My Netflix Demarche

Recently Salon asked "Is it OK to steal 'Downton Abbey'?" I was rather happy they did because I'd had more than one person recently tell me that they've been watching it and I walked away from those conversations wondering "What the hell is 'Downtown Abbey'?" Now I know.

The article says the show has a significant American following but the programme's second series wouldn't air here on PBS until late this month – a few months after it is shown in the UK. It presents a lot of anecdotes. There are frustrated viewers who don't want to wait and so download the show arguing that it's going to be on free TV anyway, so what's the hassle? Then there's one of the show's actors who expressed profound irritation at an American interviewer who admitted to downloading the show. “That’s really pissing me off. Shame on you. Be ashamed," he scolded. The PBS producer seemed sympathetic to frustrated American fans but she really made it sound as if it was out of her hands.

The point is that, in this day and age with satellites, the Internet, and the decline of delayed gratification, it seems inexcusable for producers and distributors of entertainment to stagger releases in different countries. U.S. fans of Downton Abbey who wait for the show to air here not only are left in the dust by the delay but also by the fact that they have access to commentary about the show as it airs in the U.K.

The comments section was interesting, for a short while, anyway. Fans justified their downloads by noting that there is not technological reason for making American fans wait and, furthermore, Doctor Who now airs the same day in the U.K. as in the States so the same kind of deal can be struck for their show. One commenter chided these folks by decrying their childishness. Delayed gratification is the mark of an adult and so whining about a four month delay and instead downloading is simply immature behavior.

This article came to mind in a recent bout of frustration with Netflix. We have the streaming service only. I wanted to watch some Scandinavian crime fiction and thought "How about the second season of Forbrydelsen?", the Danish TV show which was remade here in the States as The Killing and shown on AMC. Netflix had the American version listed as coming soon and today has the DVD's available but no streaming. As for the Danish show, it's never heard of it. Then I thought about Wallander. Not the BBC remake with Kenneth Branagh but the original Swedish films. Netflix had the remake available - on DVD only – and also had a listing for the Swedish series but it wasn't available in any way, shape, or form. (To its credit, Four Star Video has at least some of these for rent on what I presume are Region 2 DVDs. No Forbrydelsen, though.)

So, how about some Doctor Who? (Classic series, that is.) Well, of the 120-130 stories available, less than 20 could be streamed. Mostly 4th Doctor stuff. No Sixey, unfortunately. And only about half of the Key to Time series. Why so few? (Four Star is really weak in this department too.)

OK. I had just finished listening to a college lecture about The Crusades and thought that I'd watch Kingdom of Heaven. Nope. DVD only. This is not a foreign TV show, it's a big budget Hollywood movie yet I can't stream it.

If your business model and advertising are about the ability of the consumer to "instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes", it seems like you should have a big fucking library to choose from. It may be big now but it's not big enough. No wonder their stock value is dropping. They want their customers to move to the streaming service so they can ditch physical media yet the selection of the former is really spotty. Plus I've occasionally found myself at the mercy of Netflix's vagaries in other ways. For example, I read Smila's Sense of Snow and then streamed the movie just before the Netflix gods made it available on DVD only. Why is it "not available to watch instantly" when it used to be? If the movies I want to stream are can simply disappear in an instant, then your service declines in value for me.

I presume that the mercurial availability of various movies on Netflix is due to what that Salon article noted – producers, distributors, and exhibitionists not having their shit together. I recently discovered that Music Box Films will be distributing the Swedish Wallander shows come May. Perhaps this is why Netflix acknowledges that it exists but doesn't have it available. It was waiting for the issue of distribution rights to be settled. Hopefully I'll be able to stream it this spring.

Truth is though, Netflix does much right. I have watched 2033: Future Apocalypse which Four Star doesn't seem to have. And it was nice to be able to watch Severed Ways - The Norse Discovery of America on whim one night. My guess is that the company is, to one extent or another, at the mercy of distributors and, likely, others with a stake in the matter. If some company won't sign a contract with Netflix or if they want more than Netflix can pay, so it goes. If a company says Netflix can rent out the DVD but can't stream it, so it goes. I as a consumer am at the mercy of these big companies.

I was thinking that perhaps it's just my taste. But, when I look, I find out that the only Ridley Scott film available for streaming is Black Hawk Down. Orson Welles? Only The Third Man and Jane Eyre. Kubrick. Just two. Oliver Stone? Four but only 2 are narrative films. And World Trade Center used to be streamable but is no longer. Terry Gilliam? Time Bandits stands alone. And there's not one single David Lynch movie for me to stream.

It is great that Netflix offers the likes of The Saragossa Manuscript and Werckmeister harmóniák on DVD but, seriously, no Citizen Kane on streaming? No Dr. Strangelove? No JFK? No Blue Velvet?

What I find most frustrating is that Netflix does a horrible job of setting customer expectations. Why is Smila's Sense of Snow no longer available for streaming? I don't know and don't think Netflix has ever said. Will it be available again at some point in the future? Who knows? Why is a movie for rent as a DVD but not streamable? It seems to me that, if you want to stem the tide of illegal downloading, keeping customers in the dark and forcing them to suffer your capricious whims is not a great business model.

Did anyone drop a Netflix service when they split the DVD and streaming services? Anyone out there know of good Netflix alternatives?

ADDENDUM: Here's a list of movies and TV shows that went bye-bye today.