Netflix and Amazon lead the way as big stars like Robert De Nero and other big names bolt to the streaming outlets.
There can be no denying that streaming video is here to stay and with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Showtime, Acorn and at least 45 other services out there it will only get bigger. We like the idea of watching streaming video on our HD TV’s as well as our tablets and phones, plus there is the portability of streaming video world.
So with the entertainment industry now deeply invested in producing new programming it should be no surprise that they are turning to big stars to help them land viewers.
Case in point according to The Hollywood Reporter, is reporting, Robert De Niro is getting $750,000 for each of 20 episodes of an upcoming Amazon series produced by filmmaker David O. Russell. Meryl Streep is about to get paid a reported $825,000 per episode to sign on for J.J. Abrams’ Warner Bros. TV miniseries The Nix, which has yet to land at a network. Although it is believed that Netflix, Amazon, HBO and Showtime are all interested in the project.
Amazon, Netflix and HBO have been the most aggressive in going after big names for their small screen programs. Netflix, which will spend upward of $6 billion on original content this year and which kicked off the spree in 2013 with a $100 million commitment for two seasons of Kevin Spacey’s House of Cards. In March, Netflix picked up a package for a reboot of the Norwegian comedy series Maniac, with Jonah Hill and Emma Stone set to make $350,000 for each of 10 episodes. Netflix beat HBO to pay Chris Rock $20 million each for two stand-up comedy specials.
For now, we will look at what to watch this weekend and there is plenty out there to see. For those binge watchers there are a couple of “sleepers,” out there you might have missed but need to see.
Amazon Prime Video – Good Girls Revolt
The show has a kind of a Mad Men, vibe to it but the women in the newspaper and magazine industry are the focus. It’s 1969, and there’s a war going on in America. The war is being fought in business offices around the country and the group leading the charge are women in the workforce, fighting for equal rights and equal acknowledgement for the work they’ve performed for years. Good Girls Revolt, is worth watching because like Mad Men, the writing is smart, the acting is outstanding and it very true to the period. Starting with the pre-1970’s, the program shows how women in the creative industry were finding a voice in the tough newsrooms in major publications in New York.
Actually it might be a good idea to pair Good Girls Revolt with Man Men for a great weekend.
Netflix offers the BBC version of The House of Cards. Long before there was Frank Underwood in Washington there was Francis Urquhart in London.
The show is set just after British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s resignation, the original House of Cards features as much backstabbing and morally corrupt political drama as its current day. Ian Richardson and Diane Fletcher star as the infamous power couple Frank and Elizabeth Urquhart, are outstanding and well worth watching. The House of Cards Trilogy is a wildly fun ride, even if you’ve seen the remake.
