Judd Apatow Says Netflix Licensing HBO Shows Is a ‘Scary Thing’: ‘You’ll Get Fewer New Shows’ Because It’s ‘Cheaper’
variety.comMichaela Zee Judd Apatow spoke to Vulture in a recent interview about the current state of television, including why the trend of rewatching older series and licensing pacts between streamers is “scary.” “I’m of two minds,” Apatow said. “There’s a part of me that’s an audience member: I’ll go back and rewatch ‘Deadwood’ or ‘NYPD Blue’ or any of the David Milch shows.
I understand why people like the comfort food of television. But it’s a scary thing as a creator of television, because of all the streamers going, ‘Wait a second.
We don’t need to spend $200 million on a new show. We can just bring back “Barnaby Jones.”‘ They’re going to do it, then you’ll get fewer new shows.” The “This Is 40” writer-director continued, “They realize, Oh wait, Netflix can just buy shows from HBO, and I would assume they’re cheaper than making new ones.
Then at some point, Netflix will sell its shows to HBO, and it’ll just be passing around all the episodes of ‘Ballers’ for the rest of our lives.” Last year, Warner Bros.
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