Netflix's 'Kaleidoscope' experimented with non-linear storytelling

Netflix's original movies are designed to play in the background, appealing to audiences who watch them passively, often while doing chores or looking at their phones.

Netflix, explained

From offering an internet-based, mail-order Blockbuster alternative to its eventual status as a market leader in streaming entertainment, Netflix has led nearly every major paradigm shift in the television and movie business since its inception.

The 'second screen' effect has realigned the writing for Netflix's original shows

As more subscribers put Netflix on in the background, the company has encouraged more expositional dialogue in its original scripts. Filmmaker Justine Bateman claims the streamer doesn't "want anything on your show to distract [viewers] from their primary screen."

Netflix positioned itself as a logical alternative to movie rentals

At its inception, Netflix disrupted the entertainment industry, in particular the movie rental business, by mass mailing DVDs to customers who made selections online. That brand is evident in this 2004 commercial.

In recent years, Netflix has shifted away from scripted originals toward low-cost reality programming.

Netflix has sometimes struggled with technical aspects of live-streaming

Anne Aaron, Netflix’s senior encoding tech director, spent a decade improving how Netflix streams its content. Then came the challenges of live events. Netflix has experimented with live content like stand-up comedy and sporting events. In this interview with The Verge, Aaron walks through the associated technical and coding challenges.

HBO inspired Netflix and vice versa

Netflix's pivot towards original, prestige content would not have been possible if HBO had not blazed that trail decades earlier. Ironically, HBO later used Netflix as a business model when reinventing itself as a streaming app.

The 2022 best picture winner, 'CODA,' was an Apple+ original

Streaming has changed more than how we watch movies—it's changed the way we recognize them during awards season. When movie theaters shut down during the early days of the pandemic, studios had no choice but to release their films on streaming. Once the shift occurred, there was no going back.

How Netflix battled Blockbuster

The most consequential business stories involve intense rivalries. The story of Netflix versus Blockbuster is one of those: an agile upstart versus an entrenched incumbent. This nine-part podcast explores the key strategies and pivotal moments in the rivalry that upended the entertainment business, setting the stage for the streaming wars.

Is streaming the new novel?

Ever since the rise of “prestige television” in the early 2000s, critics and viewers alike have argued that TV has replaced the novel by becoming the most significant storytelling medium, citing the cultural importance of shows like “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” and “Succession.” This essay notes that streaming has strengthened that argument, turning episodes into chapters, and explains why this has been bad for storytelling in both forms.

Netflix's 'KPop Demon Hunters' is the streamer's most-watched original movie

The 2025 film, which combines K-pop music and Korean mythology, became a big hit on the streaming platform. It was equally successful in its limited theatrical release, shooting to the top of the box office rankings.

'Love on the Spectrum,' a popular Netflix reality show, is following people on the autism spectrum as they navigate romantic relationships

This is one of Netflix's biggest shows, something this podcast says is due partly to the fact that the series both scratches the itch for people who enjoy reality dating viewing and the program is conducted in a nonexploitative, sensitive way that makes viewers truly want the best for the people navigating these situations.

Reimagining YouTube as cable TV, complete with channel-surfing

The site streams YouTube content as if it were broadcast television, providing the ability to flip through channels and enter videos mid-stream, and you also can't easily skip ahead. The product is designed in part to bring back serendipity to video discovery.

Netflix's recommendation algorithm was born from a $1M competition

In 2006, Netflix launched an open competition for data science teams to develop approaches to outperform its recommendation algorithm. Three years later, the prize was awarded after a group of competitors merged, developing a solution that beat Netflix's internal algorithm by more than 10%. Today, recommendations are based on what users watch, particularly via bingeing.

'House of Cards' was Netflix's first original prestige drama

When Netflix released the David Fincher-directed political drama series "House of Cards," it marked a watershed moment for both the company and the broader entertainment industry, dramatically shifting how audiences consumed televised entertainment.

Breaking down what makes HBO different

The network took an early gamble on longer episodes and more complicated narratives than a standard television drama. That paid off and, in the process, created what we now consider "prestige TV."

How soap operas are being reimagined for the smartphone

Apps like ReelShort, FlickReels, and DramaBox purport to offer "micro dramas," but they strongly resemble soap operas, with serial melodramas about romance and murder. This NPR piece unpacks the trend, highlighting why this new format appeals to demographics that never connected with daytime soaps.

