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Netflix has some hits, but why is most of its content unmemorable?

The Netflix logo is shown in this photo from the company's website. (Richard Drew/AP)
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The Netflix logo is shown in this photo from the company's website. (Richard Drew/AP)

Editor’s note: This segment was rebroadcast on Aug. 22, 2025. Click here for that audio.

Netflix recently announced its biggest jump in subscribers — now nearly 302 million globally — and its film “Emilia Perez” is up for 13 Oscar awards this year.

But the majority of Netflix’s original productions are not at all memorable, says Will Tavlin, who wrote an article called “Casual Viewing: Why Netflix looks like that,” in the latest issue of n+1.

He tells Here & Now‘s Scott Tong that they are created with distracted viewers in mind with poor production values, bad dialogue and boring titles.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2025 WBUR

Here & Now Newsroom