Must miss TV
From Litchfield Penitentiary to the Upside Down, from Dev Shah’s Manhattan to Frank Underwood’s D.C., Netflix has taken us places and introduced us to characters that we hold near and dear to our hearts.
But while the streaming service has managed to upend the traditional TV model with its own slate of Netflix Originals — including awesome shows such as Orange Is the New Black, Stranger Things, Master of None and House of Cards — not all Netflix shows are created equal.
There are a staggering number of Netflix-exclusive series, ringing wildly in watchability. What’s kind of surprising, though, is the number of Netflix shows that sounded great on paper, but fumbled and stumbled on their way to the small screen. Here’s a look at some duds that aren’t worth your data cap gigabytes.
THE RANCH
Take two award-winning actors (Sam Elliott and Debra Winger) and two funny guys from That ’70s Show (Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson) and put them in a homespun sitcom where they’re allowed to swear and stuff, and you ought to have comedy gold. But this series about a washed-up football player (Kutcher) who returns to help out on the family ranch misfires more than a mud-filled Remington. And come on, we watch Netflix to ESCAPE horrible braying laugh tracks, not to be tormented by them.
HEMLOCK GROVE
Earning the distinction of being just one of five Netflix shows to be cancelled outright, Hemlock Grove had a massive amount of hype and promotion behind it, but its attempt to blend the surreality of Twin Peaks with supernatural monster elements just didn’t click, and the show only got sillier over time.
FLAKED
Will Arnett is the titular voice behind the funny yet poignant BoJack Horseman, easily one of Netflix’s best shows. But even the genius of Arnett and Arrested Development executive producer Mitch Hurwitz couldn’t make this sorta-comedy about a recovering alcoholic turned self-proclaimed guru work. From BoJack to Gob to Lego Batman, Arnett’s carved a successful career out of playing insecure narcissists, but Flaked’s Chip is a man-child without any of his predecessors’ charms.
MARCO POLO
This yawnworthy, pseudo-historical series is Netflix’s — or maybe television’s — most expensive failure, rumoured to have cost a whopping $200 million. Sure, Marco Polo has its fans (or rather had its fans — it was turfed after two seasons), but critical and audience reaction was lukewarm at best.
SANTA CLARITA DIET
Another Netflix show that was heavily hyped leading up to its release, this dark comedy stars the impossibly charming duo of Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore, the kind of couple you’d love to have over for dinner. But neither charm nor a clever premise (suburban mom turns into a zombie — but, you know, a nice zombie), are enough to make this wonderfully gory but ultimately boring series watchable.
FULLER HOUSE
Look, I know we all went a little nostalgia-crazy over the announcement that Full House was getting a sequel series. But here are a couple truth bombs for you: Full House wasn’t actually a good show, and Fuller House is simply all kinds of stupid. I like ’90s worshipping cheese as much as the next person, but that doesn’t mean I want 40 litres of molten cheddar force-fed down my gullet.