Small Screen's Biggest Brains

Both Battleground and Lilyhammer get mixed reviews, as streaming services branch out

(NEWSER) - Online streaming sites Hulu and Netflix both launched original series this week, as both services take baby steps toward competing with regular television, reports Gigaom . A look at each:

• Hulu's Battleground is the more conventional of the two, a 13-episode comedy about a Senate campaign in Wisconsin that started today, with a new 22-minute episode airing each Tuesday. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has solid praise for Battleground, saying it is "a smart, well-written comedy series you might find on a premium cable network." The AP is less kind, however, calling it "a light, watered-down knockoff of The Office," while the New York Daily News comes down somewhere in-between.

Political comedy called 'Battleground' and travelogue show to debut

(NEWSER) - Hulu is expanding its foray into the world of original programming with two new shows set to debut before summer, reports the Wall Street Journal . Battleground, scheduled to begin in February, will be a 13-episode scripted comedy about a not-exactly-functional Senate campaign. Don't expect a low-budget production: Hulu execs said the show's costs would align with those of cable shows ... which can run as much as a few million dollars per episode. More»

Seth MacFarlane 'secretly hoping' fans finished with it

(NEWSER) - The Griffin family is showing no signs of slowing down—but their creator sometimes wishes they would, he tells the Hollywood Reporter . "Part of me thinks that Family Guy should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about the right lifespan for a TV series," Seth MacFarlane says; his show is already on its 10th season and nearing its 200th episode. "I talk to the fans and in a way I'm kind of secretly hoping for them to say, 'We're done with it.'" More»

Tina Fey, but she has to share the honor

(NEWSER) - Tina Fey is the highest-paid woman on television, but she’ll have to share the top spot with a Desperate Housewife. Forbes ’ annual ranking covers the period between May 2010 and May 2011, during which the top 10 ladies made a total of $94 million, and includes salaries, syndication deals, and endorsement deals. The top five: More»

Amazon Prime customers can now access 7K shows, 2K movies

(NEWSER) - Netflix and Hulu beware: Amazon has struck a new blow in the battle for streaming content. A deal with NBCUniversal has added some 1,000 movies and TV shows to the web giant’s streaming library. Alongside a deal with CBS, Amazon now provides its Prime customers—who pay $79 a year for free shipping and other perks—with 7,000 TV shows and 2,000 movies, Mashable reports. Meanwhile, Netflix faces a setback as customers quit over its new pricing plan . More»