Hidden Gems of Netflix's Watch Instantly

qaraq wrote:

Netflix just cut a nine-figure deal with the Roald Dahl estate for the rights to 16 works, so I maybe they needed the Marvel-show money for something else?

Netflix is dropping the Marvel shows because Disney is launching their own rival streaming service. It's one part business and one part spite.

qaraq wrote:

Netflix just cut a nine-figure deal with the Roald Dahl estate for the rights to 16 works, so I maybe they needed the Marvel-show money for something else? But on the other hard, Netflix spends money like they have a secret tunnel into the Federal Reserve basement.

They did buy Millarworld for new comic content, too.

I assumed it was Disney pulling back their properties for their own service coming up. I bet Netflix had a 2 season deal or 2+1 option and Disney did not want to renew at reasonable cost. Just speculation on my part though. Of course with a 2.5 year old in our house and a wife that loves Disney movies, we will be signing up for the Disney service as soon as it launches.

double post

LeapingGnome wrote:

I assumed it was Disney pulling back their properties for their own service coming up. I bet Netflix had a 2 season deal or 2+1 option and Disney did not want to renew at reasonable cost. Just speculation on my part though. Of course with a 2.5 year old in our house and a wife that loves Disney movies, we will be signing up for the Disney service as soon as it launches.

We’re going to have to make the choice - Netflix or Disney.

LeapingGnome wrote:

I assumed it was Disney pulling back their properties for their own service coming up. I bet Netflix had a 2 season deal or 2+1 option and Disney did not want to renew at reasonable cost. Just speculation on my part though. Of course with a 2.5 year old in our house and a wife that loves Disney movies, we will be signing up for the Disney service as soon as it launches.

I mentioned this in the Marvel thread, I think, but the scuttlebutt out of entertainment reporters and the like is that this is basically being driven by Netflix. Disney has been happy to extend these deals, but Netflix feels like Disney is now a rival and doesn't want to spend the money for these shows. The pretext for canceling some of them has been remarkably flimsy (Luke Cage was canceled at the last minute over creative differences with the writers, for example).

This works out well for Netflix, though. They're getting out from under the cost of these productions, they keep the shows on their services, and consumers broadly seem to be blaming Disney for this. There's no downside for Netflix.

Ah I haven't been reading that thread. I would say the downside for Netflix is the continued erosion of shows people actually want to watch. It is getting to be some sparse pickings, doesn't really matter whose fault it is. I have thought about cancelling and what we would be missing out on, which a year ago I would have never imagined. I don't think spending their money to pump out 20 'netflix originals' a month and seeing what sticks is a good strategy for them.

I am also looking forward to the consolidation of streaming services as the current proliferation sucks and I am only going to spend $20-30 a month on them at the most, which gets me maybe 2 services.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

I assumed it was Disney pulling back their properties for their own service coming up. I bet Netflix had a 2 season deal or 2+1 option and Disney did not want to renew at reasonable cost. Just speculation on my part though. Of course with a 2.5 year old in our house and a wife that loves Disney movies, we will be signing up for the Disney service as soon as it launches.

I mentioned this in the Marvel thread, I think, but the scuttlebutt out of entertainment reporters and the like is that this is basically being driven by Netflix. Disney has been happy to extend these deals, but Netflix feels like Disney is now a rival and doesn't want to spend the money for these shows. The pretext for canceling some of them has been remarkably flimsy (Luke Cage was canceled at the last minute over creative differences with the writers, for example).

This works out well for Netflix, though. They're getting out from under the cost of these productions, they keep the shows on their services, and consumers broadly seem to be blaming Disney for this. There's no downside for Netflix.

It's also been reported Netflix was contracted for 13 episode seasons, and wanted to cut some series back to 10. I think a lot of people have complained about the filler in the Netflix shows, so it kind of makes sense. But it opened up discussions about how much licensing would be for shorter seasons, and I don't think they could reach an agreement as to how much Netflix would need to pay for a shorter season.

I think there are a lot of things going on here. I'm sure Disney's probably fine with what happened, and Netflix might no longer need them to sell their service that's exceeded critical mass now.

Hopefully, Disney+ will give us even better Marvel shows. Just afraid they'll go from their current R level style at times to something like Agents of Shield.

