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Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

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Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#481

Post by samhw »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #12
thrill wrote: post #2

The quoted "competing exec" is 100% wrong when he says Netflix is making a mistake ending shows after three seasons. Shows need to be pitched and run for three seasons max, period. Everyone has a life other than the show that's "hot" for the moment, from cast to writers to the source of money - the viewers. Shows that get dragged out inevitably suck. And yeah, go to weekly releases.

That would be fine if the storylines were wrapped up at the end of season three but shows not only fail to do this, they often end on a cliffhanger and then the series gets cancelled. I don't know about other people, but I wait until a show has been on for years before bothering with checking them out. There are a few that I knew were continued as graphic novels, which I thought was a decent compromise but if I know…

> fear it ending suddenly without resolution

I don't mean to sound like some "well akshuallyyy"ing Comic Book Guy figure, but you must realise it's not real life? If it's a Poirot-type mystery where the entire payoff lies in the resolution, then I totally understand, but for a regular TV show I can't see why you would enjoy the episodes any less simply because it might end without resolving all your questions. There's no real suspense - it's not real people, it's just a bunch of people performing in front of a camera. Being distressed about 'what happened to them?' seems, well, puzzling to me.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#482

Post by samhw »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #461
JMS2021 wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Enjoyable is subjective. White Lotus was terrible in my opinion. Not sure why you are arguing? People have stated that's the reason they have quit, and yet you are somehow suggesting that we are wrong? Or because another service does it? Accept that some people are tired and bored of having unrealistic plots and characters that are only there to "tick boxes". But sure, recasting the queen of England as a black woman…

I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people has no strong position in the "culture war" and just watch whatever they enjoy. I'm sure some people will leave a service over "wokeness" but I would be surprised if that number was significant. As for White Lotus: you might not enjoy it, but are you representative? Me and my wife enjoyed it very much. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 88% and IMDB at 7.6. I'm not sure if "terrible…

I dunno. I'm not so unhinged about it as the guy above, but I do share some of his exhaustion at the ideological box-ticking of these TV shows.

I'm left wing and I believe everyone deserves equal rights and equal respect, but I find utterly fatuous the idea that 'representation in television shows' is an important political concern. I believe in fighting global starvation, climate change, social safety nets under increasing automation, etc - not how many transgender lesbians are in TV shows.

I do not give a fuck about that, I do not give a fuck if transgenders and/or lesbians give a fuck about that, it is not important, and I'm disturbed at the increasing frivolity, corporate-ness, and lack of depth in political life when people are seriously suggesting that this is a worthy expenditure of our political willpower and attention (which is extremely finite and scarce, regardless of what people on Twitter insist).

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#483

Post by samhw »

nemo44x wrote: post #371

It’s more about how TikTok has taken over such a huge portion of the engagement hours basket. Hard to justify a paid sub when there’s a tool that sends you content for free and the only choice you have to make is to not watch something. Parents: don’t let your kids anywhere near TikTok.

How on earth is TikTok a competitor to Netflix?!

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#484

Post by Auracle »

taylorius wrote: post #389
bananamerica wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4K is not the issue. The issue is that they achieved a standard style of filming that is entirely unremarkable, and the only thing they have going for them is the fact that the image is crystal clear. Competently shot 4K has a certain aura of legitimacy.

I always thought that when the likes of David Attenborough get awards for their natural world documentaries - the award should really go to the camera makers Arriflex, Red etc. who enable the gorgeous footage.

I would say the photographers that spend 6 weeks in the arctic to get 5 minutes of footage might be even more deserving.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#485

Post by Auracle »

femiagbabiaka wrote: post #192
411111111111111 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know multiple people which complained about it and made them unsubscribe (none from the USA, so these topics are neither interesting nor on topic for any of us) It was definitely a contributing factory that's for sure.

The number of people who care about this kind of stuff is very low. Most people just want to watch movies, laugh, cry. They don’t even know about the culture war. That’s only relevant in the bubble of malcontent that is mostly made up of twitter users.

I think more people care than you think, but they might not realize that identity politics (or politics in general) are what’s making a show worse. Star Trek: Picard’s latest season was terrible in many ways, but it seemed like the entire plot was made just so the show runners could say “ICE bad. Global Warming scary.”

That’s all well and dandy if you have an actual point to make, but they didn’t. There was no nuance because in their minds any deviation from those political beliefs are evil.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#486

Post by tjr225 »

scarface74 wrote: post #434
tjr225 wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because it makes a lot of money doesn’t mean it’s not drivel.

Well, maybe if it is the most popular content, have you thought that your taste may not be inline with the majority?

Whether or not the majority is into drivel is not my concern.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#487

Post by dudul »

dudul wrote: post #349
gpayan wrote: post #284

Interesting how we don't hear much about "big data" which - we were told back in 2013 starting with House of Cards [1] - was key to Netflix's success in picking new shows to produce. This part of the article is telling: >It’s why five or so years ago, anybody with a hint of success in TV (or movies) started getting a call from their rep saying, basically, “Netflix would like to write you a big check.” 1. https://www.…

I'm also very puzzled by how the quality could degrade so much. I was sure that they had cracked the "formula" to create good content via big data analysis after House of Cards. My guess, and I have nothing to back it up other than external empirical observation, is that they didn't like what the big data revealed. The output didn't fit The Message, or The Ideology. So they ignored it. They decided to use the good ol…

* to gauge the success

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#488

Post by Strom »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #361
theodric wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had CuriosityStream for a year, and used it for about two weeks. It's also just formulaic drivel accompanied by stock B-roll. My day is much better, and bears more fruit, when I don't waste any of it in front of a TV.

Yeah, I am little confused by all of this as well. Maybe because I don't "stream". But from the article: > “We have to have an Adam Project and a Bridgerton every month and to make sure that that’s the expectation of the service constantly,” he said. Are there people to watch an "Adam Project" and a "Bridgerton" (I assume these are interesting shows) every month? Are there people that are some kind of stream-receptac…

> Are there people to watch an "Adam Project" and a "Bridgerton" (I assume these are interesting shows) every month?

In case the specific shows threw you off, those were meant just as examples of quality. They don't mean that people would literally rewatch the same show.

As for are there people who watch shows every month? Absolutely, many people watch an episode of a show or a movie every evening.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#489

Post by AdrianB1 »

seoaeu wrote: post #466
AdrianB1 wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And dilute your percentage in the process. That sounds incredibly stupid for any founder.

Obviously startup founders would prefer to get rich without paying taxes. That doesn’t mean the rest of society should let them.

If all you own is shares in a company, you are not rich, you can be homeless. If you sell your shares and make money out of that, then is the moment to pay your taxes, not a nanosecond before that.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#490

Post by 1123581321 »

thawaya3113 wrote: post #428
scyzoryk_xyz wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes! It takes so much more to gain the kind of insight that is valuable for film/art. And it is very difficult to scale. I thought they were onto something when they were experimenting with the gamified Black Mirror stuff because A) it implied something totally new and proprietary in the artform and B) it could probably lead to more information and more feedback all around. Also, they never even tried to build any so…

Netflix viewers used to be really good at rating movies and then getting recommendations based on those ratings. The Netflix ratings actually meant something once upon a time. And then, one day, Netflix just got rid of this. I’m still awestruck by the fact that they had this incredible and free source of data and they just relieved themselves of it.

Participation rate is significantly higher with the new ratings system. The text of the reviews are missed by me and likely you, of course, but most didn’t read them.
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