Television 1899 | Netflix | From the makers of Dark, dropped by Netflix

You always wonder with these incredibly complicated shows that leave loads of questions unresolved until future seasons, did the writers really know how they would eventually be resolved?

Because, if not, that’s just bad writing. Didn’t they make up the ending of Lost as they went along? If ever a show crawled up it’s own arse to die because of bad/lazy writing….
 
Pogue Mahone said:
You always wonder with these incredibly complicated shows that leave loads of questions unresolved until future seasons, did the writers really know how they would eventually be resolved?

Because, if not, that’s just bad writing. Didn’t they make up the ending of Lost as they went along? If ever a show crawled up it’s own arse to die because of bad/lazy writing….
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They rounded it off well in Dark and I'm sure they'd have done the same here.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
You always wonder with these incredibly complicated shows that leave loads of questions unresolved until future seasons, did the writers really know how they would eventually be resolved?

Because, if not, that’s just bad writing. Didn’t they make up the ending of Lost as they went along? If ever a show crawled up it’s own arse to die because of bad/lazy writing….
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If I recall correctly - with Lost the writers already / always had the ending planned out, they just kept it going for so long as they didn't anticipate the popularity of the show so wanted to maximise the golden goose.
 
Dark was ridiculous and this would've turned that way and all...but I wanted to to see it go to pot next season hoping it wouldn't. Damn it.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
You always wonder with these incredibly complicated shows that leave loads of questions unresolved until future seasons, did the writers really know how they would eventually be resolved?

Because, if not, that’s just bad writing. Didn’t they make up the ending of Lost as they went along? If ever a show crawled up it’s own arse to die because of bad/lazy writing….
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As mentioned, JJ Abrams + other SHIT writers do this (also in his awful star wars films) The writers of Dark wrapped things up nicely, and would have done so with 1899 too I'm sure.
 
nimic said:
I didn't really fancy season 3 of Dark, but at the very least it's clear they knew where they were going from basically episode 1.
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Yeah they actually left a lot of foreshadowing all over the place in season 1 of Dark. I would've liked to see where this was going as well.
You wonder what the bar a show has to get over in order to not get cancelled on Netflix.
 
Maagge said:
Yeah they actually left a lot of foreshadowing all over the place in season 1 of Dark. I would've liked to see where this was going as well.
You wonder what the bar a show has to get over in order to not get cancelled on Netflix.
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It's absolutely random. The Witcher got 3 seasons (at least?), not being cancelled even when they had to recast the main character (and probably the #1 reason people are watching to begin with).
 
nimic said:
It's absolutely random. The Witcher got 3 seasons (at least?), not being cancelled even when they had to recast the main character (and probably the #1 reason people are watching to begin with).
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Surely they're going with at least four seasons? Otherwise what's the point of recasting the protagonist if Henry Cavill is still starring in season 3? But yeah, that show only exists because of its name.
 
nimic said:
It's absolutely random. The Witcher got 3 seasons (at least?), not being cancelled even when they had to recast the main character (and probably the #1 reason people are watching to begin with).
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I'm not sure it's random, just based on how many people watch it? Netflix base their decisions on views in the first month and both seasons of the Witcher are in the top 10 of all time (with both around 500 million hours of view time)
 
Pogue Mahone said:
You always wonder with these incredibly complicated shows that leave loads of questions unresolved until future seasons, did the writers really know how they would eventually be resolved?

Because, if not, that’s just bad writing. Didn’t they make up the ending of Lost as they went along? If ever a show crawled up it’s own arse to die because of bad/lazy writing….
Click to expand...
Did you watch Dark?
While I didn't find 1899 as tight or compelling as Dark, it had some really powerful moments and I'm certain the writers had a fully fledged story in mind for seasons 2 and 3.
 
A trend i am seeing on reddit now is that subscribers wont bother watching shows until they know there is a season 2 lined up. So basically more shows will probably be cancelled.

