MovieChat Forums > The Get Down (2016) Discussion > Half The Viewers of Stranger Things

Half The Viewers of Stranger Things

posted 8 years ago by pbalmeida95
20 replies | jump to latest

"According to Symphony Advanced Media, “The Get Down” in the first 31 days of release garnered 3.2 million total viewers among U.S. adults 18-49, with an average audience rating in the demo of 2.33. That’s less than half the audience of several other Netflix originals over the same 31-day time frame after premiere. “Orange Is The New Black” season 4, for example, had 15.56 million 18-49 viewers in that window (with a rating of 11.25), followed by “Fuller House” (15.23 million, 11.01), “Stranger Things” (13.23 million, 9.56)..."

Source: http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/netflix-get-down-ratings-data-1201862796/

What is your opinion on that? What do you think Netflix did right and what it did wrong with that show? Is it too soon to declare it a flop? Why aren't more people watching it?

[–] activista 8 years ago

Hmmm---well, for one thing, they didn't show enough trailers for it on TV, even though it's been promoted online consistently. Good question with many answers to ponder, though.

[–] pbalmeida95 8 years ago

Do you think that show is as niche as some people claim it to be?

[–] MiketheMechanic 8 years ago

What is your opinion on that? What do you think Netflix did right and what it did wrong with that show? Is it too soon to declare it a flop? Why aren't more people watching it?

Not sure but one reason could be that it wasn't heavily advertised on social media. I've seen NO ONE talk about on Facebook or Instagram and can't say for sure but doubt that it was ever trending.

One thing I don't get is why is this show constantly compared to Stranger Things?

Is it because they both premiered around the same time?

[–] pbalmeida95 8 years ago

I ask myself the same thing and I think yes, they are both new shows that premiered around the same time and while Stranger Things became a huge hit The Get Down kind of went unnoticed. But we can't ignore the fact that they couldn't be more diferent from each other, so it always baffles me when people compare them like ???

I don't really agree with that article tbh, I think the only thing that goes against The Get Down is it budget, it was a big risk to Netflix and I don't understand why they aren't promoting it more

[–] StrontiumAE 8 years ago

Stranger Things is a genre show thats quite clearly science fiction/horror. This genre has been one of the biggest genres to date since the X-Files made it widely popular in the 90s. The Get Down is essentially merely a hip hop drama set in the 1970s, which by default will appeal to a slightly older demo of people 30 yrs plus, and are into that music. Given this, there is no way it could get the mainstream attention and numbers Stranger Things has.

http://www.1971-reviewae.com

[–] activista 8 years ago

Hip-hop's been a major part of mainstream music and has had a huge impact on popular culture, not only in the U.S., but virtually all over the world for about 30-some years now---it's not just some underground cult street subculture (which it originally started out as) with only a few followers that nobody has heard of. Plus there are reviews all over the internet about it, the show's got its own Facebook page, and Netflix was making some noise about it as far back as January of this year, with trailers and everything. And young adults and teens are still very much into hip-hop today---all you have to do is look at the current pop charts to see that. I've seen a trailer for the show on TV but only a few times---it should be seen and shown more on the regular, like the trailers for the now-defunct Vinyl and other online shows you see all the time. It isn't "merely" a hip-hop drama, it's about how an entire musical/fashion/art culture made from the streets was created/born during a certain era,how the people who made it, made it in the first place, what inspired them to do so,and etc. It's a much more complicated story to tell,

Also there's nothing original at all about Stranger Things anyway---I honestly don't get all the hype over it, since it sounds like every other sci-fi/horror movie or TV series seen over the last 30 years. Nothing new there,for certain.

[–] activista 8 years ago

Here's another review of the show---I may have posted it here already, but don't recall doing so:

http://www.vox.com/2016/8/14/12455902/the-get-down-review-netflix-shaolin-zeke

[–] StrontiumAE 8 years ago

The Get Down maybe more than a drama, but on the front of the tin, thats what it looks like. You have to watch the show to see how much gravitas it has. I know how big urban music is globally. I am from the Middle East, where the likes of Biggie and 2Pac are today, still almost as popular as Drake and Nikki Minaj. And although hip hop (or a watered down/thinned out/commercialised version of the genre) is all over the international pop charts today, a show based on its 70s equivalent is not going to pull in the numbers a sci-fi horror aimed at the same demo will, at least not in its first season.

http://www.1971-reviewae.com

[–] suza-lilli 8 years ago

I wish I could upvote this reply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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[–] tmontyb 8 years ago

One thing I don't get is why is this show constantly compared to Stranger Things?

I don't get it either. One had nothing to do with the other.

"when they go low, we go high" - Michelle Obama

[–] StrontiumAE 8 years ago

Both are period dramas from similar eras, on Netflix, focusing on kids and teenagers.

http://www.1971-reviewae.com

[–] x_cindergirl_x 8 years ago

I really feel like it was just not marketed it right.

It kept popping up as a viewing suggestion on my feed, but the description and pics made me think it was like some sort of High School Musical thing done in the 70s-not my thing. It took me about 3 weeks of growing curiosity as to why it was rated rated mature to finally watch it. So glad I did, hooked and nearly watched it straight through. IMO it's the best show on Netflix.

I mean if someone had just said it's like Gordon Parks, Quentin Tarantino, and a whole herd of bad a$$ (old school style) hip-hop musicians got together to create a move about love and the rise of hip hop, I would have been there from day one.

