TMC
09-07-2017, 08:24 PM
http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/summer-tv-2017-lacked-a-breakout-tv-hit.html
The Summer of 2017 Came and Went Without a Breakout TV Hit
By
Jen Chaney
Former Vulture writer Margaret Lyons, now of the New York Times, noted
this in her most recent “Watching” newsletter: “There was no Show of
the Summer this year … For a minute it seemed as if Netflix’s GLOW
might be the big break-out, and while it was well received (I
certainly loved it), the show’s buzz-cycle felt super short: We all
talked about it for three days, and then never again.”
This lazy, hazy, TV-oversaturated season was filled with GLOWs, by
which I mean scripted series that either never caught fire, were buzzy
only briefly, or were vital to a specific group of viewers, but didn’t
rise to the level of widespread pop-cultural phenomena. FX’s big
summer bet, Snowfall, was a bit of a bust. Claws frequently trended on
Twitter, but because it aired on Sunday night, was quickly eclipsed by
that juggernaut from Westeros. USA’s The Sinner has been well-reviewed
— our Matt Zoller Seitz called it “superbly executed” — and its
ratings have been fairly strong, but it doesn’t feel like people are
avidly talking about it. NBC’s Midnight, Texas has also been building
an audience, but it’s not lighting up the proverbial phone lines,
either, although, admittedly, the sense that something is a quote,
unquote “watercooler show” has become even more subjective in this
mobbed television landscape.
Critics and viewers have been enjoying The Bold Type, Freeform’s
smart, Good Girls Revolt–meets–Younger–style portrait of female
journalists working at a glossy New York magazine. But again, the
audience that’s chattering about it seems more modest than mass. The
same can be said about Rick and Morty, the delightfully bonkers
animated Adult Swim series that’s in the midst of its third season and
has a loyal fan following, but still seems like more of a cult phenom.
And in keeping with the streaming service’s habit of dropping a new
series practically every week, we got a bunch of new Netflix shows
that quickly dropped off the collective radar, including the
aforementioned GLOW, Friends From College, and the already-canceled
Gypsy. The one exception to that Netflix trend may be Ozark, which was
renewed for a second season and — based purely on anecdotal
conversations I’ve had and what I’ve observed on social media — has
gained some traction as audiences slowly began to discover it in July
and August.
The Summer of 2017 Came and Went Without a Breakout TV Hit
By
Jen Chaney
Former Vulture writer Margaret Lyons, now of the New York Times, noted
this in her most recent “Watching” newsletter: “There was no Show of
the Summer this year … For a minute it seemed as if Netflix’s GLOW
might be the big break-out, and while it was well received (I
certainly loved it), the show’s buzz-cycle felt super short: We all
talked about it for three days, and then never again.”
This lazy, hazy, TV-oversaturated season was filled with GLOWs, by
which I mean scripted series that either never caught fire, were buzzy
only briefly, or were vital to a specific group of viewers, but didn’t
rise to the level of widespread pop-cultural phenomena. FX’s big
summer bet, Snowfall, was a bit of a bust. Claws frequently trended on
Twitter, but because it aired on Sunday night, was quickly eclipsed by
that juggernaut from Westeros. USA’s The Sinner has been well-reviewed
— our Matt Zoller Seitz called it “superbly executed” — and its
ratings have been fairly strong, but it doesn’t feel like people are
avidly talking about it. NBC’s Midnight, Texas has also been building
an audience, but it’s not lighting up the proverbial phone lines,
either, although, admittedly, the sense that something is a quote,
unquote “watercooler show” has become even more subjective in this
mobbed television landscape.
Critics and viewers have been enjoying The Bold Type, Freeform’s
smart, Good Girls Revolt–meets–Younger–style portrait of female
journalists working at a glossy New York magazine. But again, the
audience that’s chattering about it seems more modest than mass. The
same can be said about Rick and Morty, the delightfully bonkers
animated Adult Swim series that’s in the midst of its third season and
has a loyal fan following, but still seems like more of a cult phenom.
And in keeping with the streaming service’s habit of dropping a new
series practically every week, we got a bunch of new Netflix shows
that quickly dropped off the collective radar, including the
aforementioned GLOW, Friends From College, and the already-canceled
Gypsy. The one exception to that Netflix trend may be Ozark, which was
renewed for a second season and — based purely on anecdotal
conversations I’ve had and what I’ve observed on social media — has
gained some traction as audiences slowly began to discover it in July
and August.