Clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected things make them feel scared.

Futurama

(Inspiration for my next career.)

Netflix original series will change the course of TV history

Lilyhammer is Netflix's first original TV series.

I’m left wondering why folks aren’t in the streets raving about the TV breakthrough that occurred just yesterday: Netflix released its first original series.

You’re right. It sounds kind of dull. AMC has their own series, so does HBO - for that matter, so do ABC and NBC and CBC.

So why is this a breakthrough? Because my TV only has one cord connecting it to the wall: the power cord.

With Netflix releasing its first original series, a crime(-comedy? …from what I can tell from the trailer…) called Lilyhammer and releasing it exclusively through their Internet video streaming service, we’re seeing the first time an online-only TV network is taking on the big guys with its own content, rather than buying content from them.

(And I’m not talking some 10-minute The Office webisode bullshit here)

Starting to get it?

For the first time, a non-legacy TV network (i.e.: no antennae or government funding in its past) is competing with major networks for eyeballs on a nightly basis, and doing so without broadcasting through traditional means.

…and leaving out the commercials too.

Now, consumers don’t have to buy a 24-hour network in order to get the content they want. Also, TV content producers now have the means to pitch a show outside of the big networks and the cable channels and get viewers’ attention.

Think about it: Netflix could add a comedy show (as it plans to do with Arrested Development in 2013), a daily news broadcast, and the rights to stream or replay sporting events and we will have a truly new kind of TV network.

Netflix also adds a new facet to TV series in that it will never tie its content to a broadcast schedule; it is releasing Lilyhammer in one eight-episode chunk. It’s not competing with Mad Men Sundays at 10pm; watch Lilyhammer all at once, or on Monday and Wednesday every other month.

It seems dull because all of the changes are below the surface. Consumers don’t care how the show appears on the TV, they want good quality programming and a reasonable price point.

Well, Netflix has driven the first significant stake into the heart of traditional TV programming, and TV production and viewing will never be the same again.