Author Topic: netflix original content (Read 2298 times)

Eschaton · « **on:** June 17, 2015, 02:18:25 AM »

So, i'm watching the (extremely mediocre) Orange is the New Black season 3 and their original content is starting to look a bit shit in the light. It feels like about 90% of what they do is a stepdown blatant copycat of someone else.

Hemlock Grove = heres us doing true blood
Sense8 = its us doing heroes
Chef's Table = We noticed you were all streaming Jiro Dreams of Sushi
The Killing = here's our twin peaks
Mission Blue = watch planet earth and blackfish to make this appear
Docs about amateur porn people/gangs = hey i heard you all like national geographic and Life After Porn or whatever it's called
Marco Polo = our intrigue fantasy series but not really haha
Peaky Blinders = Ladwalk Empire
Between = pick any disease show

you can keep going of course.

or I guess all TV is essentially like this but it's just more noticeable because Netflix is consolidated.

benjipwns · « **Reply #1 on:** June 17, 2015, 02:25:45 AM »

In fairness, when you sit down and look at any three year span of a network it looks like this. Even stuff that has high batting averages like Showtime, HBO, Starz, FX, AMC etc.

I think one story of recent years has been as much broadcast stepping up to better meet the cable networks and Netflix/Amazon/Hulu in terms of risk taking which has, with cable, sucked the air out of the last three's original burst onto the scene a couple years back. Their main selling point was that they'd take those risks.

Hulu's was hilariously bad from the start though, I think half of it was British shows that couldn't make it on any of their channels which will put any six episodes of garbage on.

Rahxephon91 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 17, 2015, 02:29:14 AM »

But the Killing and Peaky Blinders are good and aren't Netflick originals. The Killing is also nothing like Twin Peaks. But hey you expect a place who's biggest hit is a US remake of a BBC show and a Fox cast off to have great original programming. I'm sure Netflix is hungry for anything and selling your stuff as "it's kind of like "hit X"" probably appeals to them.

Either way, a lot of them have been ok even if they are trend followers or cast offs. Though I'm not sure if I find the Unbreakable Kimmy Shimidt as great as I've been lead to believe. That feels far too much like an nbc comedy, which of course it was.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #3 on:** June 17, 2015, 02:39:17 AM »

Well you left out House of Cards (although I think that show is kinda meh myself compared to the Brit version) which is probably their most popular show critically and doesn't really have a corresponding network version comparison.

I'm not sure their mandate is the same as HBO or A&E or somthing. I think their demo might be more broad based which effects what they choose to do.

Honestly copying other popular entertainment genre wise doesn't bother me. It's whether that thing is great in and of itself. The problem with OITNB isn't that its derivative. Its more that its not a premise that lends itself to season after season after season. I think most TV entertainment falls into that category regardless of network.

benjipwns · « **Reply #4 on:** June 17, 2015, 02:41:48 AM »

One other thing is that DVR/Netflix/etc. have brought down the ratings, which means it's actually cheaper now for the big networks to take those risks. Especially if they have money making tent-pole's like NCIS.

Arrested Development is kinda a perfect example of this. Netflix had to splurge to get it, but I imagine Fox would take it back now if offered it at a competitive price. Whereas five years ago, they wouldn't even consider it. I imagine Heroes Reborn has come out of something like this. Where it now made sense for NBC to bring the series back now that the cost structure was different.

Another good example are all the mini-series like Wayward Pines and The Slap that broadcast is getting back into. Small commitment, even ratings aren't great they'll get hype and the streaming will help make money on them.

They used to do these all the time in the 70s-90s but then it became too expensive, like made-for-TV movies, because there wasn't the secondary market there is now. But channels like History/Lifetime/AMC/etc. have made it a thing again and broadcast has jumped right in. Stuff like that Bible series.

benjipwns · « **Reply #5 on:** June 17, 2015, 02:49:20 AM »

Quote from: Esch on June 17, 2015, 02:34:09 AM

It was cool for a while though because if you wanted to watch some garbage show everyone forgot about then Hulu usually had it. Tbh, I forgot about it after it went paid and supposedly stepped up content cause then I had Netflix.

Oh, I meant Hulu's "original programming" like The Yard, Whites, Battleground, etc.

