Netflix ditched fast-moving series

Turns out Netflix’s most expensive series wins this year.

Disney won this year’s Emmys with ‘Shogun’ and ‘The Bear‘, capturing media and viewer attention. Previous award winners Max, Apple TV+, and Netflix have had less luck. Still, it won some awards for ‘The Crown‘ and ‘Ripley’ and four main Emmys for ‘My stuffed reindeer’: Best limited series, Best supporting actress (Jessica Gunning), Best actor (Richard Gadd), and Best script.

Why so many reindeer? The series was a Netflix hit this year. It begins like a ‘Misery’-style harassment thriller: a moderately successful comedian helps an unbalanced woman, which leads to her unhealthy obsession that changes their lives. We learn about their painful pasts and how they got here.

Popular on Netflix. The story was so popular on the platform that it had over 2.5 million views in its first week and 13 million in its second, already at number one in the most watched lists. It was in the Netflix Top 10 for eight weeks, longer than usual, with half of them at the top.

Netflix and Emmys. The platform has had a successful awards career with some notable achievements. ‘House of Cards’, one of its most successful shows, was the first streaming-only Emmy nominee in 2013. ‘Orange is the New Black’ was its next big hit, and in 2020, the platform received 160 Emmy nominations, a record for a single platform/channel. Netflix has won 112 of 600 nominations.

Four years of decline. Since then, Netflix has received fewer nominations. This year, it had 45, which is good but far below the record 160. Netflix may have stopped racing to become a prestigious production company with a strange obsession with the Oscars and theatre releases. As one of the biggest audiovisual monsters, it wants to produce more, more efficiently, and more cheaply.

The tide has turned. But streaming has also lost favour with the film industry. The 2019 ‘Roma’ affair and Hollywood’s claimed relief for platforms were a mirage. The last Oscar ceremony was significant: classic Hollywood films like ‘Oppenheimer’ swept the board, Apple TV+’s ‘The Moonstruck Killers’ failed, and Netflix was still staring at things after ‘Maestro‘ and ‘Marilyn’ failed.

A Netflix B-series. Netflix’s ‘My stuffed reindeer’ is the most uncomfortable proposal of this year’s Emmys, while ‘Shogun’, a “classic TV” series with a high budget, great production values, and Disney backing it, wins. After years of love with platforms, the industry seems to be returning to traditionalism, like the Oscars.

Is ‘My stuffed reindeer’ cult? ‘My stuffed reindeer’ is not a Netflix series that has been rescued from the bottom of its catalogue; we’ve already discussed its extraordinary success last spring. However, ‘The Bear’, another winner, is a small series with an artistic element and a lot of industry (great actors, technical quality, advertising machinery), which takes away some of its edge.

‘My stuffed reindeer’ is extravagant and daring (and 100% Netflix in theme and visuals). The real woman in the series changed her name, giving it continuity after its success. Her extravagant behaviour has legitimised the series beyond the big producers’ reach. Netflix is not expected to become the Roger Corman of platforms, but it has been a strong contender at the Emmys this year.

Netflix ditched fast-moving series

Turns out Netflix’s most expensive series wins this year.

By knl9j

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