Jack King examines the implications of creators editing shows after they have been released. He cites the case of the Duffer bros. making a recent change to an episode of Stranger Things Season 2.
A show like Stranger Things, the most highly watched series on Netflix in the English language, boasts huge cultural cachet: if the Duffers are doing it, who’s to say that other creators won’t? One day patches might become as commonplace in screen media as they are in video games, and that is a truly worrying precedent for consumers and the integrity of art alike.
It’s interesting to compare TV shows to video games, regarding the ability to make corrections after a release. Once the trend started with video games, it spread until the quality of the initial game was not as important, as the makers knew they could put out a patch after the release. Patching video games is a bit different from changing content in a TV show, though. With the show, you are dealing more with actors, crews, writers and availability, instead just diverting developers who are already working on the next project. You can see some parallels, but ultimately, I think it’s a pretty different paradigm.
→ Netflix Retroactively Editing Stranger Things Is the Beginning of a Dangerous TV Trend