Hulu was until recently still essential because it was the only place you could get access to Manhattan, AZ (as there was never any DVD's done), one of the greatest shows ever made and one that predated the broadcast comedy revival with the no laugh-track, single camera, characters taking absurd dialogue as normal, style.

Luckily, I also have all the episodes backed up in multiple ways, and should probably make a youtube account just for it rather than uploading the pilot and forgetting about the other twelve:

toku · « **Reply #6 on:** June 17, 2015, 02:50:17 AM »

I like some of it but I also fucked with a lot of early FX shows like Thief so

Hemlock Grove is so god awful I actually wished more people watched it. It is the best piece of garbage out since Syfy cancelled Sanctuary (R.I.P.)

Seriously brehs, go watch the last 10 minutes of the s2 finale of Hemlock Grove. I really can't describe it to you.

Quote from: Esch on June 17, 2015, 02:49:50 AM

Quote from: Stoney Mason on June 17, 2015, 02:39:17 AM
I'm not sure their mandate is the same as HBO or A&E or somthing. I think their demo might be more broad based which effects what they choose to do.
ment falls into that category regardless of network.

A fair point, and I suppose on some level they should get some clemency for being somewhat new to the content curation/creation game as well?

It's just that when I type in Netflix and look at what they've done and the things of theirs I've watched, it just feels sorta... excessively focus tested jack of all tradesy?

In a way they are? They basically just look at all the other stuff ppl watch and order lowkey knock offs, bootlegs or weird mixes for their original content. All their prison documentaries are popular as fuck so it would make sense for them to order a show like OiTNB etc.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #7 on:** June 17, 2015, 02:56:06 AM »

I only watched the early wave of stuff. OITNB, House of Cards, Arrested Development, I think I tried that Hemlock Grove show once.

So I can't really speak to the current wave of stuff and the relative quality of it. I don't think Netflix is the type of channel that will produce something on the level of The Wire or The Sopranos but it seems like its inline with most of the other networks in their quality/crap ratio from a superficial glance.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #8 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:00:05 AM »

Quote from: toku on June 17, 2015, 02:50:17 AM

All their prison documentaries are popular as fuck so it would make sense for them to order a show like OiTNB etc.

I'm pretty sure they look at their data and that helps give them ideas for what they want to do as other shows like you suggest. I remember hearing early on they wanted to bring back Reno 911 for instance because it did very well for them as a show people like to stream.

That sort of populism can be a good thing or a bad thing in certain situations. Some of the best things you would never find or create by just looking at streaming data and following trends.

I give them so credit because at least they haven't yet polluted the world with reality shows. (I'm hoping. They don't have any reality shows yet do they?)

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #9 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:12:09 AM »

With all the nerd stuff in vogue its kinda crazy to me that more people aren't making Star Trek knockoffs where you go around on a ship and meet aliens and solve ethical dilemmas. I know those kind of shows are problematic budget wise but I guess it just surprises me that nobody seems interested in making that at all. Maybe they think that specific nerd thing is out of touch at the moment in a world of supheroes/zombies/and Game of Thrones.

benjipwns · « **Reply #10 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:16:50 AM »

There's a good number of Star Trek fan series that have been getting decent and increasing budgets and even old Trek guest stars showing up. I know they couldn't ever show up on Netflix or anything, but it'd be interesting to see the creators of one of those offered a deal to make a spiritual successor type series.

benjipwns · « **Reply #11 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:31:48 AM »

There was a rumor floating around that after they do this next film which they were pushing so hard for the 50th Anniversary, there's another reboot of some kind planned (just as a concept with no details), either they go back to the original universe or something to launch a new series. The return on Star Trek films has never been particularly good, and the Abrams ones haven't been a huge exception to that, it never took off as "introducing Trek for a new generation" that they expected it to.

Personally, that does sound like the best course of action to me, shoot for cable and do like 13 episode seasons. I've read that Enterprise's costs in the later season were actually fairly decent, just not for UPN, nor at 26 episodes a season. Voyager was a serious loss leader for UPN.

Paramount is part of Viacom which has Spike and Epix. But its parent company also owns 80% of CBS so it has CBS/CW/Showtime/GiantBomb it could use as well.

