thewb.com < hulu.com

I'm watching "Attack of the Show" on G4 tonight and they mention that The WB is trying to compete with Hulu by bringing their shows online.

Well, it's a nice effort, but I'm not impressed.

The simplicity and lack of "OMG, WE'RE NBC AND STUFF!!!" that Hulu sports is now in a mirror opposite at www.thewb.com.

• Commercials play with every new page view instead of with the start of a show you'd like to use.
• The interface is far too complex.
• Searching the site is one additional click in rather than right at the top.
• Searching is actually to find dialogue, not a show.
• Searching requires you to select a series instead of just typing the name in (the input box is for dialogue).
• Got a commercial playing when you get to the Search page? Better wait for it to finish before you actually get your search results.
• If you choose to pop the player out, you can't go full-screen.
• Crash. Crash. More crash.
• Seasons 1 and 3 of Veronica Mars, but not season 2?
• Firefly on TheWB.com - 5 Episodes. On Hulu.com - The whole 14-episode series.
• Did I mention commercials with EVERY page view.

The site just launched and Hulu wasn't stellar when it started out (and still has a ways to go to be the "killer site"), so we'll see. But, with such an obvious bar to meet, TheWB.com just went and bonked its head.