[–] activista 8 years ago

@x_cindergirl

You have a point about the musical aspect---I was excited when I first saw the trailer for THE GET DOWN about 6 months ago, but when it was described as a musical, I was like, "Oh, come on----a hip-hop musical about the birth of rap?" I grew up as a hip-hop head from my teens on up and still am, but I just didn't want the show to turn out to be some cheesy-a** show with musical numbers. After finding out that it was going to be an actual drama, I was a little more interested in it. I like how you mentioned Gordon Parks as a influence--his name dosen't often come up as one,even though SHAFT was one of the key movies in jump-starting the whole "blaxsploitation" trend of the '70s. That's a really interesting (and cool) blend of influences to toss and mix together,though,

[–] pbalmeida95 8 years ago

I agree, it wasn't sold right, I actually think that's a flaw of Netflix and not just in this case, their descripitions are always very vague and not appealing.

When I saw it the first time I thought it was a documentary about clubs, I saw the poster on the home page and it just didn't caught my attention, because I'm not into clubs.

It took me a while to realize it was a tv show and what a cast, they definately need more attention.

[–] pconley22 8 years ago

Well, clearly Fuller House and season 4 of Orange is the New Black already had established audiences, so that's an unfair comparison right there.

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[–] hurtmesogood 8 years ago

Stranger Things was released during the summer and I think that's one of the biggest reasons why it gained success. It's a big hit among tumblr users who are mostly high school/college students. So people watched during their break and it had all summer to gain an audience. It's a shame because The Get Down is actually set during summer break and it would have been more fitting to release it while everyone was on break. Even though people can binge watch the show, it was released right before a lot of people went back to school. Some people are just now getting to it because they haven't really had the time to sit down and watch it.

Stranger Things is also a show that you can watch with your preteens/kids. The Get Down might be about kids/teens, but it's not as kid friendly as Stranger Things (which is creepy, but overall it's something that most families can watch together). Which kind of brings me to another point: who is the show's audience? It's a show about black/latino characters written and directed by white men. That's turned people off the show. On the flip side, there's white people who probably aren't watching because they don't think that a show about black/latino people could be something they can connect with. On top of that, with the cancellations of Vinyl and Roadies I think music themed shows aren't doing well this year. There's even posts on the board wondering why there's so much music in the show. Is it a musical? A crime drama? A political drama? People are confused.

Then you have the slow start. The first episode was more like a movie and honestly, it was exhausting. There was so much happening in that first episode and by the end of it, I didn't really know if I wanted to continue. I'm sure that I'm not alone in feeling that way. I stuck with it, but it honestly took me until the third episode to really get into it. I think it's a great show, despite its flaws, but I don't know if the world is ready for it. I hope that we do get more episodes because I'd like to see where these characters end up. Especially people like Mylene because I know Disco isn't going to last forever. I'd like to know what happens with Dizzee and Thor. Ra-Ra is my personal favorite. I want good things for him. I just hope it finds an audience because it has potential.

[–] activista 8 years ago

@hurtmesogood

It's a show about black/latino characters written and directed by white men. That's turned people off the show.

Actually, there's one black writer and one Latino/a writer amongst the staff. The supervising staff writer is Nelson George,a longtime hip-hop journalist/author (one of the first ones,actually--he wrote probably one of the first books about hip-hop back in the day, and has written many others since then)and music historian--yeah, he's black, and still good-looking,lol---his most recent book is called THE HIPPEST TRIP IN AMERICA--it's about the history and pop culture influence of SOUL TRAIN. Also a number of the real-life hip-hop pioneers the show is based on have all been supervising producers and consultants on the show (Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow, Lady Pink, to name a few.) So,no, this wasn't made entirely by white men----after watching the whole thing, I could definitely tell that---that's why the main characters are so refreshingly unstereotypical.

And the first episode wasn't that complicated====I think some people simply don't have the patience to actually sit down and watch something that isn't spoon-fed to them, that's all. I liked it, I thought is was interesting that it was a film. ( It's funny because,back in the day when I was growing up, most series started as an hour and a half pilot film to kick the show off. It's basically a TV tradition, which isn't done that much anymore,though.)

On the flip side, there's white people who probably aren't watching because they don't think that a show about black/latino people could be something they can connect with.

Those are usually white people who have never been around anyone but other white people,and some white folks that are just racists,though. Honestly, if some white folks still can't figure out that they can actually have some things in common with black people after over 500 years of living in the same country as us, that is their loss and their problem. The fact is, everybody can't relate to every damn thing that white people do or think either, yet only white people's experiences are deemed worthy of constantly exploring by Hollywood and most of the media. Enough said. I'm waiting on the second half of the show to rop,lol.

Bottom line is, the show should been advertised and marketed to black communities more through black media websites and newspapers. At least just over 3 million people have already been watching the show for some time, which is really good---even if they're not the numbers Netflix was looking for.

[–] panic100 8 years ago

On the flip side, there's white people who probably aren't watching because they don't think that a show about black/latino people could be something they can connect with.

Yes. This is largely the reason.

[–] AtoZ2014 8 years ago

Stranger Things was a good show, but I can't imagine watching it a second time.

The Get Down is a lot more fun, more music, something that can be watched more than once.

[–] herbatienen 8 years ago

I'll second that, Stranger Things was good, but not something you can watch many times, more something you wait untill the next season comes along.
The Get Down however, is something you can watch over and over again, the music is timeless and the performance are just close to perfection, if there is one show that is THE SHOW of 2016 then this is the one.