Last week on Sunset Boulevard, Sony Pictures held a premiere party for Sequestered and The Cleaners: Season 2. Both shows are original series in the vein of House of Cards on Netflix and star some noteworthy actors. In the case of Sequestered, you can find Jesse Bradford (Flags of Our Fathers), Summer Glau (Firefly), Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement), and Bruce Davison (X-Men) on the freshman 30-minute show while Cleaners, going on season 2, has Robin Thomas Grossman (Pacific Rim) and David Arquette (Scream). As you’d expect with any red carpet event, there were plenty of beautiful people and enough camera flashes to make you dizzy with a fun premiere party to follow that, with full disclosure, we attended.

When you step back and look at Crackle and the event, you notice something interesting – it’s a media platform from Hollywood that isn’t Hollywood. Yes, we attended a red carpet event, but it wasn’t on Hollywood Boulevard. Yes, the shows have star power, but they are not Kevin Spacey, and yes, the service is available on just as many devices that support Netflix, yet their business model is completely different and that’s when it hits you. Crackle, from a distance, is a lot like the establishments we know, yet it’s completely different from them. Instead of creating a Netflix clone, Sony Pictures is taking a different approach with Crackle that gives it the Hollywood ties when it requires it to produce compelling content, and yet also keeps it away from them to give you something different.

So what the heck is Crackle and its shows, like Sequestered? Let’s talk after the jump.

So what is Crackle?

That actually is a great question. While knowing Crackle was a service from Sony Pictures in the same vein as Netflix or Hulu, I, like many of you, was guilty of not having tried the service. Sure – I’d seen it on my PS3, PS4, and Apple TV, but for one reason or another, I’d never actually clicked on the app. As I mentioned, Crackle is a lot like other online services that offer TV shows, movies, and now original content on your device of choice. Unlike Netflix, which requires a monthly subscription, or Hulu, that offers different content to those who pay and those who don’t, Crackle offers a simpler model.

No matter the device, Crackle is free, but that comes with a cost so to speak. That is to say like television, content on Crackle includes commercials that you can’t skip. So in some ways, Crackle is replicating the TV model before DVRs existed. That means there is no fast forwarding and skipping commercials though you can pause your content as much as you desire. You certainly won’t also be sitting through 5 minutes of commercials but none the less, they are there. If you can live with that, Crackle suddenly becomes a great platform for cord cutters to utilize. Heck, on more than one occasion, I’ve found myself turning on Crackle and having it act as background noise that very much feels like TV due to its commercials while I’m doing other things. When an episode of Seinfeld or Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee (another original show) plays, I can focus on my iPad and during the few minutes of commercial break, I can turn my attention towards other things that need to be done like a quick email.

So great, we now know that Crackle is free service that offers TV shows, movies, and other content that comes with commercials which brings us to the next glaring question:

What can I find on Crackle to watch?

For the main part, Crackle breaks down its content between TV shows and movies, but there is a whole lot more to find than just that. When browsing TV shows on Crackle, the app allows you to further separate content by genre like other similar services. Here are just a few titles that caught my eye:

Anime:

Aquarion
Initial D
Marvel: Blade
Marvel: Wolverine
Marvel: X-Men
Rurouni Kenshin
Valkyria Chronicles
Viper’s Creed

Comedy:

Bewitched
Dilbert
I Dream of Jeannie
Married With Children
Seinfeld

Crime:

Damages
The Shield

The movie category breaks down in a similar fashion where you can find an abundance of Wesley Snipes movies that never made it to the big screens to major Hollywood titles like:

You Don’t Mess With The Zohan
Chronicles of Riddick
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Miami Vice
The Raid: Redemption
Starship Troopers
Layer Cake

Make no mistake about it. Crackle, for the time being, likely won’t have the recently-released movies that you’d find on Netflix or be able to rent from iTunes, but that’s okay because that’s not what it’s trying to be. Instead, the service which I’d argue heavily targets males, offers a slew of action movies, ranging from the titles mentioned above to a ton of B rated movies and older martial arts flicks that are perfect for sitting down with some friends, cracking open a crisp Corona with lime and having a good time without paying a penny. Heck, maybe you can even put that commercial break to good use by getting that second Corona you’d been thirsting for.

