Even Case Western Reserve University students need to take a break from the academic grind every once in a while. This break likely includes a date with an array of snacks and the latest TV show everyone’s talking about. Today, instead of television networks, though, most students have turned to streaming. The advent of streaming services was originally marketed as a way to provide users more control over what they decide to watch while saving a bit of money. Recently, though, the sheer multitude of services and their low-quality content has been stealing the benefit of this independence. 

Now more than ever, streaming companies have to contend with other high dopamine distractions like social media. As a result, there has been a clear decline in shows as an art form in many ways. More and more series are being fashioned into comfortable background noise to accompany other tasks. Admittedly, it has become hard for many of us to sit in the silence of our own thoughts as we constantly search for some kind of stimulation. We want to half-watch a show while we read, study, do laundry and even scroll on our phones. Viewers complain about plots being far too hard to follow, yet when asked if they were paying attention, they admit that they were in the middle of doing their chores as the TV blared in the background. It’s no surprise then that companies have noticed and adjusted for this increased need to multitask.

Shows fashioned as easily digestible, background noise can be spotted within seconds. Their budget is usually relatively modest, they probably include a couple content creators or actors who rose to a recent fame through a decent Netflix original (think Drew Starkey or Simone Ashley), and most telling, their scripts are absolutely atrocious. From Amazon Prime Video’s original “Picture This” (allegedly Amazon Prime Video’s No. 9-rated show in the U.S. at the time of writing this) to Netflix’s “The Kissing Booth,” it is clear that these shows cater to an audience who has grown a dependence on their phones and find it difficult to focus on the other screen in front of them. There’s nothing wrong with a cheesy show, but when it’s trite, unenjoyable and sounds like it was written by a machine, that is when things start to become questionable.

The rise of these shows comes as no surprise seeing as creatives have been severely undervalued for their work for a long time now. In 2023, the Writers Guild of America launched a labor dispute against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, claiming that they were not being fairly compensated by big corporations. This dispute came alongside the American actors’ union SAG-AFTRA strike and ultimately resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. One major concern brought up during the time concerned the use of artificial intelligence and the staffing cuts in the entertainment industry due to the rise in AI-generated content. Exacerbating the issue, both strikes came after the COVID-19 pandemic when most industries—especially the creative ones—took a hit. Shows were put on hold, and actors and writers found themselves out of jobs and without ways to support themselves. All in all, the situation exposed how undervalued creatives are compared to more quantitative and scientific jobs despite the artistic value that writers and actors add to society.

Adding to the mistreatment of creatives, streaming services have made a habit of cancelling shows that are not immediately popular. Paradoxically, many consumers have come to expect this behavior, choosing to withhold from watching a show because they’re unsure if there will ever be a continuation or if it will perpetually end on a cliffhanger. On the other hand, if a show that does not end on a cliffhanger proves to be more popular than expected, it is common for a second season to be made, leading to underwhelming character expansions and empty plotlines. As companies become more self-assured that the safest option is to continue recycling the same plots that they have used before countless times or renewing shows long past their expiration date, they end up ignoring countless opportunities to take chances on new, diverse stories. This is yet another way these platforms foster a feeling of incompleteness in their creations.

Although the rise of streaming services hasn’t been entirely bad—a large amount of content is now easily accessible, and consumers can decide what and where they want to watch—the industry is increasingly becoming riddled with new problems they should be forced to contend with. When entertainment becomes almost solely focused on profit rather than genuinely charming, innovative and/or thought-provoking stories, it hurts the general public. We need to make sure that we continue to seek out creatives who are working hard to craft thoughtful media.