Obviously Netflix and Taylor Swift are wrong and I'm right
In which I discuss several current TV shows and Taylor's new album. No spoilers.
Netflix is worth $237,300,000,000 which is why they need me to tell them what they are doing wrong.
The Binge Model stinks. I mean, sure, you can build a two hundred thirty seven billion dollar company off it, but it has robbed us of the water cooler.
There has been some pretty good TV lately, and I have been enjoying a few shows.
Have you watched Three Body Problem? (Netflix). I loved it. Each episode would make me go WHATTTTT???? in a way that I really haven’t felt since Lost.
The magic of Lost was that we’d all stand around Connie desk (you’re wondering who Connie is - Connie is cool. OK fine, imagine we’re all standing around Pam’s desk at Dunder Mifflin, except she’s Connie) and we’d talk about the episodes. What’s in the hatch? What do the numbers mean? Did you see the soccer jerseys in the airport?
Three Body Problem could have been LOST.
It’s not LOST because none of us watched it at the same time.
You likely haven’t started it. I have finished it, but if I say anything I ruin it. If you’re in the middle you have no idea what’s coming. We can’t talk about it, and that’s no fun.
Another show that got lost in the binge is The Gentlemen. (Netflix) Rich pseudo-royal inherits a property and then capers ensue. I just undersold it. That’s the issue - same as above. I have finished it, you haven’t started it, so we can’t talk about it. If I tell you more about the set-up, I ruin it.
Look carefully and you will see that the great Giancarlo Esposito is in it.
Wait, there’s a good entertaining show with Giancarlo Esposito in it (for much more than a cameo) and we aren’t talking about it?
Yep. Thanks Netflix.
If they had rolled the two shows above out weekly, we could have talked about them. Maybe two weeks in and I say to you “Are you watching The Gentlemen? You say no but you catch up, and then we could have all talked about epsidoes 3-8 together while killing off the workday near Connie’s desk. Community. Water Cooler.
This week I am into Fallout (Amazon, sorry Mr. Bezos nobody calls this thing Prime Video). I have one to go. Another fun series where every episode is different, but Amazon dumped all of them at once, so nobody is talking about it and you can’t go on the internet or you get spoiled.
FWIW, Episode 1 is too long and I almost bailed on the series during the middle third of S1E1, but stick with it. Also, Walton Goggins cleans up nice as a handsome 1950’s cowboy.
OMG Have you seen Star Wars 2 yet???? Here in the 1980 schoolyard we can’t stop buzzing about it! Do you think Vader really is Luke’s father, or is he just messing with him?????!!!!??!!!?!?!?! Our imaginations are going to run wild for these next few years!!! I’m planning on devouring every comic book, and buying every action figure, and reading the novelization because I can’t wait for more Star Wars!!!!
Or - you can dump 9 Star Wars Movies onto streaming all at once, the Vader mystery gets immediately revealed and you get spoiled on the internet by some headline like “What Vader’s Big Reveal Means For Luke Skywalker.” You also can’t talk to your friends in the schoolyard about it because one kid has finished all 9, and Connie is only on A New Hope.
I lied in my sub-heading, I just kind of spoiled Return of the Jedi for you, but you had 40 years. That’s on you.
At least Disney+ stopped with the 3am madness. Remember when that service first came out and they would drop shows at 3am Eastern? Things were spoiled by west coast bloggers as east-coasters woke up and did morning internet checks. Disney finally realized it’s hard to stay off the internet until after-work, especially if you use the internet FOR work.
How about Shogun? (Hulu) You might be thinking - wasn’t that a thing in the 1980s that I don’t care about. Yes and no. I was going to blow this off too, but I heard a few podcasters talking about it, so I sampled it and it’s great. This one I think came out weekly so I can’t pile on Hulu about it. The season is over, you can binge it now.
Also check out Baby Reindeer (Netflix). Fun quirky show that’s basically a two person stage play. I can’t really tell you about it without ruining it, but you’ll get it and get into it within the first two minutes. Hugh recommend. Too bad Netflix just threw it all up there so nobody’s talking about it.
Someone else who needs my advice is Taylor Swift.
She’s worth $1.1 billion, but Taylor I have advice for you from my couch and my Substack with 30 followers.
31 songs was too much.
I love the album. Listened to it twice this weekend. I listened to it twice because we had a soccer tournament in South Jersey, and the new album was as long as the drive (on Saturday, 40 seconds longer than the drive…on Sunday, about a minute shorter, but I did stop for gas.)
Imagine how successful Taylor Swift could be if she had ME as an advisor! She could have released 16 songs and we would have all said how great the album was. Six months later she could have released 15 more and we would have said how great the album is, and how amazingly prolific she is.
31 songs is…well, kinda like Netflix dropping 8 episodes all at once when I have other things to do.
I also had fun analyzing the album with my daughter who is actually in the demo, and suggested she nitpick Bruce Springsteen’s next record.
I compared Taylor’s 31 song dump to a Beatles What If?
Rubber Soul came out December 5, 1965. Revolver came out in August 1966. Now let’s imagine an album called Revolver Soul (or as the AI spells it, Revover Sowl, lets go with that, people will just attribute it to John Lennon being a genius and look for meaning in it.)
On Revover Sowl, Taxman moves from being an interesting leadoff song on Revolver, to being Track 16. As Track 16, Taxman feels like filler.
Hopefully Taylor will take my advice to heart so she can continue to be successful. If she needs me, I will be in the basement hosting my podcast.
If you’re on the substack app. Do me a favor and restack this post. It helps the algorithm and stuff.
Those are my feelings exactly about the Taylor Swift album. Saves me from writing about it myself.