Some shows (esp. heavily serialised ones) work better released all at once, others function better with episodes dolled out in a weekly format. One thing is clear though, you change the way you release a series mid-stream you are going to get grief for it.
The second season of Amazon’s critically acclaimed subversive superhero drama “The Boys,” which has scored stunning numbers from critics, is currently being bombarded by negative online reviews in response to the show’s release schedule.
While the first season was released all at once last year akin to the way many streaming platforms work, the second opted to release only the first three episodes initially with the remaining five spread out weekly more like a TV network.
The problem is that it wasn’t made that clear to fans who tuned into the premiere on Friday only to find more than half the season missing and them having to wait over a month for the rest to air. As a result an organised campaign has begun to review bomb the series with 49% of the reviews for the shows second season giving it one star and said reviews all complaining about the weekly release format.
Comments including: “This is 2020…. we don’t want staggered releases of episodes” and “way to take the best thing about streaming and completely tanking it” are highlighted by the very vocal group. It’s unclear if Amazon will respond to said reviews.
There has been a recent push back against the binge watch model of single season releases all at once as networks and services hope to generate ‘water cooler’ buzz for longer periods. More standalone shows like “The Mandalorian” and “Watchmen” pulled off the classic format quite successfully last year.
The problem is for every streaming series that manages to generate talk this way, others likely don’t make as big an impact as if they had released all at once. The second season of “Doom Patrol” and more recently HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” both had plenty of social media buzz around their premieres but said buzz quietened down in subsequent weeks. Others like the first seasons of “Westworld” and “Star Trek: Picard” were actively hurt by the weekly release model due to the proliferation of spoilers and poor buzz respectively between episodes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also changed things with many offices and social gatherings still nixed, buzz is mostly now centered around social media platforms and with many stuck at home the binge watch model has become a more attractive to consumers again just as the weekly release model is more attractive to the SVOD services themselves in order to keep people subscribed.
Source: ComicBook.com
