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Paramount Plus is a powerful nostalgia machine, but it doesn’t feel necessary yet

This could change — but for now, it’s one big library

Paramount Plus is maybe one of the best streaming services for people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who are looking to get nostalgic about the television of their youth. Outside of that, Paramount Plus is a bit of a head-scratcher. There certainly seems to be a bunch to choose from, but with missing seasons, incomplete film collections, and no immediate “must watch” TV or movie options, the question is still why would anyone sign up for this right now?

The good thing is that Paramount Plus’ positives are hard to deny, but most of those positives fall on the TV side. As someone in their late 20s who grew up on a hearty breakfast of Nickelodeon shows, MTV reality series, and crime procedurals, Paramount Plus has everything I would have wanted a decade ago. Last night, I watched a bit of All That before starting up Jersey Shore again and ended the night with some Criminal Minds. A total blast!

Whereas CBS All Access was restrained in its offerings, Paramount Plus takes full advantage of Viacom’s library. Instead of having to choose from a medley of cop shows, classic television, films people may have forgotten about, and various Star Trek installments, there are classic BET and MTV shows, Comedy Central specials, and Nickelodeon collections on top of what CBS All Access already offered (like next-day episodes). Paramount Plus is peak snackable TV, comfort shows that can be tossed on before bed, in the background, or when the nostalgic urge returns.

While Paramount Plus’ library is what stands out, there are issues. Full seasons of shows and installments in film franchises are missing. Rocket Power only has one season available, CSI made the first, second, and 15th seasons available, FBI only has the third season, and several seasons of All That are gone. On the film side, sequels to movies like Grease, Bad News Bears, and Charlie’s Angels are available but not the first movies.

I would imagine this comes down to rights agreements (remember, ViacomCBS shows are also on Netflix, Peacock, and Hulu), but it’s something that came up for me a few times to the point it was noticeable for all the wrong reasons. Understandably, it’s a bit of a pain. But there are full seasons of shows like Drake & Josh, Survivor, Criminal Minds, Cheers, Frasier, various Star Trek seasons, and hundreds of other movies to watch.

Content-wise, Paramount Plus’ biggest flaw is a staggering lack of exciting original series — even the selection of originals is several rows down on the homepage. Considering so many of these series are on other streamers — I can watch Avatar: The Last Airbender and iCarly either on Paramount Plus or Netflix — it’s hard to think of anyone beyond nostalgic 20- and 30-somethings signing up to scratch an itch. And even then, how many people are rushing to rewatch Rugrats when they’re still making their way through a back catalog on Netflix?

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking