Now what do I watch?
Posted on 02/05/2013 5:16:20 PM PST by RummyChick
The thing about making television programs is, the folks who don’t do it always think it’s easy. After all, Seinfeld was nothing more than an NYC apartment set, some writers, and a few unknown actors. Of course, given the number of failed sitcoms, we know its a bit harder than that.
Which is why Netflixs’ decision to get into original production is brave, risky, and had a very strong likelihood of a disastrous end. After all, HBO has had its share of hits and misses, and it’s been at original series production for a very long time.
Then Netflix looks down the road, and sees a potential risk ahead as content owners increase the fees to Netflix, or worse yet, decide to withdraw their content from the Netflix platform. So Netflix CEO Reed Hastings makes the smart decision, and decides to begin to invest in their own original programming. And invest he did. He agreed to fund 26 episodes (two full seasons) of House of Cards for a reported price tag for a staggering $100 million dollars.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
The opening scene.
Guess Republican or Democrat.
Netflix did an original series Lilyhammer with Steven Van Zandt. I enjoyed that one, too.
Shockingly, it’s about democrats. I watched several of the episodes and they are full of the kind of shenanigans one would expect in D.C. The British series of the same name (also on Netflix) was done years ago and it was quite good. I would call this one okay, but better than network tv.
I figured it would be about Republicans and had to go look it up to find out after I saw the opening scene.
Watched the first episode today. Excellent show! Kevin Spacey is at the top of his game. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
I liked it. I watched all 13 episodes and can’t wait for the next 13.
That was a great series.
Watch the British series. You might like it better. It may just be that so much of the story is the same and I watch the BBC series first, but I liked it better.
As far as producing their own content, I’ve subscribed to Netflix since day one. It may be challenged by the Intel TV concept of gettingd ONLY the cable channels one wants, without having to support the likes of the ABCNNBCBS boot-licking cesspool.
If Netflix offers a real upscale, R-rated lineup, they will kill the networks again.
The networks can only go so far. Netflix only needs to go a bit further.
Remember, some of the earliest artwork found on the cave walls of remotest pre-history were... Naked women.
I think they’re currently filming the second season of Lilyhammer.
I watched the entire first season. It is a winner.
Good series.
It is a fictionalized version of what goes on behind-the-scenes of Washington.
Having watched about half of the 13-episodes, I see why everything Washington is so screwed up.
The only annoying thing about the British version is the PM wasn’t offed. He was just so evil.
If Netflix decides to appeal to the 50% of Americans networks hate - they’ll make money hand over fist. It’ll be 500 liberal channels for the Americans who are liberal - and ONE channel for the other 50% of Americans. That’s money in the bank.
1st episode
When he is talking about location and being close to power - who will they see years from and he waves to the camera:
Thought of Sheila Jackson Lee and the way she always hogs the camera as POTUS is walking in for The State of the Union.
I’ve set the personal bar pretty high: Over the past two years, I watched two seasons of Downton Abbey, four seasons of The Tudors, two seasons of Rome, and two seasons of Boardwalk Empire. Incredibly good stories and production quality.
Now what do I watch?
Give this show a try. Even if it is to watch with your mouth agape as George Stephanapolous hammers a Democratic Nominee for Secretary of State...something he would never do in real life.
There is a shot of all the trash left in DC after the inaugural. I had to stop and look to see if David Fincher was a Republican.
Nope, he donated to Obama.
Tech challenged lady here.
How does one get these Netflix produced movies?
I have regular mail-in Netflix but that’s it.
.
you can stream them online. Don’t know if available via mail.
HBO has hit several home runs that are both daring and have developed huge fan bases.
Carnivale was by all accounts brilliant but was far too expensive to continue. Its fans were devastated. 8.6 IMDb rating.
Six Feet Under had a five year run and has 8.9 rating.
Game of Thrones is the most Machiavellian thriller ever made, and made a dwarf one of the top leading men in Hollywood. 9.4 rating.
The Sopranos. 9.2
The Wire. 9.4
Deadwood. 8.9
OZ. 9.0
Entourage. 8.6
The Newsroom. 8.7
True Blood. 8.0
In Treatment. 8.0
Band of Brothers. 9.6
Generation Kill. 8.7
Thanks !
Now what do I watch?
"You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment."
Ian Richardson's performance is on my alltime top ten list.
I’m just about to watch the last episode.
I fast-forwarded through a lot, so I can get to the final of the political plot in it. But watching it is 75% just killing time, 25% enjoyment.
