Netflix has a big "letting their shows continue to exist" problem

I do love how hilariously petty it is for Netflix to be using the Blockbuster name for a comedy now

Your point about the Netflix sitcoms only getting 8 episodes a season is so spot on. Imagine if the biggest sitcoms only had 8 episodes seasons. With Friends you'd get maybe one classic episode (TOW The Blackout) and one iconic recurring character (Janice). You wouldn't even get to one of the Thanksgiving episodes. If you cancelled The Office after season 1, you'd never get to the instant classic season premiere: The Dundies. In season 1 of Parks and Rec, the writers haven't discovered April and Andy's chemistry, or given Donna or Jerry much personality. 30 Rock takes until mid-season to start firing off jokes at the rapid pace of its best seasons. Community doesn't start doing full-fledged homages until the last 2-3 episodes of season 1. Few sitcoms hit the ground running in the first 8. Netflix isn't even giving them a fighting chance.

Netflix can’t hold onto animated shows either.

Even fans of Bojack agree that the first season was not the best yet but since they were one of the first series on Netflix, they were lucky enough to not get cancelled like the shows Netflix is launching now.

"Blockbuster" might have been more interesting had it been set in the 90's or 00's, when DVD rentals were in the heyday of their popularity, as opposed to in the modern day, and they're at risk of shutting down due to streaming competition. The actors are all likable and talented, but the jokes just weren't funny, and fell incredibly flat.

Another problem for Netflix: Some shows need to have only one season but Netflix chose to renew them because they are extremely popular. For example, 13 Reasons Why and Squid Game.

You'd be hard pressed to name any sitcom that aired within the last century that's first season was its best. I do not understand why Netflix can't grasp this and why they are not giving any of their shows a real chance to find their footing.

One thing that I haven't heard anyone mention is that, with these kinds of shows, as time goes on, the actors themselves tend to change the direction of the characters a little. For the first season, they're usually just hired to fill a role. As the seasons go on, though, they understand the character more and invent new ideas and quirks for them that "feel" right. If you don't get to a second or third season, there's no time for that kind of actor-character development.

The whole case of One Day at a Time was so sad. It was such a good show that got unjustly canceled on Netflix, took a while to find a new home on a network nobody watches, and then got canceled again after a shortened season due to Covid. I think it would’ve been an even more beloved show if it got the chance to end on its own terms. Thanks a lot for that Netflix.

Netflix wonders why subscriber count declines correlates with cancelled shows, and instead of not canceling stuff they cut costs and cancel more. Maybe they need to greenlight things for more than just one season, or start reselling a contract instead of cancelling them. Amazon saved The Expanse, maybe it could save 1899 and Inside Job if someone was selling them.

Santa Clarita Diet was the best comedy I’ve seen in a long time and deserved more seasons!

I would also kind of consider Santa Clarita Diet a sitcom too. And that's the direction I wanted Netflix to go, making sitcom-like shows that blend in tons of other styles, not just self contained stories but have more continuity, be for older audiences, have weird and out there premises, etc

2 things: 1) the reason why sitcoms struggle on streaming is because all the great sitcoms were broken up week by week for seasons of 20+ episodes. They're about checking in with your friends at Dunder Mifflin or McLaren's or TGS. Watching the new Halloween episode of Community a few days before Halloween is what would make sitcoms amazing: they replicate life. This factor clearly doesn't make them any less enjoyable to binge, but it gives the shows as a whole longevity because it was released over a lengthy period of time. Weekly releases are a completely different medium than streaming shows, and it's clear that sitcoms can really only thrive in the former. As much as I love Bojack, it's way harder to watch a random Bojack episode out of context than an episode of 30 Rock, because weekly release episodes stand on their own much better. 2) season 1 of Kimmy Schmidt is not the best season. It only gets better. Good video

Slight correction: Bojack did not get to end on its own terms. The creators had way more planned for the show, but Netflix cut them off at season 6 after the workers there started demanding better treatment, hence the labor themes in the last season that make fun of Netflix.

