Netflix should've given Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj the time to build its name -- like successful late-night shows get

Mel Magazine

"Last year, I wrote a piece arguing that the late-night talk shows have devolved into a tedious exercise in lazy Trump-bashing, and pander to liberal Boomers who prefer the same recycled jokes about the president’s unnatural orange hue, or how his tweets are full of misspellings," says Miles Klee. Patriot Act, he says, was canceled this week after offering "something else" over its 20-month run. "It’s easy to remember a time in television when this would’ve been a 'warm-up' period, the necessary span of adjustment for a host and their staff as they found a groove for themselves," says Klee. "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert had a rocky start in 2015; its ratings significantly improved when Trump took office in 2017. Despite low viewership for The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, Comedy Central took the long bet on Jon Stewart’s successor, extending his contract till 2022. Minhaj didn’t have this cushion — he worked for Netflix, a notorious killer of talk shows — and what’s more, he didn’t need it. He hit the ground running with a fresh format, youthful vigor and underexposed topics. You didn’t watch him for weak-a** Trump satire; you streamed his elegant, funny deconstructions of the hypebeast economy, the NRA’s influence abroad and the way billionaires use the cover of philanthropy to further enrich themselves and dictate policy. He delivered these surprising segments as a millennial son of Indian immigrants and Muslim heritage....By now it’s clear that Netflix doesn’t see much upside to a show that probes and innovates like Patriot Act, nor a voice like Minhaj’s. As the company struggles against downward trends, it has swerved hard into bingeable reality TV like Selling Sunset and Love Is Blind, shows that narcotize viewers instead of challenging them. Patriot Act was incredibly sharp, and its great themes — pervasive corruption and disintegrated government — were bracing as well as controversial....The real pity is that his employers had neither the patience nor vision to keep investing in this very apt approach, so that the show might continue to build its base and pull in additional followers. Netflix isn’t built for such a vote of confidence, however smart that wager may be; its executives can only cut creatives loose the minute they decide a product hasn’t dominated the landscape as they’d like it to. But you can’t broaden your niche overnight. Patriot Act succeeded in an inhospitable climate, a vibrant color against the dull backdrop of late-night comedy, and this alone tells you it deserved the room to grow and flourish. Instead, some suits junked their best answer to the question of how a talk show can vibe with the streaming experience. Whatever they try after going back to the drawing board, it’s almost guaranteed to fail."

ALSO:

• Why can't Netflix figure out the topical comedy talk show genre?: "Herein lies the biggest issue: Netflix is trying to make a broadcast-specific genre of television work for a streaming audience," says Julia Alexander. "They’re two different beasts. (Netflix vice president of nonfiction series and comedy specials Brandon) Riegg told the (New York) Times last year that 'the timeliness of the genre is a challenge for us as an on-demand service.' That is, in essence, true; talk shows are topical by nature. Guests are often there to promote books or movies they have coming out or are otherwise booked because of something that is currently happening. Being available daily also brings in advertising revenue for the networks and conditions an audience. Even if they don’t tune in five days a week, people know that Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, and Ellen are on at the exact same time every single day. Talk shows become a consistent, ad-generating business for networks that need to fill time slots 24/7. But Netflix isn’t a topical, daily platform. People use it daily, but the algorithm is serving up sitcoms or movies they might be interested in, pushing them to continue using the service by offering titles that might make them stay an extra hour or two. It may be difficult for talk shows to break through the noise of thousands of other titles; some people might not see them on their homepage at all."
• Patriot Act will be sorely missed because Hasan Minhaj spoke truth to power, like when he criticized Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman