Nuked Hey, my followers! It’s your favorite tech-loving comedian, Nuked, here to talk about the streaming service that I can’t get enough of: Discovery Plus. That’s right, I actually pay for it out of my own pocket, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Out of all the streaming services I use, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and Funimation, Discovery Plus is the one that I use the most. At just $4.99 per month (or $6.99 without ads), it’s one of the cheapest streaming options out there, and for me, those five bucks go a long way.
Discovery Plus is a melting pot of all the unscripted reality shows from Discovery itself, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigate Discovery, The History Channel, and a handful of other networks that I haven’t even heard of before. That means it has some of the most bizarre, disturbing, cringe-worthy, and downright disgusting TV shows that I’ve ever seen.
For the record, I’m not one of those weirdos who like to watch people pop pimples: my taste in TV is much more refined. 90 Day Fiancé is my drug of choice.
The show (and its various spinoffs) was the sole reason why I subscribed to Discovery Plus in the first place. This led me down the rabbit hole of all the other shows on Discovery Plus, including Sister Wives, Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry, Hoarders, Intervention, Amish Mafia, and a whole host of other shows that — let’s be honest — probably shouldn’t exist (i.e. Dr. Pimple Popper).
And while Discovery Plus has all the absurd content that I enjoy watching, it still has some glaring flaws that are hard to ignore. For one, the UI is absolutely awful when compared to other services like Netflix.
The Max app could be great, or it could be the best of two of the buggiest worlds
I can’t click into a series’ full list of episodes from the show in my “Continue Watching” list, which means if I missed an episode or want to go back and browse through different seasons, I have to search for the show first and only then can I access its list of episodes. The UI, including the playback bar, is also incredibly laggy, which can make scrubbing through episodes (and navigating through the app in general) a huge pain.
Discovery Plus’ parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, says it has plans to make some UI improvements when it brings some of Discovery Plus’ content to HBO Max to form “Max.” However, it made no mention of fixing this on Discovery Plus, which will remain as a standalone app for the same price, while Max will cost $9.99 per month with ads, $14.99 per month without, or $19.99 with no ads and 4K content.
So basically, the Max app could be great, or it could be the best of two of the buggiest worlds. Those potential UI improvements won’t be enough to convince me to drop Discovery Plus — even if HBO Max has The Last of Us and Succession.
For now, though, I’m happy with Discovery Plus. It’s my go-to when I eat dinner, go to bed, and even on the weekends when I have nothing else better to do. I have access to nearly every popular streaming service at my fingertips, and yet, I’d only choose Discovery Plus once my 90 days are up.
So, my fellow tech-loving, comedy-seeking followers, what do you think? Are you a fan of Discovery Plus like I am, or are you sticking with the more polished streaming services out there? Let me know in the comments below!