A 2002 profile of unprofitable Netflix as it bet on a subscription model

The streaming behemoth saw the potential in subscriptions early, and in this 2002 profile CEO Reed Hastings was already talking about plans to offer "downloadable" movies. The profile serves as a historical artifact confirming the startup's risky bets and showcases the contingent factors that led to its success. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

The history of 'Black Mirror,' according to its stars

"Black Mirror" began as a modest anthology show on Britain's Channel 4, offering bleak satire about contemporary technology. It quickly became a hit and attracted stars like Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Hamm, Rashida Jones, and Jesse Armstrong (who'd go on to show run HBO's "Succession"). This oral history of the show details its evolution to an international Netflix hit, providing insights into creator Charlie Brooker's approach to storytelling.

Netflix started in 1997 as a mail-order DVD rental service

The first Netflix customers selected DVDs from the company’s website and received and returned them through regular mail. The approach included no late fees and quickly added the ability to rent an unlimited number of DVDs for a flat monthly fee, with the company passing 1 million subscribers in 2003.

Contrary to popular belief, Netflix didn't kill Blockbuster, though it did intentionally position itself as an alternative to the movie-rental store.

The real restaurant behind Netflix's ‘Nonnas’

The Netflix movie "Nonna's" tells the story of a restaurant whose kitchen is staffed by grandmothers. While that might sound like an outlandish premise, it's based on a true story. This Time story goes behind the scenes of Enoteca Maria, the 35-seat restaurant on Staten Island that inspired the film.

The platform's ease of use relies on a complex architecture

Hitting "play" on Netflix is easy, but it triggers a multistep process that fetches the selected content, converts it for your screen, and finds the closest server to deliver it in the highest quality.

Content frequently disappears from streaming services due to rights negotiations and tax incentives.

The streamer no longer just offers TV and movies

As a means of keeping existing subscribers engaged, and to add new users on the margins, the streaming service began releasing its own original video games. Many are based on existing Netflix titles and franchises. See their current offerings here.

Streaming service Netflix's sound logo 'Tudum' was designed as a key sonic differentiator.

Most of Netflix's subscribers are outside the US

Accordingly, each year, Netflix releases an expansive slate of international shows and movies to subscribers worldwide, including hits that crossed over to the US, like "Squid Game."

Soaps often rely on cliffhangers, along with many other tropes

The shows are written to encourage viewers to tune in for the next episode, so they often withhold resolutions for as long as possible. This has become a recognizable trait, or a trope, for the genre. Much like other narrative genres, soap operas intentionally embrace tropes rather than avoid them.

How Netflix changed TV

In April 2017, Netflix reached 100 million subscribers worldwide—a figure that hit 300 million by 2025. With 50 million in the US alone, it has revolutionized the way people consume entertainment. Newsweek takes a look into the company's history and how it became the dominant force in entertainment.

Amazon is both a vendor for Netflix, via its cloud-computing arm, and its rival

Amazon's Prime Video is a subscription streaming service that includes a variety of original shows and movies for free with a paid Prime membership. This Rotten Tomatoes ranking details 100 of the best Prime Video shows available to watch, including the dramas “Fleabag” and “The Boys.”

Pixar's films follow a standard narrative structure, which the company calls a 'story spine.'

Kurt Vonnegut sought to invert the 'shapes of stories'

Kurt Vonnegut is among the most popular postmodernists, renowned for his humor and willingness to move between genres. This clip from a lecture on narrative is a perfect example of those tendencies, with Vonnegut diagramming typical story structures only to mock their predictability. It's not only an enlightening look at the way stories are told—it's also just good comedy.

How Spotify creates niche genres

One of Spotify's most recognizable features is its playlists. The provider offers an endless stream of strangely titled mixes with names like "Hyperpop," "Phonk," and "Lorem," which suggest uniform genres and scenes despite featuring seemingly random assortments of artists and songs. This article unpacks why Spotify organizes its music in this way and how, unintentionally, the process erases organic movements that developed outside of the app.

A Hitchcock film has been adapted for a new demographic: smartphone users

Hitchcock's "The Lodger," a silent film from 1927, has been adapted for Tattle TV, a video app featuring "vertical microdramas" aimed at smartphone users looking for bite-sized stories.

Science is rarely a linear progression of understanding

Particularly at the frontiers, investigations conducted based on established knowledge can provide unexpected results. This opens the door to revising existing models, inspiring new lines of research, and ultimately leading to better future comprehension. For instance, experiments on the speed of light and the expansion of the universe yielded then-confusing data that led to revolutionary insights.