I agree that if something doesn't preform well, its chopped from Netflix. I think releasing all the episodes at once, was once a great idea for binge watching, but now shows are talked about for 3 days out the year, and then never again. I think a slow burn is better. Releasing shows once a week is definitely better for newer shows.

Netflix dumping a whole season at once and expecting everyone to watch the whole thing in a weekend is the biggest issue. When episodes are released weekly, people talk about it and hype builds.

The funny thing is, Bojack still got cancelled early, the show runners wanted 7 seasons pretty sure, but netflix stopped it early so they made season 6 into a longer one.

I think an issue with your idea that they get cancelled before they find their groove, is that even if they do get a another season to improve, people still probably won't see it. With streaming, if you start a show, you're going to start at the beginning, so a new audience will start with the first season anyway and if it's no good, they probably won't make it to season 2. But when shows air on TV, someone might not have seen the first couple seasons, but will catch an episode from season 3 or 4 and enjoy it and become a fan from there.

Bojack's show runners (or writers, I don't remember exactly) said Netflix force them to finish the series but they had ideas for many more seasons.

The problem with Netflix is it's release model for everything. They just drop it all in one go for you to binge it. If it doesn't grab its audience from the get go instead of just letting it build, they'll just cancel it.

Worth noting that Bojack Horseman, and The Ranch had dramatic storylines spanning multiple seasons. Drama is a more bingeable format, because you want to see what happens next. Truly serialized sitcoms are comfort food, and rely upon audiences being familiar with their characters. Like you say, that doesn't happen in the first season.

I was going to scream if you didn't mention Superstore when talking about Blockbuster. In fact, just nobody ever talking about Superstore makes me want to scream in itself.

I just watch Seinfeld when I want some sitcom time. "Feels like Abry's night". "Poppie got a little sloppy", "Festivus for the rest of us!".

A related issue to what you discussed. A comedy is about chemistry and nuance, making Michael Scott nicer or introducing Frasier to the bar. When Netflix produces and releases an entire season at once, they don't have weeks upon weeks to give little tweaks based upon the "live studio audience" or focus groups. A drama, with a grand scheme story arc, or a well crafted comedy like Bojack, rely on NOT having that input. This, to me, is a big reason that streaming succeeds with drama over comedy.

The weekly release was critical to everyday sitcoms as well (Friends, Office, Cheers). The escapism of seeing something slightly off your life once a week is not as bingeable intrinsically: bingeability requires a more heightened gimmick. It's kind of the difference of elevator music and a musical theatre show: if you know your audience is just getting a burst that's very different than something you live with everyday.

Good sitcoms are hard to come by. I’m sure those with a decent script and premise wants as many eyes as possible and not locked into a streaming service.

I'm excited for the day when _Crazy Ex-Girlfriend_ gets new life via Netflix. It was critically acclaimed while airing on The CW even though it has the (dis)honor of being the network's least watched series. It was originally pitched as a half hour sitcom for Showtime but eventually was picked up by The CW & now resides on Netflix. It's a decent show with a small yet mighty fanbase.

I miss TV shows that make me laugh. Friends has it's issues, but it's consistently funny as was Cheers and Frasier.

I definitely hear what you're saying about sitcoms often needing their time to bake a little, especially in the first season, I think one distinction is that when network episodes were airing in primetime slots, there were a lot of viewers left over from other more successful programs. Sometimes viewers wouldn't seek out that sitcom, it just happened to follow the thing they were seeking out and they got sucked in. And then the characters become really important -- it's the characters people are sticking around for. Streaming sitcoms do not have this luxury of getting viewers from other shows, so they need to come out with a bang and be really good right away to keep viewers. I agree that they shouldn't cancel shows a month after S1 airs, but I also think those other sitcoms had some help from the scheduling.

This is crazy, but I think if I gag to pick only one streaming service to have for the rest of my life, I’d pick Peacock at this point. Sitcoms aren’t the only thing I watch, but they are very comforting, and with NBC having The Office, Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Community, and I believe even Modern Family on Peacock now, that’s just such staggering quantity that I can’t ignore it. I mean, I pretty much watch the office nonstop anyway…

I'm still shocked they cancelled 'Inside job' as we'll never know the reason as to why it could be that Netflix is very strict in trends (and unforgiving on dips in viewing) or they need immediate success, apprently they have been pulling back in subscribers but if all their doing is cancelling shows beyond first season then I find it hard to see how anyone will stay subscribed to the show if what you see won't make it past 10 episodes.

