• rolph 3 days ago |
    i believe that would qualify as "hanging a lantern"

    http://bekindrewrite.com/2011/02/04/what-does-hang-a-lantern...

    when done artfully it works well, rather than insulting intelligences, or seeming intentionally dumbed down.

  • FrankWilhoit 3 days ago |
    Mozart wrote for audiences who were only half paying attention. If that is all he had done -- and it was all that most of his peers did -- he would be forgotten. But at the same time he also wrote for audiences who were paying the closest possible attention. He is remembered for doing both. It is quite a trick, as you will see if you try it. Netflix do not even see the need for it, and therefore, their "works" will be forgotten.
    • paradox460 3 days ago |
      It already is. Every time they drop a new show, it's a hot topic for a week, maybe two, then it immediately falls out of the gestalt. No one brings up anything they've done in the future ever again. You barely ever hear anyone mention things like bird box.
    • m463 2 days ago |
      oh I love the old shows that were written with two-level humor.

      think foghorn leghorn with funny physical humor for the kids and subversive humor for the parents.

      Sort of related -- I have friends who are immigrants to the US. They have a hard time with subtle types of humor, but some extra physical humor can sometimes let them have a good time anyway.

    • lostlogin 2 days ago |
      Not quite as highbrow, but Pixar stuff, particularly the earlier movies, manage to have jokes that work for kids and their parents. It was much appreciated.
      • SOLAR_FIELDS 2 days ago |
        The first few seasons of SpongeBob SquarePants are also masterfully crafted in this way
        • Karsteski 2 days ago |
          Yes! I can still go back and re-watch SpongeBob episodes despite the being 30, and I still laugh. Just at different things now :')
        • benttoothpaste 16 hours ago |
          Bluey is pretty good in in that aspect too.
      • timoth3y 14 hours ago |
        Many of the original Loony Toons and Warner Brothers cartoons fall into this category.

        The reason they were produced from the 1930s to 50s was to be run in movie theaters before the main picture. Since they would run before different kinds of movies they had to entertain both kids and adults. Some of the humor in those cartoons clearly went way over the kinds heads.

        It was only later that they were bundled as TV shows for children.

    • treetalker 14 hours ago |
      This is a great point that's applicable to legal writing. Thank you for sharing it!

      Any chance you have a source where I could learn more about this aspect of Mozart's work?

  • kjellsbells 3 days ago |
    Some TV is already like this. I recall critics of Teletubbies complaining about the repeated statements and actions (Tinky-Winky says "Again! Again!"). Then I spent time in Asia and all their popular entertainment (eg Running Man) continually repeats the last 10 seconds of each action. It's crazy making to me, but it evidently is what the viewers like.
    • danpalmer 2 days ago |
      The teletubbies is a bad example here, it's designed for babies where repetition is good for learning and development.

      Some Asian content can be like this, sure, but I suspect that's stylistic rather than for the reasons Netflix are doing it.

      • add-sub-mul-div 2 days ago |
        Interesting, so Netflix is literally and not figuratively infantilizing its users.
        • ndarray 2 days ago |
          The "user" is only half of a human anyway, 50% is the max consciousness people spend on whatever Netflix they have running as background noise. That's the target audience Netflix is optimizing for: half-humans. Saves them lots of bandwidth, expenses for quality, and yes, it needs a solid amount of exposition[0] to work.

          [0] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Exposition

    • kybernetikos 15 hours ago |
      > Then I spent time in Asia

      The worst show I've seen for this was american - mythbusters.

  • ChrisArchitect 2 days ago |
    Some related discussions:

    Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42529756

    The new literalism plaguing today’s movies

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44567683

    Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46062198

    • wolvoleo 2 days ago |
      Yeah I'm really watching less and less. I already closed all my streaming accounts after the fragmentation but a friend gave me access to his massive Plex library with all the latest stuff.

      However I find I just don't care anymore. It's such terrible crap. And all the same tired old tropes. The snarky detective breaking all the rules. The muscly ex-soldier that bashes heads in. The superspies with offices that look like nightclubs. And spinoff after spinoff which are even more dumb and one-dimensional than the original.

      Once in a while there's a pearl but they're few and far between. Most of it is fast food entertainment and utterly hollow.

  • chistev 2 days ago |
    There will never be another The Wire.
    • burnt-resistor 12 hours ago |
      When HBO took chances, was cool, and my grandparents stole it via the terrestrial distribution signal.

      Netflix will probably absorb them and make them even worse than they are now.

  • rurban 2 days ago |
    "Can we get a big one in the first five minutes?"

    That's in screenwriter circles called the hook, not the plot. You don't reiterate the whole plot for the innate viewers, you just deepen the hook, usually by giving wrong hooks, which are then replaced by better hooks.

    It's not that Netflix invented TV scripting. Even with festival movies you turn it off within the first 5 minutes if you have to judge 200 to 2000 admissions in a month. Same with distributors. They certainly don't watch the whole movie if it starts bad. It usually doesn't get better in the third act.

  • nicbou 2 days ago |
    ”He is buying a gift for his aunt”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2gB03p44_4

    • throwaway81523 2 days ago |
      They're taking the hobbits to Isengard.
  • helsinkiandrew 2 days ago |
    The HN headline misses the point that Netflix told Matt Damon this.

    I'd guess more people will watch Matt Damon's new movie on Netflix than watched Adolescence before it won the awards

    People want to see (are more likely to watch) super and action hero movies with big stars in - but there's been so many of these with fairly similar plotlines that outside the attention grabbing action and fight scenes the quiet/story development scenes become like ad breaks and people start looking at their phones.

    If Matt Damon made different movies for Netflix (like adolescence!), he'd get less views but be given more freedom.

    > shows like “Adolescence” are “the exception,” Affleck said he felt the show “demonstrates you don’t have to do” the Netflix tricks to please audiences.

  • cateye 16 hours ago |
    Turkish TV series have been operating on this exact "second screen" logic for decades. They are massive global exports specifically because their 140-minute episodes rely heavily on meaningful stares, flashbacks, and circular dialogue.

    They are designed for people ironing or cooking; you can leave the room for twenty minutes and miss absolutely nothing.

    Personally, I can't bear them, the constant spoon-feeding is torture if you are actually paying attention, but Netflix is effectively just adopting this proven, low-attention retention strategy.

    • malshe 14 hours ago |
      > They are designed for people ironing or cooking; you can leave the room for twenty minutes and miss absolutely nothing.

      Damn, this explains Brazilian and Indian soap operas so well too!

      • hulitu 3 hours ago |
        And also American (USA). Remenber Dallas ? Dinasty ? Andor ?
  • takinola 15 hours ago |
    I am of two minds here. I can understand how the filmmakers can feel insulted by this demand but I am also one of those viewers that watches movies with one eye on my phone so spoon feeding the audience benefits people like me. I only pay full attention to one or two shows (usually those that I watch with my spouse) and every other show can only get my divided attention. My product manager sense says that you should give people what they want even if my artistic sense is indignant.
  • stuaxo 15 hours ago |
    This will kill Netflix in the end.
  • burnt-resistor 12 hours ago |
    I hate this lazy, boring form of non-art.

    If people can't pay attention, fuck them.

  • bigmeme 10 hours ago |
    I am daft: why do people past a certain age continue to watch movies and tv shows so religiously. What’s the never ending allure? It’s very formulaic as per the articles. Once in awhile I can sort of understand but beyond that, is it escapism? Addiction?
  • jamesfinlayson 9 hours ago |
    I recently heard some workmates discussing some new TV show - one told the other that they definitely can't double-screen for this show - it needs full attention.