YouTube Weird City
The new scifi anthology by Jordan Peele, Weird City, looks like it’s going to be a new Black Mirror type series. But watching the series might be a little more complicated than you expect. Weird City is a YouTube Original only available for people with YouTube Premium (aka YouTube Red) accounts. So, unfortunately, there is no way to watch this series without paying.
You can sign up for a YouTube Premium account here. (It used to be known as YouTube Red.) With YouTube premium, you’ll get ad-free videos, you can download videos to watch offline later, you’ll get access to ad-free YouTube music, and you’ll be able to see YouTube Originals like Weird City without ads.
Once you’ve signed up for YouTube Premium, you can watch Weird City once it’s released on the YouTube Originals page here. Before the series releases, you’ll just see six ads that are listed as “episodes.” The page that will take you directly to Weird City is here. It’s not clear exactly what time the episodes will be released, but they will be available sometime today, February 13.
Another paid YouTube service is called YouTube TV. YouTube TV is a paid membership that brings live TV from major networks along with popular shows from YouTube creators. YouTube Premium is a separate paid membership. YouTube TV is essentially a cable-TV replacement, and YouTube Premium offers ad-free content and exclusive features. It’s not clear if YouTube TV will also include access to Weird City, but some YouTube TV subscribers have said that it will. So if you have YouTube TV, check that first before buying a new Premium subscription to see if Weird City is available.
Another way to watch Weird City is if you have a YouTube Premium Family Plan, which can be shared among multiple people. If everyone is happy to split the cost, that might end up being cheaper. It can be used by up to six family members in the same household.
According to IMDB, Weird City is going to have six episodes in its first season, with each episode running for 30 minutes. It’s a comedy sci-fi series (kind of like The Orville), but it’s more anthology based like Black Mirror. Think of it as a lighter-hearted Black Mirror brought to you by Jordan Peele.