Netflix streaming on TV?

I’d like to switch my Netflix subscription so I no longer get DVDs, but I can stream. I don’t have a game console, though, and I want to watch movies on my TV rather than my computer/laptop/iPhone/Kindle/etc. Then again, I don’t want to drop a couple hundred dollars on a game console when I have no interest in actually using it for games.

I heard that you can stream Netflix through a Blu-Ray player. Now $50 I can do. How does this work? Do I need extra equipment to do it (like connecting my laptop to the USB port) or does the player just connect to the Internet and I can stream that way?

Are there other/better devises for streaming Netflix on my TV without spending unnecessary money?

I never knew how totally non-tech savvy I am until I had to ask this question.