Movies and TV shows bring people together across cultures and continents, playing a big role in many people’s lives. Things like FanExpo, Comic-Con and Star Wars Celebration exist because of the communities that form around these shows and movies. I know one of the first things I ask someone when I’m getting to know them is “what’s your favorite movie?” The entertainment industry plays such a big role in culture and social spaces, but recently there’s been a pretty palpable shift within the industry.Â
The industry is booming, yet I believe it’s becoming oversaturated and facing a detrimental shift in priority away from quality and originality to quantity and instant monetization. Whether this shift is conscious or not is up for debate. The nature of the industry being geared towards binging and prioritizing instant monetization is creating a “fast fashion”esque trend in the consumption of movies and shows. Fast fashion is the concept of quickly designing, producing and selling products without regard for their longevity or quality. I believe the film and TV industry is beginning to adopt that model. It’s easiest, in my opinion, to see the shifts in industry priority by looking at franchises like Star Wars, Marvel and streaming service exclusive shows as a whole.
Beginning with the TV industry, looking back on the last few years of content, I think the shift began with the release of Stranger Things in 2016. When season 1 initially released, it gained over 14 million views within its first month and has only grown exponentially since. Season 4 in 2022 was received with 286.79 million hours viewed in the first weekend. The show’s success is undeniable. Its rewatchability has kept it in the most streamed shows of all time to this day. However, especially with the streaming industry as large as it is right now, it seems the bar for new shows has been set by the success of Stranger Things, and that bar is largely unattainable for most.Â
In the last few years, Netflix in particular has had a trend of canceling shows before their stories are given a chance to conclude, citing lack of viewership as the source of cancellation. Between 2022 and 2023, Netflix canceled 34 shows. The company has said that things like viewership, particularly completion of a show in its entirety within the first month, play the biggest role in determining whether a show is renewed or not. And I believe that is where we see the biggest setup for failure. This model makes it so that bingability makes or breaks the future of a show, leading to the death of most creative projects.Â
Now, I myself am guilty of loving a good TV binge session, but not all shows are going to be bingeable nor is it possible for all shows to attract an audience dedicated enough to binge without giving them the time to grow. A show like Shadow and Bone was canceled after only two seasons in 2023, despite the fact that it had a built-in fanbase through the fans of the books, and its statistics should have been enough to get it renewed. Lockwood and Co was canceled after one season, despite being a kids’ show, meaning that it would naturally be harder for it to meet the parameters for renewal. Other streaming services are also following the trend of canceling shows with Amazon Prime’s My Lady Jane and The Acolyte on Disney+.Â
The lengths of shows and individual episodes even within large franchises like Marvel and Star Wars are now averaging six to eight episodes, with each episode between 30-40 minutes at the maximum, and usually only one to two seasons, if that. This puts emphasis on making shows easy to get through, makes them more bingeable even with a week-to-week release schedule and compromises the quality of what’s being put out. Shows like Secret Invasion or Obi Wan Kenobi which consisted of six episodes each should have had more allotted time to tell their stories. The Percy Jackson series on Disney+ should have more than eight 30 minute episodes to tell the full story of the book, in the depth it deserves. That’s not to say these shows have been bad, but they have not been living up to the potential they could have, and the stories and creativity of those working on these projects are being heavily restricted due to the odd shift away from longer seasons and longer episodes. While it may cost more money to create shows that have more length to them such as the Daredevil show, Gilmore Girls, Clone Wars and others, the 20 episode, multi-season length gave each show the time to tell its story and do so in a thoughtful way. It feels as if the current industry is constantly running and running to put content out, finish it, and move on at the cost of connection, creativity and quality.Â
These shifts are reflected in movies as well. While length may not particularly be as big an issue with this side of the industry, lack of originality and over-exertion are creating the same problem. In 2022 and 2023, Marvel announced a slew of shows and movies that were meant to be released between 2023 and 2024, including Thunderbolts, Captain America: Brave New World, a Blade movie, two massive Avengers projects and more. Here we are in 2024, and of the listed projects, all have been delayed or canceled entirely. Deadpool and Wolverine is the only project on the list that came out somewhat on schedule. Brave New World will be released in February of 2025 after being slated first for May of 2024 and then July of 2024. An issue of overcommitment and negative fan reviews of new releases meant that something had to change, and that change ended up having to be a shift back towards prioritizing the quality of their content and the time being spent on them rather than minimizing the wait time between releases.Â
Disney’s upcoming slate of releases consists almost entirely of sequels. Original stories and creativity are being stifled, and the priority for these movie releases is the first week in the box office and then it’s onto the next. We’re getting a Toy Story 5, Frozen 3 and 4, Incredibles 3, Zootopia 2, and even a Freaky Friday sequel two decades after the original. The lack of creativity coming out of these big studios and the recycling of old series is exactly how a fast fashion consumption and release style manifests in an industry like this one.Â
There are projects within the industry such as the Dune movies, and some of the Star Wars shows such as Ahsoka and Andor that are working against the grain of the rising trends in the industry. The two shows are both multi-season, lengthier projects and the Dune movies had a three year gap between releases. The Spider-Verse animated movies also go against the trend with five years between the two movies. These projects have gotten incredibly positive reactions from fans and, in my opinion, have been some of the highest quality content we as consumers have received in recent years, proving that the heart of the industry still lies in putting time and effort into making these projects that are such big parts of people’s lives.
If we as viewers can be more patient, more appreciative, and more mindful of what we are watching and call for more originality and accountability from the corporate leadership of the industry to find a balance between prioritizing profit and the creative, quality core of the industry, I believe we can shift away from the fast fashion trends we are seeing rise within the industry.