brother Roy O. Disney. Allegations of perpetuating harmful stereotypes, sexism and even plagiarism have plagued the company for decades. Most recently, the actions of the company’s CEO, Bob Chapek, in the case of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act has thrown the company into further scandal. 

The bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents, was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on March 28. If it remains unchallenged until July 1, it will ban elementary classrooms from having discussions about LGBTQ+ issues and gender expression. 

Disney World dominates Florida’s economy by bringing in billions per year in tourism, so the corporation’s political power is unmatched in the state. With this in mind, supporters of the Disney Company expected to hear a denouncement of the bill when it passed in the Florida Senate on March 8. Disney was vocal about making strides in producing more diverse entertainment, so surely they would disapprove of this seemingly anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. 

Yet the company made no public response, and only passed internal memos to shareholders informing them of the situation. That was, at least, until public outcry forced their hand. On March 11, Chapek released a statement apologizing for their silence, saying he and the company now understood the detrimental effects the bill could have, and that they were “pausing all political donations in the state of Florida pending this review.”

Disney so far has kept up with that promise. However, their existing contributions to the Florida GOP this quarter, totaling $125,000, remain as a glaring reminder that Chapek and the Disney Company seem to only adhere to progressive values when they’re forced to. 

Similarly, in 2020, the same year they released such works as “Out” — a short film about a boy coming out to his parents — individuals within Disney donated $10,500,030 to the America First Action super PAC, which backed the Donald Trump campaign in the election. While the company made donations to Democratic campaigns as well, the amount was far less substantial. 

The fact that Disney higher ups were funding these Republican campaigns and interest groups at all is telling of where the company really stands. While they are slowly introducing diverse characters in their shows and movies, they support politicians who intend to limit how LGBTQ+ people are represented in real life. 

It’s important to remain informed of the decisions the Disney Company makes. They play a bigger role in our lives than many realize. Their political contributions alone can greatly affect who we see on the ballot, and their power in Florida, a prominent battleground state, cannot be ignored. 

That being said, you are not a bad person if you watch Disney movies. What the multi-billion dollar corporation does with their money isn’t your fault. They have a monopoly on entertainment, and we as consumers should not be faulted for existing in the system they created.

The comeback of Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Written by: Claire Phillips | Entertainment Editor

History was made on June 28, 2005, when Rick Riordan first published “The Lightning Thief.” In the last year, the author of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” has released two new books belonging to the original beloved book series. Over the last 18 years, the series has grown to be 17 books long in addition to two trilogies that take place in the same universe.

To date, the “Percy Jackson” series has been adapted into two movies and a television series that is scheduled to air on Disney+ on Dec. 20. The series stars actors Walker Scobell as Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood. Trailers for the show depict the trio embarking on epic adventures, accurately mirroring the first book in the series.

Fans have ultimately been more receptive to the casting of the show than the original two movies, though the characters don’t exactly match their book descriptions. Lovers of the book series were disappointed by previous adaptations of the book series to see plot points erased and the characters inappropriately cast in the movies. 

As Riordan continued to expand his universe, he added more diversity to his book by including POC, LGBTQ+ and disabled characters. “Percy Jackson” fans are excited to see this diversity has carried over into the series as well.

Since the original “Percy Jackson” pentalogy was released in the 2000s, Rick Riordan has continued to write bestselling novels. “The Heroes of Olympus” continued the “Percy Jackson” story with a new cast of characters in the 2010s, and “The Trials of Apollo” took the point of view of one of the Olympians the previous series discussed. “Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard” and “The Kane Chronicles” followed Norse and Egyptian mythology, and were also adored by loyal Riordan fans, who dubbed their favorite author Uncle Rick.

Though Rick Riordan has claimed he is finished writing books in the “Percy Jackson” series, he released two new additions in 2023 — “The Chalice of the Gods” and “The Sun and the Star”. “The Chalice of the Gods” follows Percy as he navigates his senior year of high school. “The Sun and the Star,” co-written with Mark Oshiro, is the treacherous tale of demigods Nico di Angelo and Will Solace as they venture into the underworld.

“Percy Jackson” has continued to thrive due to its healthy mix of nostalgia, a connected fanbase and incredible writing throughout the years. Fans are expecting a bright future for both the books and the show. 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Popular movies and TV coming to streaming

The critically acclaimed media coming to Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu this October 

Camille Lenning | Entertainment Editor

Classes are back in session, which can mean more stress for students. For those who need a break from homework, here’s a sneak peek into some of the critically acclaimed movies and television shows coming to streaming services this October. 

Coming to Netflix:  

  • “Seinfeld” (1989) ⏤ Oct. 1. All nine seasons of the famous sitcom featuring Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards. Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%. 
  • “Till Death” (2021) ⏤ Oct. 1. A romantic lake house vacation turns deadly when Emma’s husband enacts a revenge plot against her. Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%.
  • “On My Block” (2018) ⏤ Oct. 4. Two years after Monse’s departure from Freeridge, the group is back together, and this final season will explore their changed dynamic as they navigate new threats in the neighborhood. Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%. 
  • “YOU” (2018) ⏤ Oct. 15. In season three, Joe and Love are raising their newborn son in a Californian suburb. But when Joe’s attention shifts to their next door neighbor, Love must take drastic measures to protect her perfect family. Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%. 

    Coming to Disney+:

    • “Black Widow” (2021) ⏤ Oct. 6. Natasha Romanoff must confront her dark past as an assassin — and the people she left behind — when a new foe arises. Rotten Tomatoes score: 79%. 
    • “Marvel’s What If…?” (2021) ⏤ Oct. 6. Marvel’s newest addition to their growing media arsenal comes to a close in the finale episode. Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%. 

    Coming to Hulu:

    • “Crimson Tide” (1995) ⏤ Oct. 1. Set after the Cold War, a rookie lieutenant commander of the submarine USS Alabama stages a mutiny to prevent the captain from starting a nuclear war with Russian extremists. Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%. 
    • “Escape from Alcatraz” (1979) ⏤ Oct. 1. Frank Morris, a criminal with a reputation for breaking out of prison, is sent to Alcatraz and crafts a plan to escape the inescapable. Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%.
    • “Goldfinger” (1964) ⏤ Oct. 1. When gold magnate Auric Goldfinger is suspected of concocting a scheme to rob Fort Knox and cripple the world economy, 007 must foil the plot. Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%. 
    • “Grey’s Anatomy” (2005) ⏤ Oct. 1. The season 18 premiere will feature the doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital treating patients after the COVID-19 pandemic, and introduce new obstacles as they try to employ doctors. Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%. 
    • “Mad Max” (1979) ⏤ Oct. 1. In a world where oil shortages have led to famine, war and financial crisis, police officer Max goes rogue to avenge his murdered wife and son. Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%. 
    • “The Hunger Games” (2012) ⏤ Oct. 1. Every year, the Capitol picks two children from each assigned district to join a bloodthirsty competition. When Katniss Everdeen volunteers to save her sister, her life is changed forever. Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%. 
    • “Waitress” (2007) ⏤ Oct. 1. Waitress Jenna is married to an abusive husband and stuck in a small town, with plans to escape ⏤ but complications arise when she begins an affair with the town doctor. Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%. 

    Contact the author at entertainmenteditor@thewesternhowl.com