I wouldn’t recommend it, too ‘soap opery’ after the early episodes, but it’s probably above average for TV. So I guess it’ll work out for them.
You've got that right! It's incredible investors haven't picked up on that yet. The other 50% of Americans will NOT spend money knowingly involving liberals/socialists in films, media or elsewhere. There's a definite market waiting for such investor(s) and conservative viewers are ready to invest their time and money to watch, listen and buy moral, family and content that is free of liberal ideals and agendas. It's overdue!
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ve seen The Sopranos (got bored with it — never seemed to evolve and was pretty flat), Deadwood (GREAT!) and BoB (OUTSTANDING — watched it twice). I’ll check out the others.
I was prepared to comment on the “binge viewing” thing being the (possibly) fatal flaw in the business model — but, the article said what I wanted to say, and more, very well.
I got Netflix (online version) for one month (total cost = $8.00) and binge-viewed my eyes out. Then I cancelled my account, with the intention of renewing several months later, when new material is up. By comparison releasing an episode a week keeps you hooked on (say) HBO. You have to subscribe to HBO for at least three months, to catch a season of a show. Meanwhile, you get hooked on another program, that doesn’t end for a few more weeks. Then another ... etc. I only get HBO for “Game of Thrones” — and that requires a three-month subscription, at over twice the price of NetFlix. IOW, at least 6 times the revenue that Netflix will get from me, if I subscribe for a month to watch “House of Cards” (and whatever else looks good).
Oh, there are so many more things on Netflix. I am currently working through a Scandinavian crime series. Also working through the xfiles and columbo. And for the HBO series, I wait for them to hit amazon video, about 1/3 the cost of hbo sub.
There’s nothing sacrosanct about watching one episode per week of a show. It evolved that way because early TV shows aired live — it took a week to write, rehearse, and perform an episode. If they COULD have done more, they would have.
Binge viewing is how lots of people (including me) enjoy TV now. You can hang onto to smaller plot threads. Plus, I don’t have time during the week. I wanna hunker down on Saturday night and watch a half or whole season of “Mad Men.” And yeah, last weekend I powered through the first fives episodes of “House of Cards.” Loved it.
Waiting for weekly episodes is nonsensical and outmoded. There’s no technical reason for it any longer.
Finished 13th episode last night. Worth watching. Not family friendly though (disclaimer)
Lilyhammer has to be one of the funniest series I have ever seen. The episode when Steve Van Zandt is in the touchy-feely Swedish prison is hilarious.
I liked Lilyhammer too — it’s quirky (even the spelling of the name is quirky), and Steve Van Zandt is a great character actor.
You probably have more things on your Netflix, than I do on the Canadian Netflix. There are still things I want to see; and I will resubscribe eventually. The point I was trying to make is that Netflix has foregone the possibility of “hooking” me for 4 months to watch “House of Cards”, (or Lilyhammer) by providing me the opportunity for binge viewing. Perhaps this will work out for them, but it does seem that Netflix might be leaving a lot of money on the table.
“Binge viewing is how lots of people (including me) enjoy TV now.”
Same here. Do you know of a good 12-step program? Of course, I’d have to be able to power through all 12 steps in a single sitting. I did my first binge view with 24 on DVD. At the time, I called it the crack cocaine of TV. (I can only assume that Jack Bower went to the bathroom, when I paused the action to go. Otherwise, that remains a mystery.)
I only “binge view” (good) serialized TV shows. To me, it’s like reading a real page-turner of a novel. I don’t keep a couple of dozen books on the side table; so that I can read one for 44 minutes, close it, and open the next one, etc. If the book is a page-turner, I’ll binge-read it. Same for serialized TV — much less likely for episodic TV.
Still, my original point remains: is this a good business model for Netflix? If people subscribe for a month, binge view everything they want, then unsubscribe for several months; will Netflix generate enough revenue? I can see it working, if they get to the point where they have too much material to get through in a one-month binge. For me, they’re not there yet; because they don’t have a large enough selection of titles I want to see. (I only get the Canadian Netflix, which probably has fewer titles than the U.S. version — due to licensing and regulatory issues, I’m given to understand.)
Wallander? If that's not it you should check it out. Kenneth Branagh puts in a very good performance of a pretty dysfunctional Swedish detective.
So many on this thread liked ‘lilyhammer’ that I stuck through the first episodes and now I’m hooked.
Funny show. Van Zandt is good.
Thanks all. (watching it on a free “link site”.)
Annika Bengtzon: Crime Reporter. Think I started an episode of Wallander, but haven’t finished. Will have to get back to it.
I’ll have to check that one out.
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