Hmmm lets see well in reply to your answer and comments. I only use firefox. I wrote an app about 6 months which without any user intervention could really mess up chrome. I could download passwords from chrome unencrypted so I do not use chrome I avoid it like the plaugue. Internet Explorer kind of the same issue but in reverse seems to be pretty secure but huge and klunky. So I only use firefox. I just refreshed it which fixed an issue I was having with a sign on issue with swagbucks ext add on not remembering who I am and so on. I will see if this has any effect.
To continue on this issue though if you know hulu at all. If I pick the next show I want to watch manually, which would technically load a new web page as a "refresh" It always disappears, However if I use the queue option or auto watch mode I really don't know how to properly discribe this. If I just let it finish a show and it automatically picks the next show. Then I assume that flash player programming is causing the web page change and so somehow yes the webpage changes but the "refresh" does not occur or inother words the flash player keeps running doesn't get refreshed and over time several things occure. If i watch about 5 shows in this automated matter flash starts to really eat up my memory and then the esc message starts to not disappear.
Also randomly I can not tell which ads cause this of course, I would love to be able to give you or hulu more info but There is an add that gets ready to play during a show. This add causes my antivirus to throw a fit and blocks it, then flash player crashes I would assume because of the failure to load the add and play it.
I understand your description of why it is the way it is and that makes since. But for us wire cutters or cable cancelers, I watch tv through online use and for whatever reason flash is the only option. and having to get off my couch and go over to my computer to refresh the webpage and or reload cause of crashes is getting old.