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Beelzebub is extremely grateful to TV’s commissioning editors
Why...
Is streamed TV drama suddenly so boring? I don’t know if you have noticed but after a cracking first few years, Netflix, Prime and Hulu et al are abandoning main stream entertainment for more PC and worthy subjects. “Shame on you,” I hear you all cry. However, this is my blog and you are welcome to challenge me. My theory however, is very simple. Back in the day when Netflix etc. were Davids to the established broadcast Goliaths, the middle aged owners took a keen interest in the commissioning process. Not least because they simply did not have the luxury of appointing high flying commissioning editors. They sought out established producers which gave out massive hits like, Bosch, Money Heist, Sneaky Pete, The Grand Tour, Catastrophe, The Kominsky Method, The Handmaid’s Tale etc., etc. (Before you say Breaking Bad remember that was an AMC show that caught fire on Netflix due to every episode being available in one go).
...and another thing
Now, however, I notice more and more worthy storylines and a move away from broader based entertainment.
“Why?” you ask.
Because many commissioning editors like edge and risk because if something really unusual breaks out they get huge credit for their vision. And they have no real financial downside. Yes, bonus and reputation are born from success but you can get away with commissioning a lot under the shield of ‘responsive creativity’. Sad… but from what has been a golden age of television, is now descending into point scoring on topics that are in many cases minority issues.
...and another thing
It is an axiom that despite more and more drama being created, less and less is appealing to me. Of course this could simply be because I am getting old and grumpy and my generation are the frame around current events rather than the picture itself. That has passed on to a younger set.
Still, when eventually I tumble through the Pearly Gates, I am not sure I will miss TV; though I suspect if you end up in hell you might be forced to watch PC programming for eternity.
Keep well
When you enter the Pearly Gates and ask St Peter ” What’s the television like? ” He will almost certainly reply ” There isn’t much of it now but there’s a lot of videogames in heaven “