A scientific analysis of famous time travel stories

This 8-minute video explores how time travel influences the narrative arc of several movies, books and video games, from Harry Potter to A Christmas Carol. (Warning: it contains spoilers!) J.K. Rowling and Charles Dickens set myriad parameters as they’re worldbuilding to avoid paradoxes and create quasi-logical timelines. By drawing diagrams as he’s speaking, the video breaks down how time works in some of popular culture’s most beloved fictional universes.

See a timeline of the consolidation of the television and film industry, beginning with Vaudeville theatre traditions from the 1880s.

Exploring how directors decide where to place the camera

The seamless experience of watching a film is the result of countless aesthetic decisions, one of the most important of which is the placement of the camera taking the shot. In this 8-minute video, directors and actors weigh in on the factors that shape the angles of cinematography, using famous scenes to demonstrate their observations. Watch it here.

‘Oz’ was cable’s first hour-long drama

When the dark prison story debuted in 1997, it was HBO’s only drama and followed a principle that would come to define the network’s shows for decades: “‘I don’t care if they’re likable as long as they’re interesting,’” show creator Tom Fontana told Vice. “That was my mantra.”

HBO's success inspired Showtime, AMC, Netflix, and more

HBO’s success in the early 21st century bred plenty of imitators, who were now more willing to embrace darker, more challenging series like “Weeds,” “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” and “House of Cards.”

How the Discovery Channel was originally built for lifetime learners

Founder John Hendricks envisioned Discovery as a launchpad for educational content that was both informative and engaging. Since, the channel has spawned dozens of other channels, merged with major studios, and launched its own streaming platforms.

The mid-century modern design behind 'Severance'

The streaming show "Severance" has been praised for its distinctive visual aesthetic, which blends dystopian color with tasteful mid-century modern design. This interview with the show's production designer highlights the influences and symbolism of the show's carefully-constructed sets.

How a 2025 Netflix documentary reveals the contested view of the Vietnam War

Brian Knappenberger created a five-part, seven-hour documentary on the war released on the streamer in 2025, the latest in a tradition of hundreds of documentaries covering the event. Expert Thomas Bass, the author of the essay, was invited to be interviewed for the documentary, arguing the conflict's origins are the most crucial aspects to understand. In turn, Bass interviewed Knappenberger—whose father fought in the war—on the Netflix production. Their discussion revealed how streamers mediate historical understanding to a generation that does not have a consensus on what the Vietnam War was.

Novels often use perspective as a narrative device

Classic novels like "The Great Gatsby," "Passing," and "Heart of Darkness" are told from characters' limited perspectives, inviting readers to consider how that narrator might be intentionally or unintentionally crafting the story in a particular way.

HBO is known for its adventurous original series

The premium network is known for groundbreaking shows like “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “The Wire,” “Game of Thrones,” Succession,” and more. Unlike traditional broadcast television, HBO shows were not bound by strict time limits, advertising, or FCC regulations, allowing for more creative freedom.

Nollywood is Nigeria's booming film industry

With storytelling roots in the Yoruba tradition of traveling theater troupes, Nollywood has slowly expanded its influence—and the world is taking notice. Over the last decade, Netflix invested more than $23M in the Nigerian film industry.

The best cult TV shows

Before the streaming era, television shows lived and died by their weekly ratings. That led to early cancellations for several well-regarded shows, like "Freaks and Geeks," "Party Down," and "Veronica Mars." Thanks to DVD boxsets and streaming, the shows often became cult classics long after they were taken off the air.

'Serial': The podcast that revived a genre (4 seasons)

"Serial" debuted in 2014, sparking the contemporary fascination with true crime podcast content with a look at the murder of teenager Hae Minh Lee in 1999, and the jailing of Adnan Syed. The Peabody Award-winning season became a pop culture sensation, spawned countless imitators, and was followed by three more seasons on new topics. Listen to all four seasons here.

How ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ rewrote the indie movie marketing playbook

"Napoleon Dynamite" was a phenomenon when it was released in 2004, but the excitement around the film was the result of a carefully executed, outside-the-box PR strategy that featured free screenings, endless merch, and an early form of stan-centric social media. This deep dive into the film’s inventive marketing tactics explain how a film with a modest budget was able to become a cultural sensation.

HBO Max's 'The Pitt' has found success with an old-school, broadcast-TV production model that harkens back to weekly dramas that mostly disappeared during the streaming era.