Friends wasnt friends in first season. Office was essentially British comedy which didnt hit the 1st season. Simply put Netflix has made its money on other ppls work and tread. They refuse to let shows develop. Unless they want to pay for Sienfield, Office or friends they gotta move past serial short series dramas and give a few sitcons a 2-3 yr window to connect w audiences.

Archive 81 is Amazing and they Need to continue it! Edit And yes we are tired of these short ass seasons. We need longer seasons.

The biggest hurdle from a production standpoint is also the fact that network sitcoms often air while still in production and can course correct AS they go. Netflix shows are shot all at once and released all at once instead of weekly so there’s no time to make changes to character or plot lines as they go

To be fair, Alexa and Katie was a pretty good bittersweet sitcoms. And Mr Iglesias is such a hilarious show I mean its unbelievable how many jokes land so hard.

I think the market is evolving. The problem is that netflix has the data on what people like, but ignores it to create only the top few concepts. There are a lot of groups of off center interest that could work. But Netflix seems to be run by traditional media. Maybe the oligarchy needs to change or move out of the way. Creativity would SKYROCKET

Schitt’s Creek was one of most amazing shows which gives same coziness and comedy with pinch of emotion like friends and Office, other than that I don’t think there’s are any other shows that good.

Also I’m VERY glad that Disenchantment is still going strong, that show is so good and I hope that Netflix lets them end that show on their own terms when they want

Thanks for talking about this. You make some excellent points (as someone who just watched The Good Place on Netflix.). I want things to have a chance to find their audience when there has never been more money in media production.

Streaming services' constant cancelling of shows that haven't even been out long enough for most people to hear of them yet is my biggest gripe with tv/streaming for sure. They want every single show to be Stranger Things famous immediately, and if it's not then it's gone before it has a chance to gain an audience organically like all of the best shows of the past. So many shows start off slowly and gain a following over a couple of seasons, but it's becoming rarer and rarer for that chance to be given. When I was younger, I used to want to write for tv, but now even if I could I don't think I would want to just because I would never get to finish telling any story I wanted to tell. I miss the days of watching characters grow over the course of five seasons of twenty episodes each instead of one season of 8 episodes.

Sitcoms having an awful first season is practically a rite of passage

Sitcoms are character driven instead of drama. Modern "creators" make crappy characters. The characters are barely tolerable even in a drama or horror setting. But in writing sitcoms you have to rely upon the quirks of their characters to make people feel like watching.

The best sitcoms require an awkward season 1.

The irony of Netflix having a show about Blockbuster is not lost on me.

I think "How I met your Father" (not Netflix but bare with me) was a really good example of a show that has a decent breathing room first season but it will need more time to really grow into its full potential. I really enjoyed it but there are some growing pains in the first half and I think it should be allowed to do that. We can't just cancel shows cause they aren't immediately iconic or brilliant because almost all our favourite just weren't that upon release. Nostalgia is a powerful tool and we can forget that some shows (like Arrested Developement) weren't super appreciate upon initial release but became great through time and audience appreciation. Idk I just feel like we are so hard on media nowadays that we aren't even offering ourselves the chance to find a new great thing

I don't explore Netflix for something new to watch (they have way too much to rifle through), so I often only come to view things that I've heard about elsewhere. Therefore, I am often not part of the first wave of viewers, coming to things a year or more after they were released. It's just easier to find high quality offerings in other platforms that aren't releasing a million things at one time. I have a few things I go to Netflix for but I'm likely keeping my subscription more out of inertia than actual watch time.

That 90s Show just came out and it's a great example of something that has potential to grow. The legacy characters are always good for a cheap thrill, but we have a dozen new characters that are played by young actors with little experience and it needs time to let both the actors and writers get a feel for these new characters. It's not a perfect first season but it has that potential to improve so long as they give it time.