Spike used to have those DS9 marathons. But CW or Showtime might be best bets.

benjipwns · « **Reply #12 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:36:57 AM »

Viacom also has TV Land.

brawndolicious · « **Reply #13 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:40:14 AM »

I started Marco Polo this week and it's pretty good. Haven't seen any fantasy stuff, beyond tons of hot girls walking around naked.

toku · « **Reply #14 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:43:21 AM »

CW Star Trek with super model human and alien love triangles

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm sorry I put that out in the universe

[close]

Reb · « **Reply #15 on:** June 17, 2015, 04:54:41 AM »

Netflix stuff I really liked:

- Daredevil
- HoC first season

Netflix stuff I like:
- Penny Dreadful
- Kimmy Schmidt
- OitNB I guess

Let them throw shit at the wall, as long as it gets us stuff like Daredevil.

benjipwns · « **Reply #16 on:** June 17, 2015, 05:03:42 AM »

NBC actually ordered a season of Kimmy Schmidt, then turned around and sold two seasons to Netflix.

toku · « **Reply #17 on:** June 17, 2015, 05:28:31 AM »

Quote from: Reb on June 17, 2015, 04:54:41 AM

Netflix stuff I really liked:

- Daredevil
- HoC first season

Netflix stuff I like:
- Penny Dreadful
- Kimmy Schmidt
- OitNB I guess

Let them throw shit at the wall, as long as it gets us stuff like Daredevil.

Penny Dreadful is a showtime & sky (british channel) show

HyperZoneWasAwesome · « **Reply #18 on:** June 17, 2015, 05:53:14 AM »

I got to thinking Netflix maybe was too cavalier about approving shit once they decided to bring Full House back.

Cerveza mas fina · « **Reply #19 on:** June 17, 2015, 06:10:10 AM »

Chefs Table is good.
BoJack is good.

Hemlock Grove = Meh
Sense8 = Meh turned off
The Killing = Just a remake watch the original
Marco Polo = Not interested
Peaky Blinders = Saw a bit then turned it off

king of the internet · « **Reply #20 on:** June 17, 2015, 12:29:28 PM »

I kinda liked the first season of that show where Ricky Gervais is distinguished mentally-challenged.

Mr. Nobody · « **Reply #21 on:** June 17, 2015, 12:41:35 PM »

Haven't bothered outside of House of Cards, Daredevil, and OITNB (which is dangerously close to being dropped)

Killing doesn't count iirc

Mr. Nobody · « **Reply #22 on:** June 17, 2015, 12:45:45 PM »

Quote from: benjipwns on June 17, 2015, 02:25:45 AM

Hulu's was hilariously bad from the start though, I think half of it was British shows that couldn't make it on any of their channels which will put any six episodes of garbage on.

First 2 seasons of Misfits

3rd season and beyond

CatsCatsCats · « **Reply #23 on:** June 17, 2015, 03:17:17 PM »

Anyone making more trailer park boys happen is cool with me

T234 · « **Reply #24 on:** June 18, 2015, 04:39:02 AM »

Word. TPB validates their existence singlehandedly.

benjipwns · « **Reply #25 on:** June 21, 2015, 05:06:42 AM »

http://www.thewrap.com/netflix-orders-maria-bamford-comedy-series-lady-dynamite/

Quote

Netflix has ordered a new half-hour comedy series starring comedian Maria Bamford, the streaming service announced on Friday.

“Lady Dynamite,” a Netflix production executive produced by Pam Brady, Mitch Hurwitz and Bamford, is based on the life of the series star.

According to the streaming service, occasionally surreal episodes refracted across multiple periods inspired by Bamford’s life, tell the story of a woman “who loses — and then finds — her shit.”

Yeti · « **Reply #26 on:** June 21, 2015, 10:00:41 AM »

So it's not a spinoff of Black Dynamite?

tiesto · « **Reply #27 on:** June 21, 2015, 10:36:22 AM »

I like Kimmy Schmidt, she's a bit

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #28 on:** June 21, 2015, 06:34:25 PM »

I feel like I'm only one who watched Derek. :'(

That show singlehandedly strengthened my relationship with my parents.

CatsCatsCats · « **Reply #29 on:** June 22, 2015, 03:05:15 PM »

Was Derek a netflix jam? I liked that show too

demi · « **Reply #30 on:** June 22, 2015, 03:50:11 PM »

Sense8 looks interesting. I'm ok if its about "the characters" like LOST and Heroes. Might sub to Netflix for a month or two just to watch it.

News:

Author Topic: netflix original content (Read 2298 times)

Eschaton