Hulu.com changes the way we view TV

By George, I think they’ve got it.

In fact, take “I think” out. They’ve got it.

The most important development, maybe, in the whole history of Web TV launched early Wednesday morning, and for once, the hype is justified.

Hulu is amazing. Simple. Elegant. Dynamic. And vast.

Hundreds of shows, movies, clips – thousands of hours, from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to “McHale’s Navy,” “Ice Age” to “The Big Lebowski.” Enough to fill, or waste, a whole lifetime.

Now, please keep in mind – this is a first impression, and I’ll be checking back when the servers are being overloaded by millions of viewers; that’s where the rubber meets the road for sites like this. But I’ve gotta imagine NBC and Fox have anticipated this, too.

What is “Hulu?” It’s www.hulu.com, the Web site created by those two networks, featuring (most) of their shows plus many classics, and a vast amount of other stuff.

Like the ABC and CBS sites, you’ll get current episodes, and the full season as well. But Hulu makes those sites feel clunky and a little moldy.

Yes, there’s advertising here, but in a funny way; you’ll almost welcome it.

An example: I picked, for no particular reason, the pilot episode of the classic “Firefly.” You get a choice – either the full trailer for “Leatherhead,” or “regular commercial interruptions” (which, like at, say, ABC, involves a 30-second spot at the outset).

A quick note on screen quality: It’s generally adequate.

The actual video screen will fill about a quarter of yours, and it’s surrounded by clutter of various sorts, some of it distracting. Naturally, you’ll then click on “full screen.”

Under normal circumstances, “full screen” can be a ticket to online hell, with either horrific quality or a frozen hard drive. Not here: Full-screen resolution is pretty good, and I had no technical problems to speak of.