Lilihamer was my favorite Netflix sitcom from the early days… I wish they still had the old seasons available to watch

When I think of weird Netflix sitcoms, I always think of "Merry Happy Whatever." It's shot like a classic, multicam show that's intended to run forever but it's centered entirely around a girl bringing her boyfriend home for Christmas the first time, which is a premise that's extremely limited in scope and only relevant for a couple months out of the year. It only makes sense in a world where binge watching is a thing.

Hello Captain, my wife and I are busy watching "Mom", and I think you'd find it a fascinating tale of a sitcom reinventing itself. The whole secondary cast changes by the second season, characters are written out, and new ones are written in or given bigger roles. By the time the third season comes around it's almost a completely different show.

This is why new comedies (Abbott Elementary, Ghosts, and possibily now the Night Court revival) strive on network nowadays: they're not limited to short streaming episode orders, they get to be episodic, and they actually /are/ comedies instead of disguised dramas with overlong episodes (looking at Ted Lasso)

They also can't do animation either, it seems. At least, not without scrapping them.

I'll never forgive Netflix for cancelling One Day At A Time

I can't remember whose video it was but I heard this exact argument on a video essay about FRASIER and how it would never have finished with 10/11 seasons today cuz it took them around 4 seasons to get their audience and really dig deep into the characters. They said TV Networks used to invest in shows and just give them a chance to find their voice and audience and that today, the chance is much less freely given.

Melissa Fumero should fire her agent as soon as possible. Just look at her works after Brooklyn 99. - MODOK (canceled after first season) - Blackbuster (canceled after first season) - And now, Velma (renewed for second season but it’s god awful)

This vid couldn’t have come at a better time. I was just looking for videos like this that talk about these kinda stuff about sitcoms.

The only problem with New Girl is getting used to Winston, most newcomers need a few episodes to a season just to get settled in with his quirkness. Well, Jess is quirky, Winston is on a whole other level

I really wanted to like Blockbuster… but… just couldn’t do it.

Hyped for the upload! Hope you had a nice holiday. This is easily becoming my favorite channel.

I actually really liked that 90s show. I hope they don’t cancel it and I hope season 2 has more than 10 episodes

Netflix can't do a lot of things, like faithfully adapting an anime or video game series :D

Great take on this! I agree part of the struggle of modern day sit-coms is getting overlooked by the volume of content out there. In the 90s (one of the best eras in sit-coms in my opinion) everybody was watching certain shows and networks really gave them a chance, and we all grew into them. Now we are too quick to switch to something else.

I don’t know if new slow-burn sitcoms work in the streaming age. Shows like Golden Girls were practically engineered for syndication, and really, Netflix has reinvented that business model. That’s why old sitcoms work but new one s don’t. So long as you know the basic personalities of each character, you can turn on any episode and enjoy a self-contained story. The characters make progress and learn, but on a whole, most things don’t change. If I’m binging a show I’ve never seen, and I know that, by design, things don’t really change too much, why would I immediately want the next episode? Watching shows like Friends and Seinfeld in their day was like checking in with the gang and getting a glimpse in their lives. The plot-driven miniseries works so much better for streaming new shows. You know the plot will evolve in the next episode.

I think one thing that Netflix and other streaming services miss with their sitcoms is that shows like the Office, Parks and Rec, Community, and 30 Rock were bound not only by the form factor but also by content restrictions of public broadcasting. And they used it to their advantage. They pushed against those boundaries and worked within those confines to great success. Adults could watch the shows and pick up on jokes that their kids may miss. Teenagers could watch the shows and feel edgy without getting in trouble with their parents. On streaming services, writers and show runners can create a show where there are no content restrictions or time constraints. They can essentially say and do whatever they want. And then it’s not as interesting without the boundaries. This is why Space Force failed. It was the same creative team behind the Office and even starred Steve Carell. But then people got on to watch it. It was profanity laced unlike the Office which rarely swore and never dropped an F bomb. And without commercial breaks and strict 20 minute runtime, the show wasn’t as tightly edited and snappy.

