Channeling old favorites
As it gobbles up talent, Netflix starting to look a lot like regular TV
MGroening’s new animated comedy “Disenchantment” (Friday, Netflix) looks a lot like his legendary series “The Simpsons.”
Set in the medieval kingdom of Dreamland, “Disenchantment” boasts more overbites than an Invisalign convention. Elfo the Elf, one of a trio of leading characters, has the facial features of bartender Moe Szyslak and the paunchy body and short pants of Bart Simpson. When the harddrinking, rebellious Princess Bean belches, her lips even quiver like Barney Gumble’s.
On the surface, that’s not a big deal. Groening’s “Futurama” also freely borrowed from the style of
“The Simpsons,” and it had no trouble carving out its own identity.
But it’s a symptom of a larger problem: Netflix is starting to look an awful lot like regular
TV.
When it launched “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black” in 2013, Netflix solidified its transition from its roots as “that company that sends you DVDS in the mail” into a musthave subscription in many homes. Just five years later,
LAWRENCE
the streaming giant ended HBO’S 17-year reign as the home of the most Emmy nominations, with 112 heading into next month’s ceremonies.
Lately, though, Netflix seems less intent on curating award-winning series — a la HBO or, to a lesser degree, FX — and more concerned with flinging as much content against a wall to see what sticks. By gobbling up talent, Netflix is going from creating TV you couldn’t see anywhere else to producing TV you can see pretty much everywhere else.
A year ago this week, Netflix lured Shonda
Rhimes — ABC’S signature creator/producer who’s behind the likes of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “How to Get Away With Murder,” “Scandal” and “Private Practice” along with newer arrivals “Station 19” and “For the People” — with a nine-figure base salary, plus lavish incentives, over four years. She’s already announced a whopping eight series that are in the works.
In February, the streamer topped that by signing uberproducer Ryan Murphy to an unprecedented deal worth up to $300 million over five years.
Not only has Murphy helped create broadcast series — including “Glee,” “9-1-1” and “Scream Queens” — he’s at least partly responsible for seemingly every other drama on cable’s FX with “American Horror Story,” “American Crime Story,” “Feud” and, most recently, “Pose.”
Kenya Barris (“Blackish,” “Girls Trip”) recently negotiated his release from ABC with a nine-figure contract reportedly waiting for him at Netflix.
Even Chuck Lorre, whose roster of hits at CBS includes “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mom,” “Two and a Half Men” and “Mike & Molly,” is about to launch his second Netflix comedy. On Nov. 16, “The Kominsky Method,” starring Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin, will follow Lorre’s Kathy Bates pot comedy “Disjointed,” which was canceled after one 20-episode season.
Netflix also has coaxed David Letterman out of retirement for a series of interviews under the banner of “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.” In June, the company revived the devilish crime drama “Lucifer” for a fourth season following its cancellation by Fox. (Talks to resuscitate ABC’S “Designated Survivor” look to have failed.) Last week, the streamer released Rev. Run sitcom “All About the Washingtons,” which was developed and rejected by ABC.
It’s enough to make you wonder what traditional television is going to look like, now that Netflix is seemingly determined to corner the market on it.
Heck, on Sept. 21, Netflix will debut “The Good
Cop,” in which Tony Danza portrays — wait for it — a character named Tony.
It’s going to be hard to be more traditional than that.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_ onthecouch on Twitter.