I think a lot of people are watching it because it's a Netflix show, so it HAS to be good.
As a native New Yorker I lived through that era and remember it well but have to say couldn't get past the first few scenes of the premiere episode.
I'll watch it again though and hopefully will enjoy it but only if it's good, not just because it's on Netflix.
I wrote a lengthy review about why I was disappointed with this series. I agree that the series doesn't really capture the true spirit of the place and time. Others have defended it saying that it's just a product of Luhrmann's cinematic style.
I did watch the entire series, but not necessarily because I believe that, because it's on Netflix, it has to be good. Based simply on the number of votes for the show, it doesn't seem like the show has really caught on, at least not yet, so the voting seems to be slightly skewered towards the high end of the spectrum.
Take for example, the number of votes for Stranger Things, which debuted less than a month before The Get Down: it has over 126,000 votes and an overall rating of 9.1. The Get Down, on the other hand, only less than 4,600 ratings and an overall rating of 8.6. Also worth nothing is that Stranger Things consists of 8 episodes and The Get Down consists of 6.
So, it appears that the show doesn't really have mass appeal, but the cross-section of the population that's watching it, for the most part, enjoys it.
Screws fall out all of the time. The world's an imperfect place.
It is important to remember that Netflix does release series for niche audiences regularly. They are not as concerned with mass appeal as much as continuing to generate new subscribers and maintaining the older ones
shareMaybe people think its good because its good? Im a lomg time Netflix subscriber and they put a lot of content up and most of it doesnt get a lot of attention. It might not be to your taste but I loved it and have watched it twice already. The fact that its on Netflix just makes it more awesome.
share@MiketheMechanic
Honestly, it's like everyone was expecting this show to be their version of the history of hip-hop. You have to actually WATCH a show to from an opinion of it, whether you recall that era or not. I hate when people claim they don't like a show, but you they didn't even watch it past the first 5 or 10 minutes. Your opinion on a show or movie is really worth nothing at all if you didn't even bother to watch it. So far I've watched the first 3 episodes, and I have to say it gets better as it goes along--so far--and especially in the third episode. And,yeah, it's good because it's on Netflix, because Netflix makes good shows.
I like the fact that Netflix was obviously banking on this show to blow up and be popular with viewers due to the subject matter, and there's also the fact that there really hasn't been a series that's actually covered the beginnings of the hip-hop genre as a whole anyway. So it's definitely filling a gap in American popular music history shows, definitely. Just saw a trailer for it on TV the other night, so it's nice to see it getting some mainstream hype, besides all the reviews of it online. I also love how the show is filmed, and how it looks---it definitely has the genuine look and feel of a '70s film---it looks really beautiful,and the cast is excellent. One of the stand-outs for me in the show besides everyone else is Skylan Brooks (the star of THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER AND PETE---a must-see drama,BTW) as Zeke's friend and hype man Ra-Ra. He's obviously the smarter one in the group, always coming up with ideas on how to handle any and everything, and breaking stuff down so that anyone can understand it. . He's both cute and hilarious, and the one who's truly got his friends' backs---a real fun character,too.
Honestly, it's like everyone was expecting this show to be their version of the history of hip-hop. You have to actually WATCH a show to from an opinion of it, whether you recall that era or not. I hate when people claim they don't like a show, but you they didn't even watch it past the first 5 or 10 minutes. Your opinion on a show or movie is really worth nothing at all if you didn't even bother to watch it. So far I've watched the first 3 episodes, and I have to say it gets better as it goes along--so far--and especially in the third episode. And,yeah, it's good because it's on Netflix, because Netflix makes good shows.
Not everything on Netflix is good.
Overall it was okay. It was VERY weird, but kind of endearing at the same time.
I think a lot of people are being hypocritical because the same purposely cheesy 80's stuff they loved about Stranger Things they're criticizing the 70's things about this show.
I only watched the pilot thus far, but I'll watch at least a few more.