1650

This is from 2013:

Netflix wants at least five new shows a year: ‘The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us’

So it looks like HBO is pushing back and trying to become Netflix with this big play.

1651

Man, that’s so quaint.

1652

It really does show how quickly things change. Seven years isn’t a lot of time to go from wanting five new shows a year to basically having five new shows a week!

1653

HBO wanted to operate like it always did for a long time. To use Cold War terms, HBO was looking at Netflix like the US vs the USSR. Sure, you have more shows, but we have better quality. “Look how many more Emmy nominations we have with so many fewer shows!”

The problem is that they didn’t recognize that Netflix was eventually going to start throwing so many darts at the dartboard that they would begin to win on quantity AND quality. Netflix is getting more Emmy nominations than HBO now.

HBO has slowly began expanding original programming to Monday nights, although it seems a lot of this content is simply being produced by the BBC and co-funded by HBO. I’m sure the suits at AT&T are wanting to get HBO thinking about generating more and more shows.

1654

I still think Hannibal’s exclusive streaming with Amazon deal lead to its cancellation. It’s been off the air for years and when it hit Netflix recently it got a huge bump in exposure. Had that happened while it was still airing on NBC it could have picked up a lot of viewers.

1655

My understanding is that it definitely led to Netflix not wanting to pick up future development, which was one of the best hopes for saving it.

1656

This has got to be a loss leader type move from HBO Max though. They can’t possibly do this going forward forever. It doesn’t sound like it would make financial sense to recoup multiple 100 million-plus dollar budget movies in one year through a $15 a month subscription service.

1657

Yeah, it definitely prevented them from saving the show after cancellation.

1658

Also on Prime, incidentally. There seem to be quite a few shows that are on all three, or at least that’s my perception.

1659

Yeah, this is good news for HBO Max as a service, but still overall terrible for Warner Bros. This is making a glass of lemonade out of the asteroid-sized lemon that is COVID.

This may be a partial glimpse of the future of film distribution, but if theaters really are done for, this distribution model won’t be funding all these big-budget blockbusters we’re seeing now that were set in motion before the world turned upside-down.

1660

Maybe we’ll make mid budget shit with decent writing again but nah those don’t get worldwide market

1661

I feel like Mini-Series do a better job in telling engaging storytelling. Band of Brothers vs Saving Private Ryan sort of thing.

1662

I agree with your sentiment, but that’s a bad example, since both are examples of the very best of either type of entertainment.

For me I would use the Watchmen HBO series vs. Watchmen movie (which I thought was fine). I think that’s a great example of how a mini-series provides a superior canvas for the story being told.

1663

Well. That’s also a bit of a different thing, since Watchmen-the-series was a brand-new story heavily inspired by the source material and Watchmen-the-movie was a (mostly) faithful adaptation. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a HBO Watchmen adaptation as a limited run series would be better than the movie (especially if they tapped someone that’s not Zack Snyder), but it’s not an apples-apples comparison.

1664

I will agree, I haven’t watched movies for many many years and I don’t miss them. Lotr, new star wars, superhero movies make me sleep.

1665

You could just watch… other movies.

1666

I’ll pay good money for anything that can keep me from staying up until 2am.

1667

OK folks, I resubbed to Netflix for a month since it’s about that time and the holiday break affords an unusual amount of viewing time. My main interests were the new seasons of Big Mouth, Castlevania, and Umbrella Academy. I’ve been off the service for a year, so I spent about a half an hour trolling through front page lists expecting to find some new stuff to watch. I added a grand total of 5 things to my watch list (Money Heist, Cobra Kai, Queen’s Gambit, Warrior Nun, and Schitt’s Creek which I’ve tried before but everyone claims is great).

I see no indication whatsoever of these “5 new shows a week” people are talking about, my recommendations are overhwelmingly the same as the last time I subscribed. I also note that you no longer get a description of the show when you hover over it, so discoverability has actually been made worse. I’m not doubting all these new shows exist, but I’m not being shown anything new and interesting when I go looking.

So, help me out here, what’s been added in the last year that I should take a look at? Because Netflix clearly isn’t going to help me find stuff.

1668

Based on what you added already:

  • Teenage Bounty Hunters
  • Locke & Key
  • The Witcher
1669

Just because they add new shows constantly (and they really do) doesn’t mean you’ll personally be interested in all or even most of those shows.

I’d also potentially add Kingdom to that list. Yes, it’s a zombie show, but it’s a zombie show in Joseon era Korea, and that makes a big difference.