Interview · moment 12 of 16
Netflix vs. Comedy Central, and the Drew Michael Special
from An Exotic Beast · #131
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minGuest
They discuss whether Netflix has been a net positive or negative for comedy, Comedy Central's attempted comeback with Bill Burr, and dig into the divisive audience-less Drew Michael HBO special that comedians privately hated.
- 40:54Tim refers to Comedy Central as 'Comedy Marginal,' which didn't go over well with people there.
- 41:09Netflix destroyed Comedy Central, primarily through money.
- 41:45Tim argues that anyone claiming 'comedy is this' doesn't understand how incredibly complicated and varied the comedy landscape actually is.
- 42:01Netflix is starting to have troubles while Comedy Central tries to reclaim market share it lost.
- 42:23Netflix has been a net positive for comedy overall, though middle-tier comedians are ill-served by the platform despite getting specials—they get lost and don't get promoted.
- 43:05Even with a Netflix special available 24 hours a day for eternity, the oversaturation of content makes it extremely hard to stand out.
- 43:39Drew Michael reveals Comedy Central, HBO, and Netflix have all offered him specials.
- 43:51If all three platforms offered him a special, he'd be so big he'd just put it out on his own website instead.