the lost art of television since streaming services began

Streaming services are great, they allow for a more accessible and easier way to watch a plethora of shows and movies. But I have some personal beef with streaming services honestly. Ever since streaming services started really taking off and taking over cable and live television, tv has changed and not for the better. We as a society have moved on from weekly dropped episodes and the anticipation that comes with it. We moved on from the idea of seasons that have over 20 episodes, rather than a max of about 12 if you're lucky. We have just accepted that as reality now, we expect less out of television.

from Google, a few popular streaming services

from pinterest

And that's just television, movie theaters are also now heavily impacted by streaming services because of how many original movies through streaming services are created, limiting the amount of blockbuster hits or movies that come out in theaters before being put out on streaming services or to rent. It was a nostalgic memory, watching a movie in theaters and then if you loved it you had to hunt down a dvd of it once it came out, or if you magically stumbled upon it on cable you record it and go back to it as many times as you can. But movies being impacted by streaming services is another topic.

Another topic that is related is streaming service originals. Now I don't have a problem with HBO originals honestly. HBO actually stands for home box office, and have had originals prior to streaming services. They're responsible for hit TV shows like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Girls, Game of Thrones and more recent hits Euphoria, The Last of Us, and Succession. So truthfully HBO as a company adapted to the takeover of streaming services, but they never really let this change much, sure not all of their originals are as good as they used to be and seasons aren't as long either, but for instance with Euphoria, they upheld the anticipation of weekly episodes, allowing for the audience to become more invested with the show and are currently producing season 3, where they plan to uphold the weekly episodes. Rather than just binge watching it all in one day, they really allowed for cliff hangers to still actually be used to this day, making you want to come back for more the next week. So I truly applaud HBO, and honestly it is the streaming service I use the most as I think theres an amazing selection of movies and shows.

Hulu cover for Normal People

Hulu originals are honestly hit or miss, I don't have much to say about them. The main one that comes to mind is The Bear, and as much as it was good at first, I honestly think it fell off a bit. But the other one, Normal People, oh boy does it absolutely gut me, it truly is well done. I don't know if I can fully attribute how good it is to Hulu and their production team considering it is an adaptation of Sally Rooney's book. That being said after hearing about all the Wuthering Heights reviews and how it wasn't accurate for an adaptation I will credit Hulu a bit for the true art that is Normal People. Other than those two I can't really think of any Hulu originals I know about. There is Only Murders in the Building, which is still running and was nominated for an Emmy (or maybe multiple), and The Handmaid's Tale which I've heard really good things about. That being said Hulu I think focuses less on their originals and does have a good variety of shows and movies outside of their own productions. So I don't mind Hulu, I do use it from time to time, definitely not as much as HBO though.

But Netflix, yikes, oh Netflix, they have incredibly rare hits. Netflix lighting has changed cinematography a lot and honestly in the worst way possible and I think everyone could agree with it. Netflix original movies are just not good, and some shows are good, but I swear every time they create a show with so much potential, they just cancel it. I honestly can't think of a single good Netflix Original movie that I've seen. As for shows I will say once in a blue moon they have a good one. One of my favorite shows being Bojack Horseman, but I attribute this show to Raphael Bob-Waksberg and his creativity, and honestly I liked Long Story Short, which released last year. Another great Netflix hit, I will say I believe this was before Netflix lighting really became a big thing, but Orange is the New Black, is great, they had hour long episodes, with a good amount of episodes each season (not over 20 but still good). Theres plenty of other shows people would argue are great by Netflix like Ozarks, Narcos, Stranger Things, and more, but truthfully I haven't seen every Netflix original. And honestly I think Netflix has this consecutive trend where every time they put together a decent show, they have either a terrible last season, or an awful season finale. That is definitely targeted to Stranger Things and Umbrella Academy. I will say another show I like but also didn't have the best final season was Sex Education.

I will say I also hear really good things about Black Mirror, and the concept seems interesting, so I do still have to find the time to watch. They also have good docu-series at times, with the collection "Monsters" which so far has covered the Menendez brothers and Jeffrey Dahmer. I think I just give Netflix a lot more hate then they deserve, they do have a decent selection outside of their originals, and are one of the few streaming services with no ads at no additional cost. That being said I think Netflix lighting has had such a detrimental impact on media it's nearly unforgivable. And there's some shows or movies that I just can't believe they decided to keep running or make sequels of. One of my prime examples of Netflix ruining a show is Arrested Development, this is one of my all time favorite sitcoms, the first 3 seasons were produced by 20th century fox television. But they sold the show to Netflix, and Netflix absolutely ruined it. The fourth and fifth season are genuinely atrocious, they're so bad that whenever I rewatch the show itself I refuse to watch the fourth and fifth season.

But anyways that's a little bit about the streaming service originals and my opinion on each one. So even though some of these streaming services still have an occasionally good show or even movie that's an original, I truly believe it will never compare to pre-streaming services era. I am also a big believer in physical media, so I think the idea of DVDs again is something to bring back, it reminds me of being a little kid. Trying to think and remember if you have it somewhere, and then looking hours for it and either you come to the conclusion you don't actually own it or you can't find it, and then you see it like one week later. Streaming services are amazing they really allow for more accessibility for people and you can watch it from virtually anywhere with it basically being a digital library. But, they're also incredibly limiting, streaming services are expensive, and these services don't have everything there is in existence. Sometimes I wanna watch one of my favorite movies and I look it up and it's not on any streaming service. Not only that, but the digital libraries of streaming services are constantly changing, outside of their respective originals everything is fair game to remove, even if it is well loved and watched. One day I'll see a movie, take a mental note, I go back the next week to watch it, and it's just gone because they took it off. And of course, streaming services operate TV shows in a different way. It's a lost art for seasons to be 20ish episodes long, and it's also unlikely for a season to feature weekly episode drops. Both of which I think are fundamental to create an even better TV show. They both combine and allow their audience to continuously come back wanting more. Even though weekly drops are still seen occasionally for some shows, long seasons are nearly nowhere to be found. I think once both of those come back, even if it's through streaming services, television and it's overall quality will automatically increase. That is of course excluding the daunting thought of Netflix lighting and how that needs to be fixed incredibly soon.

But in the meantime, I'll continue to use HBO max mainly and be nostalgic about television before streaming services existed, but as I still believe and always will, physical media is the future,

-AC