Clicker’s TV Guide For the Web Opens Up
By Harry McCracken | Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Clicker, the search engine for TV shows on the Web that was announced a couple of months ago at TechCrunch50, is now open to the public. I like the idea, the interface, and many of the features, although it’s still rough around the edges in places.
The site’s mission is simple enough: It wants to help you find and watch the video content that’s scattered all over the Web. (It focuses on professional stuff–much of it repurposed from TV, but also original Web programs such as the ones from Revision3.) You can search for shows, stars, and genres, and get results that include individual episodes and where to watch them online. In some cases, you can watch shows right within Clicker; in others, you need to click away to the originating site.
Most of the programming Clicker points you to is free and ad-supported, but if a particular show is available on Netflix Watch Instantly or Amazon Video on Demand, it’ll find it there. There’s also a nifty TiVo-like playlist feature that lets you subscribe to all episodes (or all new episodes) of a show so they’re waiting for you when you revisit Clicker.
Clicker is slick, useful, and fun. The company says that it’s out of beta as of today, but I did encounter some quirks. For instance, I can’t always figure out its search results: I understand why The Dick Van Dyke Show shows up in the search below, but not why it tells me that The New Dick Van Dyke Show isn’t available, or why Associated Press, Alf, and The Bill Cosby Show do.
I also understand why Clicker thinks that Sesame Street is related to The Electric Company–but not why it thinks a show starring Ollie North is.
Lastly, Clicker lets users add information about shows, IMDb style–but when I attempted to post a memorable quote, I got an entertainingly-designed error screen.
Some of these oddities may be launch-day hiccups. In any event, I like Clicker and look forward to seeing it evolve. If you check it out, let us know your thoughts…
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November 12th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Effectively US only for the moment (at least for the TV stuff) – obviously the Hulu stuff is, but also just the shows themselves – it doesn’t seem to have catalogued anything not televised in the US (example: I searched for The IT Crowd, expecting to get the original UK version, but instead only found the US version of it).
Maybe it would be nice if they mentioned on the front page that the site is targeted at people inside the US? At least the help page mentions that the streaming content is generally not available overseas.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Hey Harry,
Thanks for the great writeup! We’ve fixed that related show and the search issue will be fixed next week. Great to have some additional eyes on the site to find the little things that slip through.
We’re also working on fixing the error when you tried adding the memorable quote.
And Michael – while A LOT of the content on Clicker is US only, a lot of it is available internationally. We’re working to add this information.
Glad you’re enjoying Clicker!
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