10 Major Things We Learned At The 2016 Hulu Upfront

Earlier this week the chatter was that Hulu was working with Disney, FOX, ESPN, and NBC Universal to offer subscribers the opportunity to live stream all those studios’ major television channels for $40/month. Today, they confirmed the news…really quietly.

What was supposed to be the big bad announcement today ended up being confirmed in the Upfronts equivalent of a whisper. Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announced the news at the end of his segment, merely stating that the game-changing add-on was being prepped for rollout in 2017. What does this mean? Well, probably that the ink isn’t dried on all those big channel-bundling deals and Hulu doesn’t want to count their coaxial-killing chickens before they hatch.

A lot of fanfare heralded the premiere of Hulu’s original miniseries 11.22.63 — and it paid off. During the event, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins boasted that 11.22.63‘s President’s Day premiere date saw the largest subscriber growth ever and that it was one of the most streamed programs in the show’s history. Look for the platform to put that same kind of buzz-generating energy behind their 2017 series The Handmaid’s Tale.

Last year Hulu tried to expand its viewing library by making exclusive deals with major television networks. AMC was one of them. Hulu has been trying to nab exclusive next day streaming rights for some of the cable channel’s most popular programming. Fear The Walking Dead was the first series in this deal to hit Hulu and was apparently a massive hit. If we heard Hulu Head of Content Craig Erwich correctly, Fear The Walking Dead is Hulu’s most streamed acquisition to date. Needless to say, they are pumped about their exclusive deal to stream AMC’s upcoming supernatural thriller Preacher.

Netflix and HBO are already massive players in the original doc game, but Hulu is about to give them a run for their money. This morning they announced Hulu Documentary Films, which will launch this fall with acclaimed filmmaker Ron Howard’s hotly-anticipated Beatles doc The Beatles: Eight Days A Week. Hulu will have exclusive streaming rights to the film after it premieres.

Howard appeared at the event in a pre-taped video with Sir Paul McCartney. The two shared exclusive 1963 concert footage that will appear in the film. So, not only is Hulu courting documentary nerds, but Beatles fanatics — two powerful fan groups.

Guess Hulu is really into cults because they’re bringing back their first major original drama, The Path, for season two. Series stars Aaron Paul, Hugh Dancy, and Michelle Monaghan were on hand to rally the crowd to the Meyerist Movement. No word on when we can expect the new season.

However…is it just us or is Hulu really into religious cults? Between The Path and next year’s The Handmaid’s Tale and whatever is going on with those psychics on Chance, Hulu is getting into the dark side of faith in a big way.

The Mindy Project is thriving at Hulu! After being passed by its original network NBC and canceled by FOX, the quirky comedy is finally finding its footing on the streaming service. Before she announced that the show was greenlit for a fifth season, Mindy Kaling told the crowd that Hulu had given her writing staff the freedom to shoot breastmilk into someone’s mouth and to use the word “tits.”

Hulu is beefing up its drama slate with a seedy psychological thriller called Shut Eye. Series stars Jeffrey Donovan and KaDee Strickland were on hand to tease the series — which delves into the netherworld of real and fake psychics. We got to see a trailer for the series and it looks both dark and darkly comic. Expect it to hit Hulu in August.

Hugh Laurie became an international celebrity when he played the curmudgeon-y Dr. House on the hit series House, but since then he’s only dabbled on television. Now he’s returning to the small screen in Hulu’s upcoming noir series Chance — and he’s really, really excited about it.

The series is only a week into production, so there was no footage, but Laurie is already really confident we’ll like it. He effused about the script and what it’s like working with Executive Producer/Director Lenny Abrahamson. He also excitedly told the crowd we can look forward to checking it out for ourselves in October.

Season one of Casual nabbed Hulu’s first ever Golden Globe nomination and hopes are high for season two. Series star Michaela Watkins teased the crowd that this season we’ll see “Divorce! Emotional incest! Diabetes!” Season two of Casual is scheduled to premiere Tuesday, June 7. Mark your calendars.

It was already announced that Difficult People‘s second season would be back on Hulu on July 12, but today we got a sneak peek at the second season. And no, they aren’t going to try to make things easier. The show is sticking to its outrageously vicious humor — and it’s wonderful! Lin-Manuel Miranda, Julianne Moore, Tina Fey, Nathan Lane, John Mulaney, Fred Armisen, and Kate Pierson are just some of the famous faces set to guest star next season.

The Difficult People segment also drew the craziest laughs of the morning. A teleprompter snafu flustered famous improviser Amy Poehler and she struggled to keep things focused while series stars Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner reveled in firing off tons of politically incorrect pop culture jokes. Klausner even went in for Trump supporters by saying his “free” rallies in the heartland were akin to circuses of old. It was all over the place and it was marvelous.

For more on the 2016 Hulu Upfront Presentation, click here.