James Poniewozik

So I think of the prestige television era as the era beginning around the turn of the 21st century, when you had the emergence of a lot of new cable outlets, ones like HBO. that in order to distinguish themselves in the marketplace, started taking big bets on unusual shows that they had freedom to produce that traditional broadcast TV didn't. And a classic example of this is The Sopranos.

So I think of the prestige television era as the era beginning around the turn of the 21st century, when you had the emergence of a lot of new cable outlets, ones like HBO. that in order to distinguish themselves in the marketplace, started taking big bets on unusual shows that they had freedom to produce that traditional broadcast TV didn't. And a classic example of this is The Sopranos.

Right. On NBC, ABC, you couldn't do a show about a kind of sympathetic mobster. On HBO, you can.

Right. On NBC, ABC, you couldn't do a show about a kind of sympathetic mobster. On HBO, you can.

We get The Wire. We get Breaking Bad. I am the one who knocks. People like Martin Scorsese start making TV series. Actors like Glenn Close start starring in cable TV series.

We get The Wire. We get Breaking Bad. I am the one who knocks. People like Martin Scorsese start making TV series. Actors like Glenn Close start starring in cable TV series.

TV was, you could argue, the premier popular art medium of its time. And also, it's now big business. Netflix, which used to be the company that you got DVDs from in the mail, starts making original TV programming. You look great. I mean, who knew you could rock orange? And then it ultimately is joined by Amazon. We don't need cops like you anymore, Bush. By Apple. Hey, how y'all doing?

TV was, you could argue, the premier popular art medium of its time. And also, it's now big business. Netflix, which used to be the company that you got DVDs from in the mail, starts making original TV programming. You look great. I mean, who knew you could rock orange? And then it ultimately is joined by Amazon. We don't need cops like you anymore, Bush. By Apple. Hey, how y'all doing?

I'm Ted Lasso. Disney. Guilty of being the god of mystery. Paramount.

I'm Ted Lasso. Disney. Guilty of being the god of mystery. Paramount.

And that creates this money gusher directed at starting up a lot of new shows in order to create enough content for these platforms to produce a lot of prestige-y looking thumbnails when you get to the home screen of the app. And what is serving up those thumbnails to you? It's the algorithm. It's deciding what you are likely to click on and keep watching to generate those viewing hours for them.

And that creates this money gusher directed at starting up a lot of new shows in order to create enough content for these platforms to produce a lot of prestige-y looking thumbnails when you get to the home screen of the app. And what is serving up those thumbnails to you? It's the algorithm. It's deciding what you are likely to click on and keep watching to generate those viewing hours for them.

And that creates a different kind of incentive. That's not the kind of incentive where you're like, oh, I'm going to create a drama about a mobster in New Jersey because people haven't seen that before and it'll be so surprising they'll watch it.

And that creates a different kind of incentive. That's not the kind of incentive where you're like, oh, I'm going to create a drama about a mobster in New Jersey because people haven't seen that before and it'll be so surprising they'll watch it.

It is, I'm going to generate something that kind of reminds you of that show that you watched about the mobster in New Jersey, so that you'll click on that and watch our streaming platform for a little longer. Each man in the 101st Airborne would be going home. You loved Band of Brothers back when it was on HBO.

It is, I'm going to generate something that kind of reminds you of that show that you watched about the mobster in New Jersey, so that you'll click on that and watch our streaming platform for a little longer. Each man in the 101st Airborne would be going home. You loved Band of Brothers back when it was on HBO.

All right, Apple TV is going to give you Masters of the Air, which is more boring, but it's good enough for now.

All right, Apple TV is going to give you Masters of the Air, which is more boring, but it's good enough for now.

You liked Big Little Lies on HBO.

You liked Big Little Lies on HBO.