Review: IMDB TV App

I look up a lot of movies, TV shows, and actors on IMDb, the acronym for Internet Movie Database.

When the IMDb TV app started appearing on my Amazon Fire Stick, I didn't rush to watch anything on it simply because they show advertisements.

That's right, IMDb TV app streams popular movies and TV shows, paid for by the commercials they run, most of them like what you'd see on network and cable TV channels.

Ugh! That's why we prefer Netflix and Prime Video—no commercials if you don't count the trailers for their other original programming.

Delightful movie!

Then came the day when I was scrolling through the offerings on Amazon and saw a movie I knew I wanted to see simply because it starred Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin.

Reluctantly, I added it to my Watchlist.

Darling Hubby and I watched Going in Style, a 2017 theatrical release, on IMDb this past week. It was great. The commercials weren't arduous to endure.

After watching it, I threw in the towel and added other movies  and television shows offered on IMDb that I hadn't seen before.

About Those Pesky Commercials

I'm relieved to say that the commercials aren't nearly as prolific on IMDb as they are on the network shows.

For instance, Hubby and I both like The Rookie, an ABC series starring Nathan Fillion.

We've been Fillion fans since we saw him on Buffy as a crazed cult leader. We loved Firefly and cheered him as he starred in various pilot episodes for series that didn't take off until he hit it big with Castle.

Fillion helms a fabulous ensemble cast

We're so used to watching shows without commercials that it takes will power to watch a show like The Rookie. It's an excellent show, but the commercials! OMG! It seems as if there's a 1:1 ratio of story to commercials.

We timed it once and found 10 minutes of story then 10 minutes of commercials—one after the other for a mind-boggling 9 commercials in a row! By the time the show returns, I'm ready to turn it off and read a good book.

IMDb had 1-2 commercials during the breaks. For most, they had a 30 second, or less, countdown timer running in the lower left corner of the screen.

Takeaway Truth

IMDb TV is absolutely worth watching. You can watch online,  on Fire TV, and through the Prime Video app on smart TVs, mobile devices, Fire tablet, and other tablets.