(05-16-2022 10:38 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(05-16-2022 10:31 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  ...there's no formula as to why something becomes a hit show. For all of the billions of dollars that Netflix has spent on content, its biggest hit ever was Squid Game - an inexpensive Korean-produced show with subtitles/dubbing and incredibly graphic violence. Squid Game had a per episode cost of about 25% of the average episode of Stranger Things and The Crown and 10% of the per episode costs of the big Marvel shows like WandaVision. Granted, one show like Squid Game game can power profits for an entire company - entertainment companies besides Disney (which has so many brands to mine) are all effectively on a boom/bust model.

This is one reason I can be sure that civilization as we know it is coming to an end. No sense worrying about what will happen 10 years from now at the rate things are going.

Let me be clear: that wasn't a critique of Netflix. Squid Game is a *great* show. If anything, it restored my faith in audiences since it showed that a brand new unique story with excellent writing and compelling characters could still draw a huge number of viewers without being a CGI-fest (and I say that as someone that watches every Star Wars and Marvel movie and TV show as soon as it's released). We need more Squid Game-type shows that don't require a budget in the $100 million-plus per season range to get viewers and/or rely upon pre-existing intellectual property.