We’re sorry to interrupt your nineteenth rewatch of The Workplace to share a serious fear from The 40-12 months-Outdated Virgin and Knocked Up director Judd Apatow. He is involved that folks might develop into too snug testing outdated shows–like Fits on Netflix–causing streaming firms to only spend their cash on licensing stuff as an alternative of investing in new sequence.
This hypothetical was the idea of a joke Apatow made whereas internet hosting the Administrators Guild of America Awards final month, in keeping with Vulture. When requested about outdated exhibits turning into tremendous widespread on streaming companies like Netflix, Apatow shared his actual issues.
“I am of two minds. There’s part of me that is an viewers member: I am going to return and rewatch Deadwood or NYPD Blue or any of the David Milch exhibits. I perceive why individuals just like the consolation meals of tv,” mentioned Apatow, who’s beforehand labored on exhibits like Freaks and Geeks, The Ben Stiller Present, and HBO’s Women.
“But it surely’s a scary factor as a creator of tv, due to all of the streamers going, ‘Wait a second. We needn’t spend $200 million on a brand new present. We are able to simply convey again Barnaby Jones.’ They will do it, you then’ll get fewer new exhibits.”
Apatow believes there could possibly be a future the place Netflix and HBO, as an example, simply promote their outdated exhibits forwards and backwards to one another as an alternative of investing in new tales for TV. Final yr, WB Discovery began bringing HBO exhibits to Netflix, although some large franchises like Recreation of Thrones and The Final of Us aren’t included. In the meantime, Netflix hasn’t licensed out any of its in-house productions to different streaming firms right now.
That mentioned, Netflix has paid jaw-dropping sums for iconic outdated exhibits like Seinfeld up to now. In 2019, the streaming firm shelled out $500 million for rights to the comedy sequence. This got here after NBC grabbed streaming rights to The Workplace for Peacock, which was one of many most-streamed exhibits on Netflix beforehand.