I’m reminded of Rebeltaxi talking about “The Spongebob Standard”. Basically, if a show isn’t an immediate hit, they’ll keep up appearances for a while and then dump it. Also ironic that their biggest shows started off small and grew an audience over time. Guess they wanna do it the hard way.
It's hard to actually watch things that are recommended to me, because thereis just so much of it. I have a huge list of shows that I want to watch, but it grows faster than I can finish those shows. I'm quite happy when I can take a show of the list like Witcher or Game of Thrones, because I hear the ending is bad or non existent.
Sorry you and other fans are having to deal with this. It's why I prefer movies over shows and what shows I do like are kind of flippant (Robot Chicken, South Park) compared to other more serious fare. Especially if they mess up the ending like Game of Thrones. A close relative actually told me he heard from some people at his work and saw people online were throwing out their DVD copies of Game of Thrones seasons because they felt the final season was such a massive letdown.
Your video essays are great. Very well put together. I'm looking forward for more. I fully agree with everything you said. All these unfinished projects are practically worthless. It's a shame really because some of that had the potential to become all-time greats.
@@2leftframes This is what happens when performance is measured and rewarded based on short term variables, not based on the value of assets created or on the value added to existing assets. Especially streaming services should know better. The focus on short term performance indicators always bothers me. I know that some information is more readily available (Box Office) than others like product sales (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray) or TV airing (some shows and movies are continually rerun globally on TV stations). Even harder is assessing the revenue contribution of content for streaming services. A lot of it is not disclosed to the public, so to calculate it all would require some guessing. But at least movies like Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club and Pulp Fiction would be mentioned as financial success stories instead of Box Office disappointments. Regarding Netflix cancellations. There were some that disappointed me like Travelers and Sense8, but most of them have been canceled before I began watching. And, like you, I never will. The one that broke my heart was the OA. That show as something special. I watched both seasons twice and many interviews with the creators. They had a 5 season arc all planned out and I was really looking forward to the rest of the story. I'm still pissed at Netflix for that one. Sorry, I had to get that of my chest.
It's a damn shame that the Cancelled-Too-Early problem is more of an issue with narratively-gripping shows where you want to stay invested for the long run, because you end up caring more about those shows, at least in an immersive/emotional way, then something like sketch comedy where the order or number of episodes doesn't matter. If Smiling Friends hadn't been renewed for a Season 2, I wouldn't complain. It had one excellent season where (mostly) there was no overarching development. Compare that to something like Star Vs. the Forces of Evil. The first two seasons were sort of alright, but I lost interest. I planned on finishing it later on, but I heard that the remaining two seasons and movie weren't satisfying to the hardcore fanbase, so of course I changed my mind. Now I'm left imagining my own ending for that storyline, which is a bit fun in a way, but not what I want after investing my time into something like 30 episodes.
But traditional TV did/does the same. Its the TV model. Pilot season would have tons of shows that never even see air or only air 2-6 episodes before being pulled or moved to another spot. If anything Netflix gives us a much better variety of types of shows that would never get chances on networks. AMC's best shows don't get anywhere without them being able to lean on a walking dead franchise that should have ended a LONG time ago. Think about all the Fox TV shows that came and went in the day....look at how many shows Netflix has SAVED from network cancellation... I think they are doing pretty well, more global subs than anyone else with all their combined conglomerate holdings, access to know exactly who is watching and how long.....if the shows get trashed....it means it's not getting numbers. In a world of content wars and attention....a bunch of variety isn't bad...they are their own youtube with professionally produced content. If friends and all those classics were so important...their home streaming platforms would be doing numbers....they aren't. Gen z doesn't care about "classics" they care about what's trending and they don't learn enough about it outside a wiki summary and a few clips so they can reference it. Good vid tho, love ur content.
Thanks for the in depth reply! I'll do my best to provide some counterpoints :) Traditional TV didn't have to factor in the entirety of their catalog being readily available to viewers. They made shows as long as they were popular. That life would be extended by DVD sales. But when a show ended, that was it. It was simple! In the streaming era, any show that they start, will be left sitting on their service indefinitely. The need to cancel some shows! But instant viral success *can't* be the only metric they use to renew shows. High quality, well loved shows are being cancelled before they ever had a chance to find their audience. The are so risk averse that they're chasing away users who might have otherwise lifted up their new series. As for those huge legacy shows. They are absolutely there to rope in viewers who grew up with the shows. New generations deserve to discover their own hit series! But until all us millennials die off, there is going to be a consistent audience who wants to dip back into Friends, Seinfeld, and The Office from time to time. Their value will decrease year by year. And as more and more of them launch their own services instead of just licensing their content, their appeal is increasingly waning. But for now, I think they are still worth hanging onto.
