CHOPPED as any of you long term blog readers know, was one of the best shows on AMAZON Prime, and seemingly one of the better reasons to have AMAZON prime… to view the seasons for free. Well Amazon has responded to the popularity of the Food Network show, very poorly, by making none of the seasons available for free.
Add to that that Food Network has, for reasons completely inexplicable, chosen not to release any of the seasons on DVD, and that makes for no cost effective options to see this show, if you don’t want cable.
It’s unfortunate that Amazon chose to remove all the free seasons of the show, and even more unfortunate that Food Network has not yet put out DVDs of CHOPPED. It’s a show crying out for DVD extras and extended episodes, etc.
One reviewer referred to Amazon’s decision as “BAIT & SWITCH”, and I can see that. They lure you into Prime with content, that becomes unavailable at no set schedule. It’s antics like this that make streaming at best a try before you buy medium.
It’s great for sampling a bunch of content, however for shows or movies you love, or intend to watch again, DVD/Blu-Ray is the only way to
- a/get the show in a quality format, not subject to variable quality due to connection speeds and
- b/ensure you have it available when you want to watch it and
- c/get the show with quality extras such as Director’s commentary or making of features.
So for these reasons streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are great alternatives to cable, and great for sampling tons of content, but DVD and Blu-Ray are still the name of the game, when it comes to a quality viewing experience in your home. And here’s hoping someone at Food Channel gets wise and decides to put out CHOPPED dvds.
Heroic Times 