Partially thanks to the success of Netflix and their own original content, Sony Pictures Television (Jeopardy, Breaking Bad, Blacklist, Shark Tank) has also realized the power of original content. To that end, in the last year, Crackle has launched three original shows with a fourth one on the way. Two of those shows are the ones mentioned above with the other being Comedians In Cars Get Coffee and the soon to be launched Sports Jeopardy.

Sequestered:

Described on IMDb simply as “A jury is sequestered in a hotel while deliberating a court case with massive implications,” this show is easy to binge with its half hour episodes and interesting plot content. Crackle proclaims it as “a highly addictive series that delivers on suspense and switchback turns,” and they’re not kidding. Every episode will leave you wanting more. The star-studded cast features geek favorites such as Summer Glau, Patrick Warburton, and Jesse Bradford, who command the screen with an intensity that translates into a show that you won’t want to miss. Sequestered returns to your favorite device on October 14th.

Cleaners:

The show’s tagline is “Play Dirty,” which should give you a pretty good idea of how this show about two killers will go down. When things go wrong and change up their plan, Roxie (Emily Osment) and Veronica (Emmanuelle Chriqui) become the hunted. Now in its second season, there is plenty of content for you to dive into. Cleaners kicked off its second season on August 19th – so there’s still time to catch up!

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee:

A gem of a show that shouldn’t be missed, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee is the brainchild of Jerry Seinfeld – and stars, well, Jerry Seinfeld. Much like the famous show from the 90’s, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee is about nothing and yet that’s the brilliance of it. Unlike a traditional talk show, Jerry, a car enthusiast like Jay Leno, shows up to a friends house or place of work, picks them up and drives around town with them with striking up all forms of conversation which usually brings them to a coffee house to further talk. Nothing is scripted and that’s the beauty. These people clearly feel comfortable with Jerry, so where the conversations lead are fascinating, entertaining, and raw. From guests like Jon Stewart, Aziz Ansari, Howard Stern, Jay Leno, and Patton Oswalt, to Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey, Larry David, and Ricky Gervais, the show does not skimp on the stars it features. I seriously cannot recommend this show enough and for Sony’s part, I hope they do a much better job at raising awareness for this show. Can you tell I like this show?

Sports Jeopardy:

Sports Jeopardy takes everything you’ve known about the classic show and aims it squarely at sport fans. Hosted by Emmy-winning sportscaster Dan Patrick (ESPN), the sports quiz show promises to finally put all that team trivia and fantasy football knowledge you’ve been accumulating in your head to good use. Sports Jeopardy will premiere in October and run for 50 weeks with three new contestants each week.

Which devices support Crackle?

One of the great things about Crackle is much like its competitors, it’s available on a host of devices. Despite being an extension of Sony Pictures which is an extension of Sony, Crackle can be found on gaming devices – both PlayStation and non-PlayStation, like the Xbox One. If desktop viewing is also your thing, no need to fret as you can simply enjoy all the same shows with no discrepancy between what’s available via the app and what’s available through their website. Those interested in learning about all the devices Crackle can be found should visit the Crackle platform page – but here’s a quick list of the most common platforms:

iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)
PlayStation (PS3, PS4, PS Vita)
Xbox (Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Blackberry smartphones
Android smartphones/tablets
Windows smartphones
Kindle Fire Tablet
Nook Tablet
Streaming Devices (Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Vizio, Amazon Fire TV)

The list from there extends to Blu-ray players and Smart TVs, but chances are that if you have a modern device, Crackle is on it.

So what the heck is Crackle?

In the end, Crackle is everything you’d expect from a modern online service that’s available on almost any platform you can think of. They might not have the extensive catalogue that Netflix offers, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t good content to watch. From old favorites to newer flicks and now their original content, Crackle won’t be your only source for entertainment but with no entry price to consume, it’s a worthy one to incorporate in your media junkie habits.