Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
For a while now, the strategy streaming services have used to produce original content can be summed up as “pick up promising-sounding series, throw them at audiences, and hope for the best.” Of course, it’s not as simple as that. There are hundreds of PowerPoint presentations, bar graphs, and meeting that we, the public, are not privy to. However, since entering the original content game, streaming platforms have created without the distinct voice that characterizes their network TV counterparts. That’s how a six time Emmy winning show like House of Cards ends up on the same service as the cult hit-or-miss, Pompidou. But thanks to Amazon and The New Yorker Presents, I think we’re starting to see more order in the streaming content chaos.
Prime Video released the first two episodes of Amazon’s new series, The New Yorker Presents, this week. Each 30-minute episode of the series covers a collection of documentaries, short stories, essays, letters, poems, and cartoons, much like The New Yorker itself. We’ve already covered why you need to check out the show even if you’re not a devoted reader of the magazine. However, the show isn’t just redefining The New Yorker name by extending it to a digital sphere. For me, the pickup on this series and its behind-the-scenes big names (showrunner Kahane Cooperman, executive producer Alex Gibney, and New Yorker editor David Remnick) confirms a suspicion I’ve had for a while: Amazon has planted itself as your resident intellectual streaming service.
In an interview with Decider, Morgan Wandell, Head of Drama, Amazon Studios, said:
Recently, it seems as if Amazon has created challenging television by embracing the intellectual. The biggest nods to the service’s high-brow game plan are actually its two biggest successes: the Golden Globe-winning Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle. Season One of Transparent was an insightful exploration of gender and sexuality, but it was Season Two’s exploration of femininity and critique of male privilege that could really be described as “challenging.” Meanwhile, Mozart in the Jungle tells the age-old story of rule-breaking and improper creative genius set on one of the most exclusive stages out there — the New York Symphony. The show is also has clear feminist undertones.
These are not stories that would be told or questions that would be asked on CBS. Most of Amazon’s original show’s have been distinctly insightful and intellectual, and if the awards the service is winning for its relatively limited line of original content is any indication, this approach is working well for Amazon. Even the service’s less-discussed shows hit a high mark of intellectual excellence. For example, the children’s show Danger & Eggs, which was recently picked up for a full season, is a fun and funny cartoon, but it also serves as a wholly relatable way to explain anxiety to children. This focus on high-brow makes perfect sense to the company’s target customers, who are typically higher-income consumers.
All of these factors make The New Yorker Presents the perfect fit into Amazon’s programming. The New Yorker is one of the pinnacles of high-brow and insightful entertainment. Adding that brand name to Amazon’s roster of shows has weight. However, the series feels refreshingly original instead of outdated or clunky — a testament to Amazon’s dedication to producing challenging television. In its review of the series, The Atlantic said The New Yorker Presents was “distinguished by feeling totally original” and also commented on how the show’s serialized format fits the experimental medium that streaming allows.
While Netflix is swinging between reboots of beloved shows (Fuller House comes out next week, and there are talks of a Young Justice pick up by the service) and original niche content, Amazon has started to cement itself as your go-to service for intellectual challenge. As fun as superhero shows are, television that strives to not just be entertaining but also challenging is a welcome addition to our queues. Establishing this high-brow avenue shows two things: Amazon’s not going anywhere and neither is original streaming content.