@2 Left Frames good points as always, to be fair I was typing while watching so u did address some points I was mentioning as the video continued. Personally I just feel Netflix does look a bit deeper into the metrics than it just being an instant hit. It's like content creation. If you are making a video series that just isn't hitting the numbers u want but has a dedicated base of a couple thousand views a week vs others with 100k views a week...do u keep investing time and $$$ or do you try to make a new video aimed at a new demo that might take off? At the end of the day I think we all agree these platforms are getting way too much like traditional cable/network again, including TH-cam, which sucks. I just give Netflix extra points because no one else is out here really taking the risks on content they are. I think if we were seeing the same numbers they are then it would make sense. If you put a new show on the top 10 for your 200+ million subs and less than 20% even watch the first episode and even less make it through the whole series, even if you attach it as recommended to all the similar shows users are watching....how long do you foster it? Is it worth bringing back to finish if the likelihood is less than half will even show back up...but I do very much like your idea of setting a budget for a certain amount of seasons from the start, but then u also run the risk of it becoming a hit and now when it's time to make more, everybody wants a lot more $$$ ala Robert Downey Jr.
Some shows just go on too long. I've never seen Breaking Bad or Walking dead etc but how many episodes? How many seasons? There's no way I'm going to start at the beginning and wade my way through that lot.
I hear you on the Walking Dead. But Breaking Bad *chose* to end while they were on top. It's only 62 episodes across 5 seasons. The show has a clear, decisive ending - that is one of the most well orchestrated I've ever seen in a TV series. Sleep on Walking Dead all you want! But I 1000% recommend checking out Breaking Bad.
Lol just tried to watch one piece they went from episodes 516 then skipped over 500 episodes which confused the he'll out of me most animes get skip on the series or just removed
I’m reminded of Rebeltaxi talking about “The Spongebob Standard”. Basically, if a show isn’t an immediate hit, they’ll keep up appearances for a while and then dump it.
Also ironic that their biggest shows started off small and grew an audience over time. Guess they wanna do it the hard way.
It's hard to actually watch things that are recommended to me, because thereis just so much of it. I have a huge list of shows that I want to watch, but it grows faster than I can finish those shows. I'm quite happy when I can take a show of the list like Witcher or Game of Thrones, because I hear the ending is bad or non existent.
Breaking Bad would have probably been cancelled after season 1 if it came out today
Sorry you and other fans are having to deal with this. It's why I prefer movies over shows and what shows I do like are kind of flippant (Robot Chicken, South Park) compared to other more serious fare. Especially if they mess up the ending like Game of Thrones.
A close relative actually told me he heard from some people at his work and saw people online were throwing out their DVD copies of Game of Thrones seasons because they felt the final season was such a massive letdown.
Your video essays are great. Very well put together. I'm looking forward for more.
I fully agree with everything you said. All these unfinished projects are practically worthless. It's a shame really because some of that had the potential to become all-time greats.
Thank you very much!
That about sums up Netflix eh? A catalog of wasted potential. The Witcher looks worryingly like it'll be joining the pile soon
@@2leftframes This is what happens when performance is measured and rewarded based on short term variables, not based on the value of assets created or on the value added to existing assets. Especially streaming services should know better.
The focus on short term performance indicators always bothers me. I know that some information is more readily available (Box Office) than others like product sales (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray) or TV airing (some shows and movies are continually rerun globally on TV stations). Even harder is assessing the revenue contribution of content for streaming services. A lot of it is not disclosed to the public, so to calculate it all would require some guessing. But at least movies like Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club and Pulp Fiction would be mentioned as financial success stories instead of Box Office disappointments.
Regarding Netflix cancellations. There were some that disappointed me like Travelers and Sense8, but most of them have been canceled before I began watching. And, like you, I never will.
The one that broke my heart was the OA. That show as something special. I watched both seasons twice and many interviews with the creators. They had a 5 season arc all planned out and I was really looking forward to the rest of the story. I'm still pissed at Netflix for that one.
Sorry, I had to get that of my chest.
It's a damn shame that the Cancelled-Too-Early problem is more of an issue with narratively-gripping shows where you want to stay invested for the long run, because you end up caring more about those shows, at least in an immersive/emotional way, then something like sketch comedy where the order or number of episodes doesn't matter.