Getting fed up with netflix at this stage.
 
Maagge said:
Surely they're going with at least four seasons? Otherwise what's the point of recasting the protagonist if Henry Cavill is still starring in season 3? But yeah, that show only exists because of its name.
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Oh yeah I guess. I haven't paid attention, I watched season 1 but couldn't be bothered after that.
 
I told myself that I shouldn't watch this because it'll probably get cancelled, but I got sucked into it. Quite the cliff-hanger at the end!

It's typical Netflix. Their target demographic these days seems to be teenage girls.
 
Its completion rate is what killed it i saw on reddit. 32% only. two thirds of people watching it stopped watching after the first episode. Pity really because it builds and builds as the episodes go by.
 
Cole9 said:
I told myself that I shouldn't watch this because it'll probably get cancelled, but I got sucked into it. Quite the cliff-hanger at the end!

It's typical Netflix. Their target demographic these days seems to be teenage girls.
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I had the same feeling but added it to my list to watch later. No point unless a second season gets confirmed now
 
Great at first, but I’d think twice before starting another season. I’m not overly surprised about the 32% stat.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
You always wonder with these incredibly complicated shows that leave loads of questions unresolved until future seasons, did the writers really know how they would eventually be resolved?

Because, if not, that’s just bad writing. Didn’t they make up the ending of Lost as they went along? If ever a show crawled up it’s own arse to die because of bad/lazy writing….
Click to expand...
Dark was incredibly complicated but they tied everything together excellently and clearly knew how they wanted to resolve most things.
 
adexkola said:
Shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad would have got cancelled if they came out today.
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Yep, I agree.


NicolaSacco said:
Great at first, but I’d think twice before starting another season. I’m not overly surprised about the 32% stat.
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The end of the series was better than the start. The 32% stat shows exactly what the Netflix audience is actually like.

Though I will say, as much as I want a second series, I do wonder where they could possibly go that would garner any more interest to those who lost it early on. On top of that, the "space ship" future aspect surely costs more, so I'd wager the increased costs had a lot to do with it too.

Also, personally, I don't see a way forward for the story anyway.
 
adexkola said:
Shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad would have got cancelled if they came out today.
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On Netflix they would be. Amazon and Apple are much more sensible in this. Disney only do Star Wars and Marvel which people watch no matter what so can't say what they would do.
 
Not surprised really. I haven't watched Dark but I turned 1899 off after about 3 episodes. It started to get a bit too weird for me around the time the beetle appeared.
 
The Sopranos had insane viewership figures and was a worldwide phenomenon like Game of Thrones (but not at that level) so I’m not sure how it could possibly get cancelled.

The Wire nearly did get cancelled multiple times due to bad viewership, luckily HBO had the sense to see it through.
 
Hugh Jass said:
A trend i am seeing on reddit now is that subscribers wont bother watching shows until they know there is a season 2 lined up. So basically more shows will probably be cancelled.

Getting fed up with netflix at this stage.
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I won't bother watching anything until it's complete these days. Mini series, and that's it.

Every other bloody show is one good season, then 3 series of filler, then a shit ending (assuming it hasn't been cancelled). A great way to do nothing with your life.
 
Massive Spanner said:
The Sopranos had insane viewership figures and was a worldwide phenomenon like Game of Thrones (but not at that level) so I’m not sure how it could possibly get cancelled.

The Wire nearly did get cancelled multiple times due to bad viewership, luckily HBO had the sense to see it through.
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Yep. When they filmed the last scene for season 4 they thought it was probably going to be the last.
 
Massive Spanner said:
The Sopranos had insane viewership figures and was a worldwide phenomenon like Game of Thrones (but not at that level) so I’m not sure how it could possibly get cancelled.

