Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Netflix reportedly balked at the idea of making Stranger Things merchandise at first, saying that such things were not the focus of their business. Debuting in 2016, Stranger Things has become one of Netflix’s most popular shows. The show has run for four seasons thus far, and Stranger Things season 5 is expected to release in 2025.
As per Wired, Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy says that Netflix initially did not want any kind of merchandise for the show. According to Levy, he pitched the idea to a Netflix exec after he saw “social media light up” about the show in its opening weekend. At the time, the Netflix executive declined saying “With all due respect, we’re in the subscription business.
You have to remember, when we made Stranger Things we had no idea if anyone would watch it. Back when Netflix didn’t tell anyone how many people watched, there was no metric except cultural noise. The weekend it opened, I’m seeing social media light up. I called Netflix and said, “You know, I think this is gonna be something. Maybe we should think about merchandise and other aspects.” I remember the answer from the Netflix exec was, “With all due respect, we’re in the subscription business.
How Stranger Things Changed Netflix Levy makes a good point about the relationship between Netflix’s historically dubious viewing numbers and the start of Stranger Things. The series debuted at a time when Netflix may have been secretive, but social media outlets like Twitter were still very much active. Thus, even in the absence of official Netflix ratings, the success of Stranger Things could be viewed pretty easily simply by perusing the internet.
Stranger Things was not Netflix's first original show, but it's by far the most distinguished of the platform’s original content. Not only has it been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards, but Stranger Things has also set viewing records on Netflix throughout its run. Stranger Things has also pushed Netflix to vary its format. Stranger Things season 4 dropped in two parts, leaving viewers in anticipation of the season finale to come.