Roku Originals, a new (and longer) way of saying "Quibi," will launch on May 20. Yes, Roku is finally ready to launch the Quibi programming it acquired earlier this year. And Kevin Hart's "LOL! Network" is coming to The Roku Channel.
Quibi's show will debut in the Roku Originals section, which will be a tab under Home on the Roku Home screen (all other tabs will simply move down the line and remain there). The full list of titles, including "Chrissy's Court," is below, but it's worth taking a moment to consider why this is happening.
In case you don't remember, Quibi was the big new streaming service of 2020, but it didn't make it to 2021; Quibi stands for "quick bites," and it was pretty badly timed, as it was the first time that a mobile-only video service was available on the Internet. That's because its mobile-only videos were launched just after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when no one was mobile.
Now, Roku is ready to relaunch its 30 Quibi programs, improving in three notable ways. First, the shows are now free (previously you had to pay at least $5 per month). And, ads are now placed between episodes instead of during the episodes. More importantly, Quibi's shows are no longer limited to the Quibi app alone: they are available everywhere, including iOS, Android, Samsung Smart TVs, Roku devices, TVs, and TheRokuChannel.com.
Of course, since the TV is one of Roku's most important screens, you won't get the ability to rotate Quibi shows to portrait orientation, one of the cool features that Quibi had on its mobile devices.
There is not even a sign-up process; when you open the Roku Channel, Roku Originals appears and you just hit the play button. This is Roku's latest attempt to become a destination for free, ad-supported content.
Such ease of use, and the lack of a paywall, is clearly Roku's plan. The streaming service certainly believes in content, it just believes that the phone app was not the optimal delivery method.
Had it not been in Quibi's original lineup, I would have had little chance to watch it (with the exception of my friend's gaming news show "Speedrun"). I know some people check out Chrissy Teigen's show "Chrissy's Court," but the courtroom reality TV genre is not for me. [Chrissy's Court is one of the celebrity-focused reality TV shows in the Roku Originals/Quibi lineup. I'm curious about "Bad Ideas with Adam Devine," a reality show featuring the comedian best known for co-starring in "Workaholics"; Roku also has "Fight Like a Girl," which will also air at home.
Comedy Central's return of "Reno 911!" is exactly what I want to check out. I also can't get enough of cooking and food-focused content, so "Shape of Pasta" is definitely something I'd like to try.
Some of the original Quibi shows were not included. In particular, the thriller "Survive" (starring Sophie Turner) is nowhere to be found.
Also missing from the release list is "The Golden Arm," in which Rachel Brosnahan ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel") gets an actual golden arm.
These shows will likely appear next year, as Roku plans to roll out the rest of Quibi's content over the next 12 months.
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