Over the past few months, there has been one constant amidst the ever-changing landscape of my life: The Summer I Turned Pretty. For those unfamiliar, The Summer I Turned Pretty, or “TSITP,” is an Amazon Prime Video original series based on the YA book series of the same name by Jenny Han. TSITP follows Isabel “Belly” Conklin as she spends her summers on the beach and **spoiler alert** navigates a love triangle between two brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. In full transparency, the writing of the show isn’t particularly good. In fact, I would go so far as to say it’s pretty bad. Then again, I found myself coming back to the show week after week. When I think of TSITP, I think of curling up on the couch with my mom and sister to watch episodes during summer break. I think of texting my friends about Belly’s terrible decisions while they catch up on the show. I think of arguing with my coworkers about Team Conrad versus Team Jeremiah (don’t ask which side I’m on). The thing that made TSITP so good wasn’t the show itself but the community it created.
So how is it that Amazon Prime Video generated so much buzz around a show about rich teenagers, a mom with cancer, and a questionable love triangle? The answer is simple: weekly releases. Rather than following the traditional full-season release schedule, Amazon opted for the 2020s trend of releasing episodes to its platform on a weekly basis. Traditional streaming allows viewers to binge all episodes of a new season at once, which can be exciting but brief. A weekly release schedule is beneficial for viewers because the cliffhangers build anticipation and the episodes start a new conversation every week. While ongoing conversation is good publicity, it is only one factor motivating streaming services to adopt this model. Weekly releases can contribute significantly to viewership and retention rates.
There are, of course, some cons to the weekly release model. First and foremost, weekly release schedules make streaming services feel almost indistinguishable from cable television. What’s the difference between catching the newest episode of a show each week on the same channel of television as opposed to streaming a new episode of a Netflix original series each week? The reason streaming services like Netflix (and eventually others like Amazon Prime Video) first began was to change the way we consume content. Netflix was revolutionary because it gave viewers the ability to watch all of their favorite shows all at once. In a way, returning to weekly releases might feel like a step backwards. If every streaming service adopts this model, are we not essentially paying for multiple subscriptions to cable TV?Â
While there are certainly drawbacks to the new release schedule, I consider it a net positive. As of now, streaming services still allow viewers to watch a large number of movies and TV shows at any time and at any pace. The weekly release model has primarily affected original series created by streaming services themselves. As of this year, 80% of licensed content is still released in full. New episodes are less likely to make a significant cultural impact because they are only “new” to streaming services rather than audiences as a whole. For the most part, this means that binge-watching lives on in licensed content (90s throwbacks, sitcoms, and cartoons) while original shows satisfy viewers who enjoy discussing new episodes with their friends and family. No one knows what the future holds for streaming services. However, as of now, I’m happy to watch episodes of new favorites every week and enjoy binge-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer in my free time.