Why Are These Koreans Being Cancelled On Netflix?

Netflix has just cancelled its fourth show in one year that was led by a Korean-American actor. What is going on? Is this coincidence or conspiracy? Look, there's no easy way to say this. Seven more blockbusters just closed. You're officially the last one on earth. I'm from the dead. A week ago I did a job, a bounty. Being on the partner track is how you find out who you really are. It's cutthroat and I'm so close. We're concerned about what's going on in the department. This is already all over social media. This department's hanging on by a thread. Wow, people love discussing this type of stuff on the entertainment internets. Um, Andrew, this article went viral from NexShark basically saying Brandon Park's show just got cancelled. Arden Cho's got cancelled. Sandra Oh's got cancelled. And Jon Cho's Cowboy Bebop got cancelled. Yeah, I mean, let's talk about the five reasons why these shows got cancelled. I mean, I think there's some different reasons for all of them, but these are our five reasons why, considering that, you know, we we've worked with Netflix, David. Yeah, that's facts. We may have had a cancellation that I do, you know, can or cannot speak about. Andrew, reason number one. Netflix is super cutthroat when it comes to the algorithm, when it comes to the analytics. Um, I think a lot of companies are this way, but maybe stereotypically or at least maybe even factually Netflix, particularly so. Yeah, I mean, here's the thing, guys. Netflix cancelled 30 shows this year that were Netflix originals that either lasted one or two seasons. So they cut a lot of shows after two seasons because Netflix kind of operates, uh, like YouTube, you know, such as where YouTube is. We try different formats out. We'll try different videos out. Guess what? If they don't perform and they don't get the views, we don't do them again. Basically, it's even a little bit more ruthless than YouTube because if you're not bringing in any new subscribers, they will cut even a successful show after season three if it's starting to cost too much because it has to do with like new user acquisition. That's like the name of the game, right? Because once you already have people locked in, they're already in your cash flow projections and expectations for the following year. So you really need to get new people paying, you know, $15 a month. Yeah. Point number two, that there are actually just a lot more Korean Americans that were leading shows, and the more shows means that there's more opportunities to get canceled. This kind of goes back to the more shots you take and the more shots you make, probably also the more shots you miss too. Yeah. Out of 30 shows, four of them being led by Korean Americans is a lot. Yo, I'll tell you this. Netflix likes building up shows and then tearing them down quickly. They like to hire and fire. This is kind of their quick... I feel like when it comes to approving shows, they're like, okay, good. That one's hit some marks. Let's make that one. Let's produce, let's produce. I mean, they do follow the tech ethos, which is like make and break. That's like how they do things at Metta. They code quick. And then if the code doesn't work out, they break it down quick. And you know, there's pros and cons to that. One pro is that like a lot of Asians get more reps and more shots. And then another con is that like a lot of Asians get canceled real quick too. I mean, reason number three, these shows were just not that great and they were too expensive. I know Cowboy Bebop, that stuff looked expensive and a lot of people didn't like it. So Cowboy Bebop is a very popular anime, right? But a lot of the anime fan base was not pleased with the live action. I would say that, yeah, people were very disappointed about the gap. I don't think Cowboy Bebop, the one with John Cho was like horrible, but the gap was too big. Partner Track actually looks pretty good in the trailer. I think Partner Track was the one that I'm most surprised that it didn't get a second season because I thought it was right there. Not even a second season. The Sandra Oh show, like where she's playing the chancellor of the private university and like, I don't know, in the Northeast or something. That one looked a little bit boring to me without, because people don't really like those like neo-gothic campuses without magic. That's like Harry Potter, right? You got to have the magic or werewolves or something. And then for the Randall Park show, Andrew, I think that the blockbuster thing, it just like, it wasn't really an exciting environment to create things because people had already seen The Office. They already saw Superstore. They already seen like 40-year-old Virgin with the smart tech. Yeah, I mean, I think overall the reviews for Blockbuster, that show with Randall Park, unfortunately, they were pretty bad reviews. And the funny thing is Randall is a good comedian, but you know that good comedians put into bad shows. You know, sometimes it just like, it's just a whole system. And what I noticed because Netflix creates so much content and there's so many shows out there and so many