5 ms·

Netflix has done similar stuff with Ascension, The Witcher, Altered Carbon and others. I do prefer quality over quantity, and more episodes per season isn't IM

by rleigh 6y ago

Netflix has done similar stuff with Ascension, The Witcher, Altered Carbon and others. I do prefer quality over quantity, and more episodes per season isn't IMO a good thing. Having tight focus, telling a complete story from beginning to end, is more important than adding a lot of unnecessary filler. I wasn't the biggest fan of Altered Carbon, but thought Ascension was exemplary. While it finished with an ending that could have set it up for a second series, the story it told was complete, and leaving some mystery is no bad thing. I'm currently reading the Witcher books, and the series was a reasonable adaption of the content of the first two books of short stories. There's plenty more material for the future, but what was done in eight episodes was decent and self-contained. Way better value than a movie ticket. What I like about these short series is that they are free to take risks and make niche stuff that doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator. There's plenty of stuff on Netflix that doesn't appeal to me, and that's OK. There's also stuff that would appeal were it not poorly-written and produced dross. I would really prefer their "data driven" decision making to bear in mind the lasting appeal of these productions within their niche interest, rather than only using the initial response as an indicator of long-term success. Some of the best productions took years to develop a good following, and yet were successful beyond expectations.

542354234235 6y ago
It sounds like you only watched the first season of Altered Carbon. If true, just stop there. They made a second season with a slashed budget and also dialed back the sex and violence, making it overall very lackluster. Then, surprise, they cancelled it.
- newdude 6y ago
  One of my favorite series (S1). Good observation the lack of sex and violence in the second one. Could be true. I thought the new "sleeve" actor killed the second. The one in the first season was much much more convincing.
  - hef19898 6y ago
    I watched season 1 and the first episode of season two. Stopped after that, I didn't want to ruin it for me.
  - 542354234235 6y ago
    I agree that the new actor wasn’t nearly as strong, but I think a well written season with all the same flash and a full budget to do it would have saved it overall. It is really a shame that they hamstrung it like that. It would have been smarter to either leave it as a miniseries, or commit to a quality second season. As it is now, I’m less likely to recommend it and I add caveats to my recommendation. They eacked out a few more viewers by making a half assed second season, but hurt the brand long term. Which is what I think they are missing in general, that they are not properly counting the people that leave or fail to recommend Netflix because of a culmination of half-baked and abandoned shows that finally break the camel’s back.
    - StillBored 6y ago
      They are doing the same thing to their signature series "Stranger Things". The first season was pure genius, they should have just ended it there with a "and they all live happily ever after". Each following season just ruins the series further.
- rleigh 6y ago
  I watched both. I didn't particularly enjoy the first (just not my thing), but the second was boring. I did see it through out of curiosity, but I agree it's no surprise that it was cancelled. For many of these productions, if the story has been told and it ended on a high note, then I think it would be better to draw a line under it, and move onto a brand new idea and explore new concepts rather than squeeze every last little bit out of something that's not going to advance much upon what's already been done. Better that than jumping the shark.
- StillBored 6y ago
  Yes, the second season was terrible. I stumbled on Altered Carbon on netflix, and enjoyed it in fits and starts. Taken as a whole the first season has some great moments. The local library had the audiobooks, so I listened to them on a long car trip between the first and second season being released. The writing isn't great but the stories definitely have their moments, even if its smothered in the usual "action flick" mindset. I think netflix would have done a lot better to just stick to the plot of Broken Angels for the second season. But I think there was some rumbling on the message boards that it would have actually cost real cash to pull that off and netflix apparently wasn't willing to do it. So its the worst kind of serial scifi rubbish. Its really too bad. The trash they invented as filler, was just that. But you can see their problem, the first book took place on an earth city, so they didn't need a lot of custom sets, and loads of CG. My wife signed up for the hbo trial for a month and then canceled it. That was just about perfect. I watched the last season of game of thrones and a couple other things, and was getting bored with it just as the trial ended. I actually think that model might be the right one for the entire streaming ecosystem. Just rotate the streaming services every couple months.
galkk 6y ago
Oh, Altered Carbon - great premise, totally failed 2nd part of the season, as for me. I don't know if the books are as bad, but Carbon was total disappointment for me.

by rleigh 6y ago

542354234235 6y ago

It sounds like you only watched the first season of Altered Carbon. If true, just stop there. They made a second season with a slashed budget and also dialed back the sex and violence, making it overall very lackluster. Then, surprise, they cancelled it.

newdude 6y ago
One of my favorite series (S1). Good observation the lack of sex and violence in the second one. Could be true. I thought the new "sleeve" actor killed the second. The one in the first season was much much more convincing.
- hef19898 6y ago
  I watched season 1 and the first episode of season two. Stopped after that, I didn't want to ruin it for me.
- 542354234235 6y ago
  I agree that the new actor wasn’t nearly as strong, but I think a well written season with all the same flash and a full budget to do it would have saved it overall. It is really a shame that they hamstrung it like that. It would have been smarter to either leave it as a miniseries, or commit to a quality second season. As it is now, I’m less likely to recommend it and I add caveats to my recommendation. They eacked out a few more viewers by making a half assed second season, but hurt the brand long term. Which is what I think they are missing in general, that they are not properly counting the people that leave or fail to recommend Netflix because of a culmination of half-baked and abandoned shows that finally break the camel’s back.
  - StillBored 6y ago
    They are doing the same thing to their signature series "Stranger Things". The first season was pure genius, they should have just ended it there with a "and they all live happily ever after". Each following season just ruins the series further.
rleigh 6y ago
I watched both. I didn't particularly enjoy the first (just not my thing), but the second was boring. I did see it through out of curiosity, but I agree it's no surprise that it was cancelled. For many of these productions, if the story has been told and it ended on a high note, then I think it would be better to draw a line under it, and move onto a brand new idea and explore new concepts rather than squeeze every last little bit out of something that's not going to advance much upon what's already been done. Better that than jumping the shark.
StillBored 6y ago
Yes, the second season was terrible. I stumbled on Altered Carbon on netflix, and enjoyed it in fits and starts. Taken as a whole the first season has some great moments. The local library had the audiobooks, so I listened to them on a long car trip between the first and second season being released. The writing isn't great but the stories definitely have their moments, even if its smothered in the usual "action flick" mindset. I think netflix would have done a lot better to just stick to the plot of Broken Angels for the second season. But I think there was some rumbling on the message boards that it would have actually cost real cash to pull that off and netflix apparently wasn't willing to do it. So its the worst kind of serial scifi rubbish. Its really too bad. The trash they invented as filler, was just that. But you can see their problem, the first book took place on an earth city, so they didn't need a lot of custom sets, and loads of CG. My wife signed up for the hbo trial for a month and then canceled it. That was just about perfect. I watched the last season of game of thrones and a couple other things, and was getting bored with it just as the trial ended. I actually think that model might be the right one for the entire streaming ecosystem. Just rotate the streaming services every couple months.

galkk 6y ago

Oh, Altered Carbon - great premise, totally failed 2nd part of the season, as for me. I don't know if the books are as bad, but Carbon was total disappointment for me.