I think they've said, or at least it's been speculated that since Disney will also own 60% of Hulu now that more of their R type content would end up there. I'd rather it all be in one place, even though there is already one show over there (Runaways).

RolandofGilead wrote:

I understood everything until 'confused Witcher fans'. Are we implying they thought they were watching a Witcher cartoon?

A small contingent of Witcher fans (the confused ones) were adamant about defending the racial purity of the Witcher series because of the historical whiteitude of Poland. They didn't want things to change because a fantasy has to be historically accurate bla bla bla? Hence the parallel with my fictitious angry internet dude railing against any kind of changes to She-Ra.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion of Hidden Gems of Netflix.

Narcos Mexico was real good. I mean, it sticks close to the formula of the original series, but it sure is a tasty formula. Although it's technically a Narcos spin off, it stands on its own as a quality crime drama. It was a bit violent for my tastes, though.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

I assumed it was Disney pulling back their properties for their own service coming up. I bet Netflix had a 2 season deal or 2+1 option and Disney did not want to renew at reasonable cost. Just speculation on my part though. Of course with a 2.5 year old in our house and a wife that loves Disney movies, we will be signing up for the Disney service as soon as it launches.

I mentioned this in the Marvel thread, I think, but the scuttlebutt out of entertainment reporters and the like is that this is basically being driven by Netflix. Disney has been happy to extend these deals, but Netflix feels like Disney is now a rival and doesn't want to spend the money for these shows. The pretext for canceling some of them has been remarkably flimsy (Luke Cage was canceled at the last minute over creative differences with the writers, for example).

This works out well for Netflix, though. They're getting out from under the cost of these productions, they keep the shows on their services, and consumers broadly seem to be blaming Disney for this. There's no downside for Netflix.

I wonder if the upside to this if Disney chooses to bring those characters into the fold they could use them not just in new shows for Disney+ but also in films.

We talked about it in the Marvel thread, but the Russo's tried to work in the TV characters in Avengers, and couldn't make it work.

I think in a war between Netflix and Disney, I give up Prime.

Prime made sense when I lived in a more remote area. Now, it’s getting harder and harder to see the benefit when ship to store is more viable and the quality of Prime shows is... middling.

Reaper81 wrote:

the quality of Prime shows is... middling.

Whaa?

I respectfully disagree. So do the Golden Globes and the Emmy awards. Maybe you're watching the wrong Prime shows?

I mean, sure, awards are no guarantee of quality, but The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel also had near unanimous critical acclaim. And there are other Prime shows just as good.

I'll confess, though, the recent price increase did have me rethinking my Prime membership.

I just don't consider what I'm paying for Prime to be mainly about the video content. I use so much other stuff in the prime package, I see it being last to go for me. I don't see the delivery function as being anywhere near the same thing as in store pickup for other companies, with the way traffic is these days. Paying for Prime every year probably saves tons of hours in the car for me if I was thinking that way, but obviously people's situations are different.

There are a few prime shows I watch, and a few that my wife watches, but they're kind of the gravy.

Yeah, even though we just finished Hill House on Netflix, before that we’ve been watching a lot more Prime than Netflix. And yeah, Mrs. Maisel is must see TV.

And if you are a cord cutter, Prime also serves up premium content from HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and STARZ. My guess is that things like Disney and CBS All Access will end up on Prime for an extra fee.

Hulu is the odd man out for us.

Yeah Prime video is just a bonus for me. I get so much out of free shipping, a free kindle book every month to checkout, all that Amazon music while I'm at the gym... then oh yeah, Ms Maisel, High Castle, Zelda, etc. Some great prime-only content. Still have Jack Ryan on the list to check out at some point too.

Jayhawker wrote:

Hulu is the odd man out for us.

Same. We took a 3 month break from it and didn't really miss it. It's somewhat easier to watch network TV there, since we're antenna only without a DVR. But Amazon has a new DVR just for that, which looks interesting. But re-subbing to Hulu for 2-3 months a year to watch Runaways and Handmaid's Tale will probably be what we do going forward.

Note: I can't speak for the others, but I received no compensation or other consideration from Amazon for pimping Amazon Prime.

Disclaimer: I was an Amazon employee from 2003-2004.

I just cancelled my Hulu. It's one of those things where I've known for quite a while that the value proposition isn't really there for me, but since every time I remembered I had it was when I discovered that something I wanted to watch was on it, I never bothered to cancel.

