The stand-out word for me is binge-watch which has become more and more popular first down to DVD boxsets (asks your parents, kids) and then streaming services like Netflix.
Being able to consume a series, one episode after another, has now become the norm thanks to the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Adverts are now a thing of the past and I find myself even unable to wait for the 10 second countdown between episodes.
The latest show to get the binge treatment in my household is the Netflix original series Master of None. Written and starring Aziz Ansari as Dev, a 30-year-old actor who attempting to navigate his way through life in New York City.
Ansari has great credentials - one of the highest paid comedians on the planet, with a string of sell-out tours under his belt, a role in Parks and Recreation and finally he's taken the leap to front his own show.
What becomes clear is Master of None could only be made by Netflix or Amazon, they don't conform to sitcom stereotypes, there's no zany fall guy - covering issues of sex and racism, not unashamedly, but just matter-of-factly.
Ansari on stage personae is that of a spoilt 21st century man-child. Someone you regards a "crisis" as not getting a decent-enough 4G signal, and he's taken elements of this into the character of Dev. Dealing the important issues of the modern age like finding the best taco "joint" in the city, only to discover there's no tacos left, because Dev spent 2 hours researching it.
The opening scene involves a realistically awkward sex scene, a split condom and a trip to a chemists for a morning after pill. His best friends are a jew, a black lesbian and an american asian - but this doesn't feel forced to fill any diversity quota - these just happen to be Dev's friends.
Is Master of None perfect? no, but it's pretty close to it. The finds of the series are Dev's parents, played by his actual parents - yes there's a couple of nods to traditional Asian subjects, like the pressure of settling down and getting a "proper job", but Master of None highlights brilliantly the issue of our age - explaining how to sync to iTunes to the older generation.
We're the on-demand generation, we're able to choose to binge-watch, burning through a series which has taken maybe years to create in a day, a then there's that void left.
But then I suppose I can spend two hour search for the next besttaco, show, on Netflix.
Ansari has great credentials - one of the highest paid comedians on the planet, with a string of sell-out tours under his belt, a role in Parks and Recreation and finally he's taken the leap to front his own show.
What becomes clear is Master of None could only be made by Netflix or Amazon, they don't conform to sitcom stereotypes, there's no zany fall guy - covering issues of sex and racism, not unashamedly, but just matter-of-factly.
Ansari on stage personae is that of a spoilt 21st century man-child. Someone you regards a "crisis" as not getting a decent-enough 4G signal, and he's taken elements of this into the character of Dev. Dealing the important issues of the modern age like finding the best taco "joint" in the city, only to discover there's no tacos left, because Dev spent 2 hours researching it.
The opening scene involves a realistically awkward sex scene, a split condom and a trip to a chemists for a morning after pill. His best friends are a jew, a black lesbian and an american asian - but this doesn't feel forced to fill any diversity quota - these just happen to be Dev's friends.
Is Master of None perfect? no, but it's pretty close to it. The finds of the series are Dev's parents, played by his actual parents - yes there's a couple of nods to traditional Asian subjects, like the pressure of settling down and getting a "proper job", but Master of None highlights brilliantly the issue of our age - explaining how to sync to iTunes to the older generation.
We're the on-demand generation, we're able to choose to binge-watch, burning through a series which has taken maybe years to create in a day, a then there's that void left.
But then I suppose I can spend two hour search for the next best
Watch trailer now
Comments
Post a Comment