The final two episodes of the current season Stranger Things debuts about 9 hours from now on Netflix. Of course, it is hard to think of them as TV show episodes when the second episode clocks in at well over two hours. That's a movie where I grew up, folks.
Netflix has decided to make everyone anxious about the facte of fan favourite character Steve by setting up this billboard:
As if we all don't have enough to be worried about these days.
Australia losing the down under in its TV
There has been a lot of conversation in recent years in Australia (where the home office of ABW is located) about the perceived need for international streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, etc to be required to produce local series. I've never been a fan of these mandatory quotas for two key reasons:
1) Running a streaming service isn't the same as using public spectrum to broadcast on. Yes, it makes sense that Channel 9, as a requirement of using public broadcast spectrum, should produce local programming. But I've never understood why the same should be demanded of, say, Netflix, which is distributed via the Internet.
2) What is the benefit that we are seeking? Is it that we are keeping Australian professionals working, or is it that we want to preserve Australian stories? If it is the former, then the conversation needs to be about more than just forcing international streamers to produce locally, it needs to be about setting up frameworks for regular work and reasonable pay (it is one thing to say that X many jobs were created, but it is another to say that these jobs provided employment for longer than ten weeks and didn't just leave production crew members scrambling to find a new gig - should one be available. It's not like everybody on set is making enough money to comfortably live off savings inbetween jobs). If it is the latter, why are we demanding international streamers tell local stories? The shows they produce locally will be commissioned based on their ability to play beyond the relatively small Australian market - that dillutes the inate Australianness of these stories. Instead we need to better financially support local public broadcasters like the ABC and SBS in order to ensure that local stories are told with integrity.
Australian critic Sandy George is the author behind the paper Nobody Talks About Australianness on our Screens. It can be downloaded for free at https://currencyhouse.org.au/
For the report Measuring the Cultural Value of Australia’s Screen Sector, 928 Australians were asked to identify the three most culturally impactful pieces of Australian content.
The heavy hitters of the 271 productions mentioned were Crocodile Dundee, Home and Away, Neighbours, The Castle, Mad Max, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Four Corners, Australia, Gallipoli, Q&A and Rabbit-Proof Fence. Diverse though the list is, the ‘Australianness’ of each drama is as clear as day. Others might call them ‘stories that enable Australians to hold a mirror up to themselves and to hear their own voices’.
Published byDavid Knox
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South Park: The Streaming Wars Pt 2 debuts on Paramount+July 13.
That's it for now. Always Be Streaming will be in your inbox later today. After that - it's just Stranger Things final episodes for the season and then whatever your weekend holds.
