How Ted Lasso killed Tony Soprano

As always, the ever-changing TV business morphing once more – and so is the content it broadcasts or, more appropriately, streams. “Pandora’s Box” author Peter Biskind has penned, in the words of The Economist, a binge-worthy book about TV’s recent history, in which he argues that the risky, rule-breaking shows that defined early 21st century television are giving way to more standard, safer programming.

The Economist:
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Streaming took what cable started and pushed it further. Making whole seasons available on demand has allowed viewers to binge, reviving the importance of plot, which had been subordinated to character in shows like “The Sopranos”. With past episodes fresh in the viewer’s mind, less plodding exposition is needed. Streamers’ offering of thousands of shows at once has also enabled niches to thrive. Streaming has found a home for ideas that were too daring, weird or obscure even for cable, from Korean horror to Swedish romance. As Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-founder, put it, “We are to cable networks as cable networks were to broadcast networks.”
Today Hollywood is in flux once more—and its output is evolving, too…
Across the industry, a shift is under way. Mr Biskind quotes writers and actors who complain that streamers are returning to the safe centre ground that broadcast networks used to occupy. “I want to do in-your-face shit,” says Kenya Barris, the creator of inventive shows such as “Black-ish”. But “Netflix wants down-the-middle… Netflix became cbs.”
Advertising has made a comeback, as streamers try to squeeze more dollars out of more subscribers. And bingeing is being reined in. Most streamers now release new shows weekly to keep subscribers on board for longer. Even Netflix, the pioneer of bingeing, is moving this way, dripping out episodes of some new shows one by one.
Perhaps the biggest drivers of the move to the mainstream are the tech titans getting into streaming. Both Apple tv+ and Amazon will survive the financially ruinous streaming wars. (They will “hold everybody’s head under water until they drown,” Steven Soderbergh, a star film-director, tells Mr Biskind.) But Amazon and Apple see streaming as a way to bolster audiences’ interest in their other businesses… The result is that their output is resolutely brand-safe. Rather than the “nudity, raw language and violence” on other streamers, Apple wants to make shows with “broad appeal”, Tim Cook, the company’s boss, has said. This leads to shows like “Ted Lasso” — a “sunshine enema”, in the words of one of its producers

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MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, this world in its current shiteous state could use a “sunshine enema” or seven. Ted Lasso is (was? spinoff?) perfect – and the perfect counterpoint – for its time. Hence, Lasso‘s massive success.
Fare with less “broad appeal” will still be made and stream from the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and even Apple.
Those who can wrap their heads around Apple’s massive cash mountain and the company’s unparalleled ability to generate cash can clearly see who the winner will be. The most talented producers, writers, directors, editors, actors, etc. are attracted to exactly what Apple has and makes in vast abundance: Cash. The king.
Like bears to honey, it’s happening already. — MacDailyNews, January 3, 2018
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