Amy and I saw and liked Men in Black III. We both found it entertaining even if we were a little confused with some aspects of the time-travel plot line.

Word of the day: eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious (adjective) - very good

 Unlike many of my favorite words, this one is apparently real.

Scott, one additional thought is the xbox 360. It should be able to stream hulu plus, Amazon instant video, and Netflix if you pay $50 yearly for xbox live. It's also a windows media center extender, so if used with a PC with a tuner, you could watch dvr-able TV.

Ryan's option (Blu-ray players) also supports Amazon Instant Video, although they're of course more expensive than the Roku player and redundant if you already have one.

As far as viewing new episodes of shows not available on Hulu, that's a big problem we're trying to figure out. We like a good number of shows on CBS, FX, Adult Swim, and Comedy Central that aren't available. Some are available directly through their station's website, but this then pushes you down the path of hooking up your laptop to theTV to watch full-size episodes. For this option (which I haven't needed to use yet), I've left an HDMI cable hooked up to the TV and easily accessible in the case I need to plug in my computer. Beyond spending a ton on money on Amazon Instant Video or using your computer there aren't a whole lot of kosher options I'm aware of. There's always the Apple TV, but again it's more pay-as-you-go and I cannot speak at all about their selection. Maybe Ryan could shed more light on this if he has any bright ideas for cheap, on-the-level media consumption. The cable and dish companies have certainly cornered this particular market.

Thanks.

All of these options will provide Netflix and Hulu Plus, but it appears only the Roku is compatible with Amazon Instant Video.  I guess I will probably go this route, but it sucks I would have to buy the top-end model just to get ethernet.

From what I have seen, Netflix only provides old seasons for current TV shows.  For stuff not on Hulu, how often do you guy have to go through other sources to get latest episodes of stuff?  I guess that depends on what TV you watch, but I don't want to eat through all my cost savings by having to buy single episodes on Amazon every week.

I would also recommend looking into some of the LG / Samsung / other brands of Blu-Ray players for which they stay on top of firmware updates, etc. I had bought my parents a pretty cheap LG player like 3 or 4 years ago for the sole purpose that it also did netflix streaming. Since then, they've added functionality to stream from sites that I've never even heard of, and it actually does a better / more reliable job than my PS3 or my 360 ever have, which is disappointing for me, to say the least.

There are a couple of cheap hardware alternatives that coupled with subscriptions may work well for you.

1. WDTV Live Media Player - ($90 on Amazon.com) If you already have a movie/TV show library, the device can play pretty much anything you throw at it. If you don't, you can use it to stream Netflix or Hulu Plus at $8/mo each. It has USB ports. It has ethernet and built-in wifi for connectivity. I use older generations of these devices with good results. (Although my PS3 offers additional Amazon Instant Video access too)

2. Roku Streaming Player - ($50-$100 online; $85 for the top model on Amazon.com) Unlike the WDTV player, this device is much more focused on online streaming, ie ethernet and USB ports are available on only the top model with more limited file playback across all models. It can stream from paid online providers like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video as well as give you access to games like Angry Birds and Jeopardy!.

3. Acer RL70-UR10P - ($305 on Amazon.com) - This more expensive option gives you a fully-functional, small form-factor Windows 7 PC. There are plenty of USB ports, Gigabit ethernet, wifi, and HDMI output. You will have FULL access to Hulu (Plus or otherwise), Netflix (although some online reviews mention difficulty streaming in fullscreen HD), and Amazon Instant Video (Prime or pay-per-view). That's not mentioning access to network websites like CBS.com, Adult Swim, etc. If you add a USB TV tuner (e.g. this for $45) to the built-in Windows Media Center, you've got yourself a progammable DVR capable of rewindable live TV viewing.

I would say that these options are not all that's available out there, but outside of Xbox, Wii, and Playstation, these are the best hardware options that I've been able to find. Right now I'm experimenting with plugging my indoor antennas to separate coax outlets in my house that then provide signal to multiple TVs. So far it's been suboptimal. Splitting the signal definitely causes loss that I can't seem to overcome as my different TVs have difficulties with signals from different channels. I'll probably just spend about $50 and get two more antennas, so that all 3 TVs and my PC TV tuner can each optimize their signals. Amy and I are trying Amazon Prime (we also use the shipping benefits), Hulu Plus, and Netflix (Total ~$23/mo) streamed to WDTV live player in our bedroom and PS3 in our family room. I'm using my desktop with a TV tuner as a DVR. If I get a change to start making some money on the side, I'll probably go with option #3 above.

P.S. The new blogger kinda stinks. When I composed this under HTML, apparently they really meant it, as not specifying breaks resulted in posting a single paragraph.

Tiffany and I would also like to cut cable as soon as possible.  However, since we don't have a PS3 our TV isn't connected to the internet.  I know I can go through a laptop, but I would prefer not to and avoid having to repeatedly connect and disconnect.  Is there a good alternative?

All celebrities should write and release a one-page list of answers to their frequently asked questions.