The biggest Netflix problems for me are, as mentioned, the lacklustre promotion of their own shows (hell, even Glass Onion, their big recent release, was buried away on my Netflix while Knives Out was the big main card when I logged in, bizarrely - this is in the UK, btw), and honestly just the binge format. For some things, releasing an entire season at once is ok (although I'm now moving toward preferring it to be spaced out as the pressure to watch a whole season asap to avoid spoilers is hellish for some shows) but for sitcoms, imo the content is generally too samey and if you sit and binge them, they sort of blend into one homogenous whole that doesn't really stand out. Releasing maybe two per week and spreading it out would give these shows much more chance to breathe and feel fresher for the audience.

Nebula and curiosity stream are not creator owned. Curiosity stream was founded by the guy who invented the discovery channel. It's run by him, his daughter, a lawyer for oil and gas, and a senior advisor for private equity investing in SE Asia. It's basically run by super villains, or the reality equivalent.

Netflix has just gotten worst and worst over the years.

I wonder if Dead to Me counts as a sitcom. When it was nominated for emmys it was considered a comedy series but it's like half comedy half drama but anyway it was great and ended on its own terms (though with Christina Applegate's MS diagnosis the 3rd season was going to be the last regardless, but it was already gonna be the last one)

Even sitcoms that have solid first seasons tend to become more enjoyable as you watch more of them. The problem with a streaming sitcom is that it needs to compete for attention with every show in existence where television sitcoms only had to compete with every other show in their timeslot, so it's harder to get people to stick with something because it'll get better later.

I think the reason for all of that is the format. NBC can only show a single show at a time on cable, so every choice is a commitment. There's an opportunity cost there that Netflix doesn't have to deal with. They would also order 24-episode seasons a lot of the time. That upfront investment goes a long way toward incentivizing giving shows time to breath. HBO Max has somewhat mitigated this issue by continuing to do weekly releases, and actually releasing them at a specific prime time. House of the Dragon is an event on Sunday night. You watch it at the same time as your friends, give or take. Gives you a chance to really go over every episode on Slack or w/e virtual water cooler your company has.

i don't comment much but I just wanted to tell you to keep up what you been doing. I just realized I haven't missed a video of yours in over a year

2:45 Bojack creator Raphael Bob Waksberg said that they planned for a seven seasons run but had to cut one short because Netflix canceled them. They compacted the two storylines of the two season into one longer one (15 episodes in season 6 compared to 12 in every other). He also says that for him the sixth season feels rushed because of that. The original plan was for Bojack’s redemption to last a whole season and his fall another

Thanks for mentioning archive 81, I really liked it, was hoping I would open social media to see it was trending but alas, another sacrifice for the shareholders.

American Vandal and Disjointed were such good shows, I was so sad when they canceled them after two season :(

BOJACK is more of a sadcom than sitcom

Man you really got me with the cold open to Archive 81. Really need a warning next time.

i felt this way about the Joel Mchale show with Joel Mchale, which was just a remake of The Soup, but better cause he had more freedom and more fun, but they cancelled it before it had the chance to take off in popularity, meanwhile other shows that i didn't enjoy went on for multiple seasons

I could only last the first 10 minutes of blockbuster arguably I should've given it more of a shot but it just wasn't working for me

You really nailed what a successfull sitcom is about - the people and relationships. And that it takes time both for a show and the audience to develop it. Blockbuster might have become that given at least one more season to get into a groove, like Parks & Rec, but Netflix only understands instand hits - not the longterm investment sitcoms require. I agree the show was not as funny as it needed to be, and some of the tropes a bit too tropey, but I love Park, Fumero and Smoove and would have beenn loyal for at least another season for that feelgood viewing you mention. I guess I just have to rewatch Brooklyn 99 for the 8th time instead.

I honestly feel like the binge model makes sitcoms incredibly hard to sustain, especially with Netflix insisting on short seasons. Network tv would typically run a season of 20 episodes or so. A lot of the time, they would take a short break off the air for a few weeks in the middle of the season which meant the season was being consumed and gaining steam over half a calendar year. Sitcoms work brilliantly when they balance the use of short digestible storylines that happen entirely within an episode or two AND long developing storylines that happen over the season. Crushing through a 10 episode season of a Netflix sitcom in a weekend pretty much kills the long story because it inevitably feels rushed. The best sitcom characters grow alongside you over time, but it’s difficult to attach to that growth when it happens in such a short time and then you have to wait a year plus before you get another slice of the world. By the time a season was finished airing on network tv, the next season was likely already well into production meaning the wait was never agonizing. Combine this with Netflix being blissfully ignorant to the fact that sitcoms almost always get better as the episode count goes up and they find their footing, and the future of streaming original sitcoms feels pretty bleak.

