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> They got into content creation and they're now deep in debt despite their massive subscriber base. I've found that while Netflix has some decent original con

• addicted 7y ago
  The best Netflix originals are the British shows they've rebranded as Netflix originals in the US. The actual Netflix created ones have largely missed the mark for me.
  • ljm 7y ago
    And a lot of 'Netflix originals' over in the EU are essentially localised variations of a theme. The theme is usually the end of the world, zombies, or the dead coming back to life. Or some horrible phenomena at the edge of a forest, and the once peaceful town is under attack from the supernatural. What makes it worse is that Netflix now dubs foreign content by default to make it all look English. And they do their best to trick you.
    • jrnichols 7y ago
      what's frustrated me about Netflix originals is the same thing that drove me away from a lot of traditional TV - some awesome shows being cancelled after 2-3 seasons. I had hoped that Netflix would at least give their own shows a good story arc, but nope. they're doing the same thing Fox/CBS/NBC do. i still much prefer shows without commercials, though.
      • dreamcompiler 7y ago
        Somebody wrote about this during the last week (can't remember where): Netflix purposely only produces two seasons of shows, because that's the right amount to convert new subscribers without alienating old ones enough to quit.
        • yissp 7y ago
          https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-slow-death-of-hollywood?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMDEwNDcsInBvc3RfaWQiOjgxODYyLCJfIjoiSHdIQXciLCJpYXQiOjE1NjI3MDA1NDgsImV4cCI6MTU2MjcwNDE0OCwiaXNzIjoicHViLTExNTI0Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.b8NC4YJVESPkFZQRoJZ5b8QDnjb-6WFM7kRIsx-Skng https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-slow-death-of-hollywo...
    • dreamcompiler 7y ago
      You can still watch it in the original language with subtitles. It's just a setting. But yeah, why is everything about "horror forests" nowadays? It's been done to death. Maybe because so many people nowadays have never seen a tree?
  • Consultant32452 7y ago
    I enjoy the standup specials. I remember when Comedy Central used to have stand up comedy. But I also remember when MTV was mostly music.
    • Beldin 7y ago
      Remark that that past evolution (of niche formats) does not bode well for the future of streaming video. Case in point: I expect ads to arrive (within a decade) to streaming videos, much like they did for cable. (Cable's main advantage in the early days was the lack of ads - or so I'm led to believe)
      • cgriswald 7y ago
        They’re already here. I even pay Hulu extra for no ads only to be greeted occasionally by a statement that due to licensing agreements a video has to have ads. And even the things that “don’t have ads” have ads for their other streaming videos, or try to cram ads in between auto plays.
      • dreamcompiler 7y ago
        True. In the early days of cable networks there were no ads. But slowly they came back when they realized people would tolerate them. Now cable seems like mostly ads with a little bit of ghost hunting sprinkled in.
• b_tterc_p 7y ago
  > the overwhelming majority of it is garbage and totally uninteresting. This is true of pretty much all tv. Because most people want that.
  • Alupis 7y ago
    If I'm going to search through a bunch of listings, and select a show that's part of a series, all just to have something on while eating a 20 minute meal, I feel like I need to have something good on that I'm committing too. On the other hand, if I turn on my cable box and Dog the Bounty Hunter happens to be on and halfway through an episode, I'll watch it until I'm done eating and be done with it. I don't actually care what going on in the episode, and I'm only half paying attention. It's mostly just noise and moving pictures in the background. That's "disposable" television, and it's only something that you can get from an always on network. Netflix requires more effort, and with that effort I feel I should get something good out of that time. Instead I spend 30 minutes looking for something to watch only to give up, switch back to network television, and eat my now cold meal.
    • conductr 7y ago
      Seems like they could use their content to create “channels” that essentially mimic a broadcast schedule
      • xaedes 7y ago
        I am still hoping for this to happen.
    • alexashka 7y ago
      A 'random offering' button or channels based on a theme that mimic traditional tv channels would be trivial to add to Netflix, and something they should seriously consider :)
    • b_tterc_p 7y ago
      I get that people do this and the mental path that leads there. I don’t get people who are self aware of doing it and still complain. If you’d be comfortable randomly watching garbage so long as you don’t expend effort to choose it, then pick randomly. Alternatively if there’s nothing on it you want to watch, don’t watch it. I think this comes across as condescending but I really don’t get it.
• noelsusman 7y ago
  Everyone thinks the overwhelming majority of all content is garbage and totally uninteresting. You might be surprised to learn that 31 million accounts watched Adam Sandler's most recent Netflix movie within the first three days, rivaling Stranger Things numbers. I remember the Internet laughing at Netflix for investing so much into Adam Sandler. And Netflix (correctly) abandoned being a movie library service a long time ago. They're pretty much just HBO with a more broad appeal now.