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[Escape Goat]

Various TV shows, serialised dramas especially, prove far more engaging and interesting if watched in marathon sessions with an entire season of episodes watched over a few days. Thanks to disc box sets and streaming services like Netflix, this is a very easy option and the way quite a few people consume many of their shows these days.

Netflix understands this which is one reason why it released all eight episodes of its first original series, the Norway-set "Lilyhammer", all at once rather than dolling out an episode each week over time. The approach worked enough that it looks like they'll be adopting it for one of their more high profile upcoming productions - the revival of the cancelled Fox comedy "Arrested Development".

Netflix chief Ted Sarandos told reporters at National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas (via EW) that they plan to release all ten episodes of the show's new fourth season at once on an as yet to be determined date sometime next year.

The show's creator Mitch Hurwitz also revealed that initially each episode of the season was to center around around a different character, but the scripts are now more closely resembling the old show. The talk of an 'Arrested' movie didn't come up, but Hurwitz says he wouldn’t mind continuing the show on Netflix.

 

[Good Job Bob]

We've known this for a while now, such is the case for all Netflix programming.

 

[Escape Goat]

We've known this for a while now, such is the case for all Netflix programming.

I didn't know it so... shows how much you know, mister.

 

[BFIB]

I can taste the happy!

 

[mjc]

You've got a link for that?

 

[Neuromancer]

Probably going to be a while. Michael Cera was on Marc Maron's podcast a few weeks ago and said the script hadn't been written yet.

Great podcast by the way, he also had David Cross and Jeffry Tambor not long ago too.

 

[Clayton Bigsby]

Probably going to be a while. Michael Cera was on Marc Maron's podcast a few weeks ago and said the script hadn't been written yet.

Every cast member has said they are filming this summer. So sometime in 2013 for a release is not hard to imagine.

 

[Escape Goat]

You've got a link for that?

whoops

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/23633/netflix-reveals-arrested-plans

 

[Neuromancer]

Every cast member has said they are filming this summer. So sometime in 2013 for a release is not hard to imagine.

Oh OK that's good.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

We've known this for a while now, such is the case for all Netflix programming.

Yeah, gosh Hamburglar get with it.

 

[mjc]

whoops

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/23633/netflix-reveals-arrested-plans

Thank you good sir!

 

[Fry]

Isn't that a little... lame?

 

[Clayton Bigsby]

Isn't that a little... lame?

How so?

 

[hateradio]

That sounds great, I hope it delivers because I would definitely marathon through it.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Yeah, gosh Hamburglar get with it.

This was begging for a 'huge mistake' quote.

 

[Menelaus]

News as old as Hamburglar is awesome

 

[Socreges]

but Hurwitz says he wouldn’t mind continuing the show on Netflix.

yes please

 

[gutshot]

Day one. All ten eps. For real.

 

[PairOfFilthySocks]

Intriguing...it will be interesting to see how this sort of thing evolves with services like Netflix.

I'd vastly prefer being able to watch a season of, say, Game of Thrones, all at once instead of in increments per week. I think it frees up the writers a bit too, in that you wouldn't have to have recaps and reminders of the plot at the start of each episode. Shows that released all episodes at once could be structured more like a book, story-wise.

 

[ultron87]

That's going to be one hell of a marathon to blast through on the day it is available.

 

[arab]

i wish game of thrones did this :[

 

[Jim]

It's good for Netflix users and AD fans.

But what's to stop fans w/o a subscription from signing up for a free trial, watching them all, and just not re-subbing (assuming they have no desire to re-watch them)? It's crossed my mind.

 

[Mindlog]

Welcome, to the world of tomorrow.

 

[Neuromancer]

It's good for Netflix users and AD fans.

But what's to stop fans w/o a subscription from signing up for a free trial, watching them all, and just not re-subbing (assuming they have no desire to re-watch them)? It's crossed my mind.

I guess not much, but Netflix is betting most people won't do that.

 

[Keyser Soze]

i wish game of thrones did this :[

I don't think the final episodes of GoT is even filmed yet, so if they did it this was you currently would not have seen the first three episodes - and still be waiting for the show to debut.

If the new AD episodes were doing it the "normal" way, then the show could debut a few months earlier too - showing the earlier episodes as they filmed the last.

There are pros and cons to each ways of doing it - you are still 'waiting' either way.

 

[Tobor]

The show's creator Mitch Hurwitz also revealed that initially each episode of the season was to center around around a different character, but the scripts are now more closely resembling the old show. The talk of an 'Arrested' movie didn't come up, but Hurwitz says he wouldn’t mind continuing the show on Netflix.

This part is new news. Thread redeemed.

Plus, I called it in the last thread!

 

[Fry]

How so?

I just prefer it the traditional way. Waiting a week to watch that episode you can't wait for sucks, but is also builds expectations, etc that feel really good when it pay off. It's just the way it always has been, I don't think it should change, especially for a show that is so praised. Releasing all at once sounds like a B movie getting a straight-to-DVD release.

 

[gutshot]

I guess not much, but Netflix is betting most people won't do that.

I signed up for Netflix on a free trial, fully intending to cancel before the trial was up, but got hooked on the service. My guess is Netflix is counting on that happening to a lot of people. I mean, it is $8 a month for crying out loud and you can stream so many great shows. You can't beat that.

