Crazy not crazy. Most adults I know watch nothing but streaming whereas a lot of the kids are on Tic Tok or YouTube. The Boys built its audience with word of mouth so it kind of makes sense. This is why the Netflix model just doesn’t work, they don’t give their shows a chance to build word of mouth.
There is just way way way more original content out there now compared to when Netflix rolled out House Of Cards / Orange Is The New Black.
Netflix has the advantage of getting real time advanced metrics on their shows, which will show how quickly a specific title can and does engage the audience. I like 1899, and it got cancelled quickly, but I understand why it was cancelled. Netflix is taking a macro view and looking at the practical ratios. If one show breaks out after struggling too much to start, then will that benefit outweigh the 10 other shows that struggled and simply stayed struggling.
Modern showrunners have to adapt to the current environment. Sometimes you need to be a little lucky. The Wire would have been cancelled on any other network besides HBO after it's 2nd season. If HBO didn't have a powerful lineup ( Sopranos, Sex And The City, etc) as headliners, it would never have been able to carry the weight of Wire being an anchor. NBC in early 90s had massive success. That allowed them to carry Homicide Life On The Streets for 7 seasons when it's ratings were abysmal though being a critical darling. Again, right place, right time. Without HLOTS, we would have never gotten Andre Braughner and all his other/later career work.
The only thing I can say for certain with The Boys is that the showrunner and writers hate Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Despise her. The Neuman character is a pretty obvious dig at her. Jeff Bezos has long been at war with AOC, and this show isn't trying to conceal his disdain for her. I've never seen as much open dog whistling as I have in the last five years of modern original content for television. Sister Sage is a soft mockup of Oprah and Shonda Rhimes, so at least the personal shots are spread out. I like the new dynamic with Sage and Homelander. The stuff with Frenchie doesn't bother me.
Netflix knows it's going to lose some potentially good shows but the numbers don't lie. Odds on, better to let go of a show a year too soon than a year too late.