Well, the latest thing they had that I wanted to watch was The Good Place, only it turns out they're still doing that asinine thing where the first episodes of the current season start expiring before the season is over.

No, Hulu, actually I don't want to go from the Season 2 finale of this heavily serialized show right into Season 3 Episode 4. That seems like a really bad way to experience television, Hulu, and I'm lost on why you think it's acceptable.

I think NBC is the one who is forcing that (only the last 5 eps are available on Hulu), but agree it is a bad way to watch a show.

I tried to power through season 2 before S3E1 slipped off Hulu but could not make it. So now I need to wait until S3 is up on Netflix sometime next year.

Yep NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox are the ones doing that. It's the same on their web sites where you can watch for free with ads.

Was an article in 2017 where NBC did a study and found that people preferred to stream whole seasons, which duh, but they still haven't changed their practices.

Ack, the site crashed and I lost my place in old posts, so I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet. I spotted a recommendation over on Ars Technica for Hilda a few weeks ago, and finally got around to it. It's an animated series that's cute, interesting, and funny. It goes for absurd humor a lot of the time, and it really works. I think this is one that both parents and kids will enjoy at different levels.

The basic setup is this: Hilda lives in a world where all sorts of weird things really exist, and everyone knows about them. She and her mom live by themselves in the woods, and she's out adventuring all the time. But then they start being threatened by very tiny letters that they have to read with magnifying glasses.....

It's really delightful, and well worth the watch. There are 12 half-hour episodes, so it's not a major time investment.

tboon wrote:

I think NBC is the one who is forcing that (only the last 5 eps are available on Hulu), but agree it is a bad way to watch a show.

I tried to power through season 2 before S3E1 slipped off Hulu but could not make it. So now I need to wait until S3 is up on Netflix sometime next year.

Season 3 is up on Netflix in the UK. It’s just about maintaining its quality curve.

Sorbicol wrote:
tboon wrote:

I think NBC is the one who is forcing that (only the last 5 eps are available on Hulu), but agree it is a bad way to watch a show.

I tried to power through season 2 before S3E1 slipped off Hulu but could not make it. So now I need to wait until S3 is up on Netflix sometime next year.

Season 3 is up on Netflix in the UK. It’s just about maintaining its quality curve.

I wound up ponying up the $20 to buy the season digitally from Amazon. Which comes out to cheaper than 3 months of Hulu, and considering it's been at LEAST three months since the last time I watched anything on Hulu....

We cancelled Amazon Video upon running through all episodes of Bosch. We will re-sub if and when more become available.

Netflix stole a march on Amazon, which we were subbed to for longer, with the Marvel shows, Stranger Things, The Sinner, Making a Murderer, and a few others. Other than Bosch we found little exclusive worth on Amazon. Man in the High Castle was okay, but we never made it to the second season. Red Oaks, similarly.

List wars. Meh...

We just blasted through Hill House and started Sabrina. Also picked Ozark back up this afternoon. Love Netflix.

We just went through a stretch of Goliath, Bosch, The Tick, and Jack Ryan on Amazon. My wife goes to Prime most of the time for her British detective series. Season 2 Mrs. Maisel drops this week, and it might be my favorite show of the last year. Homecoming is going to get watched before the end of the year. We may add HBO and Cinemax via Prime when GoT drops. Love Prime.

We should pause Netflix more often, when we are binging on Prime. But Prime gets us free shipping, and we use it a lot, so pausing would be pointless. But I can't complain about the libraries of either.

Down here in Indonesia things are very different. The largest ISP has it's own netflix like channel so they also block Netflix. Their version is horrible with limited shows, cut sex scenes and even blurring of low cut tops. Thus I still live in the world of torrents. When I was in japan, Hulu made a big splash about coming to Japan and the price was very affordable but they offered limited seasons (target market was not expats wanting to binge their favourite shows but Japanese who want to dip their toe in western TV world) . Limited seasons of things out and finished years ago, I remember they offered seasons 1 to 4 of Buffy.

To be fair, season 5 of Buffy is when Riley became a main character.

#rileysux
#buffydoesntneedaman

BadKen wrote:

To be fair, season 5 of Buffy is when Riley became a main character.

Ughhh. Riley. But without season 5, Brownypoints won't be able to discern if there is some kind of connection between Ben and Glory.

Plus the Body. Whew.