 

[Rootbeer]

All... all at... once. Incredible... I'd probably request that day off of work.

I signed up for Netflix on a free trial, fully intending to cancel before the trial was up, but got hooked on the service. My guess is Netflix is counting on that happening to a lot of people. I mean, it is $8 a month for crying out loud and you can stream so many great shows. You can't beat that.

Honestly, there are some months where I barely even watch one episode or film on my netflix account... but some months I'll watch entire seasons of various stuff. It's so cheap I just let it auto-deduct and don't even think about it anymore. I'm sure that is exactly their plan

 

[ultron87]

i wish game of thrones did this :[

A dramatic show like Game of Thrones benefits greatly from the break between episodes for people to react to everything. It would be way less fun to watch if everyone on the Internet blasted through it in a day and no one was reacting to individual episodes.

This is less critical with something like AD where someone probably won't lose their head at the end of an episode (unless they don't leave a note).

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

News as old as Hamburglar is awesome

 

[gutshot]

I don't think the final episodes of GoT is even filmed yet, so if they did it this was you currently would not have seen the first three episodes - and still be waiting for the show to debut.

Actually, HBO never begins airing their shows until all the eps are "in the can" (in fact, I think most, if not all, cable nets work this way). So all of this season's episodes are filmed, but they are likely still putting the finishing touches on the later eps in post. If HBO did it the Netflix way, GoT S2 would probably be debuting in a couple weeks or so.

 

[Clayton Bigsby]

I just prefer it the traditional way. Waiting a week to watch that episode you can't wait for sucks, but is also builds expectations, etc that feel really good when it pay off. It's just the way it always has been, I don't think it should change, especially for a show that is so praised. Releasing all at once sounds like a B movie getting a straight-to-DVD release.

Then watch it the traditional way. Nothing is stopping you from watching 1 episode a week.

 

[Bomber Bob]

PLEASE DONT SUCK

 

[blamite]

Hmmm, don't really like this idea. There's something about the anticipation of a new episode every week that I really like. Marathon viewing is fun, but it's just not the same.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

I see a problem with this. Many TV shows have benefited from fan and reviewer input over the course of a seasonal run. Excising that from the process would have a negative affect in most cases. The television model allows the program to me manipulated and changed over the course of a 10, 13, or up to 24 episode run. Many of the best things you love about a TV didn't come up in the writers rooms when a season was mapped. Over the course of productions things change, interaction with the public can shift attitudes and the direction a show can take. No matter the show creators best intentions, not everything they think of works when you're dealing with this many episodes of a show.

When a run of a show is over and they hammered home the same joke, that didn't work, or featured characters that don't click, you're stuck with a bad product. The flexibility of being able to see how the people necessary to your shows survival can make the show better in the long run.

 

[hateradio]

A dramatic show like Game of Thrones benefits greatly from the break between episodes for people to react to everything. It would be way less fun to watch if everyone on the Internet blasted through it in a day and no one was reacting to individual episodes.

That's opinion though. I don't think everyone needs to react to "everything" in the show. If people enjoy watching several episodes at a time, and it works for them, there shouldn't be a reason to have a weekly delay.

It doesn't matter if it's blasted online, you can avoid it.

 

[Staccat0]

I really hope this doesn't turn out as embarrassing as I think it will have to be

 

[RBH]

Steve Swasey, vice-president of Corporate Communications at Netflix, said Wednesday that “the return of Arrested Development exclusively on Netflix will be in the U.S. only.”

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/0...t-be-available-to-canadian-netflix-customers/

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/0...t-be-available-to-canadian-netflix-customers/

 

[GK86]

So lame, they should make it available everywhere.

 

[Fatghost]

Thats dumb. It will only encourage piracy.

 

[Socreges]

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/0...t-be-available-to-canadian-netflix-customers/

OK, Netflix doesn't want my money. I'll have to find some other way to watch it, I guess.

 

[Oppo]

I will consume this content in a manner not dissimilar to a python unhinging its jaw and swallowing an entire goat.

 

[Jack Scofield]

So how will this work for the DVD/Blu-ray release? An indefinite amount of time after it airs on Netflix? I canceled my Netflix service and I'm not going back, even if they have exclusive rights to my favorite comedy of all time.

 

[Arment]

Now do this with every show.

Thats dumb. It will only encourage piracy.

So lame, they should make it available everywhere.

OK, Netflix doesn't want my money. I'll have to find some other way to watch it, I guess.

There's laws and stuff they have to adhere to guys. It's not like they said, "Fuck Canadians, no Arrested Development for them."

Trust me, they want your money.

 

[saunderez]

OK, Netflix doesn't want my money. I'll have to find some other way to watch it, I guess.

Yep. Morons, I would've paid substantially more than a Netflix sub to get access to this on Day 1.

 

[Nappuccino]

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/0...t-be-available-to-canadian-netflix-customers/

I'm guessing it is an issue with Fox (or whoever the rights owners are?)

 

[Mistouze]

OK, Netflix doesn't want my money. I'll have to find some other way to watch it, I guess.

But we'll be buying the DVD set right? Because they are going to release one in europe right? RIIIIGHT?

 

[impact]

So how will this work for the DVD/Blu-ray release? An indefinite amount of time after it airs on Netflix? I canceled my Netflix service and I'm not going back, even if they have exclusive rights to my favorite comedy of all time.

It's $8