The Wire nearly did get cancelled multiple times due to bad viewership, luckily HBO had the sense to see it through.
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Within 4 days 1899 had 79 million hours watched. That’s almost 10 million an episode, or on average 10 million viewers per episode. That is 4-5x the viewership of Game of Thrones and 3-4x that of the Sopranos.

Game of thrones was also nowhere near as big as it became from the start, the worst season in the series had 5-6x the viewership as the first season did.
 
limerickcitykid said:
Within 4 days 1899 had 79 million hours watched. That’s almost 10 million an episode, or on average 10 million viewers per episode. That is 4-5x the viewership of Game of Thrones and 3-4x that of the Sopranos.

Game of thrones was also nowhere near as big as it became from the start, the worst season in the series had 5-6x the viewership as the first season did.
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Are you counting streaming for Game of Thrones there? Also is that 4-5x thing the first season?
 
limerickcitykid said:
Within 4 days 1899 had 79 million hours watched. That’s almost 10 million an episode, or on average 10 million viewers per episode. That is 4-5x the viewership of Game of Thrones and 3-4x that of the Sopranos.

Game of thrones was also nowhere near as big as it became from the start, the worst season in the series had 5-6x the viewership as the first season did.
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I’m not sure what your point is. Netflix has over 200m subscribers worldwide whereas HBO in the US has 20m or something. The viewing figures between the two are incomparable when trying to ascertain popularity.
 
https://deadline.com/2023/02/netfli...ing-killing-children-boom-studios-1235268566/

Five years after Netflix inked their first ever European overall series deal with Dark creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, the studio has re-upped with the duo in a splashy, eight-figure pact, we can reveal.

The German writer-creators, who most recently made big-budget mystery drama 1899 for the streamer, are now turning their attention to comic book adaptation Something Is Killing The Children, on which they join Boom! Studios! which also has a deal with Netflix.

I don't know anything about this book but it might be a safe bet, it's still weird that are working together after what happened with 1899
 
I gave up after three episodes. it's not terrible, it's simply not rewarding enough to continue watching it and this is coming from someone whose favorite show is Twin Peaks. I'm actually a very patient man, but you have to offer me something. not surprised at all it got canceled.

think I'll wait a bit with Dark after this, possibly until autumn. just in case of it being as slow as this was, because I'm usually more forgiving when it's colder outside.
 
Bole Top said:
I gave up after three episodes. it's not terrible, it's simply not rewarding enough to continue watching it and this is coming from someone whose favorite show is Twin Peaks. I'm actually a very patient man, but you have to offer me something. not surprised at all it got canceled.

think I'll wait a bit with Dark after this, possibly until autumn. just in case of it being as slow as this was, because I'm usually more forgiving when it's colder outside.
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Dark is a much better show. I found it engaging from the very first episode. I watched it all the way through.

This show I also gave up by the 3rd/4th episode.
 
Bole Top said:
I gave up after three episodes. it's not terrible, it's simply not rewarding enough to continue watching it and this is coming from someone whose favorite show is Twin Peaks. I'm actually a very patient man, but you have to offer me something. not surprised at all it got canceled.

think I'll wait a bit with Dark after this, possibly until autumn. just in case of it being as slow as this was, because I'm usually more forgiving when it's colder outside.
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I know what you mean. The balance between a show draped in mystery that gives you enough to keep watching is a fine line. Lost mastered it. Dark did it well too (not as well as Lost). 1899 had its balance all over the place.
 
Bole Top said:
I gave up after three episodes. it's not terrible, it's simply not rewarding enough to continue watching it and this is coming from someone whose favorite show is Twin Peaks. I'm actually a very patient man, but you have to offer me something. not surprised at all it got canceled.

think I'll wait a bit with Dark after this, possibly until autumn. just in case of it being as slow as this was, because I'm usually more forgiving when it's colder outside.
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Curiously enough this is exactly the metric netflix used to cancel it - those that started it and didnt finish it. Must have been millions who did this.

I still think it was brilliant and would have become really good with a second and third season.
 
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