If Smiling Friends hadn't been renewed for a Season 2, I wouldn't complain. It had one excellent season where (mostly) there was no overarching development.
Compare that to something like Star Vs. the Forces of Evil. The first two seasons were sort of alright, but I lost interest. I planned on finishing it later on, but I heard that the remaining two seasons and movie weren't satisfying to the hardcore fanbase, so of course I changed my mind. Now I'm left imagining my own ending for that storyline, which is a bit fun in a way, but not what I want after investing my time into something like 30 episodes.
I loved OA, it deserved a third season to use as its swan song.
But traditional TV did/does the same. Its the TV model. Pilot season would have tons of shows that never even see air or only air 2-6 episodes before being pulled or moved to another spot. If anything Netflix gives us a much better variety of types of shows that would never get chances on networks.
AMC's best shows don't get anywhere without them being able to lean on a walking dead franchise that should have ended a LONG time ago.
Think about all the Fox TV shows that came and went in the day....look at how many shows Netflix has SAVED from network cancellation...
I think they are doing pretty well, more global subs than anyone else with all their combined conglomerate holdings, access to know exactly who is watching and how long.....if the shows get trashed....it means it's not getting numbers.
In a world of content wars and attention....a bunch of variety isn't bad...they are their own youtube with professionally produced content.
If friends and all those classics were so important...their home streaming platforms would be doing numbers....they aren't. Gen z doesn't care about "classics" they care about what's trending and they don't learn enough about it outside a wiki summary and a few clips so they can reference it.
Good vid tho, love ur content.
Thanks for the in depth reply! I'll do my best to provide some counterpoints :)
Traditional TV didn't have to factor in the entirety of their catalog being readily available to viewers. They made shows as long as they were popular. That life would be extended by DVD sales. But when a show ended, that was it. It was simple!
In the streaming era, any show that they start, will be left sitting on their service indefinitely. The need to cancel some shows! But instant viral success *can't* be the only metric they use to renew shows. High quality, well loved shows are being cancelled before they ever had a chance to find their audience. The are so risk averse that they're chasing away users who might have otherwise lifted up their new series.
As for those huge legacy shows. They are absolutely there to rope in viewers who grew up with the shows. New generations deserve to discover their own hit series! But until all us millennials die off, there is going to be a consistent audience who wants to dip back into Friends, Seinfeld, and The Office from time to time. Their value will decrease year by year. And as more and more of them launch their own services instead of just licensing their content, their appeal is increasingly waning. But for now, I think they are still worth hanging onto.
@2 Left Frames good points as always, to be fair I was typing while watching so u did address some points I was mentioning as the video continued.
Personally I just feel Netflix does look a bit deeper into the metrics than it just being an instant hit. It's like content creation. If you are making a video series that just isn't hitting the numbers u want but has a dedicated base of a couple thousand views a week vs others with 100k views a week...do u keep investing time and $$$ or do you try to make a new video aimed at a new demo that might take off?
At the end of the day I think we all agree these platforms are getting way too much like traditional cable/network again, including TH-cam, which sucks. I just give Netflix extra points because no one else is out here really taking the risks on content they are. I think if we were seeing the same numbers they are then it would make sense. If you put a new show on the top 10 for your 200+ million subs and less than 20% even watch the first episode and even less make it through the whole series, even if you attach it as recommended to all the similar shows users are watching....how long do you foster it? Is it worth bringing back to finish if the likelihood is less than half will even show back up...but I do very much like your idea of setting a budget for a certain amount of seasons from the start, but then u also run the risk of it becoming a hit and now when it's time to make more, everybody wants a lot more $$$ ala Robert Downey Jr.
I really wish there was a GLOW season 4. I'm not sorry I watched it tho, it just makes me happy as a show.
Some shows just go on too long. I've never seen Breaking Bad or Walking dead etc but how many episodes? How many seasons? There's no way I'm going to start at the beginning and wade my way through that lot.
I hear you on the Walking Dead.
But Breaking Bad *chose* to end while they were on top. It's only 62 episodes across 5 seasons. The show has a clear, decisive ending - that is one of the most well orchestrated I've ever seen in a TV series. Sleep on Walking Dead all you want! But I 1000% recommend checking out Breaking Bad.
@@2leftframessecond that.
Please do that Dexter video. Love you content.
Lol just tried to watch one piece they went from episodes 516 then skipped over 500 episodes which confused the he'll out of me most animes get skip on the series or just removed
"Promosm" 😞