Recently, the two streaming giants Netflix and Hulu went head to head when they both released documentaries on the Fyre Fest disaster within days of each other. While this is by far the most deliberate head to head media the pair have put out, this is hardly the first time they’ve battled for the same audience. After all, they have a very similar viewer pool, drawing in binge-loving fans from around the globe.
From dramas to comedies to documentaries, Netflix and Hulu have made seriously similar content, very likely on purpose. Somebody has to try to be the top streaming dog. Here are 10 other shows Hulu and Netflix have gone head to head over (besides The Fyre Fest documentaries).
CHELSEA DOES VS. I LOVE YOU, AMERICA
In 2016, Chelsea Handler debuted a series on Netflix called Chelsea Does. During the show, she tackled a bunch of hot topics in America through interviews, exploration, and questioning her own beliefs.
Only a year later, in 2017, Sarah Silverman premiered I Love You, America, in which she tests her own beliefs while talking about tough topics. One of the most famous clips from the show is in episode six, where she discusses Louis C.K. Silverman wonders, “Can you love someone who did bad things?” Both shows are very personal projects aimed towards questioning our world. While they definitely have their differences, they have the same core goal.
BLACK MIRROR VS. CASTLE ROCK
Smart horror is very “in” right now, and Netflix and Hulu won’t let you forget that. At first, Black Mirror was a British anthology series. However, ever since 2015, the series has been owned by Netflix and they’ve only made it bigger and better. Recently the Black Mirror movie, Bandersnatch, was a pop culture sensation. Fans of the bizarre and uncomfortable have become absolutely smitten with the series.
Combining the discomfort of Black Mirror and Stephen King’s large body of work, Hulu debuted Castle Rock in 2018. While a much more serialized story, Castle Rock still gives those bizarre, eerie vibes. After all, if there’s anything King stories teach readers, it’s that well-meaning small towns in Maine can be pretty spooky.
UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT VS. THE MINDY PROJECT
The Mindy Project premiered on regular television, but when it was canceled, Hulu picked it up and created another two full seasons, ending in 2017. Fans were so devoted that Hulu smartly gave it the extra seasons it deserved. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt premiered in 2015 on Netflix and ran until its end early this year. While later seasons struggled, the earlier seasons really struck a chord with audiences.
Mind you, the premises of these stories are very different. Kimmy Schmidt’s story follows her adjusting to New York life after the Reverend kept her in a bunker for over a decade. In Mindy’s life, she’s a fearless gynecologist forging her own path in the world. However, both these shows are particular about empowering women’s goals and dreams.
MINDHUNTER VS. CHANCE
After House ended, Hugh Laurie needed another fascinating show to star in. In comes Hulu’s Chance, a series about a psychiatrist who enters a relationship with a patient, and things only get more wild and twisted from there. Rife with danger, lives ending, and madness, it’s a really warped tale of a show.
In 2017, Netflix premiered its response to psychological intrigue mixed with danger and fatalities. This was Mindhunter. Following the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit in 1977, the team of three agents work their hardest to track down monsters, though it leads them down some serious mind-holes.
SEX EDUCATION VS. PEN15
Netflix’s Sex Education is a series about navigating young, intimate relationships. The story is told through the lens of Otis, the son of a sex therapist who struggles with his own relationship with his body. With his friends Eric and Maeve, he learns more about himself when he becomes the school’s sex therapist for teens.
Not long after that, Hulu announced PEN15, the saga series of two 13-year old girls exploring their womanhood, dating, boys, and even more than all of the above. For any teens embarrassed about kissing practice with various objects, this show gets you. Similarly open about the experience of teen sexuality, the show debuted February 8th.
THE TOYS THAT MADE US VS. TINY SHOULDERS: RETHINKING BARBIE
Hulu’s Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie explores the history of Barbie, how the brand has evolved, and the current re-brand Mattel is doing to change Barbie from the perfect girl to every girl. As a movie, it deals with culture, societal ideals, and how those are changing Barbie.
While Netflix didn’t do something entirely Barbie-centric, their series The Toys That Made Us is basically mini-versions of that. Each episode, the writers and creators explore the history, impact, and current standing of a different toy brand. This can mean GI Joe, Transformers, and, of course, Barbie.
THE DEFENDERS VS. RUNAWAYS
Netflix has it’s whole New York Marvel heroes line-up, from Daredevil to Jessica Jones to Like Cage. These heroes eventually culminate into The Defenders, a group of street-wise supers that want to protect New York. While the sets of shows had great success, they’ve recently almost all been canceled.
In the wake of Netflix’s superhero downfall, Hulu will really get to shine. Their own Marvel team-up show, Runaways, follows six kids who not only find out they have superpowers, but also that their parents are evil. It’s a lot. Targeting not only superhero fans but teen drama lovers, Hulu easily has a hit on their hands.
SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT VS. THE BISEXUAL
Hulu’s The Bisexual examines a woman after a hard break up from her girlfriend, exploring who she is and how to navigate the hard place she’s in. After all, not only does she still have to see her girlfriend every day at work, but she’s also been seeing men as well as women. As a six-part drama/comedy, the show has a fresh, honest take on what it means to be bisexual.
During the latter end of 2017, Netflix decided to have a similar exploration into one character’s journey with her sexuality: She’s Gotta Have It. The story follows Nola Darling, an unapologetic artist who enjoys the company of many people, all of whom she cares a lot about. However, she’s in no rush to settle down or “choose” any of them, happy to live and love freely.
MESSIAH VS. THE PATH
In 2019, Netflix will release a drama called Messiah, about a man who appears in the Middle East claiming to be the Messiah. It’s unclear if they intend him to actually be the Messiah or not, but it will explore faith around the world in a new age. After all, the Bible tells miraculous stories from ages long ago, but will people believe when it’s right in front of them?
On a different version of religion, The Path is a series about a family in deep with Meyerism, a cult based on a lot of real-world cults/extreme religions. While most of the family believes, the father is starting to question his faith and the story follows what happens after that.
THE DARK TOURIST VS. UP TO SPEED
Up To Speed is a Hulu show where a quirky, knowledgeable New York tour guide named Timothy “Speed” Levitch shows viewers lesser known memories and monuments of America. Full of whimsy and magic, the series finds the beauty and wonder in the forgotten.
Netflix has its own, darker version of the quirky travel adventures. In The Dark Tourist, David Farrier travels around the world to find the unnerving and bizarre. For example, in the first episode, he meets with a former hitman and takes part in a fake illegal crossing of the Mexico-American border.
