Streaming service Netflix is reportedly having major apprehension whether to proceed with production for Season 2 of the musical drama TV series “The Get Down” after spending a fortune in producing Season 1 and only getting average ratings in the process.
Netflix has agreed to dive into producing the musical drama TV series in the hope that it would be a big hit the way the musical drama show “Empire” has been on Fox.
But apparently, the streaming service miscalculated its strategy when “The Get Down” turned out as the most expensive TV series ever, spending $120 million just to produce the six episodes of its debut season.
So far, Baz Luhrmann’s epic 70s hip-hop drama has not come close to being as popular as several of Netflix recent originals, based on third-party research, notes Variety.
According to estimates, the initial results for “The Get Down” indicate that the TV series has not been a big hit.
The first six episodes of “The Get Down” premiered on August 12. According to Symphony Advanced Media, “The Get Down” in the first 31 days of release garnered 3.2 million total viewers among American adults in 18-49 years old demographics, with an average audience rating in the demo of 2.33.
But the buzz for “The Get Down” quickly died down, falling 40% in the second week and 21% and 30%, respectively, over the next two weeks, to 7.46 million demand expressions for the week of September 4 to 10, according to Parrot Analytics.
Parrot Analytics measures hundreds of billions of data points across multiple platforms, weighing them based on relevance, including YouTube and other video services, social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr, fan and critic rating sites, and file-sharing piracy services.
In terms of reviews, critics have mixed reception on “The Get Down.” It earned a 74% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared with 95% for “Stranger Things” and 96% for “Orange is the New Black.”
High hopes for Season 2
Amid the major apprehension of Netflix on Season 2 of “The Get Down,” hopes are high that it would happen because of the relative critical acclaim of the TV series.
Executive producer Nelson George disclosed that the show will likely do a time jump into the early 1980s – the era of Prince, Michael Jackson, the rise of crack and the collapse of disco.
But Luhrmann seems to have hinted an early exit from the show when he recently said that he would eventually want to move on to other projects.
He also admitted to looking for a younger director who is capable of carrying the torch for him though but he promised that he will stick around to the end or at least, until his work is done on “The Get Down.”
The birth of hip-hop
“The Get Down” is set in the South Bronx. It follows a ragtag group of teenagers amid the birth of hip-hop during the 1970s and explores deeper themes such as corrupt bureaucracies and rising violence in their communities, details the Christian Post.
Its first season featured six hour-long episodes, starring Justice Smith, who plays Ezekiel Figueroa; Shameik Moore, who plays Shaolin Fantastic; and Jaden Smith, who plays Marcus Kipling.
Its pilot episode had been heavily criticized but quickly recovered momentum in its next five episodes. The artistic flair of Luhrmann has become apparent in the show too.
“The Get Down” is essentially the narrative of hip-hop seen through the eyes of the young Ezekiel, a high school drifter who’s in love with Mylene Cruz, played by Herizen Guardiola.
With him are his friends, who dance along to the tune of Latin music, ballroom, and disco, and discover for themselves what it’s like to live in the 70s.