IMDb adds streaming movies and TV shows

There’s been a lot of fanfare this week about IMDb adding free streaming video to its site, but I’m not yet impressed. There are supposed to be 6,000 clips eventually, but so far, there’s nothing like that number. Also, most of the clips appear to be housed elsewhere, mostly on Hulu, so why wouldn’t you go there instead? New fall shows like the season 2 premiere of Lipstick Jungle (available on Hulu for a week before the Sept. 17 airdate) were supposed to be available in advance at IMDb as well but were not. Still, IMDb does have Hulu beat in one respect: All its videos are easily cross-referenced, so if you’re watching, say, this episode of Love Boat and you want to click to passenger Fernando Lamas’ guest spots on Charlie’s Angels and Alias Smith and Jones, it’s pretty easy to do. Once those 6,000 titles are in place, this navigability will be more impressive.

At least mucking around on IMDb got me to explore Hulu some more, where not only can I find the must-see-before-you-die classic film Night of the Hunter but you can also embed it (see below). Hey, IMDb, let me know when I can do that at your site.