people are getting opportunities. I feel like sometimes people like mail stuff in. I'm not saying Randall did, but maybe the producers or the writers or just Netflix in general did. You know what I mean? I'm not going to lie. It is true. And I'm not saying that I'm agreeing with the boomers on Yahoo comments or whatever, but a lot of times when they're trying to like throw stuff at the wall for 2022, it might be like, okay, we got this Asian guy. We're going to pair him with a white Latina. They're working a retail job. We'll be able to get the youth market because they're going to be a subplot with like two people that are like blah, blah, blah. You know what I mean? Like they're trying to like check the boxes to some extent. I'm not saying, by the way, check the boxes in the same way the Yahoo comments are, but there is some formulaic approach and shotgun, throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Because, for example, Andrew, on TV, Raymond Lee with Quantum Leap Redux, that did get a second season. Yeah, that show's doing really well, but I think it's because it's not on a algorithmic focus platform like Netflix. Like, you know, I think because Quantum Leap, legacy show, right? You're an old 60-year-old and you're switching through like, oh, Quantum Leap's back on. Oh, there's a new thing. And then as long as the Asian face doesn't turn you off, then you're watching the show. To be fair, Andrew, Raymond Lee, he does actually like go into the bodies of a lot of white and black people. So that may be like a huge ability to like hedge against any sort of like, ah, I hit my yellow face. Well, let me tell you this. He's not an Asian guy the entire show. He actually changes bodies. So if you get sick of his face after five minutes being Asian, then he'll turn into like a light-skinned black guy. Anyways, guys, point number four. You know, I think at the end of the day, a lot of these Korean-American actors, maybe in a sense, I'm just throwing it out there, do not have a huge international draw because Netflix now is like an international platform. You're competing with shows from France, from Spanish-speaking countries, from Korea. You know what I mean? And all these shows are like the top shows from where they're coming from. And this just isn't a trend. I noticed like with Korean-Americans in 2022 on Netflix, this goes all the way back to like Rich Brian or Rich Chigga at that time. Right. Rich Chigga being from Asia. You know, Squid Games being from Asia. Higher Brothers is from Asia. Uncle Roger's from Asia. Andrew, Michelle Yeoh is from Asia. These were all like, they're born and raised in Asia products, but they happen to be fluent in English. And I think that that, like you said, Andrew, it's a much better play because they, you know, learn the American culture, like whether it's through the internet or around, you know, some sort of international school in Asia. But then they still are able to like be in touch with those markets. Oh, man, I've been saying this in videos past, man. And I don't want to like, I can't say this completely. But in media, it seems like being an Asian immigrant is really not a disadvantage anymore. In fact, it's better because you can play characters with accents and then sort of be like, oh, that's how I used to talk versus us. Even, you know, it's weird. I'm not going to lie, guys. I see the comments where people think it's problematic for me to do an impression of like people in my family. No, we're going to keep doing accents. I'm going to keep doing it. We're going to keep doing accents. But I do acknowledge that if someone casted me in a role to play a Chinese immigrant and to speak with an accent, I mean, they might want to just get an actual Asian immigrant, to be honest. Well, just to avoid the problem. Yeah, just to avoid me having to play up that accent. Yeah, if it was a cool character, I'm still doing it. I mean, I want to do it, but I'm just saying, you know, for them. Anyways, guys, the fifth show, the fifth reason why we think these shows got canceled is, you know, a lot of these Asian faces or the shows that do well with Asian faces are just coming from Asia, right? I mean, that kind of goes to the previous point. There's getting actors born and raised in Asia, almost like an Uncle Roger type situation. But then there's also just importing shows that were developed for the Asia market, initially completely filmed by production studios on site in Asia and then just buying the licensing or publishing rights. I want to give people a lot of credit for being able to stomach a lot of Asian faces, but there might be a limit for a lot of non-Asians to how many Asian faces they can watch in a day. You said, I already saw Squid Game and I enjoyed it. It pushed me, but I enjoyed it. And now you want me to watch Blockbuster? Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think I don't want to say that there's limits because I don't want to say that there's limits to how many people Asian faces can appeal to. But I'm just saying the truth is, I might be at point. And that's why we, Andrew, we have to get into the Yahoo comments section. Andrew, can you click in there? Because of course, Andrew, you get the boomers and the zoomers and the doomers all together. And people just start saying some hilarious stuff. Andrew, of course, you did see, you know, the classic sort of more, I guess, you know, certain type of opinion where he's like, man, that's what happens when you shove all this stuff down our throats. You got to cancel it, you know, because I don't like the way I'm being force fed this type of new America. And of course, that was like representative of opinion. Andrew, there was another one that was like saying, well, you know, maybe if you would have put some sexy Korean women in these shows, it wouldn't have got canceled. Never saw a show with sexy Korean women get not canceled. Not my words, by the way, the comment section. I saw one comment that said, man, why don't you guys just celebrate that you even had four shows led by Korean Americans that even could get canceled? Because there's a lot of other people that aren't getting that many shows made. There was other comments basically saying like, it could be a little bit of racism at play, right? Because the likability of the actors is influenced by their race. And then the likability of one or singular actors also do impact how much you like the show. So it's almost like a fractional thing, though. I mean, I think most people were like, this title was a little clickbaity from Next Shark, though. Yeah, yeah, it was. But also one more comment said, hey, I just like the Korean shows from Korea better. Now, I think this comment is interesting because you shouldn't really be comparing these shows to Korean shows. But I get why you do. No, you're saying they should be compared to American shows. Yeah, you should be comparing them to American shows. But unfortunately, if it's led by an Asian, then oftentimes it gets just subconsciously slotted as an Asian show. So now it's competing with other Asian shows from Asia because a lot of the people who want to see an Asian face, who think Jon Cho is attractive, who think Randall Park has a friendly, handsome face, who think Arden Cho is very attractive, they're also the type to watch shows from Asia. So now you're competing with them. Right, you're almost competing for the Western Asians or the Western Asian files. Yeah. Ultimately, guys, shout out to everybody who got a show and had canceled. At the end of the day, guys, I think it's still progress. Progress is not perfect. I wish these shows could have got second and third seasons and been successful. I'm sure that everybody wishes that that was involved as well as the actors themselves. But I still think it's just like chipping away at it because diversity is like not easy because there's like the whole concept of diversity, but then there's the execution of it too. And it's hard to make a good show even if you make the cast all white or all black. You know what I mean? Regardless if it's like one of the main two, I guess, ethnicities in America. So, you know, not every show with an Asian lead is going to be like the best put together from the script to the filming, to the timing, to the pacing. I mean, in a way, this sounds weird, but I guess I'm looking forward to more shows with Asians that get canceled. Not because I want them to get canceled, but I want them to get made. Right. Do you think, though, there will be an impact because they're like at Netflix, they're like, you know, well, we canceled like all four Asian or Korean led shows. Like it clearly didn't work next season. Let's not do any. No, I don't think so. I think they're going to keep trying. But yeah, I do think they'll make adjustments. There is this new show with Michelle Yao and a bunch of other Asian-American actors that we know of called The Brother's Son that's coming out right now. That's going to be coming out next year. So that has Michelle Yao and Michelle Yao is at pretty much the peak of her Western career right now. She probably signed on before like everything, everywhere, all at once, you know, to be honest. So I'm just saying if she's locked in contractually at a pretty decent or fair like pay rate there, that means that show is going at least two to three. I will tell you this. Just almost in a way based off Michelle Yao. That show has to flop for it to get canceled after one season. It has to be so bad. If it's decent, I think it'll go for a second season. But anyways, guys, yeah, let me know in the comments down below what you guys think. These are just our thoughts on these shows getting canceled. No, I do not think it is race based fully. I mean, I think it has a little bit to do with it. But ultimately, you know, it's kind of how Netflix operates. At the end of the day, guys, progress is not perfect. Shout out to everybody. I think they're going to have great careers. They're going to do want to do, you know, go on to do great things. And yeah, this is just part of the process. All right, everybody, let us know down below in the comments if you watched any of these shows or if you have reasons of your own on why they got canceled. Thank you so much for watching the Hot Pop Boys. Until next time we out. Peace.