What is the show at 08:07 with the guy atching Netflix?

I mean if we’re being real, Netflix misses the mark more often than not with original programming. The few successes they have just end up becoming huge. Overall though, not good.

that 90s show is pretty good, i laughed and had a good time with it really hope it gets a season 2

I liked Merry Happy Whatever, and Netflix cancelled that after 1 season. I don't know why they expected a Christmas themed sitcom would be binged all year long. It should have been a recurring holiday sitcom. Something to look forward to every year around the holidays.

If I watched a sitcom on NBC twenty years ago, it was part of a set of programming. I had relatively few alternate options. The episode would marinate for a week, giving me time to forget jokes that fell flat, and if the programming surrounding it was good, it would probably get some warm feelings by association. Today, if I'm streaming the first episode of something and jokes fall flat for seven minutes, I have hundreds of other options on the same service. I don't even have to watch a sitcom- I can switch to a comedy movie, or a stand-up performance, or decide the thing soured me on comedy for the moment and change genres entirely. And frankly, making something that isn't pleasing you stop has its own mean satisfaction.

One day at a time was one of the better Netflix shows, and they’ve not managed to recapture that energy again.

I actually think that the quick cancellations actually makes sense given the way that shows are watched these days. Most people give a new show one or two episodes, maybe not even that much, and if it isn't clicking then they'll move on to something else. There's a lot of options, so there's no reason to watch something that you're not enjoying. Maybe a show would get better in the second season but only the people who really connected with season 1 are going to move on to season 2. Compare that to the era of live TV where you watched what was available. So you might have ended up watching a mediocre sitcom because it was on. And you might watch an episode of season 2 without having seen season 1. Nobody does that anymore.

Netflix and other streaming services struggling to make sitcoms is probably why Abbott Elementary is so popular

The episodic nature of many sitcoms doesn't work with the binge model of viewing. After a few episodes the jokes and scenarios all blur together and become repetitive. Rewatching sitcoms which the viewer already knows the characters and can watch their favorite episodes on demand is why picked up, revived and 'classic' shows do so well on streaming.

I’m surprised you didn’t discussed Kim’s Convenience, one of the few single-cam sitcoms Netflix has made and had any level of success

A show like Friends or Seinfeld would never get made today. They’d replace all the main stars with diversity and equity hires. It’d be a disaster.

Yess I've been thinking about it so much these days, especially with that 90s show coming out and being kinda underwhelming, that 70s show is my favourite sitcom and really a comfort show for me so I was super excited, but the new one doesn't live up to the prequel... but I'm still trying to binge watch it so that it can get renewed, I'm hoping it can improve!

TBH, Spin-offs and extra seasons feel more like marketing choices than someone wanting to write a new show. Netflix needs to step up their 'originals'

Grace and Frankie is absolutely amazing. Hope they actually spin off Brianna

Want,why is Blockbuster not set in the 90s?

Thank You for acknowledging the bloated running times!! It's not even about attention span the 5 extra minutes just feel like padding and is very flimsy

Still pissed off about the Santa Clarita Diet and American Vandal. Season 3 AV idea: They're in college. Kraz is there getting his degree so he can get his teaching license back (while annoying them the entire time.) The crime is somebody smearing some sort of crazy revelation about one of them on something in period blood, so you get a season of period jokes. Add a girl in there for more context about how periods work because the two boys don't get it

I don't watch many shows, but in my experience the first season is always rough, and for obvious reasons. The show team needs a bit of time and practice to figure out what works and what doesn't. I wish Netflix would be willing to green light two seasons at a time rather than one so the showrunners can have some time to course correct and make improvements after the first season.

No dark crystal season 2 ended my interest in Netflix