Netflix subscribers are in hysterics over CEO’s claim that they ‘have never cancelled a successful show’
‘Not Netflix gaslighting the entire world claiming they never cancelled a successful show,’ wrote one person
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Your support makes all the difference.The CEO of Netflix has said that the streaming giant has never “cancelled a successful show” – leaving many subscribers incredulous.
Earlier this week, co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters gave an interview to Bloomberg.
The interviewer asked the duo: “How was the evolution of your business affected your relationship with the creative community?” adding that people online are “constantly” outage about shows being cancelled.
Sarandos answered: “We have never cancelled a successful show. A lot of these shows were well-intended but talk to a very small audience on a very big budget.
“The key to it is you have to be able to talk to a small audience on a small budget and a large audience at a large budget. If you do that well, you can do that forever.”
Sarandos did not make it clear on how Netflix measures the success of a TV show, but his comments have sparked some strongly worded responses online from fans of cancelled Netflix shows.
Among the fan-favourite shows to be cancelled are The Babysitter’s Club, The OA, Glow, I Am Not Okay With This, Atypical, Santa Clarita Diet, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
In November last year, fans were dismayed to hear that the mind-bending mystery series 1899 was cancelled after just one season. The adult animation series Inside Job was axed earlier this month.
“Netflix, you must be joking ‘never cancelled a successful show.’ I don’t know a single person who could say you haven’t cancelled something they really enjoyed!” wrote one person.
One person compared the Rotten Tomatoes ratings of The Recruit and Warrior Nun, of which the latter scored significantly higher and yet was cancelled after two seasons while The Recruit has been renewed.
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A number of people quoted Sarandos in a tweet, adding GIFs and clips from popular TV shows to express their outrage.
One added a clip of Will Byers’ character in Stranger Things where he is possessed by the Mind Flayer and has to be restrained.
Someone else accompanied the quote with a GIF of Will Ferrell in Elf saying: “You sit on a throne of lies.”
“Netflix out there saying they never cancelled a successful show… that’s gaslighting Netflix, that’s gaslighting,” said another.
One fan echoed the same sentiment, writing: “Not Netflix gaslighting the entire world claiming they never cancelled a successful show.”
You can read The Independent’s Jacob Stolworthy on Netflix’s “notoriously bad habit of axing shows too early” here.
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